Nexstar's Sean Compton on NewsNation's growth trajectory

🎥 Mar 29, 2022 📺 TVNewsCheck ⏱ 1m 👁 88 views

About Sean Compton

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.

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Transcript (1 segments)

Sean Compton0:00

It is doing exactly as it was intended to do. We took a cable network that is 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, in having bureaus all over the country. And so when we looked at—we don't own a studio, not going to 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. Clearly, we modeled this knowing that it was going to take a while. All of them have—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. So we are at a great place, and we have plenty of runway because we are the only cable news channel to launch with a profit. Perry has said that we are profitable, so it's going exactly as we designed it to go.