Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group announced today that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.70 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, May 28, to shareholders of record on Friday, May 14.

Chairman-CEO Perry Sook and Broadcasting President Tim Busch are bullish on a number of ad revenue fronts, including an auto rebound, sports betting and strong political opportunities heading toward 2022.

The increase to $1.4 billion from 4Q 2019 was boosted by a 717% increase in political advertising as well as higher distribution fee revenue. Core ad revenue was down 9.9%.

She will lead an expanded revenue team that includes Jennifer Scialbro, SVP of local digital sales and Wil Danielson, SVP of national digital sales.

It OKs a 25% increase in quarterly cash dividend to $0.70 per share and authorizes repurchase up to $1 billion of its Class A common stock.

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Antietam Broadband announced Tuesday that they reached a multi-year agreement to return independent WDVM Hagerstown , Md. (Washington DMA) to the broadband system in Hagerstown and Washington County, Md. The station has been absent from the cable service’s channel lineup since the end of 2018.

It’s paying Tribune Publishing $160 million for BestReviews, saying the deal “diversifies our digital content portfolio while presenting the company with new and significant revenue channels.”

Nexstar Media Group TV stations in 120 markets and 42 states as well as WGN America nationwide have gone dark on Dish Network platforms after days of negotiations between the companies failed to yield a deal. In all, 164 stations are offline.

The ongoing retransmission consent battle between Dish Network and Nexstar Media Group continued Friday, with the station group claiming that Dish has declined reasonable offers to settle the dispute.

Dish Network and Nexstar Media Group are warning subscribers and viewers of a potential blackout. As with past contract disputes, the companies are blaming the other. In a Thanksgiving news release, Dish said Nexstar is threatening the “largest local station blackout in TV history” that could “black out” customers’ access to “164 local channels in 120 markets across 42 states and the District of Columbia.” The contract between Dish and Nexstar expires Dec. 2, according to Gary Weitman, Nexstar EVP and chief communications officer, who said: “We felt it was important to start advising our viewers who are Dish subscribers of the potential for an interruption in service, since Dish has a history of repeatedly forcing stations off of their system.”

That increase from 3Q 2019 was boosted by a 583% increase in political advertising and its purchase last year of Tribune Media. Core ad revenue grew 31.6%.

Nexstar Media Group is combining its broadcasting and digital subsidiaries as Nexstar Inc. to “drive synergies, create operational efficiencies, reduce expenses and enhance financial results.” Timothy C. Busch becomes president, broadcasting; the digital business unit will be led by Karen Brophy; and Sean Compton will be president, networks, overseeing WGN America, AntennaTV and WGN Radio.

The veteran Nexstar exec will retain his current responsibilities as chief financial officer for the foreseeable future, the company said.

Executives from Nexstar, Newsy, CBS Local Digital and Local Now will assess ad technology’s performance amid the pandemic’s growing streaming audience at TVNewsCheck’s virtual OTT News Summit on Sept. 24. Register here.

Perry Sook, Nexstar Media Group’s chairman and president, says the company is dedicating the equivalent of $120 million this year to promote its national newscast, News Nation. How will that money be spent? What media is being used? And what will the creative be?

The company saw sequential month-over-month core advertising improvement from April to May, May to June — “and this trend is continuing in July,” according to CEO Perry Sook.

That represents a 40.9% jump from 2Q 2019, boosted by its purchase of Tribune Media. Looking ahead, CEO Core ad revenue grew 11.4% and political ad money shot up 583% to $21.6 million.

Nexstar Media Group announced today that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.56 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, Aug. 21, to shareholders of record on Friday, Aug. 7. Nexstar said that while it intends to pay regular quarterly cash dividends for the foreseeable future, all subsequent dividends will be reviewed quarterly and declared by the board of directors at its discretion.

Nexstar’s primetime national newscast launches Sept. 1. Anchors Joe Donlon and Marni Hughes, breaking news anchor Rob Nelson and meteorologist Albert Ramon will be drawing from Nexstar’s team of 5,400 journalists in 110 newsrooms across the U.S.

Powered by ATSC 3.0, Sinclair’s KSNV (NBC) and KVCW (CW), Nexstar’s KLAS (CBS) and Scripps’ KTNV (ABC) are now broadcasting with the new NextGen TV technology.

With users up 133% and page views up 250% in April from April 2019, Nexstar’s websites and apps now reach 36% of U.S. adults.

As states begin opening up, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook projects that the company will be profitable in every quarter of this year with a rebounding auto category and expected political spending among the reasons.

That represents a 74.2% jump from 1Q 2019, boosted by its purchase of Tribune Media. Looking ahead, CEO Perry Sook says: “While the coronavirus has presented serious challenges for the entire broadcast industry, Nexstar’s leading local broadcast platform is well positioned to withstand this environment due to several factors including continued growth of distribution revenue and what are projected to be record levels of political spending in 2020.”

Nexstar Media Group today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.56 per share of its Class A common stock. The dividend is payable on Friday, May 29, to shareholders of record on Friday, May 15.

Costs are inhibiting a flood of 4K sports production, but 1080p HDR offers numerous practical advantages, among them that the improvement in picture quality is more readily apparent to consumers than the gain from 4K resolution. Above, Sony tested an 8K camera at the Sony Open in Hawaii last year, but doesn’t expect 8K to be used for regular sports production for several years.

With coronavirus pushing numerous staffers into remote working situations, broadcasters are increasingly looking to exploit all of the remote functionality in their newsroom computer systems. Improved IP connectivity and better automation software is helping to make that happen.

The new multi-year agreement with the largest independent operator of CBS affiliates covers nine stations reaching approximately 3.5% of the U.S.

Stations from Meredith, Nexstar, Sinclair and Tegna have applied for FCC approval to launch NextGen TV in Oregon.

OTT and revived TV membership models were among the highlights of a local digital advertising conference that just managed to sneak in under the coronavirus wire.

A special news feed for Charter subscribers in Berkshire County, Mass., will be launched in the next 30 to 60 days and includes a dedicated journalist to provide regular coverage of issues affecting the various communities.

With the deals involving stations in Seattle, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, N.C., Fox Television Stations expands its footprint to 29 stations across the country. Nexstar says it will use the approximately $240 million of net after-tax proceeds from the deals to reduce borrowings under its credit facilities.

CEO Perry Sook reports 4Q growth in 16 of the station group’s 25 major ad categories that are regularly tracked. That translated to a 1.3% increase in same-station core advertising.

The increase to $0.56 per share marks the company’s seventh annual consecutive rise in cash dividend.

Nexstar CEO and President Perry Sook says leagues like the NBA may turn to broadcasters for their over-the-air advantage amid underperforming cable ratings, and that NextGen TV is the greatest tool a TV group can use “to control its destiny.” And he’s bullish about Nexstar’s biggest competitive advantage — its local news and sales forces.

The live, daily three-hour primetime News Nation will draw on the experience and in-market expertise of Nexstar’s 5,400 local journalists and 110 newsrooms across the country. Leading the effort is Jennifer Lyons as VP news of WGN America.

Nielsen will provide rating services for Nexstar’s 197 television stations, national unwired ratings, digital subchannels, Antenna TV and national distribution of WGN America.