We believe that U.S.-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc.'s pending acquisition of Media General Inc. will enhance the company's size and scale. We also expect that the resulting significant free cash flow generation will allow Nexstar to reduce debt to average-trailing-eight-quarter EBITDA to about 5x by the end of 2017. We are raising our ratings on Nexstar by one notch, including the corporate credit rating to 'BB-' from 'B+'. The stable rating outlook reflects our expectation that Nexstar will be able to leverage its increased size and scale to generate significant discretionary cash flow, maintain its above-average EBITDA margin profile compared with similarly rated peers, and reduce debt to average-trailing-eight-quarter EBITDA to about 5x by the end of 2017. (Watch the
