The battle over retransmission rights was front and center during Nexstar Broadcasting CEO's presentation at the Wachovia Securities Media and Comcast Conference at the Palace Hotel in New York City April 12.
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook indicated he has Cable One on the run in the Joplin area...an area he treated with disrespect during his presentation. "If you are moving to Joplin, Missouri, tomorrow...not that I would advocate that per se," he said as the investors in the audience chuckled, "you have Cable One and Dish Network."
Even discounting that Dish Network offers lower prices, Sook said, "Dish Network offers the NBC and ABC affiliates. Cable One doesn't. Cable One has decidedly inferior properties."
Cable One has lost 20 percent of its subscribers since Nexstar pulled KSNF and KODE off its system, Sook said.
That number could be more, he added, if Ed Christian, owner of Saga Communications, which has the other two local stations, CBS affiliate KOAM and Fox affiliate KFJX in the Joplin market, would also join the battle to be paid for retransmission rights. If that happened, Sook said, "Cable One would have no local news."
So far, neither Christian nor any other broadcaster has joined Nexstar's lonely battle, but that will change, Sook said, adding that he had a couple of dozen broadcasters who have expressed support for him.
"We think others will join this fight."
Sook said that discussions are ongoing with Cox Communications and Cable One but there is "no resolution yet in sight." Responding to a question from the audience, he said the cable companies have offered to place more advertising on the broadcast stations and better placement on the cable's list.
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The February Nielsen ratings, which were printed earlier in The Turner Report, were seen as a positive sign by Nexstar Broadcasting, CEO Perry Sook told investors at the Wachavia Conference Wednesday.
The ratings were not down for KODE and KSNF and stations in other markets where Nexstar removed its stations from cable systems, Sook said. "We had good news in our ratings books," adding that people will find a way to watch the local stations even if they are not carried on the cable systems.
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A major battle may be shaping up in Springfield at the end of the year with Nexstar's FOX station KSFX and Mission Broadcasting's CBS affiliate KOLR pitted against cable companies in that market, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said to investors at the Wachavia Conference.
Sook said the market is almost equally divided between cable and satellite companies. "Why give it (broadcast signals) away for free to one half (cable) when the other half is paying for it. We will attempt to push people over to a service that is sharing value for us."