What Exec Changes Have Come At Nexstar?

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Nexstar Media Group is now a reality. Gone is Media General and its “MEG” ticker symbol, relegated to Wall Street history following Tuesday’s (1/17) close of Nexstar’s merger acquisition with Media General.


With the deal’s long-awaited completion, changes and appointments to Nexstar’s executive and senior management team have been made — moves that the company says supports its expanded platform, increased scale and near- and long-term growth objectives.

The executive management appointments and changes are as follows:

  • Timothy Busch has been promoted to President of Nexstar Broadcasting, from EVP/co-COO, where he has had oversight for the company’s East Coast O&Os since 2008. Busch will now be responsible for overseeing all facets of Nexstar’s local media operations and will work with executive and senior management teams to develop new opportunities for the company to further leverage its valuable local programming and content to drive advertising revenue growth across its local, national, political and cross-platform verticals.
  • Brian Jones, as widely anticipated, is now the sole EVP/COO of Nexstar Broadcasting, having shared duties with Busch since 2008 by overseeing the West Coast O&Os.
  • Diane Kniowski has become SVP/Regional Manager of Nexstar Broadcasting and will have oversight of station operations in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. She was formerly VP/GM of WOOD-TV, WOTV & WXSP in Grand Rapids, Mich., and held the role for 17 years.
  • Doug Davis has been appointed SVP/Regional Manager of Nexstar Broadcasting and will have oversight of station operations in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Davis previously served as President/GM of WAVY & WVBT in Norfolk, and took the role 11 years ago.
  • Mike Vaughn has been named SVP/Regional Manager of Nexstar Broadcasting and will have oversight of station operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. From 2011-2016 Vaughn served as VP/GM of KARK-TV in Little Rock.

In related news, Elizabeth Ryder rises from SVP/General Counsel to EVP/General Counsel, while Brett Jenkins is promoted from VP/CTO of Media General to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Nexstar Media Group.

Commenting on the appointments, Nexstar founder and President/CEO Perry Sook said, “Over the last two decades, our strategy of appointing proven broadcast and digital media leaders with long-term records of delivering industry-leading innovation, distribution and core revenue growth, meticulous M&A integration and enterprise-wide cost management has been fundamental to our consistent long-term success. As a result, Nexstar has a deep, capable team of operations, finance, content, digital, and legal executives to manage the expanded platform. In addition, our stations are led by experienced, results-oriented broadcast executives with regional oversight. We are confident in the ability of these teams to ensure our ongoing success.”