Perry A. Sook (born 1958) is an American media executive who founded Nexstar Media Group, one of the largest television and digital media corporations in the United States. He is chairman and CEO of Nexstar, and in 2022, his contract as CEO was extended through 2026.[1] Sook is also chairman of the joint board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters.[2]
Sook founded Nexstar in 1996, with the acquisition of single local television station, WYOU in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In the decades since, the corporation has grown into the largest owner of television stations in the US, in addition to amassing additional media holdings such as The Hill, American television network The CW, and cable channel NewsNation (the latter relaunched from WGN America, which the company acquired in 2019). In August 2025, Sook announced a pending merger of Tegna Inc. into Nexstar, which would be in violation of current federal regulations for broadcast media ownership.
In 2003, Sook took Nexstar public after acquiring Quorum Broadcasting.[3] He subsequently led a project to convince satellite companies to pay for his stations' content, but the cable companies, like Cox Cable did not like the idea. This is referred to as a "retransmission consent dispute." Cox and 21TV stations in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas and Missouri engaged in a campaign against the idea. As part of their campaign, they published Sook's home phone number in advertisements and encouraged customers to call him. Sook responded in kind and published the home phone number of the general manager of Cox cable. After about a year, Cox agreed to pay for carrying Nexstar's stations' signals. The revenue impact was significant. Sook said in 2020, "We went from a penny a day... to $2billion in revenue to [Nexstar] and $18billion in revenue to local television stations across the country." [3]
Sook's compensation at Nexstar, over $40million in 2022, made him the highest-paid corporate executive in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.[4] However, in 2018 and 2019, Nexstar shareholders rejected multimillion dollar compensation packages for Sook.[3] The editorial board of Variety named Sook to the 2023 edition of the Variety500, a list of top entertainment industry leaders.[5] Sook was CEO during Nexstar's decision to refuse to broadcast Jimmy Kimmel on Nexstar's ABC affiliates; this, simultaneous with Sinclair Broadcast Group's groupwide refusal, raised controversy and allegations of it being done for political favoritism.
Early life
Sook was born in approximately 1958 in DuBois, Pennsylvania[3] and raised in West Virginia. He completed his undergraduate studies at Ohio University in the Scripps College of Communication.[3]
Early in his career, Sook gained experience in both television and radio broadcasting, working in various roles including sales, on-air talent, and news. He worked at stations in West Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Before founding Nexstar Media Group in 1996, Sook was an adjunct professor at Edinboro State University of Pennsylvania and was involved in station ownership and management.[6][7][8]
Sook's first sales job was at a small radio station in Kissimmee, Florida, where the station did not pay him his commission after a big ad sale, which spurred a change to television sales.[3]
Personal life
Sook is married to Sandra, they have three children, and reside in Flower Mound, Texas.[9]
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