Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group is a television station group founded in 1996 by Perry A. Sook in Irvine, Texas. The group's first television station bought by was WYOU in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1996. By 1997, it acquired WJET-TV in Erie, Pennsylvania from Jet Broadcasting, then KFDX-TV, KBTV-TV, and KSNF, all from the U.S. Broadcast Group and WBRE-TV in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1998, and WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, from Smith Broadcasting in 1999. The company acquired Quorum Broadcasting and it also brought KARK-TV and WDHN-TV from Morris Multimedia in 2003. By 2006, it acquired WTAJ-TV and the licensee rights of WLYH-TV from SJL Broadcasting. In 2009, Nexstar operated television stations that were owned by Four Points Media Group through an outsourcing agreement, which then later sold and took over the MSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2011.

On April 24, 2013, Nexstar announced that it would acquire the entire group of Communications Corporation of America, KMSS-TV, KPEJ-TV, and most of the ComCorp-managed stations that are owned by White Knight Broadcasting would be sold to Mission Broadcasting while WEVV-TV and White Knight Broadcasting's KSHV-TV would be sold to a female-controlled company called Rocky Creek Communications, with Nexstar assuming operational control of those stations, then on September 16, 2013, it would acquire WOI-DT, KCAU-TV, and WHBF-TV from Citadel Communications for $88 million and immediately took over the stations' operations through a time brokerage agreement, and on November 6, 2013, it acquired the Grant Broadcasting stations, with KLJB, was spun off to Marshall Broadcasting Group, but is operated by Nexstar through a shared services agreement. On October 23, 2014, Nexstar bought out KASW in Phoenix from SagamoreHill Broadcasting and Meredith Corporation, and it was completed on January 30, 2015.

On November 17, 2015, Nexstar announced its intent to purchase West Virginia Media Holdings' stations, and on September 28, 2015, Nexstar announced that it had presented an unsolicited offer to buy Media General for $4.1 billion (including debt), with the deal approved by the FCC on January 11, 2017, and the sale was completed on January 17 of the same year.

On August 1, 2018, Nexstar bought out KRBK in Springfield from Koplar Communications, and WHDF in Huntsville from Lockwood Broadcast Group. It also bought out MyNetworkTV affiliate KFVE in Honolulu from American Spirit Media as part of transactions requiring from the Raycom Media/Gray Television merger on November 1, 2018. On November 14, 2018, Nexstar won the bid to acquired the Tribune Broadcasting stations along with WGN America (now NewsNation) with the deal closes on August 1, 2019. Nexstar also brought WJZY and MyNetworkTV outlet WMYT-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina from Fox Television Stations in exchange for selling Seattle-based KCPQ and KZJO (along with Milwaukee-based WITI) on November 5, 2019. The company also acquired WDKY-TV in Lexington, Kentucky and the non-license assets of KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas on January 27, 2020.

In 2022, Nexstar took over the operations of The CW from the network's co-onwers Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery with the transaction was completed on October 3.

1st Logo (2008?-2009)

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Visuals: Over a computer screen background is the Nexstar logo, which consists of a stylized star next to "Nexstar" with the words "MEDIA GROUP INC." below with Nexstar's NASDAQ symbol and a copyright stamp below. A vertical line blinks next to the right of the NASDAQ symbol like a how a computer keyboard does so.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The closing theme of the newscast.

Availability: Seen on Nexstar newscast and special programming from 2008 to 2009.

2nd Logo (2009-2014)

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Visuals: Against a blue background, the words:

Nexstar
BROADCASTING GROUP, INC.

briefly slide to the center of the screen as Nexstar's star insignia draws itself. A cursor then appears from the bottom left of the screen and "double-clicks" the bottom middle of the screen to pop up Nexstar's copyright information and NASDAQ symbol (NXST) before it flies off to the right of the screen.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A ten-note drumbeat, which segues into a synth melody, accompanied by a grinding sound as the star insignia draws itself and a double-click sound effect. This theme was composed by Stephen Arnold.

Availability: It was seen at the end of newscasts, specials, and other local programming on Nexstar-owned stations.

3rd Logo (2013-2017)

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Visuals: Same as the previous logo, except there are small, blurry screens in the background displaying newscasts from various Nexstar stations, and the copyright information is in the typeface Gotham.

Variants: Some stations may put their call letters below the copyright information; this was seen on WTVW.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: It was seen at the end of newscasts, specials, and other local programming on Nexstar-owned stations.

4th Logo (2017-2019)

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Visuals: The screen zooms out from a state on a map of the United States, stopping halfway (or two, three, or four states, depending on the station's viewing area). The company name can be seen as the screen zooms out. The word "LOCAL" quickly forms on top of the map and fades out as the state(s) the screen zoomsed out from lights up and is highlighted by a box. The box fades out as the map quickly zooms out to show the rest of the country with dots, representing areas where Nexstar owns a station. The map fades out as the word "Nexstar" and the star insignia zoom out from us from the right. "MEDIA GROUP, INC." flies in shortly after. After the logo settles on the center of the screen, copyright information, including Nexstar's NASDAQ symbol (NXST) appears in a parallelogram below the logo with "NEXSTAR BROADCASTING, INC." below the copyright. In the background is a scattered list of various cities or counties in the market where the station is.

Variants: The state the screen zooms out from at the beginning and the list of cities/counties floating in the background at the end depend on the location of the station. As mentioned before, we may zoom out from two or three states, depending on the station's viewing area.

• Some stations may not do the full country zoom-out before the Nexstar logo appears; this was seen on WZDX and KLAS.
• On KODE, the Nexstar logo formed before the full country zoom-out.
• On KARK's Newsfeed Now, the dots were colored blue, green, and purple.
• On WTVW, there was no zoom-out.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A synth theme, which leads into three drumbeat sounds, and ends in a flourish with a bell ringing. Once again, this theme was composed by Stephen Arnold.

Availability: Appeared at the end of newscasts, specials, and other local programming on Nexstar-owned stations.

5th Logo (October 19, 2019-January 1, 2023)

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Visuals: Segueing from the newscast, the logo "bubbles" in as the screen zooms out from a state on a map of the United States (once again, this can also be two, three, or four states depending on the station's viewing area). The highlighted state(s) light up and zoom out as the word "LOCAL" forms, zooms in towards the camera and fades out, and the company name can be seen as well. Like the third logo, the map fills in with dots representing areas where Nexstar owns a station. The Nexstar logo and "MEDIA GROUP INC." then flies in from the right and settles in the middle of the screen as the parallelogram showing the copyright information and Nexstar's NASDAQ symbol, and (on some stations) "NEXSTAR BROADCASTING, INC." flies to the center from the bottom of the screen. Like the 3rd logo, there is a scattered list of cities or counties in the market where the station is at the end of the logo.

Variants: Like the last logo, the state the screen zooms out from at the beginning and the list of cities/counties floating in the background at the end depend on the location of the station.

• Some stations segue to the logo from a static image.
  • WPHL: An image of the Philadelphia skyline.
  • WDAF: A close-up image of the Sprint Center with part of the Kansas City skyline.
  • WTEN: An image of the Albany skyline that quickly zooms in.
  • WCIA: An image of the William G. Stratton Building.
  • WJTV: An image of the Jackson skyline.
  • WNCT: An image of a lighthouse in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
  • WLNS: An image of the Michigan State Capitol.
  • KTVE/KARD: A twilight image of Monroe, Louisiana from the Ouachita River.
  • WJET/WFXP: An image of Presque Isle Bay.
  • KSNF/KODE: An image of the Joplin skyline.
  • KSVI/KHMT: A rapidly zooming in image of the Billings skyline.
• WJET/WRXP and WTWO put their call letters and location below the copyright.
• An upload of WPIX's version on their creative services department's Vimeo page (video in the gallery above) has the logo remain on screen for an additional 40 seconds after the music has ended, with the light particles in the background continuing to move. Additionally, this version segues from a solid green matte at the beginning.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A "whoosh" sound, followed by a four-note sounder. This theme was also composed by Stephen Arnold.

Availability: Appeared at the end of newscasts, specials, and other local programming on Nexstar-owned stations. This logo debuted on October 19, 2019 after Nexstar acquired Tribune Media. This logo does not appear on any program on NewsNation. Though most stations retired it on January 1, 2023, WTEN continued to use its version for most of that year.

6th Logo (January 1, 2023-)

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Visuals: Same concept from before, but the logo "diamonds" as the screen zooms in to a state on a map of the United States with the word "LOCAL" on it, and the Nexstar comes up from the right with the text "MEDIA GROUP, INC." coming in from the right and settling in the middle of the screen with the parallelogram showing the copyright stamp and Nexstar's NASDAQ symbol, and "NEXSTAR BROADCASTING, INC." flying to the center from below.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth tune played with a "whoosh" sound accompanying it, followed by the same four-note sounder from the previous logo, albeit played on a piano.

Availability: Seen at the end of newscasts, specials, and other local programming on Nexstar-owned stations such as KXAN News Today at 10AM.

Tribune Broadcasting Media General

Nexstar Media Group