Nexstar Media’s National Anthem Singer/Song Writer Series will be Broadcast Daily

A file photo of the American flag. Yvonne Marcotte/Epoch Times

Nexstar is restoring a broadcast tradition by airing daily broadcasts of the national anthem beginning Labor Day, 2019. The media group will broadcast music videos of the national anthem to over 43 million television households across the United States each day.

Nexstar will partner with Broadcast Music, Inc. and Belmont University to air a new and upcoming singer series featuring a daily broadcast of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Including the national anthem in its daily broadcast is in keeping with Nexstar’s mission and tradition.

“Nexstar’s core mission is to provide exceptional service to the local communities where we operate across America through our organization-wide commitment to localism, unbiased local broadcast journalism and telling the local stories that matter to our viewers and their families,” stated Tim Busch, President of Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

One of the Nextar’s goals is “to provide aspiring professional artists and songwriters a national distribution platform to showcase their respective talents.”

“Nexstar’s local teams take great pride in their ability to bring the local community they serve together and that is why we are excited to partner with BMI and Belmont University to broadcast this new daily series featuring the Star-Spangled Banner that will air 365 days of each year,” continued Busch.

“We look forward to returning the time-honored tradition of including the National Anthem in our stations’ broadcasts with this new partnership.”

“This unique partnership gives BMI’s songwriters a wonderful platform to showcase their vocal talent to viewers across the country,” said BMI Vice President of Industry Relations Dan Spears.

BMI has a history of 78 years and has become a global leader in music rights management. The company represents the public performance rights of “14 million musical works created and owned by more than 900,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers.”

“We’re thrilled that Belmont University…has generously provided its state-of-the-art recording studio as well.  I’m looking forward to hearing how our songwriters perform their own special rendition of one of the nation’s most beloved patriotic songs,” said Spears.

The first to be featured include Nashville-based Brian Sutherland, Texas native Kristen Kelly, and 2018 American Idol contestant Julia Cole.  The series will showcase all music genres.

Nexstar’s portfolio includes primary affiliates such as NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. Having the most TV stations across the country, Nextar is second only to Sinclair Broadcasting.

More on the Star-Spangled Banner

According to the Smithsonian museum, “Attorney Francis Scott Key witnessed the twenty-five hour bombardment of Fort McHenry from a British troopship anchored some four miles away…On September 14, 1814, as the dawn’s early light revealed a flag flying over the fort, Key exultantly began jotting down the lines of the song that became our national anthem.”

“During the 19th century, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ became one of the nation’s best-loved patriotic songs. It gained special significance during the Civil War, a time when many Americans turned to music to express their feelings for the flag and the ideals and values it represented. By the 1890s, the military had adopted the song for ceremonial purposes, requiring it to be played at the raising and lowering of the colors.”

‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ didn’t officially become the National Anthem until 1931.