Tony Wells, the former chief media officer at Verizon and chief brand officer at USAA, has joined Nexstar’s board of directors.
Wells will be replacing the position vacated by Dennis Miller starting Wednesday and will serve on the board’s compensation committee. He is coming to the position shortly after the board’s declassification announcement. Because of this, all Nexstar directors, including Wells, will stand for election during the 2024 stockholder meeting.
“We are delighted to welcome Tony to the board,” Perry Sook, Nexstar Media Group’s founder, chairman and CEO, said. “His deep knowledge of the national and local advertising landscape developed over a career in which he deployed billions of marketing dollars for some of the country’s most high- profile brands, will benefit Nexstar as we grow our national assets of The CW, NewsNation and The Hill, and further leverage the largest local broadcasting footprint in the industry. Nexstar now generates more than $5 billion of annual revenue and Tony’s experience and insights working within large enterprises will be extremely valuable as we continue to grow. We look forward to leveraging Tony’s unique perspectives and considerable success to support our goals for the continued enhancement of shareholder value.”
“Nexstar’s unique and irreplicable asset mix, with its nationwide reach and role as the nation’s largest local television broadcaster, offers advertisers a valuable marketing platform,” Wells said. “I am honored to join the Nexstar’s board and look forward to sharing my experience and business relationships with the board and management team to expand the company’s long-term record of success.”
In addition to Verizon and USAA, Wells also served as chief marketing officer for various companies such as Schneider Electric, ADT Security and 24 Hour Fitness. He currently serves on the compensation committee for Yelp Inc. and is on the board of TripleLift. Previously, Wells served on the board for two private equity-owned software-as-a-service companies.
Wells’ appointment marks another change for The CW and its parent company. Last October, Miller stepped down from the board to become president of The CW, replacing longtime network executive Mark Pedowitz. Pedowitz resigned from the position following Nexstar’s 75% acquisition of his former network.
