Cable One is responsible for turning the battle for retransmission rights into a public spectacle.
At least that's where Nexstar CEO Perry Sook placed the blame during the company's first quarter news conference Wednesday. "The cable companies issued the first press release," Sook said.
Sook continued his claim that February Nielsen ratings were favorable for Nexstar's stations in Joplin, KODE and KSNF, as well as in other markets in which retransmission battles are being waged.
He said ratings are up for KODE and the ratings for the 10 p.m. news at KSNF have also improved. People are still finding their way to the stations despite their removal from the cable systems, he said, citing antennas and "we continue to be a boon to Dish Network and to a lesser degree DirectTV.
Cable One, in an article in Multichannel News, disputed Sook's claims about the Nielsen ratings. saying that Nexstar's ratings in Joplin were down in February.
Initially, Sook said, some advertisers stopped placing ads with the Nexstar stations in Joplin. "We did see cancellations and advertisers that stayed away in the first quarter." Sook says those advertisers are coming back and the stations are picking up new ones.