Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., the parent company of WMBD channel 31 and the operator of WYZZ channel 43 here in Peoria, is for sale. The company issued a press release on July 21 that stated:

Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) announced today that its Board of Directors has decided to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives intended to maximize shareholder value, including a possible sale of the Company. The Company has retained Moelis & Company as its financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as its legal counsel.

The Company has not made a decision to pursue any specific strategic transaction or other strategic alternative and there is no set timetable for the process, so there can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in a sale of the Company or any other transaction. The Company does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the progress of its strategic review until such time as the Board has approved a transaction or otherwise deems disclosure appropriate.

RBR.com notes that “It is the second time that Nexstar has been on the auction block, with a previous sale attempt called off in 2007 after the market soured.” They also report that the Wall Street Journal Online expects the company to sell for over a billion dollars. These kinds of transactions are called (positively) “mergers and acquisitions,” or “M&A,” by the industry, and (negatively) “media consolidation” by media watchdog groups and concerned citizens.

The website TVNewsCheck.com defends big media:

With each deal, there will be an outcry from those opposed to “media consolidation” as if bigness were in and of itself a bad thing. Bigness can be a good thing. It can provide the resources and legal backing that enterprise and investigative journalism often requires, job security and perks that are disappearing from small companies.

What matters is not how big the new owner is, but who the new owner is. Is it a company that measures the value of a TV stations only in dollars and cents or one that respects the special role TV stations occupy in their communities? Is it one that is in for the long haul or one that will look to flip the group in five to seven years?

That all sounds great in theory, but we’ve yet to see any of these benefits of bigness in Peoria. GateHouse Media and Granite Broadcasting have not improved journalism, nor offered its employees better job security or perks. Quite the opposite.