The U.S. Justice Department filed an friend-of-the-court briefing earlier this week, asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate DirecTV’s antitrust suit against Nexstar Media Group and two smaller station groups.

Also read: DirecTV To Appeal Judge’s Decision To Toss Its Nexstar Antitrust Case

DirecTV accused Nexstar of conspiring to fix broadcast retransmission license fees through management services agreements with smaller station groups Mission Broadcasting and White Knight. 

Back on March 20, U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York dismissed DirecTV's case. He ruled that any financial injury DirecTV suffered as a result wasn't caused by any price-fixing conducted by Nexstar, Mission or White Knight. Rather, damages resulted from DirecTV’s decision not to do business, starting in 2022, with Mission and White Knight stations … with the subsequent loss of programming causing DirecTV customers to unsubscribe. 

The DOJ believes Castel applied the wrong legal framework here, and it has asked the court overseeing DirecTV's appeal to “correct the district court’s erroneous holding in its antitrust-standing analysis that the sole type of injury for which a private consumer plaintiff can recover in a price-fixing case is the payment of supracompetitive prices.

“The harms from a price-fixing conspiracy are not so limited,” the DOJ added. “Price fixing corrupts the competitive process, and that anticompetitive harm can result in various antitrust injuries, such as reduced output and decreased quality, in addition to increased prices.”

DirecTV has accused of turning the smaller Mission and White Knight into "sidecars," negotiating retransmission consent for their 27 stations in 25 designated marketing areas in which Nexstar already manages duopolies. 

Tim Ingram has been named VP and general manager of WGMB-WBRL-KZUP Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The stations are a Fox affiliate, a The CW affiliate and an independent, respectively. He starts immediately and reports to Mike Vaughn, senior VP and regional manager at Nexstar Media Group. 

Ingram will also oversee Nexstar’s operational agreements with White Knight Broadcasting to provide services for WVLA, the NBC affiliate in the market. 

Ingram was VP and general manager of WVUE New Orleans from 2015 to 2020. 

Ingram comes from Gray Television, where he was senior VP/local media, with oversight of 16 markets. Eric Thomas was the previous general manager at WGMB-WBRL-KZUP. 

“Bringing Tim to Baton Rouge and an area that he knows and understands extremely well is exciting,” Vaughn said. “He’s established a lengthy track record of success, has great experience, and will be able to immediately connect with viewers and advertisers. Tim is a leader and an innovator, and the perfect choice to guide our broadcast and digital operations in Baton Rouge. I am very much looking forward to working with him.”

The Nexstar stations in Baton Rouge share the website BRProud.com. 

“I am grateful to Nexstar for giving me the opportunity in an area that I know well and love,” Ingram said. “The company’s local operations in Baton Rouge have a legacy of service to the community and great programming from Fox and The CW. There is room for growth and I see a lot of opportunity ahead, especially as we head into the fall election cycle.”

He added, “Nexstar’s scale and cross-platform advertising solutions give us a distinct advantage over our competitors in the market. I can’t wait to get started.”

In 2019, Ingram was recognized as General Manager of the Year by B+C. 

Andrea Robinson starts on the weekend newscasts at WCMH Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, May 11, anchoring alongside Matthew Herchik and meteorologist Bryan Still. NBC4 Today airs Saturdays 5-7 a.m. and Sundays 5-8. 

Robinson will also report on the morning news Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. She debuted at the station May 8, co-anchoring with Herchik on NBC4 Midday. 

Nexstar Media Group owns WCMH. 

Robinson previously worked at KPLC Lake Charles (Louisiana), which is owned by Gray Television. 

She grew up in central Ohio and graduated from Ohio University. 

“I’m so excited to be back in Columbus,” she said on the air May 8. “It’s really cool to be home.”

TVSpy previously reported Robinson joining the Nexstar station.  

Columbus is the No. 32 Nielsen DMA. 

DirecTV has confirmed that it will appeal a federal judge in New York’s decision to throw out its antitrust lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group. 

The pay TV company has accused Nexstar of conspiring to fix broadcast retransmission license fees through management services agreements with smaller station groups Mission Broadcasting and White Knight. 

Back on March 20, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York ruled that any financial injury DirecTV has suffered wasn't caused by any price-fixing conducted by Nexstar, Mission or White Knight. Rather, damages resulted from DirecTV’s decision not to do business, starting in 2022, with Mission and White Knight stations. 

“Here, Plaintiff’s injury — lost profits resulting from the blackouts—does not flow from that which makes Defendants’ acts unlawful because DirecTV does not allege that it paid anticompetitive rates but instead made the unilateral decision to abandon [retrans] negotiations,'' the judge wrote in his decision. “Its losses therefore flow from its own choice to exit the market.”

DirecTV will appeal the verdict through the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cablefax originally reported this news. 

Nexstar Media Group, which acquired a 75% stake in the money-losing The CW Network in 2022, is looking to put The CW affiliations on more of its own stations.

Speaking on Nexstar’s fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Nexstar president and chief operating officer Mike Biard said that the company’s CW-affiliated stations are the most profitable of its network-affiliated stations, both in terms of margin and gross dollars.

“We are laser-focused on fortifying the performance for the long term by acquiring more CW affiliations for Nexstar stations and focusing our programming investments in content that matters to the broadcast viewer, including live sports,” Board said.

Last year, Nexstar moved The CW affiliations to its own stations in markets including Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, Florida.  

Nexstar also acquired KUSI in San Diego for $35 million. At the time the company said the transaction would be “accretive to Nexstar’s operating results when The CW Network affiliation becomes available in the market.” KFMB is the current The CW affiliate in San Diego, airing the network on a digital channel.

Nexstar reported that in the fourth quarter, The CW lost $50 million on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) basis, a $14 million improvement from the previous year.

“We made significant headway in 2023 on our path to profitability” at The CW, said Perry Sook. “First, we further streamlined the network operations, improving cash flow by almost $90 million versus 2022, which was under prior ownership for three-fourths of the year. We also implemented a compelling programming lineup including a diversified mix of entertainment, unscripted programming, sports and events.”

But Sook noted that The CW might not get into the black by the fourth quarter of 2025, as was previously forecasted. “Whether that’s exactly Q4 of 2025 or with the writer's strike that kind of moves into the first part of 2026,“ he said. “I think is irrelevant. We are adding value, creating value there with the growth in audience, beating our competitors head to head upon occasion. I mean, those are all things that we hope to do.”

Bob Juback, anchor for WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, will retire on Friday, March 1. He has spent 32 years at the WBTW anchor desk. 

“It’s a spot that I’ve been fortunate to have, and it’s also a spot that I have never taken for granted,” Juback said on the air. 

Prior to taking over as anchor, Juback was a sports anchor at WYFF Greenville and WSPA Spartanburg after getting his start in sports at WBTW in 1984. Before that, he worked in radio. 

Juback graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1979. 

For the past 25 years, he has co-anchored 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts at WBTW. He will sign off after the 6 p.m. newscast March 1. 

TVSpy previously reported Juback’s retirement. 

Last month, Juback picked up a Masters’ Award from the South Carolina Broadcasters Association.

Known as News13, WBTW is a CBS affiliate in DMA No. 100. Nexstar Media Group owns the station, a ratings powerhouse. Myrtle Beach-Florence is known as the Grand Strand. 

WGN said it named Demetrius Ivory as chief meteorologist, succeeding legendary Chicago weatherman Tom Skilling, who is retiring at the end of February after 45 years with the station.

Ivory joined WGN in 2013 and is the weather anchor for WGN MIdday News and WGN Evening News at 4 p.m.

When he assumes his new post on February 29, he will appear on the Nexstar Media Group-owned independent station’s newscasts at 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

“Chicago is a ‘weather town’ and our viewers depend on us to get it right,” WGN VP and general manager Paul Rennie said. “Demetrius is the natural progression of our weather team leadership. His charisma, connection with Chicagoland and his expert weather skills make him the ideal choice. We could not be more excited to have Demetrius as our chief meteorologist.”

Also Read: Local News Close-Up: Chicago Is the City of Big Stories

Before joining WGN, Ivory was a meteorologist and weather reporter for WTAE Pittsburgh. Earlier he did weather at  WYTV Youngstown, Ohio, and WOHL Lima, Ohio.

“I’ve called Chicago home for over a decade,” Ivory said. “I’ve seen all sorts of weather — the good, the bad, the ugly and the really ugly. I’m thrilled to be leading the storied WGN-TV weather team and in helping our viewers to navigate our ever-changing weather. It’s been an honor to work closely with an icon such as Tom, and I’m grateful to him for his leadership and guidance over these many years.”

“I’m so excited for Demetrius,” Skilling said. “Through weather stormy, sunny, and everything in between, Demetrius has delivered accurate, compelling forecasts. He has a huge rapport with the audience. I’ve been honored to have him by my side during severe breaking weather coverage over this past decade. I wish him my sincerest congratulations.  He will be fantastic!”

Kendis Gibson has come on board at WPIX New York, anchoring at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. He comes from WFOR Miami. 

Gibson was born in Belize and grew up in Brooklyn. “Excited to be back home and working with my hometown station!” he said on LinkedIn.  

Gibson started at WFOR, part of CBS News and Stations, in January 2022. 

Also Read: Kaity Tong, WPIX Anchor, Shares Cancer Diagnosis

“Kendis Gibson’s dynamic presence and unparalleled journalistic expertise make him a valuable addition to the PIX11 News family as one of New York’s Very Own,” WPIX said in a statement. “Viewers can catch him anchoring the 4 and 5 p.m. news, delivering local news that matters with passion, integrity and authenticity.”

Before WFOR, Gibson was at MSNBC, where he anchored weekends; ABC News, anchoring early morning news; WJLA Washington, CBS News, KSWB San Diego, HGTV, CNN, NBC News and WHEC Rochester. 

He graduated from SUNY Oswego. 

WPIX is owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated by Nexstar Media Group. It is the CW affiliate in the No. 1 DMA. 

Nexstar said it plans to hold a private upfront dinner for advertisers on April 11.

Last year, Nexstar used a similar approach as it rolled out a pitch that promoted its national assets, including The CW, NewsNation, The Hill, Antenna TV and Rewind, as well as its expansive group of local TV stations.

The dinner will be held at The Peak in New York City.

Before Nexstar bought a majority interest in The CW, the network would hold upfront presentations on the Thursday morning of broadcast upfront week that showed off the attractive casts in its mostly young-skewing lineup and concluded with a musical performance. One year, the upfront featured Stevie Wonder.

Paramount is also holding a series of private upfront meetings with advertisers for a second year, but most other large media companies are holding big upfront extravaganzas in large venues like Radio City Music Hall.

Nexstar noted that it will be holding a separate upfront event for the press in May.

Mission Broadcasting and Dish Network said the reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a year-long blackout that affected 27 TV stations in 25 markets.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Mission continues to be blacked out with DirecTV.

Most of Mission’s TV stations are in markets where Nexstar Media Group also has a stations, Nexstar operates the Mission stations under local marketing agreements.

DirecTV has sued Mission and Nexstar over the way they negotiation retransmission consent for the stations.

“We are delighted to have reached a new distribution agreement with Dish Network, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship,” said Dennis Thatcher, president of Mission Broadcasting.

Mission said it regrets the inconvenience experienced by its viewers and thanked them for their patience.

Shamonee Baker has been named morning anchor at WKRG Mobile, Alabama. She joined the Nexstar Media Group station in 2022, not long after graduating from Florida A&M, as a dayside reporter at News 5, then shifted to morning show reporter, and anchoring on a fill-in-basis, then went back to dayside. 

In 2023, Baker became a weekend evening anchor and nightside reporter at WKRG. 

She starts on News 5 This Morning January 22, succeeding Jessica Taloney in the anchor chair, with Taloney departing to spend more time with family. 

“Shamonee has come a long way in a short period of time,” WKRG VP and general manager Jesse Grear said on WKRG.com. “She’s a pleasure to be around, and our viewers love her. We couldn’t ask for a better person to join the morning team!”

TVSpy previously reported on Baker’s move to mornings. 

News director Gene Kirkconnell called Baker a “tenacious journalist, a wonderful teammate, and just plain fun to be around” on WKRG.com. 

Baker’s first time on a local news set was in fourth grade, when she appeared on a cable news channel to talk about the aerospace program in her elementary school in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which is part of the Mobile-Pensacola DMA. 

WKRG is a CBS affiliate in DMA No. 58. 

NewsNation will host the fourth Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday, December 6, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET. Megyn Kelly, host of The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM, will moderate alongside Elizabeth Vargas, anchor of Elizabeth Vargas Reports on NewsNation, and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon. 

The debate will take place at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. 

It will air live on NewsNation, which is owned by Nexstar, and will be simulcast in the Eastern and Central time zones on The CW, also owned by Nexstar. Viewers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones can watch live on NewsNation or see it delayed on their CW television affiliate from 7-9 p.m. MT and 8-10 p.m. PT. The debate will be live-streamed on NewsNationNow.com and on Rumble, and will also air live on SiriusXM Triumph channel 111. 

“All of us at NewsNation are incredibly honored to be hosting a presidential primary debate and to be part of what will be another historic election season,” said Sean Compton, Nexstar’s president of networks. “We are also extremely pleased to have the opportunity to introduce more Americans to NewsNation, a 24-hour national news network committed to delivering outstanding journalism and first-rate political coverage and analysis.” 

Kelly has moderated five GOP primary debates, including the first in the 2016 election cycle, in August 2015, when she was with Fox News. Donald Trump was critical of her moderation, telling CNN days later, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

NBC hosted the third debate November 8. Trump has not shown up for any of them. 

Michael Corn, president of news at NewsNation, said the network’s “mission is to provide fair and unbiased news coverage, and that’s the way we will approach this important debate. We take this responsibility very seriously and are proud to help inform and educate voters and to contribute to the democratic process.”

Nexstar Media Group said it appointed Cathy Gunther as VP and general manager of its broadcasting and digital operations in Sacramento, California.

Gunther was previously VP and GM of KOKI and KMYT Tulsa. In her new post, she will oversee KTXL, Fox40.com and other local digital and social media channels. 

Gunther replaces Scot Chastain, now director of sales at KUTV Salt Lake City. She reports to Matthew Rosenfeld, senior VP and regional manager for Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

“Cathy is an exceptional broadcast and sales executive and has delivered impressive results wherever she has worked for more than 20 years,” said Mr. Rosenfeld. “I am confident that her vast sales expertise, proven broadcast and digital leadership and commitment to localism will be of great benefit to our Sacramento operations, elevate FOX40’s revenue and ratings, and strengthen Nexstar’s overall footprint across the west coast.” 

Before Tulsa, Gunther was local sales manager and new business development manager at KTVU, San Francisco.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Nexstar’s team in Sacramento and grateful for this opportunity,” Gunther said. “Nexstar has a deep commitment to local content and to serving its viewers, advertisers, and the communities in which it is located, and I couldn’t be more proud to join the FOX40 team. I am confident that my combination of experience, skills and passion for delivering results will be valuable as we chart future success for the station’s broadcast and digital operations.” 

Nexstar Media Group continued to firm up The CW’s affiliate lineup, making a deal with Sinclair to have KOMO Seattle and WPNT Pittsburgh carry the network’s programming as the season starts.

The new affiliations are part of a long-term agreement between Sinclair and The CW that covers 35 markets, including 10 markets where Sinclair provides sales and other services to The CW-affiliated stations.

Nexstar also announced that KAUT, one of the company’s owned-and-operated television stations serving Oklahoma City, will become an affiliate of The CW on September 1. KAUT replaces Sinclair’s KOCB in Oklahoma City.

In Seattle, KOMO replaces KSTW in The CW’s lineup. The CW will be carried on KOMO's digital channel 4.2. The station's main signal will continue to be an ABC affiliate. In Pittsburgh, WPNT replaces WPCW. 

KSTW and WPCW are owned by Paramount Global’s CBS News & Stations unit. After Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery sold their majority stake in the CW to Nexstar, Paramount elected to turn its CW affiliates in eight markets into independents.

Also Read: WPCH Atlanta To Become CW Affiliate In Deal With Gray TV

“We are pleased to be continuing our long relationship with The CW Network and look forward to bringing our stations in Seattle and Pittsburgh into the CW family,” Sinclair chief operating officer and president of local media Rob Weisbord said. “We thank our distribution team for securing the renewal of our affiliate agreement, which includes rights that allow us to negotiate with virtual MVPDs for The CW-affiliated stations.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“With The CW’s first-ever ACC college football game featuring the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Cincinnati Bearcats in primetime on September 9, we are pleased to be adding WPNT-TV in Pittsburgh and KOMO-TV in Seattle to our affiliate group,” The CW president Dennis Miller said. “We appreciate that Sinclair values their partnership with The CW as we remake the network with our significant investment in sports, combined with a smart entertainment programming strategy that will further expand viewership on a local and national level.”

KRON San Francisco is premiering weekday news from 2-3 p.m. and 11-11:30 p.m. September 1, the same day the station becomes an affiliate of The CW. Nexstar Media Group owns KRON, currently a MyNetworkTV affiliate, and 75% of The CW. 

“The growth and development of The CW Network is an exciting new opportunity for

KRON,” Jim Rose, KRON VP and general manager, said. “This allows us to serve the Bay Area with diverse new programming and top-tier live sporting events while expanding our local news product into new time periods.”

KBCW San Francisco, which is owned by CBS, ceases being a The CW affiliate on September 1. All eight CW affiliates in the CBS-owned group are going independent. 

The new MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Bay Area has not been announced. 

Amidst the strikes in Hollywood, The CW is relying on scripted shows from Canada to fill out its schedule. It also has Inside the NFL, which previously ran on HBO, Showtime and Paramount Plus. 

“We are presenting a fall lineup that includes classic CW series like the smash multiplatform hit All American plus introducing new premium dramatic offerings such as 61st Street, Sullivan’s Crossing and The Spencer Sisters,” said Brad Schwartz, CW entertainment president. “We are proud to bring comedy back to The CW with some of the funniest and heartwarming family sitcoms on television with Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, Children Ruin Everything and Everyone Else Burns.”

Nexstar acquired KRON when it bought the Media General group in 2016. 

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is Nielsen’s No. 6 DMA. 

Nexstar stations in Philadelphia and Tampa are also becoming The CW affiliates September 1.

On Thursday, September 7, the up-and-coming Detroit Lions will visit the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, kicking off the 2023 NFL season. 

If what is currently the largest station blackout in America isn't resolved by that time, customers for the third biggest pay TV platform provider in the country, DirecTV, won't be able to watch the game in interested local Chiefs markets like Joplin, Missouri, as well as Wichita and Topeka, Kansas, where three of Nexstar's NBC affiliate stations are located. 

Meanwhile, up in Michigan, DirecTV-subscribing Lions fans in Grand Rapids won't be able to watch the game on Nexstar's WOOD-TV, at least not without an over-the-air antenna.  

All those crabby snacks and homemades ... for nothin'.

Juxtaposing Nexstar's map of its network affiliates against the earlier NFL regular season schedule, it's obvious that this retrans kerfuffle, which actually started as a sleepy affair back in early July, when little programming of consequence was on the Big Four broadcast networks, is about to get real. 

Actually, consider Saturday, August 26, the official start of "gets real," with NBC's presentation of Navy visiting Notre Dame kicking off the 2023 college football season. 

Currently, 169 Nexstar Media Group stations are blacked out on DirecTV satellite TV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV.  

The blackout count of affiliates rises to well over 200 when you factor in long-running disputes between DirecTV and Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, which both contract Nexstar to operate their stations. (DirecTV has taken its beef about that to the FCC.)

Nexstar said DirecTV rejected an earlier offer to keep Nexstar affiliates on its platforms through October while a renewal is hashed out.

DirecTV said that Nexstar's current demands would double the fees the operator previously paid for broadcast retransmission. 

In any event, it seems likely -- very probable, in fact -- that the wartime rhetoric between the two companies will ramp up significantly in the coming days. 

So how many DirecTV customers will be impacted? Real hard to say. 

DirecTV was spun off from AT&T two years ago in a deal with private equity. The last time DirecTV publicly reported subscriber numbers was for the second quarter of 2021, when it disclosed a loss of 473,000 pay TV souls. That was actually a significant deceleration of loss, given that the operator's bleed rate had reached around 13% the year prior. 

So after battling the far right over carriage of OAN and Newsmax, losing NFL Sunday Ticket to Google, then embarking on a huge broadcast affiliate blackout with the top station group in the U.S., what does DirecTV's subscriber picture look like now?

According to Leichtman Research Group estimates released Tuesday, DirecTV is still the No. 3 U.S. pay TV operator, with 12.35 million subscribers across its three platforms. It lost around 400,000 subscribers in the second quarter, LRG said. 

"I base the estimate on the performance of others in the industry in the quarter, and where DirecTV would likely fit. I relate it to last year’s estimate, and I use consumer research to help ballpark it," principal analyst Bruce Leichtman said to Next TV, in an email explaining his methodology. 

Nexstar Media Group said it extended the employment agreement of Gary Weitman, executive VP and chief communications officer.

Weitman will continue to report to Perry Sook, Nexstar’s founder, chairman and CEO.

“We are extremely pleased to be extending Gary’s employment agreement with Nexstar,” said Sook. 

“Since joining the company in 2019, he has done an outstanding job telling the story of our growth, as we launched NewsNation, acquired The Hill and The CW Network, and continued expanding our broadcast footprint,” Sook said. “He is a guardian of the company’s reputation, well-respected by his peers, and has established deep and meaningful relationships with reporters across the media industry.”

Weitman joined Nexstar following its acquisition of Tribune Media and has been in the strategic communications field for nearly 30 years. 

Nexstar Media Group reported lower profits amid a non-election year drop in political advertising and losses at The CW.

Net income was $96 million, or $2.64 a share, down from $227 million, or $5.56 a share a year ago.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $405 million, including an EBITDA loss of $78 million at The CW. A year ago, Nexstar had EBITDA of $489 million.

Also Read: Nexstar Gives CW President Dennis Miller A Contract Extension

In addition to the red ink at The CW, EBITDA was impacted by higher expenses at NewsNation and local news operations, and a lower distribution from Food Network related to lower ad revenue. 

Also Read: CW Sees Flat Volume, Prices Up In First Upfront Under Nexstar

Revenue was $1.24 billion, down slightly from $1.245 billion a year ago.

Core advertising revenue was down 2.2% to $404 million. Political advertising revenue was just $9 million, compared to $87 million a year ago. That left total television advertising revenue down 17.4% at $413 million.

Distribution revenue was up 7.7% to $696 million. 

Digital revenue rose 11.4% to $98 million.

Excluding political advertising revenue, net revenue increased 6.3% year-over-year, the company said.

“Nexstar again outperformed consensus expectations in the second quarter across all key financial metrics including net revenue,” Nexstar chairman and CEO Perry Sook said. 

“Looking forward, we expect the balance of 2023 will continue to reflect our ability to outperform the overall advertising market and benefit from renegotiated distribution contracts representing more than half of our subscribers at the end of 2022, partially offset by the ongoing impact of negotiations with certain distribution partners,” Sook said. “We are even more excited about 2024 as Nexstar will realize upside from presidential election year political advertising, additional distribution contract renewals this year, a slowing of losses related to The CW Network, as well as expectations for a declining interest rate environment and a recovering economy.”

Patsy Kelly has been named co-anchor of the 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. newscasts at WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Kelly currently anchors the 9 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. newscasts. She will continue to solo anchor News 13 First Edition at 4 p.m. and will team with Bob Juback at 5 and 6 p.m. and Annette Peagler at 5:30. 

Kelly replaces Meghan Miller on the early evening newscasts. Miller has accepted a position at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina as media and communication director of the Conway Medical Center College of Health and Human Performance.

“We’re lucky that we could replace a popular anchor like Meghan Miller with somebody on our staff who we believe will maintain our status as the top-rated station in the market,” said news director Paul Caron. 

Known as News 13, WBTW is part of Nexstar Media Group. 

Kelly joined News 13 in 2015 as co-anchor of News 13 This Morning and anchor of the morning newscast on the Fox affiliate, WFXB, produced by WBTW.

Before she came to Myrtle Beach, Kelly was an anchor/reporter at WTHI Terre Haute, Indiana. 

“We hate to lose Meghan Miller, who has been an integral part of the WBTW News team, but we’re happy that Patsy Kelly has agreed to fill her position,” said WBTW VP and general manager Robert Raff. “Patsy’s experience and track record of community involvement perfectly fit her new role.”

Myrtle Beach-Florence is DMA No. 100. 

Nexstar Media Group has named Fox distribution head Mike Biard as president and chief operating officer, effective August 21, 2023.

As Biard’s successor, Fox promoted David Espinosa to president of distribution.

At Nexstar, Biard succeeds Thomas Carter, who was named senior adviser and will stay with the company through the end of the year when his employment contract expires.

Hiring Biard spotlights the importance of growing retransmission revenue for Nexstar at a time when the television industry is in flux. He reports directly to Nexstar founder and CEO Perry Sook.

Biard spent 23 years with Fox,  most recently as president, operations and distribution, overseeing multiplatform content distribution, distribution strategy, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business affairs.

“Michael is a talented, innovative, and deeply experienced media executive who will be a great leader for Nexstar and the senior management team as we chart the future of the company,” Sook said. “The board of directors and I are confident that his vision and judgment will be invaluable as we continue maximizing Nexstar’s shareholder return by furthering the growth of our national brands and audiences,  enhancing the value of our spectrum through the additional deployment of ATSC 3.0, and strategically  targeting accretive mergers and acquisitions.”  

Before joining Fox, Biard was an attorney.

“Perry, Tom, and the Nexstar Nation have created a company with extraordinary scale and unparalleled financial performance,” Biard said. “Nexstar has built a true media powerhouse, with respected national brands like The CW Network, NewsNation, The Hill and local television stations reaching 68% of the country with high-quality local news and programming. This impressive foundation consistently returns value to Nexstar shareholders, delivering more free cash flow than many older, larger competitors.  

“Nexstar’s strategic approach and disciplined execution will enable further growth and expansion, and I am eager to help lead the way forward,“ Biard continued. ”I am grateful to Perry, Tom, and the Board for this opportunity, and I want to express my profound appreciation to my colleagues and close friends at Fox, especially Lachlan Murdoch and John Nallen, for allowing me to pursue it.“  

Carter joined Nexstar as chief financial officer in 2009 and was promoted to president and COO in 2020.

“Tom Carter has been a tremendous partner since joining Nexstar, overseeing a period of unprecedented  growth and expansion for the company,“ Sook said. “We are fortunate that Nexstar will continue to  benefit from Tom’s knowledge and expertise as he helps Michael transition into his new role.” 

Espinosa had been executive VP, distribution strategy and business affairs at Fox. He will report to Fox chief operating officer John Nallen and be responsible for multiplatform distribution of all of Fox’s brands, including Tubi, and will work with the Fox affiliated stations.

“We want to thank Mike for his meaningful contributions to Fox throughout his time with us and wish him continued success in his next chapter,” John Nallen said. “David has been a valued member of the Fox team for seventeen years, and we are confident that his leadership and strategic insight will provide a seamless transition for the distribution team and our partners.”

Espinosa joined Fox in 2006. He was named executive VP in 2018.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to lead such an impactful aspect of the Fox business,” Espinosa said. “The team and I look forward to continuing to work with our partners throughout the industry as we provide premium value through our defining news, sports and entertainment content as only Fox can.”

Nexstar Media Group is entering the fourth week of a retrans kerfuffle that's seen over 200 stations blacked out on the No. 3 pay TV operator in the U.S., DirecTV. 

But the Irving, Texas-based station group did manage to get past its differences with Hawaiian Telecom, restoring Fox affiliate KHON, KHII (MyNetwork), NewsNation and several other stations to the operator’s grid. 

The stations had been blacked out on Hawaiian Telecom since the beginning of July. 

Earlier this month, Hawaiian Telecom complained to the FCC that Nexstar was negotiating in bad faith. 

Hawaiian Telecom hasn't pulled that complaint just because it managed to reach a new broadcast retransmission agreement with Nexstar. 

“Although we have reached an agreement with Nexstar, we will not drop our complaint at the FCC asserting that Nexstar violated federal law with its negotiating tactics, including using our customers as pawns,” said Filifotu Vaii, VP of consumer product sales for Hawaiian Telcom, in a statement.

Nexstar Media Group said it promoted Larry Cottrill to VP and general manager of WCMH Columbus, Ohio, effective August 7.

The broadcaster also named Mitzi Coleman VP and general manager of WTRF, which serves Wheeling, West Virginia; Steubenville, Ohio; and parts of Western Pennsylvania.

Cottrill had been GM of Nexstar’s operations in Richmond, Virginia, including WRIC, which was acquired by Nexstar in 2017. Hew will report to Brandin Stewart, senior VP and regional manager for Nexstar.

At WCHM, Cottrill succeeds Ken Freedman, who is retiring. after running the station since 2017.

“Larry is a great choice to succeed Ken as Vice President and General Manager of our Columbus media properties,” said Stewart. “He is extremely familiar with Nexstar, our multiplatform business model and our strategies for growth and service to the community. He’s done a great job at WRIC-TV, has been successful everywhere he’s been, and instinctively knows how to connect with viewers, advertisers and the community. I am looking forward to working with Larry in this new role and to continuing to burnish the reputation and legacy of NBC4. Ken has been a great leader for WCMH-TV, and an outstanding leader in the greater Columbus community—we wish him well in his retirement.”

Before WRIC, Cottrill held posts at WOWK, WTRF, WVNS-TV and WBOY. 

“I am extremely grateful to Nexstar for giving me the opportunity to lead WCMH-TV’s broadcast and digital operations in Columbus, and to my colleagues at WRIC-TV for their tremendous effort and help over the last six years,” Cottrill said. “I am looking forward to getting to know the Columbus community and its viewers and advertisers. This is a great television station with a rich history, and when you combine it with Nexstar’s commitment to local content and the unique and innovative cross-platform advertising solutions we offer viewers and clients, the result gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors.”

Coleman has been market sales manager and station manager for KTVL Medford, Oregon, and its sister station NTVL-TV, since 2020.

She is taking over from Roger Lyons, who is retiring after serving as WTRF’s GM for 19 years.

Coleman will report to Traci Wilkinson, senior VP and regional manager for Nexstar, and assumes her new post immediately.

“Mitzi is the ideal choice to succeed Roger and she will build on the station’s well-established legacy of outstanding local news and service to the community,” Wilkinson said. “Throughout her career, Mitzi has developed a variety of unique and innovative sales, marketing, and sponsorship opportunities for clients and spearheaded the development of new business for both linear and digital platforms. I am looking forward to working with Mitzi as she takes on this new role. Roger has done a tremendous job leading WTRF-TV since it was acquired by Nexstar in 2016, and we wish him well in his retirement.”

Before joining KTVL, Coleman was senior region account manager for Spectrum Reach, the ad sales unit of Charter Communications.

“I am extremely grateful to Nexstar for giving me the opportunity to lead WTRF-TV’s broadcast and digital operations here in Wheeling and across parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania,” Coleman said. “I am looking forward to getting to know the community and its viewers and advertisers. This is a great television station with a rich history, and when you combine Nexstar’s commitment to local content and the unique and innovative cross-platform advertising solutions offered to its viewers and clients, the result gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors.”

The retrans fight raging between DirecTV and Nexstar is getting downright petty, and we're not talking about either "Richard" or "Tom" here.

DirecTV fired off a letter to the FCC Tuesday morning, complaining that Nexstar Media Group has further expanded an ongoing station blackout, the biggest in pay TV history, to include the CW network streaming feeds that Sinclair Broadcast Group provides for its stations on the DirecTV Stream platform. 

Nexstar, the largest station owner in the U.S., purchased a controlling interest in CW last October. Sinclair is the second largest U.S. station operator. 

Two weeks ago, more than 160 Nexstar-owned stations were removed from the program guides of DirecTV satellite, U-Verse and DirecTV Stream. More than 40 stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting have also been affected. 

In its letter to the FCC, DirecTV accuses Nexstar of dragging "into its dispute new viewers of a competing broadcaster against their will and regardless of DirecTV’s agreements to serve these viewers."

"Nexstar is and always has been in full compliance with FCC regulations, and the allegations raised by DirecTV in today’s filing are without merit," Nexstar said in a statement provided to Next TV.

The antipathy between the pay TV operator and the broadcaster runs deep. 

Over the weekend, the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of DirecTV in an eight-year-old retrans dispute involving a Washington, D.C. affiliate. 

DirecTV has a separate fraud claim in that dispute and is seeking millions of dollars more in punitive damages. 

DirecTV is also litigating against Nexstar over its operational arrangements for Mission and White Knight stations.  

As we were warned, nearly 160 Nexstar Media Group broadcast television network affiliate stations in 113 U.S. TV markets were pulled off of DirecTV pay TV platforms Sunday, with the operator and the station group unable to come to terms on a new broadcast retransmission agreement. 

Actually, the blacked-out station count rises to over 200 once outlets owned by groups Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, but operated by Nexstar, are factored into the kerfuffle. 

The rhetorical battle had already started earlier, of course, but it kicked up a notch on Sunday. In fact, DirecTV, which claims Nexstar is trying to double its retrans demands over its previous contract, is calling this the largest local station blackout ever. 

“Nexstar has a long track record of forcing programming outages in an effort to unnecessarily raise prices for everyone at the expense of the communities they are licensed and entrusted to serve,” Rob Thun, chief content officer of DirecTV, said in a statement released Sunday. 

DirecTV played up Nexstar's recent history of blackouts and near misses. "Since the end of 2022 alone, Nexstar has threatened or removed stations it owns or controls from DirecTV (October 2022), Verizon Fios (October 2022), Comcast Xfinity (December 2022), Dish Network (January 2023), FuboTV (February-March 2023) and Altice USA-Optimum (March 2023)," the operator said in its Sunday press release.

And in case you're wondering why we fight retrans battles,  DirecTV gave us their wartime propaganda video … which we embedded below. 

In its own statement, Nexstar played the consumerist angle. “Millions of Americans across the country have lost their access to local news, traffic, weather, sports and entertainment programming, critical updates regarding summer storms and tornadoes, as well as the upcoming battle in soccer for the Women’s World Cup, and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game,” the station giant said.

DirecTV reaches around 12.75 million pay TV users across its DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV platforms. 

With broadcast TV in its lowest usage period for the next two months — or at least until college and NFL football kick off towards the end of August — there are few imperatives driving viewer outcry, so this one could drag on a while. 

We'd like to say, you know, “stay tuned,” but right now there’s just nothing to watch. 

Nexstar Media Group, the biggest local broadcaster in the U.S., and DirecTV are preparing to face off in a retransmission-consent battle that could result in about 200 stations across 100 markets being blacked out at the end of the month.

Nexstar stations have begun running warnings that subscribers to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV could lose signals from Nexstar’s ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and The CW affiliates.

“Our station has a contract with DirecTV/Uverse that allows them to deliver our programming to you. That contract could soon expire and DirecTV/Uverse might remove our station from your schedule,” a message on the website of Nexstar-managed WPIX New York said. 

In a statement, the broadcaster said: "Nexstar has been negotiating tirelessly and in good faith to reach a mutually agreeable multi-year contract with DirecTV since May, offering them the same fair market rates we offered to other large distribution partners with whom we successfully completed negotiations over the last three years.  DIRECTV has continuously proposed rates that are well below market for the valuable network and local community programming provided by our station(s), leaving us skeptical of whether they are motivated to reach a fair agreement." 

DirecTV said that at a time when more and more consumers are cutting the cord, it can’t continue to accept higher and higher retransmission fees and hope to pass them along to consumers.

In the current talks, DirecTV claims Nexstar seeks to double what it charges subscribers.

“Nexstar, the nation’s largest broadcaster, is demanding to more than double the amount it charges our customers to access approximately 200 local stations it owns or controls in more than 100 metro areas that serve 68% of U.S. TV households,” a DirecTV spokesman said. “Unfortunately, Nexstar has a long track record of demanding significantly higher fees from all pay TV operators and often forces providers to stop carrying their channels during negotiations. DirecTV will take the necessary actions to provide our customers access to their favorite programming while protecting them from unwarranted price increases.” 

Both sides pointed their finger at their erstwhile partner, claiming each has engaged in brinksmanship when earlier retrans deals were up for renewal.

“You may have seen them do this before. They will tell you they’re doing this on your behalf, but don’t believe it. DirecTV/Uverse has a history of taking stations off their line-up, holding their customers hostage,” the WPIX website says. “In fact, as a result of such actions, DirecTV/Uverse has lost an estimated 1.5 million subscribers just last year. Our offer is fair. And now they hold you the subscriber hostage. It’s not right.”

Nexstar goes on to suggest that if there is a blackout, subscribers to DirecTV should demand a rebate for the programming they’re no longer receiving.

“Nexstar routinely reaches amicable retransmission and carriage agreements with its cable, satellite and telco partners,” the broadcaster’s statement said. “Since the beginning of 2020, Nexstar has successfully completed agreements with 500 distribution partners, covering more than 90% of the company’s nationwide footprint. In 2022 alone, we successfully completed agreements with more than 50 of our distribution partners, including several large distributors.”

DirecTV also filed a challenge with the FCC stating that Nexstar violated media-ownership rules and other regulations by having de facto control over stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, including in 25 markets where Nexstar also owns a top four local broadcaster. 

According to the complaint, this control is exercised through a combination of services agreements, financing arrangements and option agreements, and is further evidenced by the behavior of Nexstar, Mission and White Knight in retransmission-consent negotiations with DirecTV.  The complaint also alleges that Nexstar, Mission and White Knight have misled the FCC about these arrangements for years. 

Nexstar Media Group said stations it owns in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, Florida, will become affiliates of The CW starting September 1.

Nexstar bought control of The CW from Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS parent Paramount Global, and CBS announced it planned to drop the network at all eight The CW affiliates it owns.

CBS also owns The CW affiliates in Atlanta, Seattle, Detroit, Sacramento and Pittsburgh. Nexstar vowed The CW would continue to reach 100% of U.S. TV households. CEO Perry Sook said he expected a bidding war among stations seeking The CW affiliation in some markets.

The CW’s new affiliates are WPHL Philadelphia; KRON San Francisco; and WTTA Tampa. All of those stations are currently affiliates of Fox’s MyNetworkTV and will continue to carry MyNetwork on digital broadcast channels.

“The addition of these Nexstar-owned stations as affiliates will bring the number of Nexstar and partner-owned CW stations to 40, covering 38% of U.S. TV households — equivalent to or greater than the local owned-and-operated station presence of any of the other major network owners,” Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said. “Adding The CW’s programming to them will offer advertisers a variety of new linear and digital opportunities to reach millions of viewers.”

The stations will carry The CW’s primetime programming, live sports and events. 

“These stations in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Tampa have deep relationships with their viewers, advertisers, and the communities they serve; they are a great addition to the CW family and will help us better shape the future of the network,” The CW president Dennis Miller said.

The CW has acquired the rights to AMC’s drama series 61st Street, which will air in 2024.

The series, which stars Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis, was cancelled by AMC in January after its first season as part of the organization’s cost-cutting measures, even though the second season had been already completed. The Michael B. Jordan-produced series chronicles the story of a promising high school athlete who gets swept up in a corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. 

The CW will air 61st Street’s first seasons in Fall of 2023, with the second season debuting on the broadcast network in 2024. 

“61st Street is a gripping, star-studded premium drama led by a powerhouse performance from Courtney B. Vance and featuring an incredibly talented ensemble cast and creatively brilliant team of producers,” The CW president of entertainment Brad Schwartz said in a statement. “We are proud The CW is now the broadcast home of 61st Street and cannot wait to introduce this series to a whole new audience.”

The deal comes as eight CBS-owned The CW affiliate stations will become independent stations beginning this September. Nexstar Media Group purchased 75% of The CW in October. 

Nexstar Media Group reported lower profits despite record revenues as losses at The CW and higher news expenses weighed down earnings.

The acquisition of The CW reduced Nexstar’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $75 million.

Net income fell to $111 million, or $2.97 million, from $252 million, or $6.15 a share, a year ago.

The company said the results include losses at The CW and the impact of lower core and political ad revenues. The company had increased expenses at its NewsNation network and local stations’ news operations, as well as lower income from its stake in Food Network.

Revenues rose 3.9% to a record $1.26 billion.

Total advertising revenues fell 6% to $425 million in a nonelection year. Core advertising revenues — excluding political spending — decreased 2.6% to $417 million. 

Distribution revenue rose 9% to $728 million and digital revenue increased 16.5% to $92 million.

“Nexstar’s first quarter financial results once again outperformed consensus expectations across all key financial metrics,” CEO Perry Sook said. “All-time high quarterly distribution revenue and the benefit of The CW acquisition more than offset the cyclical year-over-year decline in political and Olympic advertising, resulting in record first-quarter net revenues for the company.”

Sook said Nexstar was making progress on its plan for The CW with key personnel appointments, further overhead cost reductions and new programming additions, “including our exclusive multiyear partnership with LIV Golf.’

“We are excited about the opportunities in front of us and remain confident in our near and long-term strategies, the quality of our assets, the strength of our financial position and our ability to create new value for shareholders,“ Sook said. “Nexstar’s portfolio of local and national media assets provide nationwide reach with local activation at a greater scale than any other broadcast network owner, creating a differentiated and highly attractive multimedia platform for advertisers and brands seeking direct consumer engagement in an increasingly fragmented marketplace.

“Looking forward, we expect 2023 will continue to benefit from recently renegotiated distribution contracts representing more than half of our subscribers at the end of last year, while 2024 will see strong upside from presidential election-year political advertising and additional distribution contract renewals later this year,” he said.

The eight The CW affiliates in the CBS-owned group will become independent stations in September. They are WPSG Philadelphia, WUPA Atlanta, KBCW San Francisco, KSTW Seattle, WTOT Tampa, WKBD Detroit, KMAX Sacramento and WPCW Pittsburgh. 

The stations will continue airing The CW programming through August. As of September, CBS Stations will have 13 independent stations alongside the 14 CBS stations.  

“We look forward to reimagining these stations as independents while leveraging the considerable value of their primetime real estate in each of the markets,” said Wendy McMahon, president and co-head, CBS News and Stations. “It’s an exciting time to look at new opportunities to add local programming, including live sports, and shows from across the Paramount Global brands. We are also grateful to have been part of The CW for 17 memorable years and wish our partners at Nexstar continued success.”

More and more live sports are moving back to broadcast TV as cable regional sports networks hit tough times. 

In October, Nexstar Media Group completed its acquisition of 75% of The CW. Dennis Miller was named network president, succeeding Mark Pedowitz. Nexstar said in a statement, “Since our acquisition of The CW Network last October, we have known that Paramount Global might transition the network affiliations of eight of its company-owned stations later this year. We are prepared for this possibility and confident that The CW Network will continue reaching 100% of U.S. television households without interruption. Paramount’s decision affects a limited portion of The CW’s nationwide reach, and we have already received multiple expressions of interest from station groups hoping to deepen their relationship with The CW by aligning more of their stations with the network.”

NewsNation and WPIX New York, both part of Nexstar Media Group, unveiled two new studios on Tuesday at The Daily News Building on 42nd Street in New York, where the network and station both operate from. NewsNation expanded to 24 hours, Monday through Friday, on April 24, and WPIX marks 75 years on the air this year. 

Tamsen Fadal, anchor at WPIX, emceed the ribbon-cutting for the New York bureau, and the speakers included WPIX VP/General Manager Chris McDonnell, NewsNation talent Dan Abrams, host of Dan Abrams Live; Chris Cuomo, host of Cuomo; Elizabeth Vargas, host of Elizabeth Vargas Reports; and Ashleigh Banfield, host of Banfield. 

NewsNation has its base in Chicago and now has its New York bureau in the so-called Daily News Building. WPIX is owned by Mission Broadcasting and managed by Nexstar.

Perry Sook, Nexstar chairman and CEO, spoke as well, as did New York Mayor Eric Adams. Adams credited PIX11 for investigating stories that other media outlets shy away from or ignore and congratulated the station for staying on the air for 75 years. 

“You don’t survive 75 years” in a metropolitan region of over 8 million homes, with many more million opinions, he said, “without having a good product.”

Mayor Adams saw the ribbon cutting as “a recommitment to 75 more years” for PIX11. 

The New York facility, at 220 E. 42nd St., will house all WPIX production and editorial staffers and serve as home base for NewsNation’s evening block of programming. NewsNation has two control rooms: one on the second floor and another on the 10th floor. The 10th floor houses the studio for the Dan Abrams Show and Cuomo. Cuomo will soon move to the second floor. 

At around 1,000 square feet, the new studios feature 359 LED panels, and 112 TVs between the newsroom, feed room and control rooms. They have the capacity to do 16 simultaneous live shots.

A 37-story Art Deco building, the Daily News building housed the New York Daily News from 1930 until 1995. (The Daily News was the owner of WPIX when the station signed on in 1948.) In the 1978 Superman movie, the building was home base for the Daily Planet. 

Michael Corn, NewsNation president of news, noted the “dramatic downsizing this week” at other cable news networks, including Don Lemon departing CNN and Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News Channel. “We are upsizing,” he said. 

NewsNation premiered NewsNation Now, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and The Hill at 5 p.m., on April 24.

Corn thanked Sook for being “incredibly, incredibly hands-on in support of NewsNation.” 

Banfield also noted “the upward growth” of NewsNation “as the other networks are down.” She said the network’s “non-biased, old-school journalism” is well suited for the modern age. 

Next up was Cuomo, who mentioned NewsNation hitting the “sweet spot” with people who understand business and people who understand news coming together.

Cuomo also made a case for “preparation and opportunity — doing the right thing at the right time.”

Playing the news game down the middle, Cuomo said, as opposed to “picking a team,” is harder to do for a host or anchor. But that approach has its benefits. “When you don’t pick a team, there’s a freedom in covering what happens in the country,” he added. 

After Cuomo was Vargas, who introduced her show April 3, and spoke of the adjustment in getting back into the daily news game. “What a cycle of news coverage right now,” she said. “It’s an embarrassment of riches.”

She mentioned Sook inviting her to “be a part of the last great adventure in television.” 

Sook, for his part, credited the Nexstar board for backing the substantial investment in NewsNation and its new bureau. “We wouldn’t spend that money if we didn’t believe in the mission,” he said. 

Sook said he’s less concerned with ratings right now and more concerned with “good television, interesting television, smart television.”

Nexstar Media Group said it named Jamie Calandruccio as executive VP of platform monetization and strategy.

Calandruccio most recently was senior VP, product marketing & partnerships at Operative. At Nexstar she will report to chief revenue officer Michael Strober and work with Nexstar’s sales team to increase revenue via data-driven decisions and strategic inventory analytics.

“Jamie’s well-established relationships and vast pricing, planning, and forecasting experience across an extensive portfolio of ad sales products, along with her strategic vision, make her the ideal leader for our sales organization,” said Strober. “She will hit the ground  running and make an immediate impact.”  

Before Operative, Calandruccio worked at Channel Media Solutions. She also held sales planning and operations posts at Sony Pictures Television, DirecTV and Xandr.

“I am thrilled to be joining Nexstar under Michael’s leadership of sales and at such a pivotal time in the company’s journey to transform and evolve its advertising business,” Calandruccio said. 

“There is a tremendous opportunity to innovate and create unrivaled value for advertisers by harnessing the brand equity and expansive reach of Nexstar’s diverse portfolio of assets,” Calandruccio said. “It is a privilege to be working alongside  such an accomplished group of leaders and I am looking forward to leveraging my experience to help modernize Nexstar’s media sales business.”

DirecTV sued Nexstar Media Group, Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting in a New York federal court Tuesday, accusing the three broadcast station groups of “engaging in an illegal conspiracy” to manipulate the market for broadcast retransmission fees. 

Since October, a total of 25 Mission and White Knight stations in 23 markets have been blacked out on DirecTV pay TV platforms. Both White Knight and Mission have agreements under which Nexstar manages ad sales, news production, equipment maintenance and other functions for stations.

DirecTV's suit accuses Nexstar, America’s largest broadcast station group, of making “sidecar” arrangements with smaller broadcasters to “skirt FCC station-ownership caps and other federal laws through collusive retransmission-consent negotiations.”

In all of the markets where Mission and White Knight have stations blacked out on DirecTV, Nexstar manages another major broadcast network affiliate. (DirecTV's press release has a large, unwieldy chart that shows what these stations and markets are.)

DirecTV's statement: “Mission and White Knight are now unlawfully coordinating with Nexstar to raise prices and extract supra-competitive retransmission consent fees from DirecTV in ‘overlap’ DMAs — those markets where both Nexstar and either Mission or White Knight each own a Big Four station. To accomplish this unlawful and anticompetitive aim, Mission and White Knight have entered into an agreement in which they have effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar.”

Nexstar's statement: “Nexstar’s shared-services agreements with White Knight and Mission Broadcasting are in full compliance with FCC rules, and each station group independently negotiates its own retransmission consent agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco partners. This lawsuit is without merit and Nexstar looks forward to prevailing in court. ” 

You can see a copy of the suit here. 

We were encouraged to wade through the actual complaint further, and it is full of well-articulated legal haymakers:

To accomplish their "unlawful and anticompetitive aim, DirecTV's lawyers say, "Mission and White Knight have entered into an agreement in which they have effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar, which has served as the ringleader of a conspiracy to harm competition and violate the antitrust laws."

DirecTV says further that Nexstar strategically restricts management for Mission and White Knight to engage the satellite TV company directly in negotiations, with overtures repeatedly rejected or ignored. 

DirecTV further accuses Nexstar of masquerading the consultant who is handling the negotiations for Mission and White Knight, Eric Sahl, as an "independent" third party.■

NewsNation Live, the daily newscast at cable network NewsNation, extends from two hours to three Monday, March 6. Hosted by Marni Hughes, the program airs at 10 a.m. ET. It launched in September. 

Hughes has been with NewsNation since it launched in 2020, when WGN America was rebranded, and had been hosting NewsNation Prime with Marni Hughes at 9 p.m. That show was replaced by one hosted by Chris Cuomo. 

NewsNation, part of Nexstar Media Group, also announced a bunch of new on-air contributors, including Johanna Maska and Chris Hahn.  

“I’m thrilled to add this group of widely respected contributors to our team of dedicated journalists,” Michael Corn, president of news at NewsNation, said. “As we grow our audience, these experts in their fields will offer unique insights and enhance the authenticity of stories we deliver to the NewsNation audience.”

NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt adds political contributor to his resume. Formerly of Fox News, he wrote the book Broken News: How the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back. Stirewalt will continue to appear alongside senior political contributor George Will for election and debate night coverage. Will joined the network in 2022. 

Johanna Maska, CEO of Global Situation Room; Chris Hahn, host of the Aggressive Progressive podcast; and Morgan Ortagus, former senior advisor for the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, have been named contributors at NewsNation. 

Joining those three as contributors are Jesse Weber, Retired Gen. Richard Y. Newton, Jennifer Coffindaffer, Dave Montgomery, MD, Colby Hall and Lydia Moynihan. 

NewsNation reaches 70 million U.S. television households. ■

Nexstar Media Group CEO Perry Sook says his company is having a lot of conversations with sports team owners about putting games on stations and The CW as regional sports networks face an uncertain future.

“I can tell you that the number of inbound inquiries, as well as discussions that are going on with team owners … the activity is frenetic around here. There are lots of discussions,” said Sook, speaking on Nexstar’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday.

Last week, E.W. Scripps. Co. said its phones were ringing with teams looking into opportunities to put games on broadcast. Scripps last year launched Scripps Sports to take advantage of opportunities arising as RSNs implode.

Sook noted that Nexstar’s agreement to put a group of Los Angeles Clippers NBA basketball games exclusively on Nexstar stations in California, including KTLA Los Angeles, “broke the seal” on returning games to broadcast.

“Other team owners have taken notice of that,” he said. ”We have a receptive audience, certainly among NBA owners and NHL owners that see the value of broadcast TV in exposing and distributing their product to a much larger audience than is available in the pay TV universe.” Sook said.

But he noted that people want to see how the RSN situation plays out and what that means to them. 

Diamond Sports, which runs the Bally Sports RSNs, missed an interest payment earlier this month and appears to be heading towards a restructuring or bankruptcy. Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have said that if their teams aren’t paid the contractual fees for broadcast rights, they’ll find alternative ways of television games.

Warner Bros. Discovery is also looking to get out of the regional sports network business and has told the leagues it wants to return TV rights to the teams.

Sook said Nexstar was also interested in putting more sports on The CW Network, which it acquired last year.

The CW acquired the rights to the controversial LIV Golf tour, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia.

“We’re very pleased with our first weekend of LIV Golf,” Sook said. 

Across the first three days, LIV Golf was viewed by more than 1.4 million total viewers across both the CW linear TV network and the CW app, Sook said. He said that was 24% higher than the average golf telecast so far this year.

“The linear broadcast ratings increased 21% from Saturday to Sunday,” he added. “Those numbers exceeded our expectations.”

Sook said advertising on LIV Golf was selling “very well” and that Nexstar stations were generating three times the revenue from LIV Golf than from other network programming.

“I think we’ll continue to grow as we get more into the season,” he said.

He said he would be interested in putting more sports on The CW, either on weekends or potentially moving into primetime. ■

Nexstar Media Group reported record fourth quarter revenue, but net income fell, including a a loss recorded by the recently acquired The CW Network.

Net income fell to $203.3 million, or $5.30 a share, from $263.9 million, or $6.19 a share, a year ago.

The company said that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $592 million, up 19.8%. Excluding $63.3 million in losses from The CW, adjusted EBITDA was $$661.8 million, up 32.5%.

Excluding The CW, fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA increased 32.5% to $551.8 million. 

Revenue rose 19% to a record $1.49 billion, including the acquisition of the majority stake in The CW. Revenue at The CW was up 14.3% from a year ago. 

Total television advertising revenue rose 45% to $743.4 million. Core advertising revenue fell 3.3% to $477.5 million, but that was offset by political advertising jumping to $265.9 million from $18.9 million a year earlier. 

Distribution revenue was flat at $615.6 million. Digital revenue rose 10.1% to $112 million.

“Our strong financial results are a referendum on the power of the broadcast model and its ability to deliver audiences at scale and strong levels of free cash flow,” Nexstar chairman and CEO Perry Sook said. “Our portfolio of local and national media assets provide nationwide reach on par with other broadcast networks and local activation at a greater scale than any other broadcast network owner, creating a differentiated and attractive value proposition for advertisers, brands and content owners in an increasingly fragmented marketplace. 

"We are focused on the continued expansion of our capabilities and leveraging our linear, digital, mobile and streaming assets in new ways to deliver new levels of monetization, growth and shareholder returns,” Sook said. ■

Nexstar Media Group’s NewsNation said it launched a free connected-TV app that will enable more viewers to watch highlights of the cable news channel’s news and primetime programming.

The app will also give users access to local weather reports from Nexstar stations.

“At NewsNation, our mission is to provide in-depth coverage of the stories that affect the lives of Americans in their local communities and on a national level,” NewsNation president of news Michael Corn said. “These apps  provide us with another innovative way to reach those viewers wherever they are by delivering content that matters most to them.”

Advertisers can reach NewsNation connected-TV viewers across both linear television and connected TVs directly via Nexstar Digital or programmatically via major CTV ad networks.

The NewsNation apps are the first third-party apps to be based on Haystack TV’s proprietary technology. Haystack’s artificial intelligence platforms serve relevant clips to individual viewers. ■

In a pitch to investors, executives from Nexstar Media Group talked up the virtues of broadcast, saying high-profile sports programming draws bigger audiences on traditional TV than streaming.

“The world has begun to wake up again to the benefits of the broadcast business model,” Nexstar president and chief operating officer Tom Carter said. “As they say, what’s old is new again.”

In particular, Carter asserted, “broadcast has again proved to be the most important medium for engaging valuable live sports audiences.”

He noted that overall NFL audiences on broadcast networks were up substantially in 2022, but not on Amazon Prime Video, which for the first time had exclusive national TV rights to the league’s Thursday Night Football package.

Also: Streaming Off a Cliff: 'Thursday Night Football' Audience Dropped a Whopping 41% For the Season on Amazon

“We see this acutely head-to-head in the local markets where the Thursday-night football games aired both on broadcast but also on Amazon Prime,” Carter said. 

“In markets where audiences had a choice of where to watch the game, 67% of the NFL viewers chose to watch their in-market game on their local broadcast stations rather than on Amazon Prime,” he said. “Audiences prefer local broadcast delivery, where they can avoid technical challenges and they have a local station they know and trust with the shoulder programming that they prefer.”

Broadcast is not only stronger than streaming, it beat cable — particularly regional sports networks that are under pressure from cord-cutting.

“We saw it with owners of sports teams outside of football looking to maximize their local audience and franchise value by returning to broadcast TV,” Carter said. 

Nexstar made a deal to carry 15 Los Angeles Clippers NBA games on KTLA Los Angeles and some of its other stations in California.

“What is interesting is that in the over eight games so far, KTLA has delivered a total audience that is 55% larger than the 29 games previously aired in the RSNs,” he said.

Compared to streaming, broadcast is a better business proposition, he told the investors. The big streamers have been paying billions for content and losing money to attract subscribers. Recently those losses have become less palatable to investors.

“There is an appropriate, heightened investor focus on free cash flow generation as the primary method of creating shareholder value, which favors the broadcast models,” Carter said.

Despite the losses being piled up as traditional media companies attempt to pivot to streaming, some investors are wary about investing in old-fashioned TV, Nexstar chief financial officer Lee Ann Gliha said. 

Gliha pointed to projects that indicated that at least 50% of the adult population is unlkely to drop their traditional pay TV service. “There is no expectation for subscribers to fall off a cliff,” she said, pointing to data from SNL Kagan.

Also: Virtual MVPDs Added Over 1 Million Users in Q3, Offset Huge Linear Pay TV Losses

“Investors are worried that there is not much of a future for our broadcasting business model,” Gliha said. “But the truth is, if you look at long-term industry projections, they imply that Nexstar’s business should generate long-term revenue growth and that the market perception surrounding the decline of advertising and distribution revenue is over exaggerated.”

Nexstar stock rose 1.63% to $204.77 a share in trading Tuesday (January 31), at one point hitting a 52-week high of $204.89. ■

Nexstar Media Group said it restructured its advertising sales structure, adding new senior executives as it focuses on a more data-driven, multiplatform approach to drive revenue.

Joining Nexstar are: Todd Braverman as executive VP, head of national sales from senior VP, agency sales at Warner Bros. Discovery; and Brad Epperson as senior VP, business operations and services from a similar post at NBCUniversal. Also, Lori Tavoularis was named chief business officer. She had been Nexstar Digital’s chief revenue officer and executive VP, revenue operations.

The moves follow Nexstar naming Michael Strober as chief revenue officer.

“Nexstar’s diverse collection of brands and media assets make it uniquely qualified to rewrite the rules for today’s modern media sales organization,” Strober said. “We are hiring best-in-class sales leaders, investing in cutting-edge technology and creating new capabilities to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s media advertising environment.”

Braverman, Epperson and Tavoularis all report to Strober.

“I am delighted to have Todd, Brad, and Lori join me as we transform Nexstar’s go-to-market strategy,” said Mr. Strober. “Each of them possesses the requisite skills and domain expertise to build a next-gen, agile media sales organization. Collectively we all share a common belief to challenge the status quo and to foster a culture of entrepreneurial spirit which has been a hallmark of the company since its founding.” ■

Nexstar Media Group and Comcast have reached a new retransmission agreement, avoiding a blackout that could have started December 15 when their previous contract expired.

People familiar with the situation confirmed the deal was reached and pointed out that Nexstar was no longer warning viewers of an impending blackout. Neither company would comment on the agreement.

Nexstar began warning viewers that a blackout was possible last weekend.

The blackout would have affected about 90 Nexstar stations that operate in Comcast markets.

Earlier this year, Nexstar stations were blacked out to Verizon Fios subscribers for two weeks until the companies were able to hammer out an agreement.

At the same time, WPIX-TV in New York was restored to Comcast subscribers. WPIX was bought by Mission Broadcasting, but is operated by Nexstar under a local marketing agreement.

Other Mission stations were blacked out on DirecTV in October. 

Nexstar and Comcast have been feuding over the ownership of WPIX for a year. Comcast filed a petition in 2021 asking the FCC to rule that Nexstar is the owner of the station, calling its management agreement with Mission a sham designed to evade the ownership cap rules.

Because Nexstar doesn’t own another station in the New York market, it is allowed to negotiate retransmission on behalf of the owners.

Nexstar sued Comcast claiming breach of contract and said Comcast had failed to pay millions of dollars in retransmission consent fees. 

“Our recent retransmission consent agreement with Nexstar settles the pending litigation our companies have in the Southern District of New York,” a Comcast spokesperson said. “However, it does not address our proceedings at the FCC, which remain open.” ■

Nexstar Media Group has begun warning viewers in Comcast markets that its stations could soon be blacked out on the No. 1 U.S. cable operator because of a retrans fee dispute.

As first reported by blogger Phillip Swann over the weekend, the blackout could affect around 90 Nexstar stations positioned in the Comcast footprint, including those in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New Orleans. 

In its warning to viewers, Nexstar didn't specify when the current agreement expires — and when the station blackout might start. But the current deal between Comcast and Nexstar was signed on December 31, 2019.

“WGN-TV has a contract with Comcast that allows them to deliver our programming to you,” Nexstar-owned Chicago independent WGN told viewers. “If a new agreement is not reached, Comcast might remove WGN-TV from your schedule. WGN-TV has presented a proposal for fair value, based on the importance and value our programming brings our viewers. Despite our tireless efforts, Comcast has refused our fair offer and is making negotiations very difficult. Our offer is fair. And now they may hold you the subscriber hostage. It’s not right.”

The relationship between Comcast and Nexstar is being further strained by a dispute involving Mission Broadcasting-owned The CW affiliate WPIX New York. 

Last year, both Comcast and Charter Communications petitioned the FCC to attribute ownership of WPIX to Nexstar, since the station group has a deal with Mission to negotiate WPIX broadcast retransmission licensing contracts. 

If the FCC were to comply, that would put Nexstar beyond the 39% station ownership threshold, putting it in violation of agency rules. 

As it stands, WPIX isn’t covered under Comcast's current retrans deal with Mission. Nexstar has sued both Comcast (and Charter) for alleged unpaid retrans money, and WPIX was taken down from Comcast back on December 3. 

“This is both a breach of contract and extremely harmful to Comcast’s New York viewers, who have now lost WPIX and the substantial local news and entertainment programming it provides,” Nexstar said of the WPIX blackout. ■

Not among C-SPAN’s dozens of debate streams and cablecasts over the past few weeks, though not for lack of trying, were arguably the highest-profile political debates in the land: Those between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker and between Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democratic Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is battling back from a stroke.

Those races are among a handful of close contests that will most likely determine whether Republicans control both houses of the U.S. Congress. Thus, C-SPAN was eager to add them to the roster of debates from local broadcasters it gets permission to present to its nationwide audience. 

Both of those debates were produced and broadcast on stations owned by Nexstar Media Group. C-SPAN said, and Nexstar confirmed, that the cable-industry-supported public affairs network was denied permission to carry them.

It turns out many of those Nexstar debates did get national cable distribution via Nexstar's co-owned cable-news network, NewsNation.

C-SPAN executives say more and more sponsoring organizations — whether journalistic or political — are making debates exclusive this election cycle, and there are fewer debates to choose from.

Broadcasters generally still work with C-SPAN to allow coverage, said C-SPAN political director Nate Hurst, who is repsonsible for lining up debate permission. That group included Nexstar earlier this year with an Ohio Republican primary debate for U.S. Senate, one Hurst called a great debate that was well-structured and well-moderated. He would not speculate on why Nexstar declined to give its permission for the recent debates.

Hurst said there were perhaps a dozen to 15 broadcaster debates this cycle — mostly Nexstar-hosted — that C-SPAN was unable to get permission to carry. That is compared to the 80 or so it did carry, most of which (about 90%, said Hurst) were broadcaster-hosted.

“These debates are produced by Nexstar’s local stations and require a considerable investment of time, effort and expense,” Nexstar executive VP and chief communications officer Gary Weitman said. “The debates are carried by the local Nexstar stations serving the state and many are carried nationally by our cable news network, NewsNation.”

In a world of intense competition, Nexstar is looking for a return on its investment in such important public-interest programming. “When NewsNation carries a debate nationally, we want viewers to tune in to watch the exclusive telecast on NewsNation, which is available in 70 million television homes across the U.S.,” Weitman said.

Nexstar’s desire for exclusivity notwithstanding, C-SPAN said it continues to have “wonderful relationships with broadcasters” overall. “[Broadcasters] have been incredibly generous in letting us take their debates,” Hurst said. C-SPAN, in turn, makes the debates available online free to non-cable subscribers.

While the draw of exclusive content debate hosts is one factor in C-SPAN's drop in the number of debates carried this election cycle — from 120-140 in previous election cycles to about 80 — there is another reason, Hurst said.

“There are just a lot of candidates who aren't debating, or only one debate [as was the case with Fetterman-Oz and Warnock-Walker], which is highly unusual,” he said.

Under Hurst, C-SPAN has been trying to sweeten the pot by giving a national platform to the local broadcast sponsor’s branding. “We used to seek really clean video so we could put our own graphics on them, but I think [showing their branding] is more fair to our broadcast partners who put a lot of money into them and are doing the really heavy lifting,” he said. “So, for example, a debate in Michigan we asked for a feed that has all their logos on it and social media handles.”

Hurst said he believes C-SPAN should always give credit where credit is due. ▪️

The CW Network, now controlled by Nexstar Media Group, has named Brad Schwartz as president of CW Entertainment.

Schwartz, most recently president of Pop TV, which gave the U.S. the hit Schitt’s Creek, will report to The CW president Dennis Miller and will be responsible for programming strategy, creative and brand development, as well as day-to-day operations.

Nexstar is looking to change The CW’s programming strategy to fit in more with the older viewers who watch the late newscasts on the company’s stations. The network reportedly has not ordered additional episodes of any of the new series launched this season by the previous administration led by Mark Pedowitz.

“I have had the pleasure of working closely with Brad and I have seen his entrepreneurial approach to reinvigorating brands,” Miller said. “He knows how to develop and acquire hits with limited resources, nurture talent, and broaden the appeal of diverse media assets.”

Before Pop, Schwartz was with Fuse and MTV Canada.

“I have respected and admired The CW for a long, long time and, quite frankly, I have always dreamed of working there,” Schwartz said. “I am thrilled to get back together with Dennis and build upon its great foundation. It is an exciting challenge, backed by a fantastic team at Nexstar, and we’re going to have a ton of fun.” ▪️

NewsNation, Nexstar Media Group’s cable news channel, said its election coverage next Tuesday will be co-hosted by Chris Cuomo and Leland Vittert.

NewsNation’s election coverage will emanate from its headquarters in Chicago.

To get up-to-date election results and calls of races, NewsNation will be working with Decision Desk HQ. Decision Desk HQ’s head of data science, Scott Tranter, will appear in the Chicago studio, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how it operates.

Also playing roles in NewsNation’s election-night coverage will be Niall Stange, associate editor of The Hill (acquired by Nexstar last year); NewsNation Washington bureau chief Mike Viqueira; national correspondent Keleigh Beeson; correspondent Tom Dempsey; and analysts Chris Stirewalt and George Will.

“We are excited to bring viewers the most comprehensive coverage of election night anywhere, as our team anchors the newscast from the heartland of America,”  Michael Corn, president of news at NewsNation, said. “After providing exclusive national coverage of candidate debates in Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania, NewsNation is preparing to deliver election-night results with a level of transparency and detail never before seen on TV.” ■

Nexstar Media Group said it reached a new multi-year retransmission consent agreement with Verizon Fios, ending a two-week blackout.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The dispute impacted more than 3 million subscribers in 10 markets, according to Nexstar.

Also: Nexstar Risks $6.7 Million Per Month in Lost Fees During Fios Blackout

Also being restored to Fios subscribers is Nexstar's cable news network NewsNation.

"We're pleased that our customers' programming will be restored and that we can continue delivering content they enjoy," Verizon Fios said in a statement.

The agreement will ensure that Verizon subscribers won't miss a moment of Major League Baseball's World Series, which begins Friday, or any of this weekend's college and NFL football games, Nexstar noted.

Nexstar's stations also add distribution as midterm election races reach an end. Political advertising is generating millions of dollars for local station groups. ■

After its request to have White Knight Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting restore the signals of their stations through Election Day was rejected, DirecTV accused the broadcasters of “abandoning their journalistic integrity and betraying the public trust.”

Because of a dispute over retransmission-consent payments, the White Knight stations have been blacked out since October 7 to DirecTV subscribers and the Mission Broadcasting stations have been dark since October 21.

DirecTV has directed some of the blame for the blackout on giant Nexstar Media Group. Both White Knight and Mission have agreements under which Nexstar manages ad sales, news production, equipment maintenance and other functions for the stations.

“White Knight Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting, both actively managed by Nexstar Media Group, have flat-out refused our requests to return their 25 local stations to our customers in 23 media markets through the results of the Nov. 8 midterm elections,” DirecTV said in a statement Friday.

“At the same time, our offer to return the stations and be compensated at a new future higher rate remains completely open, both station groups continue to use their Nexstar-managed news services to propagate the outright lie and misinformation that DirecTV has ‘forced off’ or otherwise ‘removed’ the same stations. Each broadcaster involved has made clear that abandoning journalistic integrity and betraying the public trust are not only acceptable, but readily available, in their shameless pursuit of financial fortunes,” the satellite-TV provider said. 

Mission and White Knight say they negotiate their own retransmission deals.

“We definitely considered the DirecTV offer to reinstate the stations until the midterms, but at this point we don’t feel like that's going to advance the ball,” Dennis Thatcher, president of Mission Broadcasting told Broadcasting+Cable. “All it will do is delay the inevitable and there's always the potential for another takedown.” 

Thatcher said that rather than reinstate the signal and wait to see what happens, he wants both parties to get together and craft a deal that’s good for both sides.

“There’s a new normal in America and our costs have increased,” Thatcher said. “While our cost of programming continues to rise, we’re all adding more and more local programming and we think we’re adding more value. All we want is to be compensated for that value.”

Earlier this week, White Knight president Toby Malara told B+C  that DirecTV shouldn’t pin responsibility for the blackout on the stations.

“DirecTV should not cast blame upon the White Knight stations for DirecTV’s own failure to make a meaningful offer for continued carriage of White Knight stations, especially during this critical time preceding the country’s midterm elections,” Malara said.

“Nevertheless, our stations will continue to offer local political coverage on their websites,” Malara said, pointing to where DirecTV subscribers will be able to get news about the election — and about the carriage dispute.

Nextstar denied any responsibility for the blackout. “Despite DirecTV's allegations, Nexstar is not a party to these negotiations,“ Nexstar said. “These stations are owned by Mission Broadcasting, Inc., and White Knight Broadcasting, Inc. These stations are not owned by Nexstar.” ■

White Knight Broadcasting rejected DirecTV's request that they set aside until after the elections the retransmission-fee dispute that has blacked out the broadcaster's stations to DirecTV subscribers.

DirecTV argued its subscribers need the stations' news programming to be fully informed citizens before casting their critical votes. The satellite-TV company also offered to pay retroactively whatever rate is agreed upon while the stations' signals are returned.

White Knight refused to don the black hat in their standoff.

"DirecTV should not cast blame upon the White Knight stations for DirecTV's own failure to make a meaningful offer for continued carriage of White Knight stations, especially during this critical time preceding the country’s midterm elections," said White Knight president Toby Malara.

White Knight has stations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Tyler-Longview, Texas.

"Nevertheless, our stations will continue to offer local political coverage on their websites," Malara said, pointing to where DirecTV subscribers will be able to get news about the election — and about the carriage dispute. 

The White Knight stations went dark on DirecTV on October 7.

DirecTV is also in a fee dispute with Mission Broadcasting's stations, which have been blacked out since October 21 when its retransmission agreement with the satellite company expired.

The stations owned by both White Knight and Mission are operated by Nexstar Media Group under management agreements.

Nexstar has its own blackout situation, with its stations not appearing in homes served by Verizon Communications' Fios TV. ■

DirecTV has appealed to two station groups, Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, proposing that a retrans battle that has resulted in the blackout of 27 local outlets be shelved until after the Nov. 8 midterm elections. 

“DirecTV has a standing offer to both Mission and White Knight, strongly urging the two broadcasters to return all stations immediately to impacted DirecTV customers in 25 Nielsen DMAs,” DirecTV said in a statement. ”In return, DirecTV will pay Mission and White Knight whatever higher retransmission consent rates the parties eventually agree upon retroactively to the date the signals are reinstated.”

Twenty-five Mission affiliates were pulled off DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV late last week amid failing negotiations for a new broadcast retransmission agreement. And two more outlets in Texas owned by White Knight met a similar fate earlier this month.

Both station groups are operated under contract by much larger Nexstar Media Group, which also currently has a blackout going on Verizon Fios TV.

“This is a critical time in American political life,” DirecTV added. “We are less than two weeks from one of the most important Congressional midterm elections in American history, and gubernatorial elections in 36 states. The results of this midterm will have a profound impact on some of the most important political, public health and economic issues of our time.”

Mission has yet to comment on its KeepMyStation portal.

Of course, with some estimates pegging midterm advertising spending to surpass $10 billion, it's an important time for the bottom lines of broadcasters, pay TV operators and anyone else in the business of selling local TV ad time. ■

DirecTV is asking the 27 stations blacked out to its subscribers because of a retransmission consent fee dispute to return their signals through Election Day.

The satellite-TV company is offering to pay the stations whatever new rate winds up being negotiated retroactively to the return of the signals.

The stations cover about 4 million homes in 25 markets and are owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting.

DirecTV maintains the stations are operated by giant broadcaster Nexstar Media Group, and that Nexstar is playing a role in trying to secure higher rates for the stations.

“Despite DirecTV’s allegations, Nexstar is not a party to these negotiations and does not control any of these television stations,” Nexstar spokesman Gary Weitman said. ”These stations are owned by Mission Broadcasting, Inc., and White Knight Broadcasting, not Nexstar.” 

Also: Nexstar Stations Go Dark In Fee Dispute With Verizon Fios

Mission had no comment on DirecTV's request. “Mission has a long track record of negotiating fairly and avoiding service interruptions in our markets, and we don’t want viewers in our local markets to miss any college or NFL football, the World Series, World Cup, or the vitally important local news, sports, and weather coverage we deliver every day,” the company said in a statement a few days after the blackout began.

The White Knight stations went dark on DirecTV on October 7. The Mission stations went dark October 21.

“This is a critical time in American political life. We are less than two weeks from one of the most important Congressional midterm elections in American History, and gubernatorial elections in 36 states,” DirecTV said in a press release. ”The results of this midterm will have a profound impact on some of the most important political, public health and economic issues of our time.”

It is also an important time for political advertising.

DirecTV noted that during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mission and Nexstar were locked in a retransmission battle with Dish Network, but restored their signals to keep citizens informed about the health crisis.

“DirecTV now calls upon Mission and White Knight to return stations operated by Nexstar through the conclusion of the critical midterm elections while the parties continue to work privately toward a new agreement,” the release said. ■

The blackout of Nexstar Media Group stations in households served by Verizon Fios TV 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-consent agreement with Verizon Communications expired on Friday and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on an extension.

The dispute impacts 14 full-power Nexstar stations in 11 markets. S&P estimates Verizon serves about 22.3% of the 11.3 million TV households in the market.

Also blacked out is NewsNation, Nexstar’s cable news network.

Kagan also estimates that in the second quarter, the affected Nexstar stations averaged $4.19 a month per subscriber in fees. Those fees are expected to go up in a new agreement. If Nexstar gets $4.25 per month, it would generate $79.4 million in revenue annually.

Nexstar advertising revenue is also in jeopardy, with both the midterm elections and holiday-shopping period approaching.

Kagan estimated the affected stations would generate $316 million in ad revenue in 2022, with $70.5 million coming from the blacked-out homes. That’s $5.9 million a month.

It is harder to estimate what Verizon Fios has at risk. The pay TV business is already declining at a precipitous rate and it’s hard to tell, even during football season, how quickly subscribers will pull the plug and switch to another provider.

But once a pay TV distributor loses a subscriber, it’s difficult to get them back, which puts pressure on cable operators, satellite companies and telcos during retransmission disputes.

In contrast, station ad revenue usually returns to pre-blackout levels shortly after a new distribution agreement is reached. ■

Nexstar Media Group stations went dark in homes subscribing to Verizon Fios at midnight on Friday as the two companies’ retransmission-consent agreement expired without the sides being able to agree on an extension.

Nexstar said more than 3 million subscribers and 13 of its TV stations serving 10 markets are impacted. 

In addition to the stations, Verizon Fios subscribers are also losing Nexstar’s NewsNation cable news channel.

Both sides have been warning subscribers that a blackout was possible.

Also: Fox Reaches Agreement With Altice That Averts Blackout

“Verizon Fios is refusing to reach a new distribution agreement allowing the cable company the right to continue airing the highly-rated programming on Nexstar’s local stations,“ Nexstar said in a statement. “As a result, millions of Americans across the country have lost local news, traffic, weather, sports, and entertainment programming as well as critical, up-to-date news regarding the mid-term elections and possible hurricanes in the South and on the East Coast, as well as college and NFL football this weekend. 

“Nexstar has been negotiating tirelessly and in good faith in an attempt to reach a mutually agreeable multiyear contract with Verizon Fios, offering the same fair market rates it offered to other large distribution partners with whom it completed successful negotiations earlier this year,” the broadcaster said. “Nexstar routinely reaches amicable retransmission and carriage agreements with its cable, satellite, and telco partners — in the last three years alone, the company has  successfully completed agreements with more than 500 distribution partners.” 

Nexstar, the nation’s largest broadcaster, said it “remains hopeful” that a resolution can be reached quickly.

Markets affected by the blackout include New York; Philadelphia; Providence, Rhode Island; and Buffalo, New York. 

Tegna stations were blacked out for just under a week in a separate dispute with Verizon Fios in January.

Earlier this week, Verizon claimed that Nexstar was proposing a 64% rate increase and called that “unreasonable.”

Nexstar insisted it was simply seeking “fair-market rates” for the live sports, local news and entertainment programming it provides.

After the blackout, Verizon said that Nexstar declined an extension in order to continue negotiations, resulting in Fios customers losing channels.

“Unfortunately, Nexstar has a reputation for this type of practice with providers, which ultimately results in viewers losing out on their content,” Verizon said.

“We are disappointed that Nexstar was unwilling to enter into a fair agreement, leaving Verizon customers without access to programming that they value. It’s time for our leaders at the FCC and in Congress to protect consumers by holding them — and other broadcasters who frequently use this tactic — accountable. We will continue to work hard to put our customers first and come to a fair agreement with Nexstar on their behalf.”

The Federal Communications Commission requires broadcasters and cable operators to negotiate in good faith, but has been reluctant to step in at the behest of either side of such impasses when they claim the other side is guilty of bad faith.

Verizon said it “will continue to put customers first and is committed to coming to a fair agreement with Nexstar.” ■