Sean Compton is a Chicago-based radio and television executive.
Compton began his career in radio in 1990. In 1993 he became Program Director of Cincinnati radio station WSAI eventually rising to VP of programming in 1999 for Clear Channel Radio and Premiere Radio Networks. [1] Compton left Clear Channel radio in 2008 to join Tribune Broadcasting as President of television programming. In 2019 Nexstar acquired Tribune Broadcasting and created a networks division headed by Compton.
Compton currently serves as President of Nexstar Networks which includes the CW Network, NewsNation, Antenna TV and Rewind TV, WGN Radio, The Hill (newspaper), and programming content Acquisitions for Dallas-based Nexstar Media Group.
In January 2020, Nexstar announced it was launching "NewsNation" a Chicago based national primetime news program on cable network WGN America with Compton at the helm. The network program, which launched September 1, 2020, is touted as news absent of bias and will compete with Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC. Originally launching with three hours in primetime, NewsNation expanded incrementally through April 2023, when on April 24, a "24/5" schedule began, with 24 hour programming Monday through Friday. [2] That announcement came at the unveiling of New York City studios with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Mayor Eric Adams. [3] NewsNation offers several blocks of news programming interspersed with talk shows hosted by Chris Cuomo, Dan Abrams, Ashleigh Banfield, Elizabeth Vargas and Leland Vittert.
Compton is the son of the late radio DJ and talk show host Dale Sommers. [4]
The WB Television Network was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 34, while its children's division, Kids' WB, targeted children between the ages of 6 and 12.
WGN-TV is an independent television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to the company's sole radio property, news/talk/sports station WGN. WGN-TV's studios are located on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center community; as such, it is the only major commercial television station in Chicago which bases its main studio outside the Loop. Its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Loop.
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
The Yule Log is a television show originating in the United States, which is broadcast traditionally on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. It originally aired from 1966 to 1989 on New York City television station WPIX, which revived the broadcast in 2001. A radio simulcast of the musical portion was broadcast by WPIX-TV's former sister station, WPIX-FM, until 1988.
WGN is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey and Northwestern University football and basketball.
KWGN-TV is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, serving as the local CW outlet. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KDVR, channel 31. Both stations share studios on East Speer Boulevard in Denver's Speer neighborhood, while KWGN-TV's transmitter is located atop Lookout Mountain, near Golden.
Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United States, as well as full- or partial-ownership of cable television and national digital subchannel networks.
NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a straight-news format for 24 hours on weekdays and eight hours on weekends, as well as entertainment programming taking up almost the entire weekend schedule. Known for most of its history as Superstation WGN before becoming WGN America in 2008, it relaunched on March 1, 2021, as a cable news network named after its flagship news program. The channel's relaunch came as part of a planned expansion of its news programming.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television stations across the U.S., most of which are affiliated with the four "major" U.S. television networks and MyNetworkTV. It also operates all of the stations owned by affiliated companies, such as Mission Broadcasting and Vaughan Media, under local marketing agreements, and operates major TV network the CW through a 75-percent majority stake, two terrestrial television networks airing classic shows, Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and has full or partial ownership stakes in three pay television networks.
WCIX is a television station licensed to Springfield, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Champaign-licensed CBS affiliate WCIA. Both stations share studios on South Neil Street/US 45 in downtown Champaign and also operate a sales office and news bureau on West Edwards Street near the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. WCIX's transmitter is located in Clear Lake Township.
WNDY-TV is a television station licensed to Marion, Indiana, United States, serving the Indianapolis area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Indianapolis-licensed CW affiliate WISH-TV and low-power, Class A getTV affiliate WIIH-CD. The stations share studios on North Meridian Street on the near north side of Indianapolis; WNDY-TV and WISH-TV also share transmitter facilities on Walnut Drive in the Augusta section of the city's northwest side. Despite Marion being WNDY-TV's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.
WCTX is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside ABC affiliate WTNH, also licensed to New Haven. WCTX and WTNH share studios on Elm Street in downtown New Haven; per a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WTNH's spectrum from a tower in Hamden, Connecticut.
WMBD-TV is a television station in Peoria, Illinois, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Bloomington-licensed Fox affiliate WYZZ-TV under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. The stations share studios on North University Street in Peoria, with a secondary studio and news bureau on East Lincoln Street in Bloomington. WMBD-TV's transmitter is located on Pinecrest Drive in East Peoria, a section of Groveland Township, Tazewell County.
KCWI-TV is a television station licensed to Ames, Iowa, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for the Des Moines area. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside ABC affiliate WOI-DT, also licensed to Ames. Both stations share studios on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines, while KCWI-TV's transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.
Chicagoland Television was an American regional cable news television channel located in Chicago, Illinois. The channel served the Chicago metropolitan area.
KGET-TV is a television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate KKEY-LD. The two stations share studios on L Street in Downtown Bakersfield; KGET's transmitter is located atop Mount Adelaide.
In January 2006, the United States' two "second-tier" television networks, UPN and The WB, announced they would both cease operations on September 15 and 17 respectively, and their operations would be transferred to a new joint-venture "fifth" network, The CW. Meanwhile, Fox Television Stations signed up with MyNetworkTV, a new "sixth" network owned by then-parent company News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group.
NewsNation Prime is an American television news program on NewsNation, which premiered nationally on September 1, 2020. Broadcast live from Chicago, the program utilizes the journalistic resources of the 110 television news operations throughout the United States that are operated under the network's corporate parent Nexstar Media Group. The program is designed as an alternative to the opinion-based programs on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, the top-rated cable news networks in the country in the early 2020s.
Laff is an American digital multicast television network headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network specializes in comedy programming, featuring mainly sitcoms from the 1990s through the 2020s.
WGN America was an American subscription television network that operated from November 9, 1978 to February 28, 2021. The service was originally uplinked to satellite by United Video Inc. as a national feed of Chicago independent station WGN-TV, making the station's programming available to cable and satellite providers throughout the United States as the second nationally distributed "superstation".