To stream a newscast? Ha! No, it is not that costly at this point, especially considering how much stations are paying for affiliation and syndication fees. If you run it with ads, you can significantly offset the costs. I'd argue that this move by Nexstar is a shortsighted plan because they're effectively laying their own demise. As station groups ask for more money from retransmission fees, the cable subscription costs increase to compensate, decreasing the demand and driving up the retransmission fees, creating a no-win game for groups like this. In the attempt to drive dividends, they are not paying down debt (only the low interests rate) which will come due soon and force Nexstar into administration. Even once the Nexstars of the world are gone, the cable industry won't recover. It's a downward spiral and Nexstar is harming their viewership by not providing up to the minute information, especially as viewers have less access to local news.