Uncle Perry Went Up The Hill to Fetch a New Website

There was a time when Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said that his company was all about being local and that was the most important thing.

But, that was before Sook launched a national cable news channel and bought a national website.

Nexstar plunked down $130 million bucks to buy the political website The Hill.

Nexstar’s COO Tom Carter said in a statement about buying the website, “The Hill has a nationally recognized brand known for delivering balanced political reporting, as well as authentic opinions and perspectives, and is highly complementary to Nexstar’s national cable news network, NewsNation.”

It appears that Nexstar is hoping The Hill can help prop up News Nation, which has stumbled hard out of the blocks.

In an email to the Nexstar staff, it said that the company sees “tremendous synergies” between The Hill and NewsNation, as well as its local TV news stations.

I’m not sure what The Hill can really add to local TV stations, but okay.

The one thing that Perry Sook does understand is that digital is important and it will continue to play a bigger role in the survival of TV stations. I’m still not sure that Sook or Nexstar have come even close to making the local TV stations’ websites a destination. As long as they continue to use the cookie-cutter approach that is implemented at all the local TV stations, I don’t think they will come close to their potential.

Maybe, some of those running The Hill can help in that area.

FTVLive has worked with and has a number of contacts over at The Hill.

We hope their future remains bright.

It will be interesting watching what happens.

Also, if Uncle Perry is looking to buy FTVLive, we are certainly open to discussion. Although, it will cost a lot more than $130 million bucks.

Just saying….