Irving’s Nexstar Media Group Appoints IPG Director to Board » Dallas Innovates

Ellen Johnson (composite photo; original: Nexstar Media Group)

Ellen Johnson has been appointed to the board of Irving-based Nexstar Media Group Inc. She will assume the position Oct. 1 and serve as an independent board member.

The company said she will run for re-election to the 2025 annual general meeting of shareholders. Following her appointment, Nexstar will have 10 board members, nine of whom will be independent and three of whom will be women.

“We are pleased to welcome Ellen to the Nexstar board,” Perry Sook, president and CEO of Nexstar Media Group, said in a statement. “She is an integral member of the IPG leadership team with a strong track record of success in the advertising and marketing services industry. Her extensive leadership experience in accounting, corporate finance and information technology, combined with her expertise across all areas of ESG, will be invaluable to Nexstar as we continue to grow our business and advance the company’s goals to enhance shareholder value.”

Johnson is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Interpublic Group of Companies.

Johnson serves as EVP and CFO of Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), one of the world’s leading providers of marketing and advertising solutions. In this role, he has direct executive responsibility for all areas of global finance, information technology, and investor relations, and is the executive sponsor of IPG’s ESG programs related to climate action, social programs, and governance.

He also oversees mergers and acquisitions and financial planning.
“I am pleased to join Nexstar’s board,” Johnson said in a statement. “Today, Nexstar is a scalable media and entertainment company with a unique portfolio of local and national assets, including NewsNation, The CW and The Hill. I look forward to sharing my experience with the board and management team as the company continues its growth.”

Prior to assuming the CFO role in 2020, Johnson served as senior vice president of finance and treasurer at IPG, with direct responsibility for treasury, corporate development, and financial planning and analysis, managing the company’s liquidity, capital structure, and relationships with banks and rating agencies.
Under her leadership, IPG transformed its balance sheet and increased the strength of its financial position, Nexstar said. Johnson helped initiate IPG’s capital return programs in 2011.

Since then, IPG has returned $7.2 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases. Johnson has also significantly strengthened the company’s approach to mergers and acquisitions, including the integration and review process. In 2018, she played a key role in IPG’s strategic acquisition and successful $2.3 billion financing of Acxiom, enabling IPG to grow its profitability during a period of significant investment while maintaining a strong balance sheet and investment-grade credit ratings, Nexstar said.

Nexstar is a diversified media company that produces and distributes local and national news, sports and entertainment content via television and digital platforms. Its business units produce more than 310,000 hours of programming annually.

Nexstar owns the nation’s largest local television group of leading network affiliates, with 200 owned and affiliated stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people. Nexstar’s national television properties include The CW, the fifth-largest broadcast network in America; NewsNation, a national news network providing “News to All of America”; the popular multicast entertainment networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV; and a 31.3% stake in TV Food Network.

Its portfolio of digital assets, which includes local television station websites, The Hill and NewsNationNow.com, ranks collectively among the top ten sources of U.S. digital news and information.

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