Report: Nexstar Kicking The Tires At The Hill

The Hill, a Beltway-based print publication that receives significant national traffic to its digital website, is being more aggressively shopped by its owner Jimmy Finkelstein, sources tell Axios.

It’s held recent talks with broadcasting giant Nexstar Media Group, a source tells Axios. A spokesperson for Nextstar said, "As a general rule and a matter of policy, we never comment on speculation about M&A."

Why it matters: Finkelstein has held talks for years about offloading the publication, but sources who have been recently pitched on the sale say those talks have gotten more serious amid a ripe deals market and as Finkelstein looks to capitalize on the outlet's success during the Trump-era boom.

Sources say The Hill brings in over $20 million in annual revenue. Most of that revenue comes from digital advertising and branded content. It makes a few million annually from events.

Another source disputes that number, and says that revenue last year was about double that.

Two sources say revenues and profits right now are historically high for the outlet. One source notes that there's been an aggressive focus on revenue for the past year as sale talks have become more serious.

"The Hill gets lots of offers and inquiries and doesn't comment on these sorts of things," a spokesperson told Axios.
 
Catch up quick: Finkelstein co-founded a media holding group that purchased outlets like Adweek, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter from Nielsen in 2009. He was bought out of that investment in 2013.