Media General, Young Broadcasting to Merge

Media General and privately held New Young Broadcasting announced a definitive agreement to combine the two companies in an all-stock merger transaction.

The new company will retain the Media General name and will remain headquartered in Richmond, VA. Media General owns 18 network-affiliated stations, and Young owns or operates 12 network affiliates. The combination will create a company with 30 stations operating in 27 markets, reaching 16.5 million, or 14%, of U.S. TV households. On a pro forma basis, 2012 revenues were $605 million, including approximately $115 million of political revenues. The balance of network affiliations will include CBS (11), NBC (9), ABC (7) Fox (1), CW (1) and MyNetworkTV (MNT) (1). Sixteen of the 30 stations are located in the Top 75 DMAs. Media General says the new company “will be more geographically diverse and will have a presence in more markets that generate strong political revenues. Its increased size will enhance its ability to participate in retransmission revenue growth, share growth of national and digital advertising, and syndicated programming purchasing.”