Nexstar Exec on Why It and CBS Are Willing to Pick a Fight With Paramount Over Deal With Internet Streamer Fubo

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nexstar is still dark on internet streamer FuboTV on Tuesday, the TV station group giant’s president and chief operating officer explained why. “We are in a dispute with CBS right now over the Fubo situation,” Tom Carter said during a Morgan Stanley-hosted investor conference. “But keep in mind that virtual MVPDs contribute less than 10% of our distribution revenue and our distribution revenue is about half of our total revenue and Fubo is the smallest vMVPD we deal with.

So we’re talking about a relatively minor amount of money, quite honestly, to both us and CBS. So it’s kind of easy to pick Fubo as a fight to have.” Nexstar executive vice president and chief financial officer Lee Ann Gliha noted: “We view this as a CBS-only issues and it’s just driven by the specific issues that surround the CBS situation.” In February, Nexstar, along with station groups Sinclair, Gray Television, E.W.

Scripps Co., Tegna, Hearst Television and Cox, removed themselves from FuboTV in support of CBS Television Stations. The CBS Affiliate Board had rejected what was deemed a “below market” deal struck by CBS parent company Paramount Global with virtual MVPD Fubo, and these other station groups were following their lead in fighting against a precedent being set in virtual MVPD negotiations. “The virtual MVPDs are a different negotiating cadence and schematic with regard to traditional MVPDs, in that, virtual MVPDs, the networks negotiate with the distributor and then pay the station a portion of the money that they collect from the networks,” Carter said. “In traditional MVPDs, we negotiate with the distributors and collect the revenue and then pay the networks.