Nexstar CEO Perry Sook saluted Dennis Miller, who will soon exit as President of The CW, for “broadening the appeal” of the network during his two years at the helm.
Multiple sources have told Deadline that Miller will be succeeded by programming chief Bradley Schwartz, with Nexstar expected to make that move official in the near future.
Deadline broke the news of the exec shuffle earlier Wednesday. In confirming it via a press release, Nexstar said Miller will depart October 31 and serve as an advisor through the end of the year. Counting his time as a member of the board of directors, Miller has been with Nexstar since 2014. Nexstar bought 75% of The CW in 2022, with Miller joining shortly thereafter.
“We were fortunate when Dennis agreed to move from Nexstar’s Board to lead the transformation of The
CW,” Sook said in the release. “During his tenure, he installed a new leadership team at The CW, and they have broadened the appeal of its programming and enhanced the value of its affiliations for both Nexstar and our partners. With The CW now well positioned for continued success, we’re pleased to let Dennis move on to new challenges. We are grateful for his guidance on Nexstar’s Board and at the helm of The CW, and we wish him the very best.”
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Miller spearheaded a push into live sports, with The CW signing various college and pro outfits, among them LIV Golf, WWE Next wrestling and the NASCAR Xfinity series. The network also launched game shows and boosted its unscripted efforts.
Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, previously 50-50 partners in The CW, each retain 12.5% stakes in the network. But Miller led a dramatic shift away from the prior setup, which saw the network’s parents position it as a platform for young-skewing scripted dramas. Because of factors like an output deal with Netflix, the network was able to prosper financially even if shows drew modest linear ratings.
Nexstar vowed to overhaul the strategy completely and make The CW profitable by 2025, a plan the company says is on track. Culturally, the Texas-based Nexstar is a different steward of the network than legacy media giants CBS Corp. and Time Warner, who created it in 2007. Nexstar’s primary asset is its industry-leading collection of local TV stations. It also owns cable network News Nation, several digital platforms and a stake in the Food Network.
In an email to employees obtained by Deadline, Sean Compton, President of Networks for Nexstar, said the past two years have been “amazing” for The CW. “We’ve successfully transformed the network into a new destination for live sports and broadened our entertainment programming to appeal to a wider audience,” he wrote. “Dennis and Brad have been at the center of this change, and as Dennis moves on to new challenges we’re fortunate to have Brad here to continue guiding the network. I’m confident that under Brad’s leadership, The CW won’t miss a beat. With the great team he’s helped to assemble and the new programming starting to resonate with viewers, The CW is poised for even more success.”
Prior to joining The CW to head up programming, Schwartz was known for steering Pop TV, a cable network formerly owned by CBS. He put the small network on the map by acquiring Schitt’s Creek from his native Canada, airing it before its eventual Emmy-winning run on Netflix.
“I’ve had a front row seat during a remarkable 11-year run with Nexstar and enjoyed navigating this period of significant transformation for the network,” Miller said in the press release. “With some of the highest ratings The CW has seen in years and long-term contracts with an array of premium live sports in place, the future of The CW looks very promising.”