President of Networks Division, Nexstar Media
Search every verified Sean Compton interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Sean Compton, President of the Networks Division at Nexstar Media, has been discussing the company's programming strategy, including the launch of the docuseries "100 Days to Indy" on The CW. Compton described the series as a partnership with Vice and IndyCar, noting that it will air as six hour-long episodes on The CW, a broadcast network he emphasized is available without a subscription. He also mentioned a companion one-hour documentary about the Indianapolis 500 that may air on The CW or NewsNation. Compton expressed personal enthusiasm for the project, stating that it combines business interests with his passion for the event. Regarding NewsNation, Compton has outlined the network's growth trajectory, stating that it launched with a profit and is expanding its live programming hours. He attributed the network's focus on news to Nexstar's strength in local news reporting and its lack of a studio or sports rights. Compton said the network aims to provide "good honest reporting" without political skew, citing its Ukraine coverage as an example of building credibility. He noted that the network's marketing campaign, which includes television and outdoor advertising, was delayed in the first quarter of 2022 due to sports and Olympic programming.
“I'm really excited about getting winter over with so we can get in the spring and get our TV show on the air.”
“You need to watch the pre-race because it is one moment in time — 350,000 people take their hats off for the 21-gun salute; there's no politics, no protesting, it's just a patriotic day where Americans come together.”
“I'm excited about the series that we're airing on CW — The 100 Days to Indy — with our Vice partnership because it's going to showcase the drivers and it'll be interesting to see how that translates to the races and the big race.”
“We were just buying the CW Network when we started talking to them and now own it, and it's just a perfect outlet because it's available in all homes; Vice also is a great partner because they're good producers, demo-friendly, and they have international distribution so it'll air worldwide.”
“For me it's about generating interest and ad dollars for my business and for them — they have a business to operate — but when you can mix that with the passion it makes it so much better.”
“We're doing a one-hour documentary that'll air either on the CW or on NewsNation — I'm fascinated by what it takes to put on the world's largest one-day event.”
“Each episode is an hour so it's going to be 44 minutes in run time — a half hour is probably a little too short when you only have six episodes, so I think it's timed out right.”
“Everyone listening to this has access to the CW — it's a broadcast network available in all homes; you don't have to have a subscription to get it.”
“The CW also has an app (cw.com) and we'll make the episodes available on there — if you miss the broadcast you can go to the app and watch it on your phone or on smart TVs.”
“Normally it's a partnership where we give creative notes, Vice will make some tweaks, IndyCar is very involved — it's their franchise — I think we let them do it, and there's not going to be much time for edits so we'll probably all agree on a format.”
“We took a cable network that's a standalone for this company and when you make business decisions because it is a business, you make decisions based on strengths and weaknesses that you have. Our strength is in local news reporting, is in having bureaus all over the country.”
“We don't own a studio, not gonna get sports rights, so what do we do with this great channel and this amazing distribution platform? It made sense to go where we have our greatest strength and that's with news.”
“We modeled this knowing that it was going to take a while. All of them have, you know, Fox was not number one overnight, it took several years. CNN took many years; it wasn't until Baby Jessica fell down the well that many people even discovered CNN, and that was five or six years in.”
“We are at a great place and we have plenty of runway because we're the only cable news channel to launch with a profit. Perry has said that we are profitable, and so it's going exactly as we designed it to go.”
“At the end of the day it's gonna be a couple things: we're doing outdoor, we're doing a little bit of radio — not much — and we're doing a lot of television because we obviously believe in television.”
As we wrap up 2022, join us in discussing the new IndyCar Docuseries “100 Days to Indy” with Nexstar President, Sean Compton.
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