IPTV Programming Featured Article

Nexstar Broadcasting Group has entered into a six-year retransmission consent agreement with Wide Open West, (WOW!), a regional provider of high-speed Internet, cable and telephone services.

WOW! will now have the non-exclusive right to distribute Nexstar’s locally produced content, including market-leading local newscasts, and to carry the both the analog and digital (including high definition) signals of WTVW, Nexstar’s FOX affiliated station in Evansville, Indiana. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Perry A. Sook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Broadcasting Group said, “Our agreement with Wow! highlights the industry’s growing appreciation of the value of the carriage rights for locally produced content and leading national programming.”

Nexstar Broadcasting Group currently owns, operates, programs or provides sales and other services to 50 television stations in 29 markets in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and New York.

Nexstar’s television station group includes affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW and reaches approximately 8.25 percent of all U.S. television households.

Beginning in 2005, Nexstar led the television broadcast industry by negotiating retransmission agreements with approximately 150 cable operators as well as with both direct broadcast satellite providers, overbuilders (secondary cable providers) and wireless cable providers in its markets and recently, Nexstar established a multi-year retransmission agreement with Verizon to deliver content for its fast-growing fiber-optic powered FiOS (News - Alert) TV service.

Sook also said, “Our first round of retransmission consent agreements was concluded early in 2006 resulting in significant incremental revenue. In 2007 retransmission consent revenue grew by 25 percent to $17.2 million compared with 2006. With 47 percent of the revenue related to the initial agreements to be re-negotiated in 2008 and 80 percent of the revenue related to those agreements to be re-negotiated before year-end 2009, we expect substantial growth in retransmission revenue.”