Nexstar Media Group Names Gray Soapes Vice President and General Manager of Charleston, South Carolina Television and Digital Operations

February 14, 2017

Charleston Native and former Nexstar Sales Management Executive Returns Home to Lead WCBD-TV (NBC), The Low Country’s CW and CountOn2.com

CHARLESTON, South Carolina and IRVING, Texas – Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST) announced today that Gray Soapes has been named Vice President and General Manager of WCBD-TV (NBC / CW) and associated digital services including CountOn2.com, serving Charleston, SC (DMA #94). Mr. Soapes will assume his new responsibilities immediately and report to Bill Sally, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

Mr. Soapes, a Charleston native, returns home where he began his broadcasting career over two decades ago as an advertising Account Executive in radio and later in television at WCSC-TV (CBS). An accomplished industry veteran, Mr. Soapes has expertise in local and national sales management, new business development, local programming and strategic planning across multiple media platforms. He most recently served as General Sales Manager at WMBF-TV (NBC) in Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC (DMA #102). During his tenure, Mr. Soapes developed and led highly effective teams and implemented sales, marketing and digital media initiatives that resulted in increased broadcast and digital revenues, as well as market share gains. In addition, he developed innovative content strategies and launched unique digital concepts that resulted in expanded audience reach and community engagement.

Prior to that, Mr. Soapes served as General Sales Manager for WCWJ-TV (CW) in Jacksonville, FL (DMA #47), when it was owned by Nexstar, where he was responsible for developing revenue-generating strategies for the station’s local programming and leading all aspects of sales across its local, national and digital advertising verticals. He also served as Local and National Sales Manager of WCWJ-TV prior to his role as General Sales Manager. Earlier in his career, Mr. Soapes held the positions of Regional Account Manager at WTLV-TV (NBC) in Jacksonville, FL and at WFTS-TV (ABC) in Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL (DMA #11).

Commenting on the appointment, Bill Sally noted, “We are thrilled Gray is returning to the Nexstar Nation in his new leadership role at our Charleston broadcast and digital operations. His return home will be welcomed by the local community and businesses in Greater Charleston. A well-respected leader, he has an intimate understanding of Nexstar’s culture and a proven record of generating positive sales performance by implementing innovative marketing solutions across multiple media platforms that deliver positive results for local and national advertisers. Importantly, as a Charleston native, Gray has deep community connections and has built a solid reputation as a trusted business partner who is committed to the growth and economic success of local clients, businesses and public organizations. With a results-oriented and entrepreneurial approach to the business of broadcasting, he has consistently exceeded economic goals while growing digital revenues, improving customer retention and identifying new business opportunities. Gray is taking the logical next step in his professional career with Nexstar and we have the highest degree of confidence in his ability to continue enhancing the effectiveness and value of our broadcast, digital and mobile services in Charleston, South Carolina, where we welcome him home.”

Commenting on his new role, Gray Soapes said, “I am grateful for this opportunity and am excited to return to Nexstar and my hometown of Charleston, where I have deep personal, business and community relationships. Nexstar’s strong commitment to superior local content production combined with its scalable diversified marketing solutions will yield distinct competitive advantages for our clients. In this new role, I will utilize the management and marketing experience to further grow the operations while delivering excellent results and greater levels of service to our local viewers and advertisers. Our Charleston broadcast and digital operations are dedicated to supporting the evolving needs of this wonderful community. I look forward to working alongside the exceptional local media teams at WCBD-TV, The Low Country’s CW and CountOn2.com as we continue to build upon our commitment to deliver unrivaled local news programming and service to viewers and advertisers throughout Charleston.”

Mr. Soapes and his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters are immediately relocating to Charleston, SC.

About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group is a leading diversified media company that leverages localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Nexstar owns, operates, programs or provides sales and other services to 171 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 100 markets or approximately 39% of all U.S. television households. Nexstar’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. Nexstar’s community portal websites offer additional hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content while creating new revenue opportunities. For more information please visit www.nexstar.tv.

Forward-Looking Statements
This communication includes forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Forward-looking statements include information preceded by, followed by, or that includes the words “guidance,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “could,” or similar expressions. For these statements, Nexstar claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this communication, concerning, among other things, future financial performance, including changes in net revenue, cash flow and operating expenses, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors, including the impact of changes in national and regional economies, the ability to service and refinance our outstanding debt, successful integration of acquired television stations and digital businesses (including achievement of synergies and cost reductions), pricing fluctuations in local and national advertising, future regulatory actions and conditions in the television stations’ operating areas, competition from others in the broadcast television markets, volatility in programming costs, the effects of governmental regulation of broadcasting, industry consolidation, technological developments and major world news events. Nexstar undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this communication might not occur. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. For more details on factors that could affect these expectations, please see Nexstar’s other filings with the SEC.

Contact:
Bill Sally
SVP and Regional Manager
Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
585-287-8083 or bsally@nexstar.tv

Joseph Jaffoni, Jennifer Neuman
JCIR
212/835-8500 or nxst@jcir.com