Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' rating on Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. reflects the TV broadcaster's high debt leverage from aggressive debt-financed acquisitions, very weak discretionary cash flow because of revenue and EBITDA declines, advertising's vulnerability to economic downturns, and TV broadcasting's mature revenue growth prospects. Nexstar's cash flow diversity from major network-affiliated TV stations in midsize markets minimally offsets these factors. Our positive rating outlook reflects our expectation that Nexstar's core ad revenue, particularly auto advertising, will grow modestly in 2010. The EBITDA growth resulting from the rebound in core advertising, combined with the benefits of Olympics advertising and political ad revenue from midterm elections should, in our view, enable Nexstar to reduce its leverage significantly by the
