Nexstar

He will oversee programming, creative development and operations at the network.

Nexstar Media Group said it reached an new retransmission consent agreement with Verizon Fios, ending a two week blackout. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The dispute affected more than 3 million subscribers in 10 markets, according to Nexstar.

The blackout of Nexstar Media stations in households served by Verizon Fios is putting $6.7 million in retransmission and distribution fees per month at risk, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Nexstar’s retransmission agreement with Fios expired last Friday and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on an extension. Above, the markets affected by the dispute.

Nexstar put news operations of two of its stations together at one location in the nation’s capital and branded it as DC News Now. Now, 100 days into the expansion, it has begun a branding campaign that outlines the central points of its news coverage philosophy.

Nexstar Media Group stations went dark in homes subscribing Verizon Fios at midnight on Friday as the two companies’ retransmission agreement expired without the sides being able to agree on an extension. Nexstar said that nearly 3 million subscribers and 13 of its TV stations serving 10 markets are affected.

In several key states with competitive races, Nexstar said it is the only local broadcaster with the scale and resources capable of bringing opposing candidates together for a live broadcast carried in virtually every county to an audience of millions of voters. Many of the Nexstar-hosted debates, including for the U.S. Senate races in Georgia and Pennsylvania and the Governor’s race in Texas, represent the only face-to-face meetings between the candidates ahead of the November elections.

Television industry leader and technology and media investor Dennis Miller is assuming leadership of The CW from Mark Pedowitz, who, after serving as chairman and CEO for the past 11 years, is leaving to revive his production company.

Debate Night in America will feature news and analysis from NewsNation’s team of journalists, including George Will and Chris Stirewalt. Nexstar’s TV stations serving Texas, Georgia and Pennsylvania are hosting the events and also televising them locally.

The Nexstar CW affiliate will exclusively air 15 games this season and produce pre-game, halftime, and post-game programming. The broadcasts will be syndicated throughout Southern California.

The Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation, whose mission is to improve the communities where Nexstar has a TV station by contributing to public charities and nonprofit organizations, has been busy so far in 2022.

With the addition of this two-hour news program at 10 a.m.-noon ET weekdays, NewsNation’s weekly news programming increases to 96 hours.

No regulatory approval is needed for the deal, so Nexstar is immediately assuming corporate oversight of The CW. Nexstar Chairman-CEO Perry Sook says that Nexstar will take a “broadcast-first” approach to CW operations, rather than the current consideration of post-broadcast content monetization under the current studio owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global.

Perry Sook says that in addition to a strong trending political segment, “approximately half of our television advertising categories are pacing up for the third quarter.”

The television veteran will oversee all operations of Nexstar’s Ohio NBC affiliate, succeeding Joe Abouzeid.

Nexstar executives told the Credit Suisse virtual conference on Wednesday that it has yet to see even modest recovery from the auto sector, though it’s still finding other categories to plug the hole. The company also spoke to its M&A ambitions, the prospect of selling its Food Network stake and the mindset it’s bringing to its upcoming MVPD and network affiliate negotiations.

The new agreement covers Nexstar’s NBC affiliate WDTN Dayton, Ohio, and cable news network NewsNation.

Beginning June 27, the Nexstar cable network debuts Early Morning, a one-hour newscast hosted by Mitch Carr at 6 a.m. ET

The station group taps Mark Danielson, Joe Abouzeid and Judson Beck to lead six stations in the four markets.

While issues such as attribution, addressability and automation remain challenging, multimedia spot television campaigns are still about relationships and results, leaders from E.W. Scripps, Graham Media, Nexstar, dentsu X and Compulse told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week.

Stirewalt had been with Fox News Channel since 2010 but left after the network called Arizona for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, angering conservatives.

Core advertising, political, distribution and digital all posted year-over-year gains. Overall, television advertising grew 8.3% versus Q1 of ’21, and core television advertising of $428 million was a first-quarter record and increased 4% over the prior year quarter.

The veteran senior legal executive with 25 years of experience will join Nexstar in June, succeeding Elizabeth Ryder.

Sean Compton, president of the Nextstar’s networks division, says its nascent NewsNation network is progressing “exactly as we designed it to go,” on a trajectory to 24/7 programming, a doubled staff and future content from Nexstar-owned The Hill in the cards.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings in upper station management, marketing and creative services, news, IT, digital sales and content, engineering and graphic design.

The FCC is finally moving on a request Comcast filed nearly nine months ago, asking the agency to declare that Nexstar is in violation of the 39% cap on broadcast national audience reach. But regulatory wheels move slowly, so there’s no indication yet of what the commission might do.

As the pay TV universe shrinks, Nexstar Media Group Inc. is eyeing major revenue opportunities tied to the adoption of new broadcast technology. Chairman-CEO Perry Sook told investors at a March 14 conference that by the end of the decade, the Advance Television Systems Committee 3.0 standard, also known as Next Gen TV, may yield “spectrum monetization that could rival distribution revenue today.” In 2021, Nexstar registered distribution revenue of $2.47 billion, up 14.9% year over year.

Broadcasters widely increased their political revenue guidance for 2022 following an earnings season in which spot saw continued growth across categories except for the still-beleaguered automotive industry.

advertising, political advertising, quarterly earnings analysis

She’s promoted from senior affiliate sales director for the company’s Networks Division with responsibility for business development and affiliate partnerships with more than 15 networks providing programming across the company’s portfolio of more than 600 subchannels.

Chairman-CEO Perry Sook: “Historically, inflation has been a friend to our business because it gives us some ability, or cover, for pricing power, pricing increases.” While auto advertising continues to be challenged, Nexstar President-COO Tom Carter reported that other categories have picked up the slack.

WJZY, Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., is undergoing a makeover. The station has “meandered as a bottom station for a long time,” says Lloyd Bucher, WJZY’s new GM, but Nexstar sees an opportunity to change that.

ATSC 3.0 infrastructure will position TV stations to not just create their own OTT platforms, but also lease a portion of their spectrum for datacasting, location services and many other new revenue possibilities. Leading experts on monetizing NextGen TV offered their predictions and blueprints at a TVNewsCheck webinar last week sponsored by LTN Global. Above, map showing ATSC 3.0 coverage at the end of 2021 from E.W. Scripps.

It will pay $0.90 per share of its Class A common stock beginning with the dividend declared for the first quarter of 2022.