Nexstar Broadcasting president and CEO Perry Sook has been elected as TVB’s new chairman, the trade association announced Wednesday.
Sook, a member of TVB’s board of directors since 2000, will serve a two-year term, spanning 2017-2018. He succeeds Michael Fiorile, vice chairman and CEO of the Dispatch Broadcast Group.
Sook has worked 36-plus years in broadcasting, the last 20 of which have been devoted to running Nexstar, which he founded in 1996 with a single TV station in Scranton, Pa. Nexstar is on the verge of becoming the second largest station group in the country with its acquisition of Media General, which will be sewed up when the deal gets the FCC’s final approval.
Sook also sits on the NAB board and the NBC Affiliate Board and chairs the Ohio University Foundation Board.
“Perry is a local broadcast television industry pioneer and innovator,” said TVB president and CEO Steve Lanzano. "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.”
