In New York, we used to watch WPIX Channel 11.
The station featured the Yankees every day. They also had the best 11pm reruns with “The Honeymooners,” “The Odd Couple,” and “Seinfeld.”
Well, that was a long time ago, in a far away galaxy.
No one ever took Channel 11’s news shows seriously, and their ratings have always been way behind the main channels 2, 4. 4. and 7. A lot of people probably don’t realize they still have news, although I’m always pleasantly surprised to see Magee Hickey and Kaity Tong.
These days, Channel 11 is owned by guess who? Nexstar, the conservative network that just forced ABC to oust Jimmy Kimmel.
The owner of Nexstar is Perry Sook, and that name will sound familiar to WPIX viewers. Perry Sook, Jr. is a sportscaster on the station.
He’s not the lead. That’s Mark Malusis, Joe Mauceri, Nelson Figueroa. But Sook Jr. is there, and we can surmise he had at least some inside pull. I’m sure he loves sports, like all of us, but his background according to his website, is musical theater. He played Shrek in a national tour.
Singing or dancing, don’t downplay this: the Sooks are on the rise. Senior Sook controls 200 TV stations and not just at ABC but at all the networks. He is deeply conservative. In addition to Nexstar, Sook also owns News Nation, which — despite some familiar faces — a right leaning news network that would love to take on Fox News.
Play ball!
