Nexstar Media Group’s president of broadcasting Timothy C. Busch will step down and retire later this year, the company announced in a press release on Friday.
Busch has spent much of his 36-year career at Nexstar and will go out with the company existing as the largest operator of local broadcast stations in the United States.
“Tim and I have worked collaboratively for over 20 years and I’m grateful for his leadership, expertise and friendship,” Perry Sook, Nexstar’s founder, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “Tim has been instrumental in building the foundation for what Nexstar has become and the values that we have established in terms of our commitment to our team members and the local communities where we operate.”
Sook has good reason to be sentimental: Busch has helped solidify several mega-mergers that helped Nexstar become the powerhouse that it is today, a factor that was not lost on the executive in his own statement on the forthcoming retirement.
“Throughout my years at Nexstar, I have been fortunate to work directly with Perry Sook and Nexstar’s talented team which has re-shaped the industry, delivered great service to the viewers and users of our content and delivered compelling marketing solutions for companies of all sizes,” Busch said. “In addition to building America’s largest local media company, I am proud of our countless accomplishments over the past two decades.”
Busch began his broadcast career in the radio space, working in sales and management positions at WGR (550 AM) in Buffalo, New York before joining the community’s NBC affiliate WGRZ (Channel 2). He moved to Nexstar in 2000, becoming general manager of CBS affiliate WROC (Channel 8) in Rochester, then quickly ascending the ranks.
During his tenure at Nexstar, the company grew by leaps and bounds through a series of acquisitions and mergers. Its latest with Tribune Media created the largest local broadcast television empire in America.
