Nexstar Moves Some TV Business to Katz

Nexstar Broadcasting Group signed a long-term deal with national sales rep firm Katz Television Group, moving a large block of its TV business from co-owned Petry International and Blair Television rep firms.

The agreement covers ad-sales representation for 22 TV stations in 14 markets. The company owns or operates 50 stations in 29 markets, but Nexstar chairman Perry Sook said in announcing the change that the move met the "specific needs" of those 22 stations.

Sook said the company was impressed by Katz representation of WTAJ Johnstown-Altoona, Pa., which the company bought last year, and decided to move some of its business to Katz as a result.

The Nexstar stations are in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Erie, Pa.; Hagerstown, Md.; Rochester, N.Y.; Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, Ill.; St. Joseph, Mo., and Terre Haute, Ind.; Little Rock and Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Ark.; Evansville and Fort Wayne, Ind.; Peoria/Bloomington, Ill.; Shreveport, La.; and Springfield, Mo.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.