Walt Disney Co. has held exploratory talks about selling its ABC network and TV stations to local broadcaster Nexstar Media Group Inc., as reported by Bloomberg News.
The talks are preliminary and haven’t involved a specific valuation, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. Nexstar would only be interested at the right price.
Media mogul Byron Allen, who owns a string of TV outlets, has also had discussions with Disney about an acquisition of the network and its stations, according to another person, who was familiar with his involvement.
[,,,] Disney, in a statement, said that while it’s still considering a variety of strategic options for its traditional TV businesses, the company has made “no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property.” Nexstar declined to comment.
In conversations with more than half-dozen people inside and around ABC News that I spoke to Thursday evening, it was made clear that a feeling of dread and trepidation is washing over the outlet as they face the unknown.
"Everyone is freaking the f**k out," one ABC News staffer bluntly told me about the state of affairs inside the network.
"It's all anyone at work is talking about," added another.
