IRVING, Texas—Nexstar is bringing its broadcast and digital operations under one roof, announcing that it is merging Nexstar Broadcasting Inc. and Nexstar Digital LLC into a single division, Nexstar Inc. The realignment will be effective as of Nov. 1.

By combining the two subsidiaries, Nexstar says that it is aligning its local content production with management teams that are experts in broadcasting and digital, maximizing Nexstar’s content, national reach and consumer digital use across multiple platforms. The move is also expected to provide seven-figure savings in 2021, Nexstar estimates.

Nexstar’s broadcasting, digital and network businesses will now be operating divisions of Nexstar Inc. Karen Brophy will lead the digital business unit as president, handling Nexstar’s 121 local websites, programmatic, data science, social media, group sales, partnerships and its efforts to streamline its ad tech stack. Brophy is replacing Gregory R. Raifman, who served as president of Nexstar Digital; he will leave Nexstar at the conclusion of his contract, March 31, 2021.

Timothy C. Busch is set to serve as president of Broadcasting, overseeing Nexstar’s 197 TV stations and related digital multicast signals. Sean Compton will be president, Networks, responsible for WGN America, Antenna TV and WGN Radio. Busch, Compton and Brophy will report to Thomas E. Carter, Nexstar Media Group president, COO and CFO.

“The operational realignment we are announcing today will accelerate Nexstar’s growth by leveraging our leading local content and positioning the company to become an even more nimble and competitive organization, thereby creating new value for shareholders,” said Carter. “Tim, Sean and Karen are proven, experienced members of Nexstar Nation and are ideally suited to lead our deep and capable operations, broadcast, content and digital teams. In addition to realizing operating expense efficiencies, by centralizing operations into a single primary operating entity, we will strengthen our focus on distributing the content consumers want most, delivered the way they prefer to consume it, which we believe will drive near- and long-term operating results improvements.

“Our decision to reorganize the business’ operating structure at this time reflects our view that there remains tremendous upside to be realized by maximizing the value of our assets, content and strong consumer engagement with our digital properties,” Carter added.

WASHINGTON—There is a difference between full-power stations and satellite stations, argues Nexstar Broadcasting Inc. and Gray Television Inc. in a recent filing to the FCC. Therefore, the proposed change of satellite TV station regulatory fees to match those of full-power TV stations is unjustified and illegal, according to the broadcasters.

Since 1995, full-power stations have been charged a per-sub fee by the FCC, while associated satellite stations, which retransmit a station’s programming to extend its reach or get to difficult locations, have paid a flat fee. Nexstar and Gray wrote that this decision was based on a couple of factors: “(1) ‘Congress intended the Commission to charge license fees based on the regulatory burden they impose, yet satellite stations require much less regulatory oversight than full powered stations,’ and (2) applying full-power television station fees to satellite stations ‘would place an unfair and illogical burden on small market licensees who use satellite television stations to reach remote areas in their markets.’” All licensed satellite stations have been charged fees based on this since 1995.

As the FCC prepares to “obliterate this distinction,” in the words of Nexstar and Gray, the broadcasters argue that the FCC “does not acknowledge the substantial change that its proposal embodies and offers no substantive discussion of its reversal of this decades-long policy.” It notes that in the NPRM the change is made in just four words—“including each satellite station”—not enough to defend the policy change in their opinion, as the FCC is required to do by the Administrative Procedure Act.

In addition, Nexstar and Gray make the case that satellite stations still require little regulatory oversight, as they did when the flat fee was initiated in 1995.

The FCC proposal to eliminate satellite stations’ flat fee is in response to the RAY BAUMS Act.

“The proposed fee increase for satellite stations is a starkly sudden departure—without adequate notice or explanation—from well-established and still valid Commission policy and practice, and it will have significantly adverse impacts to the licensees of satellite stations,” the filing summarizes. “... [T]he Commission should therefore dispense with that proposal and retain a separate flat regulatory fee for television satellite stations.”

The full Nexstar-Gray TV filing can be found here.