Sook, Perry

Perry A. Sook is chairman and CEO of Nexstar Media Group Inc. He has over 43 years of professional experience in the television and radio broadcasting industries covering all facets of the business, including ownership, mergers and acquisitions, management, sales, on-air talent and news. He founded Nexstar in 1996 with one local television station in Scranton, Pa., and began building the foundation of what became one of the world’s leading local marketing and content companies, leveraging localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers across its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Based in Irving, Texas, Nexstar trades on NASDAQ under the symbol "NXST."

Following the $7.1 billion accretive acquisition of Tribune Media and the $4.6 billion accretive acquisition of Media General, Nexstar Media Group Inc. is the largest local broadcast television operator in the United States, with 200 stations reaching 116 markets, or more than 68% of all television households, and annual revenue in excess of $4.5 billion. As one of the nation’s leading providers of local news, entertainment, sports, lifestyle and network programming, Nexstar produces and distributes nearly 300,000 hours of original video content each year.

In 2020, Sook oversaw the launch of NewsNation, now America’s fastest growing cable news network, reaching 70 million television homes. In 2022, he spearheaded Nexstar’s 75% investment in The CW Network, America’s fifth major broadcast network. Nexstar also owns popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network. Nexstar’s digital properties, such as The Hill and BestReviews, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property that provide innovative digital marketing solutions and services to local and national media companies, advertisers, agencies and brands.

Prior to Nexstar, Sook was one of the principals of Superior Communication Group Inc., which was sold in 1995 to Sinclair Broadcast Group. Before Superior, he was president and CEO of Seaway Communication Inc., owner of network affiliated stations in Bangor, Maine, and Wausau, Wis. Before being recruited to run Seaway, he worked in the television industry as a general sales manager, acting general manager and national sales manager. Sook previously spent five years with Cox Broadcasting, first in local sales in Pittsburgh, then at Telerep Inc., as a national account executive. Early in his career, he was involved in local TV and radio sales. Sook also worked briefly as a television news anchor at the CBS affiliate in Clarksburg, W.Va.

In June 2021, Sook was elected Television board chair of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). He serves on the board of directors of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), the board of the Broadcasters Foundation of America and he is chairman of The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees. He was previously a member of the board of directors of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), where he also served as chairman. He is past chairman of the CBS Affiliate Board.

Sook was named the 2009 “Broadcaster of the Year” by Broadcasting and Cable (B&C) and was among the honorees inducted into the B&C Hall of Fame in 2014. 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.

Sook did his undergraduate work at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and was an adjunct professor at Edinboro State University of Pennsylvania.

He and his wife, Sandra, live in Flower Mound, Texas, and have three children: Laura, Victoria and Perry Jr.