Key Points
- Nexstar’s Board has extended the employment contract of founder Perry Sook through 2029.
- Sook will remain in his position of CEO as the company works through a proposed acquisition of TEGNA.
- Sook’s core annual salary is $3 million, with another $5 million in discretionary, performance-based bonuses.
Perry Sook will remain the Chairman and CEO of the company he founded for at least a few more years.
On Thursday, Nexstar Media Group’s Board of Directors approved a renewal of Sook’s employment contract through 2029, the company announced in a press release.
Sook founded Nexstar through an investment-backed partnership in 1996. One year later, the company closed on an acquisition of its first television station — WYOU (Channel 22) in Scranton, Pennsylvania — and gobbled up smaller TV stations over the next few years.
By the mid-2010s, it was well on a path to becoming the largest independent owner and operator of network-affiliated TV stations in the country. In 2019, it acquired Tribune Media (formerly Tribune Broadcasting), giving the Texas-based company an immense reach in the country’s largest TV markets, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Denver, Houston and (briefly) Seattle.
Today, Nexstar directly owns or has complete operational control over 200 local TV stations — it is hard to find a TV market that does not have at least one Nexstar station in it — and the company wants to grow even larger through a proposed $6 billion merger with TEGNA. Before it can, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must amend current ownership rules that restrict the reach of local TV station owners; Nexstar’s acquisition is a bet that, under the purview of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Trump administration, the agency will soon lift its ownership cap. (Nexstar has lobbied intensely in recent months on this point.)
“As we embark on this next phase of growth for Nexstar, I have never been more energized about the prospects for the industry, for Nexstar and for what Nexstar can become,” Sook said in a statement on Thursday. “I look forward to leading the company to new levels of success and continuing to create value for our shareholders, our advertisers, our employees and the communities we serve.”
Stock Price
Jay Grossman, the Chairman of Nexstar’s compensation committee, said the group was “delighted to extend Perry’s employment agreement at this pivotal moment for Nexstar and the local broadcast television industry.”
Perry’s vision, commitment and deep understanding of the media landscape have been instrumental in driving Nexstar’s strong and consistent record of operating execution, financial growth and shareholder returns,” Grossman remarked, adding that the proposed deal to acquire TEGNA “represents the next chapter in Nexstar’s growth story.”
“With Perry’s unmatched experience and track record of success in broadcast (mergers and acquisitions), he is uniquely qualified to deliver the full value we expect for shareholders, as well as the local communities we serve,” Grossman affirmed.
Sook’s annual salary is $3 million, with annual cash bonuses that eclipse $5 million, according to regulatory filings. Last year, he received 95 percent of discretionary bonus awards tied to the company’s revenue, cost-reduction programs and advocacy on various regulatory matters, including issues involving the next-generation broadcast standard NextGen TV, the filings said.
Nexstar will disclose its financial earnings for the third quarter (Q3) of the year in November.
