CBS and Nexstar Reach New Affiliation Agreement

CBS Television Network and Nexstar Broadcasting Group said they signed a new long-term affiliation agreement.

The deal covers four stations owned by Nexstar. Nexstar said Mission Broadcasting reached a new deal with CBS for WYOU-TV in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., which is managed by Nexstar.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Nexstar has been aggressively pushing for increased retransmission payments from cable and satellite distributors, and CBS has been claiming a bigger piece of that revenue through programming fees continued in its affiliate agreements.

"We recognize the value that the strong slate of CBS programming brings to our stations," said Perry Sook, CEO of Nexstar. He said CBS' hit programming is a complement to "the high quality local news and other exclusive local content produced by Nexstar and [allows] us to deliver great entertainment and information to viewers and an excellent platform for marketing solutions for local and national advertisers."

The Nexstar CBS affiliates covered by the new agreement are KGPE-TV, Fresno, Calif.; KREX-TV, Grand Junction, Colo.; KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, Nev.; and WTAJ-TV, Altoona, Pa.

"We are very pleased to extend our affiliation with Nexstar and Mission in five key markets and happy they recognize the value our programming brings to their business," said Ray Hopkins, president of network distribution for the CBS Television Network. "Nexstar has a proven record of providing local viewers with high-quality programming and strong community support and we look forward to reaching these audiences and continuing our long-time collaboration with Perry and his local teams for years to come."

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.