On Friday’s Radio Show: Independent Video Producer and Ex-Nexstar Employee Ken Schreiner; More Nexstar Bullying

Ken-PixI initially invited Ken Schreiner on the program because he’s a local guy who completed a feature documentary on the relationship between people and wild animals that he’s distributing on his website, along with other videos he’s produced.

Only after extending the invitation did I realize that Ken used to work for our local Nexstar-owned TV station WCIA, which I read on his blog.

You might recall that it was two Nexstar-owned stations that announed last week they would not be airing the new NBC series “Book of Daniel.” While on the surface it might look like a couple of station’s capitulating to the religious right, what’s actually going on is that Nexstar is trying to assert its power against the network, and using the controversial program as a good weapon.

As I reported on last week’s radioshow, Nexstar has been taking waging an offensive against cable companies, too, trying to force them into making direct cash payments in exchange for carrying their stations’ signals — something that was almost unheard of until last year. In fact, Nexstar pulled all of its channels in Joplin, MO, Amarillo, TX and Shreveport, LA off cable systems owned by Cable One, depriving subscribers of local NBC and ABC affiliates for almost the entirety of 2005.

And Missouri-based Cable America is actually challenging the license renewals of two Nexstar-operated stations in Springfield, MO, claiming the two stations constitute an illegal duopoly. One station is owned by Nexstar, the other is owned by Mission Broadcasting, but operated by Nexstar. Mission actually doesn’t manage any of its own stations — “programming, sales, and other services” are all provided by neighboring stations owned by Nexstar.

Cable America and Nexstar also have been embroiled in a battle over fees Nexstar is demanding for carriage of the stations.

Now I’m really looking forward to this interview with Ken — we’ll have a lot to talk about.

You can hear the show live in the Champaign-Urbana, IL area on WEFT 90.1 FM Friday at 5:30 PM. It’ll be archived on the radioshow page by midnight (CST) Sunday.

Comments are closed.

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes