Uncle Perry Presses the Flesh in DC
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Nexstar CEO Perry Sook is in DC, hoping to suck up to the right people to get the FCC and DOJ to sign off on Nexstar’s deal to buy Tegna.
Nexstar will need relief from the cap and approval from antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department before the deal can close. Sook said he remains “highly confident that we’re going to get to the finish line with this transaction.”
Sook spoke to Policyband about his DC visit.
Q: You’re visiting here in Washington, D.C. How long are you here for, and what are you doing?
Sook: Sure. Well, as you well know, we have a transaction pending before both the DOJ and the FCC, so we’re in town to meet with folks connected to that transaction, both on the Hill and at the regulatory agencies, if and when appropriate.
So I’ve been spending a lot of time here just answering questions, advocating for our transaction, talking about why we believe it to be in the public interest and to make sure that we continue to push forward here as we go through the regulatory process.
Q: Can you say who you’re seeing and disclose some of the nitty gritty?
Sook: Well, we’re seeing folks on the Hill, and we’ll continue to see folks on the Hill.
Q: Energy and Commerce, Judiciary – Can you break it down in terms of committees?
Sook: I don’t think we would be name specific but it’s any committees with oversight that could potentially ... weigh in on the transaction. And I think we meet with folks that are on those committees, and certainly folks in leadership with those committees.
And so I think this is my 10th or 11th day in D.C., in the last six months, and so, these meetings are fairly routine, but as one committee member suggested to me, ‘Don’t file your paperwork and go away. Continue to advocate on behalf of your transaction,’ and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Q: Have you been to the Justice Department on this trip?
Sook: Uh, no.
Q: Are you going over to the FCC?
Sook: Probably not, given the pendency of the hearing on Wednesday.
Q: How did you interpret President Trump’s comments on the changes to the 39% cap? Didn’t he seem more concerned about Big Four network power than TV station consolidation? He did not reference Nexstar-TEGNA. for example.
Sook: I think that’s absolutely correct. I think he and I would share the concern of the legacy media acquiring additional television stations in the marketplace. First of all, if they were to do that, we would have no reason to exist, right? Because the stations they would be buying would be from owners and operators like myself and others.
But I think if you look at the folks that have been buying TV stations over the last decade, certainly Nexstar, [and] I think other companies like Sinclair, have ... pending transactions and Gray [Media]. And so, you know, the folks that have invested in this business are the ones that want to invest more in this business.
