Nexstar Media Group is asking the Federal Communications Commission to cancel its order that WPIX New York be divested by Mission Broadcasting, claiming that the agreements under which Nexstar runs the station for Mission are legal and approved by the commission.

Nexstar also wants a $1.2 million fine levied against it by the FCC canceled. Mission was also fined $612,395 as part of the commission’s Notice of Apparent Liability.

“Through the NAL, the Commission seeks to wield its enforcement authority in a myriad of improper ways,” Nexstar said in its response.

Nexstar said the FCC ignored its prior approval of WPIX’s arrangements with the station group, deviated from previous commission rulings and misapplied certain financial regulations.

Mission said it also filed a response to the FCC's action. The response was not made public.

In March, after complaints from Comcast and others, the FCC ruled that Nexstar had taken de facto control of WPIX in violation of the agency’s rules. It said that Nexstar both ran the station and received the economic gains from its operation.

Control of WPIX puts Nexstar over the limit for how much of the country its stations can reach. As a result, The FCC gave Mission 12 months to either sell the station to an independent party or to Nexstar. If it sells to Nexstar, the company must divest some of its other stations to get under the cap.

Nexstar acquired WPIX when it bought Tribune Broadcasting in 2020 and sold an option to buy the station to the E.W. Scripps Co. Mission later acquired the option and bought WPIX. Mission and Nexstar reached agreements enabling Nexstar to run and program the stations and sell its ad inventory.

In its response, Nexstar said the commission “argues that Nexstar violated the Communications Act by performing the express terms of agreements that the FCC previously reviewed and approved. It seeks to rewrite FCC rules without a notice-and-comment rulemaking proceeding.”

Nexstar charges the FCC with creating new regulatory requirements without prior notice or due process and applying “vague” standards. 

“After reaching these flawed legal conclusions, the Commission then decides, without any forewarning, that it has the authority to propose divestitures as part of an NAL, in addition to proposing an unprecedented forfeiture for a purported violation of the national ownership cap,” Nexstar said.

"The NAL is not only unfair in its treatment of Nexstar, Mission, and the community that WPIX serves (of whose interests the Commission takes no consideration), but also is unjust to the broadcast industry and the FCC-regulated community at large,” Nexstar added. 

“What the Commission tells its regulatees in the NAL is that they may take no comfort in their settled expectations based on approval, precedent and compliance with the rules, because the Commission may revoke such approval, ignore its precedent or change its rules without warning,” Nexstar said. 

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Mission Broadcasting to sell WPIX New York and fined Nexstar Media Group more than $1.2 million because Nexstar has taken de facto control of the station in violation of agency rules.

The agency also ordered Mission to pay a forfeiture of $612,395 for rules violations, the maximum allowed.

“We find that Mission and Nexstar have committed apparent willful and repeated violations,” the FCC said. 

Nexstar said it intends to dispute the ruling “vigorously.” Mission called the decision "unwarranted" and said it would also contest the ruling.

Nexstar, which has a financial interest in Mission, operates WPIX under a series of management agreements. The FCC said that because Nexstar programs the stations and collects its advertising and distribution revenue, it controls the station without approval. The arrangement also puts Nexstar over the 39% station ownership cap, which is why Nexstar opted to divest WPIX and WGN Chicago after buying Tribune Media in 2019.

Also Read: Judge Dismisses DirecTV Antitrust Suit Against Nexstar, Mission, White Knight

Mission has 12 months to either sell the station to an independent party or to Nexstar. If it sells to Nexstar, Nexstar must divest stations to get under the ownership cap, the FCC said.

“We are extremely disappointed in today’s action by the Federal Communication Commission regarding our relationship with WPIX-TV and we intend to dispute it vigorously,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook.

“We believe the FCC has been misled by the often distracting noise in the media ecosphere and that it has completely misjudged the facts,” Sook said.

Sook said Nexstar has complied with FCC regulations since Mission acquired WPIX in 2020. Nexstar divested WPIX after acquiring its parent company Tribune Broadcasting. Nexstar sold an option to buy the station to E.W. Scripps Co., and Mission later acquired the option.  

Mission is the licensee for 29 full-power TV stations in 26 markets, and all of the stations are operated by or in conjunction with Nexstar through various agreements. New York is the only market where Mission operates and Nexstar doesn't, the FCC said, and therefore can't claim to gain benefits from sharing some service functions.

“Nexstar believes that joint operating, shared service, and local marketing agreements like those in which it is engaged are vitally important to maintain a competitive media marketplace and to enable broadcasters to continue investing in local news, investigative journalism, and other services that they uniquely provide to the communities in which they are located,” Sook said.

Dennis Thatcher, president of Mission Broadcasting, released a statement saying that the company has a near 28-year track record of owning TV stations with an unblemished record.

"We have prided ourselves on conducting our business in an open and transparent manner with the Federal Communications Commission and other governmental agencies. Mission was granted the license for WPIX-TV by a full vote of the F.C.C. in December 2020," Thatcher said. "We believe that this attempt at 'revisionist history' by this F.C.C. is unwarranted and we plan to contest this ruling to the full extent the law allows.”

Comcast urged the FCC to looking into Nexstar violating the ownership cap in 2021.

“After a thorough examination, the FCC found that Nexstar is in clear violation of FCC rules and orders, and controls WPIX," Comcast said Thursday. "We’d like to thank the Commission for correctly attributing the ownership of WPIX to Nexstar and ending the fiction that the station was ever independent once Mission became its licensee."

The FCC determined that "the Parties’ actions before, during, and after Mission’s acquisition of WPIX (the Acquisition) apparently resulted in Nexstar taking de facto control of WPIX, resulting in Nexstar and Mission violating section 310(d) of the Act through an unauthorized transfer of control. In addition, Nexstar apparently violated the ownership restrictions in section 73.3555(e) of the Rules by obtaining undisclosed cognizable attributable interests in WPIX without Commission authorization."

Commissioner Brendan Carr, in a concurring statement, noted that the FCC apparently uncovered information about Nexstar and Mission that wasn't known when the agency approved of Mission's buying WPIX. “Those FCC allegations will require careful review,” Carr said. “But it is concerning to me that the FCC cites as evidence of control those features of the relationship that the FCC previously signed off on. We need to be careful that we do not undermine reasonable reliance on prior FCC decisions.”

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. 

Nelson Figueroa, who pitched for the New York Mets and other Major League Baseball teams, has joined the WPIX New York on-air team as sports anchor and reporter. Marc Malusis is the station’s sports anchor, and Malusis and Figueroa will host New York Sports Nation Nightly, a weekday 7 p.m. show that launches May 15. 

Figueroa started at WPIX April 25. 

Besides the daily show, Figueroa will offer his perspective on the big sports stories of the day, and not just baseball. “I’ve listened to Nelson share his experience on playing, and have always found him super engaging and super honest,” said Nicole Tindiglia, WPIX news director. “That honesty is really important when talking about sports in New York.”

Sports Nation debuted on WPIX as a weekly show, airing 11 p.m. Sundays, in 2021, and Figueroa has appeared on it. It goes nightly next month. 

“I’m really excited to have Marc Malusis, a well-known opinion maker in New York, sit with Nelson, a former Met and excellent New York athlete,” said Tindiglia. 

Figueroa grew up in Brooklyn, and mentioned watching PIX11 “every day, after school.” His MLB career began in 2000 and ended in 2011. He played for the Mets in 2008 and 2009, and also spent time with the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Brewers, Pirates, Blue Jays and Astros. 

After his playing career, Figueroa spent four years at the local sports cable network SNY, and also worked at MLB Network. He co-hosts a Mets podcast, Amazin’ But True, that is part of the New York Post. 

Mission Broadcasting owns PIX11 and Nexstar Media Group manages the station.

With more attention paid to the human beings inside the star athletes’ uniforms, including the mental-health issues elite athletes often deal with, Figueroa said he can relate to pro players in a manner that most sports reporters perhaps cannot. Having played pro ball, he said, “helps me immensely” in the new role. 

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.”

Arnold Diaz, investigative reporter at WPIX New York, has retired. Diaz has been on TV for 50 years. His investigative franchise on WPIX is called “What a Shame!” and “regularly exposes wrongdoing and incompetence by private industry and government agencies, and often leads to actions by law enforcement officials, as well as the enactment of legislation.”

On PIX11.com, Diaz said “What a Shame!” “gave voice to victims.”

Diaz announced his retirement on air March 29.

“Congratulations to the legendary Arnold Diaz on fifty years of incredible service to New Yorkers as a fixture on our televisions, delivering hard-hitting journalism that got results for so many,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Twitter. “Enjoy a well-deserved retirement!”

Nexstar owns WPIX.

Born in Brooklyn, Diaz worked as a reporter for WNYW New York from 2006 to 2014, where his segments were called “Shame on You.”

He had two stints at WCBS New York, which he rejoined in 2003 as an investigative/consumer reporter. Before that, Diaz was on ABC News program 20/20 from 1995 to 2003. ■

The nation’s largest DMA, and almost certainly its busiest, is getting back up to speed after the pandemic had New Yorkers shut in. Broadway’s theaters are open, tourists are flocking to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and offices are reopening. While everyone awaits the next phase of COVID-19, the streets are getting crowded. 

New York news gatherers welcome the revivification. “There’s always something happening in New York,” WNBC VP of news Amy Morris said, “and there’s a New York connection to any story in the nation.”

Disney’s ABC Owned Television Stations holds WABC. CBS Stations has WCBS-WLNY. NBCUniversal Local owns WNBC and Telemundo station WNJU. Fox has WNYW and MyNetworkTV station WWOR. Mission Broadcasting owns The CW affiliate WPIX and Nexstar Media Group operates it. Univision has WXTV. 

Spectrum News NY1, which turns 30 next fall, is owned by the cable operator. In November, NY1 launched weekday newscast News All Day in the noon slot, anchored by Ruschell Boone, with News All Day updates at the top and bottom of the hour through 4 p.m. 

Besides Spectrum, Optimum and Verizon Fios TV are other pay TV options. 

ABC7 Leads the Way

WABC, known locally as ABC7, is the team to beat. With an Eyewitness News brand, the station won the 6 a.m. race in November. WABC won 5 and 6 p.m. in households and viewers 25-54, and scored a 3.8 in 11 p.m. households and a 1.5 in 25-54. WCBS got a 2.9 and 0.8 at 11, WNBC a 2.3/0.9, WXTV a 1.7/1.1 and WNJU a 1.6/0.9. WNYW and WPIX have news at 10 to 11 p.m. 

Chad Matthews, who was WABC news director, was named president and general manager in February, with Debra OConnell moving up to president of networks for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. Rehan Aslam came on as WABC VP of news in April. 

Matthews is off to a strong start. In June, WABC pulled off an in-person mayoral debate. The plan was for a virtual debate amidst COVID concerns, and the call to go in person came about a week before the eight-candidate event. “The team did a really, really great job,” said Matthews. 

As with all the ABC-owned stations, WABC features a data journalism team to give stories extra heft, and a race and culture reporter finds neighborhood stories a general assignment reporter may miss. 

“WABC just looks and feels like our market, more than our competitors,” Matthews said. “I think our viewers see that as well.”

WNBC launched a 7 p.m. news in June [see sidebar].”I don’t think anybody is doing a truly local anything at 7 p.m., even on the cable side,” said Eric Lerner, WNBC president and general manager. “We saw an opportunity.”

In April, WNBC debuted a 10-minute weekday OTT newscast called News 4 Now. Views exploded when the Gabby Petito case took off in September, according to Benjamin Berkowitz, VP, digital, WNBC and WNJU. It’s for viewers “who want to engage with our brands, but they don’t have 30 minutes to sit on the couch at 6 o’clock,” he said. 

WNJU (Telemundo 47) offers early morning, midday, early evening and late news. Cristina Schwarz, president and general manager, said the station appears to be set for news, but non-linear product launches may be coming.

Fox 5 Makes People Moves

Over at WNYW, known as Fox 5, Bianca Peters shifted from Good Day Wake Up to Good Day New York, airing 7 to 10 a.m., November 1, alongside Rosanna Scotto. “She played herself into that position,” said Lew Leone, WNYW-WWOR senior VP and general manager. “When you hire someone from outside, you never really know if there’s chemistry.”

Lori Stokes left the morning show to anchor evenings and 10 p.m. in June, when Dari Alexander departed. Dan Bowens slid in as Good Day Wake Up anchor.

WNYW launched The Vault, a digital initiative that offers historic news videos on demand. Byron Harmon, VP of news, referred to it as “a Netflix of news.”

Last month, Morgan McKay joined WNYW from NY1 to cover politics. “No one produces the amount of content or the varied amount of content that we do,” said Harmon.  

Johnny Green Jr. was named president and general manager of WCBS-WLNY in July, succeeding Peter Dunn, who was also president of CBS Television Stations. Green had been WCBS interim news director and VP of news services at CBS News. He noted that CBS2 now has a general manager focused only on the station, not the group. “We’re targeting more coverage and wider communities that we may not have touched before,” he said. “It’s time to give certain issues that are more important more time.”

Sarah Burke came on as WCBS VP and news director in late September, joining from WLS Chicago. WCBS is looking to hire a producer the group calls executive producer, Impacting Communities in early 2022. 

The station occasionally dedicates the 5:30 p.m. news to a lone topic. Mental health and suicide prevention took over the newscast one day in July. “It didn’t feel like it needed to be cut down,” Green said. “We ran it in its entirety.”

Social justice and COVID also got dedicated 5:30 newscasts. 

WXTV (Univision 41) offers morning, midday, early evening and late news on weekdays, and 6 and 11 p.m. on weekends. Univision New York president/general manager Roberto Yanez oversees two TV stations and three radio stations. “We’re providing news around the clock,” he said. “We’re on TV, we’re on radio, we’re on digital.”

In April, WXTV announced Sabados Con Los New York Giants, hosted by former Giant Victor Cruz and WXTV’s Damaris Diaz. The weekly show is designed to bring  football — “not fútbol,” or soccer, said Yanez — to Hispanic viewers who may not follow the game. 

“It has been very well-received by our community,” he added. 

New York stations are hustling to get ahead in the busy market. WNBC and WNJU are moving in together. WNBC is in Rockefeller Center and WNJU in Fort Lee, New Jersey. They will share the second floor of 30 Rockefeller Center starting in fall 2023, with the massive workspace extending from 49th Street to 50th Street.

It represents the final duopoly in the NBC group to co-locate. “We are excited about the collaboration that will happen between departments and department heads,” said Schwarz, who noted that WNJU will maintain a presence in New Jersey. “I’m excited to be next to Eric every day.” 

Lerner mentioned a “gorgeous, state-of-the-art, open news operation. It’s two television stations coming together in a way that we’ve never been able to before. Both stations really deserve a new home.” 

Business Is Reviving

General managers said business is picking up as New York gets back on its feet. Vaccination spots are all over the air. “It’s been a huge source of revenue for the marketplace,” said Leone, who added that sports gambling is also boosting revenue. 

New York attracts the finest news gatherers in America, and it makes for a hot news scene. “All the stations in town have really strong journalists,” said Morris, “and do strong journalism.”

Johnny Green’s newsroom days are behind him, but he still sees things from a news perspective on occasion. For reporters anywhere, “there’s always the element of something new every day,” he said. In New York, “that something new every day may just be down the street.” ■

Every regulated industry wants just one thing from its regulators, a fair advantage over its competitors. This certainly seems to be playing out between industry titans Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. and Nexstar Media, Inc., and their fight over millions of dollars of retransmission fees in New York City. 

On July 1, 2021, Comcast hit first when it filed a Declaratory Ruling petition with the FCC. Comcast wants the FCC to rule that Nexstar, which has a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission Broadcasting, Inc., the owner of WPIX-TV New York, should be attributed with ownership of WPIX and thus its holdings exceed the 39% national audience cap of the FCC’s multiple ownership rules. Comcast argues this outcome is needed because Nexstar either has de facto control over WPIX or exercises excess “influence” over the station. 

Adding punch to its request, Comcast further asserts that Nexstar violated its promise to the FCC during the 2019 Nexstar-Tribune merger. During the merger, Nexstar represented that it would divest WPIX, owned by Tribune, to stay under the national ownership cap, and that it would not provide any LMA services for the station post-transaction. After the Nexstar-Tribune merger closed, however, Nexstar nevertheless retained an option to repurchase WPIX after divesting it to Scripps. Presumably this was done in case the national ownership cap was increased by the FCC or Nexstar divested other stations allowing it to acquire WPIX. When this didn’t happen, Nexstar assigned its option to Mission, which then exercised the option to buy WPIX, and then entered into an LMA with Nexstar. That assignment included copies of the Nexstar-Mission LMA and following public notice was approved by the FCC without any opposition by Comcast or any other cable company.

Things hit the fan when Nexstar, which does not own a television station in the NYC DMA and is thus otherwise allowed to negotiate retransmission carriage terms for third-party stations like WPIX, moved to increase the fees Comcast would have to pay to carry WPIX’s programming. Rather than claim WPIX-Nexstar violated the good faith negotiation requirements under the FCC’s rules, which obligates cable systems and television stations to properly negotiate the terms of carriage, Comcast instead went for the jugular and asserts Nexstar’s spinoff of WPIX was a sham and challenged Nexstar’s basic qualifications as a licensee.

For its part, on July 13, 2021, Nexstar sued Comcast in NY state court claiming breach of contract. The suit explains that cable operators sell television programming to subscribers in exchange for monthly subscription fees. Many of these programs are the retransmitted signals of local broadcast channels which cable operators carry pursuant to negotiated “retransmission consent agreements” (RCA). In early 2020, Nexstar and Comcast completed a RCA which set the fees that Comcast would pay for retransmitting the signals of approximately 171 different stations through Dec. 15, 2022.

A term of the Comcast-Nexstar RCA included an “Additional Stations” provision, which, according to Nexstar, delineated the circumstances under which additional stations would become governed by the Comcast-Nexstar RCA, including some stations with which Nexstar had, or may subsequently acquire, an LMA. The suit further asserts that language in the RCA confirms the inclusion of WPIX and the fees that would be paid for carriage if Nexstar entered into an LMA with the station. That happened at the end of 2020, when WPIX was sold to Mission, and Nexstar entered into its LMA with Mission to provide programming and other support services. The transaction was subsequently approved by the FCC without any objections from Comcast. 

The suit also maintains that rather than engaging in any meaningful negotiations or discussions with Nexstar to resolve their dispute, “Comcast instead filed a surprise petition with the FCC demanding that the agency overturn its prior approval of the WPIX LMA and rewrite well established retransmission consent rules [and] disseminated [its] petition to the press in a cynical attempt to cast Nexstar in a negative light.”

It will undoubtedly take the FCC and the NY court some months (or longer) to sort this all out. In the meantime, the atmosphere for retransmission negotiations will undoubtedly remain red hot. This should be no surprise, of course, considering that industry wide the retransmission negotiations stakes involve hundreds of millions of dollars. It may also explain why the FCC is being brought in to the equation, big players in the regulated industry are just seeking some “fair” advantage over their competitors. Time will tell.

Ofelia Castiblanco was promoted to station manager and community affairs director, a new post at WPIX-TV, New York, which was acquired by Mission Broadcasting on Dec. 30.

Mission has also entered into a time brokerage agreement with Nexstar Media, which had an option to buy WPIX and sold that option to Mission.

Castiblanco joined WPIX as community affairs director in January 2020 after serving as director of community affairs for NBCU’s WNBC-TV and WNJU-TV in New York. In between, she was director of external affairs for Hope Community, an East Harlem non-profit.

Also Read: Mission Closes Purchase of WPIX From E.W. Scripps

“Ofelia Castiblanco has devoted her entire career to helping those in need. Her passion and commitment to the people of the greater New York area makes her an ideal person to represent the interests of Mission Broadcasting,” said Dennis Thatcher, president of Mission Broadcasting. 

Castiblanco served as director, community affairs at WNBC and WNJU from 2019 to 2016. Before that, she spent three years as manager of station relations for the stations.

“I am honored to be chosen for this leadership role for this growing television group,” Catiblanco said. “The fact that our majority shareholder is a woman is of particular  significance to me. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues at PIX 11 to tell the stories impacting our communities.”

Nancie J. Smith is chairwoman of Mission Broadcasting, which owns 30 TV stations.

Mission acquired WPIX from the E.W. Scripps Co. Scripps bought the station from Nexstar, which retained an option to acquire the station and sold that option to Scripps. Before Nexstar, it was owned by Tribune Broadcasting.

Two months after being purchased by cable veteran Rocco Commisso, the New York Cosmos have secured a regional TV deal for their spring games, which will be shown on New York independent station WPIX and MSG Networks.

The club’s NASL home opener against Miami FC at MCU Park on April 1 will be broadcast on Tribune Media’s flagship New York station, WPIX, Channel 11. According to the team, the game marks the first time the Cosmos will play live on broadcast television in over 30 years.  

MSG Networks will kick off their Cosmos coverage on April 8, with a match against Miami FC at FIU Stadium in Miami.  MSG Networks will carry a total of 13 of the club’s games during the spring season.

RELATED: U.K.-based Eleven Sports buys One World Sports assets

"Television is a critically important piece to building and sustaining a successful professional sports brand,” said Cosmos’ Chief Operating Officer Erik Stover in a statement. “With WPIX and MSG, we have found two exceptional partners to help bring the fun and excitement of Cosmos’ games to millions of homes in the New York metropolitan area.”

In addition to the regional coverage on WPIX and MSG Networks, a number of Cosmos games will be available through the national television deal expected to be announced by the NASL before the spring season starts later in March.  The Cosmos local television schedule for the fall season will be announced later in the year.  

Cosmos games had originally been shown on pay TV network One World Sports – its former owner was a partner in the firm that owns the network. One World Sports has fallen on hard times recently, but is expected to announce a deal with U.K. sports network Eleven Sports later in the week.

Commisso, the founder, chairman and CEO of Mediacom Communications, agreed to purchase the Cosmos in January. Since buying the team, Commisso has managed to secure its leadership, pay back wages to players and front office personnel and find a new home for the club – Brooklyn’s MCU Park. He had said in the past that striking a TV deal was on the agenda, but was a lower priority. With those major hurdles cleared, the time was ripe to strike a TV agreement.

"MSG Networks is proud to be the regional home of Cosmos soccer,” said MSG Network’s Vice President of Content Distribution and Affiliate Partnerships Armando Polanco in a statement. "It's a new era for the legendary American club and we are excited to watch the Cosmos defend their NASL title."