Nexstar Media Group has ordered most of its 160-plus local television stations to air segments during local newscasts that ultimately encourage viewers to contact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with demands for broadcast ownership deregulation.
The segments began airing last Wednesday on dozens of Nexstar-owned or controlled TV stations across the country, and continued running throughout the weekend and into Monday morning, according to an analysis of news broadcasts by The Desk.
The stories highlight efforts by the FCC and its Chairman, Brendan Carr, to introduce deregulation efforts over the coming months, and specifically an initiative called “Delete, Delete, Delete,” through which the agency intends to heavily modify or eliminate some of its more-onerous rules.
Broadcasters like Nexstar have long advocated for the FCC to lift or eliminate a restriction that limits the number of licensed TV stations its may own at one time — currently, broadcasters are not allowed to directly own a collection of TV stations that reach more than 39 percent of the American TV audience.
Most of the segments airing on Nexstar-owned stations do not include a mention of the FCC’s broadcast ownership rules, but they end with the mention of a weblink that resolves to a Nexstar-owned website that includes pre-written social media posts. Viewers have the choice between a short or long-form message, which, with the press of a button, instantly transmits a pre-written social media post that specifically tags the FCC with a demand that the agency “eliminate the regulations that are threatening the growth of my local TV station,” or they can launch a composer window to write their own message. (Nexstar is the largest independent owner of local TV stations in the country.)
The on-air segments are accompanied by online articles that include the website link. Dozens of Nexstar-owned news outlets have posted the article to their websites as of Monday morning, including:
- KDAF (Channel 33, CW) in Dallas-Fort Worth
- KLBK (Channel 13, CBS) in Lubbock, Texas
- KOIN (Channel 6, CBS) in Portland, Oregon
- KREX (Channel 5, CBS) in Grand Junction, Colorado
- KSWB (Channel 69, Fox) in San Diego
- KTXL (Channel 40, Fox) in Sacramento
- WCMH (Channel 4, NBC) in Columbus
- WDAF (Channel 4, Fox) in Kansas City
- WFLA (Channel 8, NBC) in Tampa Bay, Florida
- WFXR (Channel 27, Fox) in Roanoke, Virginia
- WGN-TV (Channel 9, CW) in Chicago
- WGHP (Channel 8, Fox) in Greensboro, North Carolina
- WSYR (Channel 9, ABC) in Syracuse, New York
- WYTV (Channel 33, ABC) in Youngstown, Ohio
At least one news director who spoke with The Desk on background last Friday characterized the segments as “must-runs” — news packages that parent company Nexstar are requiring local stations to air in their newscasts — with pre-produced scripts that include “talking points” anchors are supposed to reference, including directions on how to submit social media comments to the FCC.
Another news producer, who agreed to speak with The Desk on condition of anonymity, said they disagreed with the news packages, opining the packages were an attempt by Nexstar to influence the outcome of a regulatory matter through its local TV newscasts. The producer said stations are given some leeway in terms of where the segments may run during local newscasts, and their station chose to air it during their early morning broadcast, but not their prime-time or late night news, which attracts more viewers.
A spokesperson for Nexstar said the FCC’s deregulation efforts were a news story worth covering on its local TV stations.
“The FCC has asked for interested parties and the public to assist it in identifying regulations that should be updated or eliminated to address what Chairman Carr has called a ‘break-glass moment for America’s broadcasters,'” the spokesperson said in an email to The Desk. “That initiative is an important news story for local broadcasters, worthy of mention by the very newscasts and outlets that are under threat from the outdated regulations at issue.”
The segments started the same week that the commercial broadcasting industry’s largest lobbying arm, the National Association of Broadcasters, formally petitioned the FCC to eliminate ownership restrictions affecting TV and radio companies.
“Continued marketplace trends over the past seven years make clear there is simply no good reason to keep any artificial limits on TV station groups’ audience reach,” the NAB wrote in its letter. “With Google and Facebook gobbling up local advertising revenues and stations competing with unconstrained streaming platforms for viewers’ time and attention, the FCC must end this limitation and allow broadcasters to better serve the public interest.”
Broadcasters are assembling this week in Las Vegas for the NAB’s trade exposition, NAB Show, and the topic of broadcast ownership deregulation is expected to be one of many discussed at events there. Perry Sook, the CEO of Nexstar, opened the show with a keynote address early Monday morning.
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Editor’s note: This story was updated Monday afternoon with a statement from a Nexstar spokesperson.
Disclosure: The author of this article worked for KTXL from 2008 to 2010. The station was owned by Tribune Broadcasting, which later merged with Nexstar Media Group.
