Nexstar chief Perry Sook is certainly not one to back down from a fight–and has been known to initiate one here and there, especially when it comes to retrans. But he seemed particularly cantankerous when the topic of reverse comp came up at the UBS Global Media Conference in New York yesterday.
Sook was quite pleased to talk about KBTV, in Beaumont, TX, switching from an NBC to a Fox at the beginning of the new year. He said a Fox affiliation was a good fit for the market, which doesn’t have a full-power Fox station. He also suggested that NBC prompting Nexstar for reverse comp figured heavily into the decision to switch affiliations. "NBC asked for it in Beaumont…," he said. "If you want me to pay, you have to give me value in return."
Sook also said he’d consider affiliation switches in other markets where Nexstar has a station.
