NEW YORK – TVB, a not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry, announced today that Perry A. Sook, founder, chairman president and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, was elected to serve as TVB chairman for a two-year term (2017-18). A member of TVB’s board of directors since 2000, Sook assumes the chairman’s position previously held by Michael J. Fiorile, vice chairman and CEO of Dispatch Broadcast Group, who completed his two-year term at 2016 year-end.
“I’m honored to follow Michael Fiorile’s tremendous leadership by assuming the role of TVB chairman as we continue to extend our work on important initiatives that will benefit the local broadcast television industry and our over 800 member stations, ” Sook said. “As the most trusted medium among viewers with the greatest influence on consumer purchasing and voting decisions, local broadcast television continues to be the leading marketing platform for brand managers, advertisers and political campaigns to reach target audiences. A critical part of our mission at TVB is enhancing our members’ local sales efforts with tools, data and services that best leverage the unrivaled reach, influence and engagement our professionally-produced local news and content delivers across all screens and devices.
“My career has been devoted to advocating for the local broadcast television industry and the essential services we provide to local communities across the United States and my chairmanship comes at a time of great opportunity for our industry. As a TVB board member for the past 16 years, my colleagues across station groups have established a unified voice for the value of our local programming and content, while helping member stations grow their businesses and more effectively compete in the ever-changing media landscape.
“As chairman I look forward to further strengthening the influence and advocacy of TVB; to working with the board of directors and CEO Steve Lanzano to expand TVB’s initiatives to drive local sales in key verticals for member stations; to collaborating with our industry partners to set accurate measurement and currency standards; to reinforcing the power of our platform in reaching voters and influencing election outcomes; and to expanding the thought leadership at our annual Forward Conference.”
Perry Sook has over 36 years of professional experience in the broadcasting industry, covering all facets of the business. He founded Nexstar in 1996 with one local television station in Scranton, PA and began building the foundation of what is today one of the world’s leading local diversified media companies. Upon closing of its acquisition of Media General, Nexstar will be the second largest local broadcast television operator in the United States with 171 stations reaching 100 markets, or approximately 39 percent of all television households.
As one of the nation’s leading providers of local news, entertainment, sports, lifestyle and network programming, Nexstar will produce and distribute over 185,000 hours of local content per year on a pro-forma basis. In addition, Nexstar’s digital properties will continue to provide innovative digital marketing solutions and services to local and national media companies, advertisers, agencies and brands.
In addition to serving on the board of TVB, Mr. Sook is a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters, the NBC Affiliate board, and chairman of The Ohio University Foundation board. Mr. Sook was named 2009 Broadcaster of the Year by Broadcasting and Cable and was among the honorees inducted into the 2014 B&C Hall of Fame. He was inducted to The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation’s 2016 Giants of Broadcasting and Electronic Arts and received The Media Institute’s 2016 American Horizon Award, recognizing his leadership, promoting the vitality and independence of American media.
Steve Lanzano, TVB president and CEO, added, “Perry is a local broadcast television industry pioneer and innovator. Throughout his time as a TVB board member and his years of executive leadership, Perry has been a strong advocate on key industry issues including the establishment of the retransmission revenue stream which benefits affiliates and networks, the ongoing pursuit of fair compensation from pay TV operators, the establishment of a successful framework to support diversity in local broadcast station ownership and the advancement of digital innovation and cross-platform marketing solutions.
“From the beginning, Perry and Nexstar have cultivated an organization-wide commitment to localism and serving the needs of local viewers, businesses, advertisers and community organizations. His leadership and expertise have helped grow our medium into the powerful platform for advertisers it is today. We look forward to the benefits of Perry’s further involvement in TVB through his service as chairman for the next two years. I want to thank and acknowledge Michael Fiorile for his outstanding leadership and guidance over the last two years and we look forward to benefiting from his ongoing participation with TVB and its executive committee.”
