Donald Trump’s Win Could Finally End TV Station Ownership Cap, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook Says; Washington Must “Preserve Local Journalism”
deadline.comReturning to an issue that local TV station owners have railed about for years, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said Donald Trump‘s election could help finally eliminate the cap on station ownership.
Under laws last updated two decades ago, before the streaming era, a single company cannot own stations with a combined reach to more than 39% of U.S.
households. Sook and other heads of station groups (Nexstar’s is the country’s biggest) have long insisted that the rules were designed for a linear world and do not take into account the rise of tech companies in the TV business. “We see the time being now,” the exec said during Nexstar’s third-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts. “We see it as a bipartisan issue.
Republicans would see it as deregulation, good for business. Democrats, and in fact all people, would see it as an avenue to preserve local journalism.” Sook noted that Nexstar has set up a government relations office in Washington and he himself has spent a considerable amount of time in the capital in recent months.
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