Standard Media Group is an American broadcast and digital media company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Standard Media was founded in 2018 by Deborah A. McDermott, who serves as the company's CEO. Previously, McDermott was the chief operating officer of Media General and CEO-president of Young Broadcasting.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
Area served | United States (Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast) |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
| Website | www.standardmedia.com |
History
editBetween 2012 and 2017, McDermott and her team led the acquisition of more than 90 television stations and helped grow Young/Media General from a $220 million regional TV group to a nearly $5 billion media company.[1] In 2017, Media General was acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $4.6 billion.[2]
On May 16, 2019, Standard Media announced plans to purchase two ABC-affiliated television stations from Citadel Communications for $83 million.[3] The stations, WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island and KLKN in Lincoln, Nebraska, have been operated by Citadel since 2011 and 1996 respectively.[4] [5] The company announced the acquisition of Waypoint Media and its affiliated companies in November 2019.[6] The Waypoint deal collapsed in January 2021.[7]
In November 2020, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that they would sell Fox affiliate KBSI and MyNetworkTV affiliate WDKA in Paducah, Kentucky, to Community News Media (a subsidiary of Standard Media) for $28 million, in a transaction that closed in 2021.[8]
On February 22, 2022, a partnership of Standard General and Apollo announced their intent to acquire Tegna; Apollo will hold non-voting shares in the company. As part of the sale, Standard General will sell Standard Media to Cox Media Group, which will also acquire Tegna's stations in Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin (including WFAA, KHOU, and KVUE). WFXT in Boston will then be divested to Standard General.[9][10][11] The sale was approved by Standard General and Apollo Global Management on May 17, 2022.[12][13] In February 2023, it was confirmed that the deal would be given a hearing before an administrative law judge, which the FCC Commissioner's Board voted to remand the merger review.[14] The deal was terminated on May 22, 2023.[15][16]
On June 3, 2024, Standard Media and the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox announced the new regional sports network Chicago Sports Network, which is expected to launch in time for the Blackhawks' and Bulls' 2024–25 season.[17] It was later confirmed that the network would launch October 1.[18]
Stations
edit| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Acquired | Network affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paducah, Kentucky–Harrisburg, Illinois–Cape Girardeau, Missouri | KBSI | 23 (36) | 2021 | Fox |
| WDKA | 49 (25) | 2021 | MyNetworkTV | |
| New Bedford, Massachusetts–Providence, Rhode Island | WLNE-TV | 6 (24) | 2019 | ABC |
| Lincoln, Nebraska | KLKN | 8 (8) | 2019 | ABC |
Chicago Sports Network
editOn September 15, 2024, Chicago Sports Network announced its over-the-air coverage in the Chicago market through a two-channel lease for the main channel and an overflow channel (both in 1080i high definition) on the digital subcarriers of WJYS (channel 62), a station licensed to Hammond, Indiana, with full-market coverage from the Willis Tower.[19] The subchannels for CHSN via WJYS require an ATSC tuner that supports the more compact MPEG-4 video codec.[20] Coverage on Gray Television stations in Rockford and South Bend were announced on October 1.[21] Coverage on Family Broadcasting Corporation station WHMB in Indianapolis was announced on October 17.[22] Because the network's coverage area over-the-air outside the Chicago market will conflict with the rights to other teams, it is likely that alternate blackout programming will be transmitted to those stations. For instance, White Sox baseball and Bulls basketball would not be seen on CHSN's Milwaukee and Madison partner due to conflicts with the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks, and though it has coverage in West Michigan, no game coverage is featured due to the presence of Detroit's own teams, including the Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings.
Mark Lazerus, the Blackhawks beat writer for The Athletic, claimed that CHSN's over-the-air signal via WJYS in Chicago sometimes leaves much to be desired. Lazerus wrote that watching CHSN via channel 62 over-the-air requires an antenna aimed at Willis Tower, and even then the picture quality can be "glitchier than scrambled late-night cable was in the 1980s." Lazerus added that the over-the-air signal is all but unviewable in rainy or windy conditions.[23]
| Market | Affiliate | Primary channel | Overflow channel | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Illinois (Hammond, Indiana) |
WJYS | 62.2 | 62.3 | [19] |
| Rockford, Illinois | WSLN | 19.3 | 19.4 | [21] |
| South Bend, Indiana | WNDU-TV | 16.2 | 16.4 | [21] |
| Des Moines, Iowa | KDMI | 19.3 | — | [19] |
| Angola, Indiana | WINM (soon) | 12.2 | — | [24] |
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | WEIJ-LD (soon) | 38.2 | — | [24] |
| Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KWKB (soon) | 20.5 | — | [24] |
| Sioux City, Iowa | KMEG | 14.5 | — | [19] |
| Paducah, Kentucky | WDKA (soon) | 49.7 | — | [24] |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WVTV | 24.4 | — | [24] |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan | WWMT | 3.4 | — | [24] |
| Champaign/Springfield, Illinois |
TBA
| |||
| Peoria, Illinois | WHOI | 19.4 | — | [24] |
| Quincy, Illinois |
TBA
| |||
| Indianapolis, Indiana | WHMB-TV | 40.2 | 40.6 | [22] |
| Madison, Wisconsin | WMTV (soon) | 15.7 | — | [24] |
References
edit- ^ Staff Writer (16 May 2019). "Nashville company to acquire two TV stations". NashvillePost.com. Nashville Post. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ Lieberman, David (17 January 2017). "Nexstar Completes $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General". Dateline.com. Dateline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 Jan 2017.
- ^ Jessell, Harry (16 May 2019). "McDermott In The Station Game With WLNE, KLKN". TVNewscheck.com. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ "Citadel Communications Named New Owner of ABC6 News". abc6.com. WLNE-TV. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Memorandum Opinion and Order". FCC Record. 1. FCC: 786–1040. December 1986. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ Lafayette, Jon (November 25, 2019). "Standard Media Group Buys Waypoint, Vision Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ Notice of Non-Consummation, January 4, 2021
- ^ Jacobson, Adam (2021-01-20). "FCC OK's Sinclair Duo's Spin To Soo Kim". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
- ^ Szalai, Alex Weprin,Georg; Weprin, Alex; Szalai, Georg (2022-02-22). "Local TV Giant TEGNA Sold to Private Equity Firms in Mega-Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "WFAA and Houston, Austin TV stations expected to go to Cox Media in Tegna's $5.4 billion sale". Dallas News. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
- ^ "Radio Implications To Today's Standard General Acquisition of TEGNA". RadioInsight. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (May 17, 2022). "Tegna Shareholders Approve Sale Of Broadcaster To Standard General, Apollo Global". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ "FCC Wants More Info Before It Decides Fate Of Tegna-Cox-Standard Deal". Inside Radio. June 6, 2022. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Johnson, Ted (February 27, 2023). "Standard General Blasts FCC Decision On Tegna Merger, Calls For Full Commission Vote". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ "Standard General's Tegna Takeover Doomed After Money Dries Up". Bloomberg.com. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ Lafayette, Jon (2023-04-16). "Standard General Files Brief Asking Court To Force FCC To Rule on Tegna Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
- ^ Libit, Daniel (3 June 2024). "Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks to Launch Chicago Sports Network". Sportico.com. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "Get out your old antenna, sports fans. Chicago Sports Network to launch Oct. 1 on DirecTV and free TV". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b c d "CHSN". chsn.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ "CHSN FAQ page". CHSN. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Gray Media and the Chicago Sports Network to Bring Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox Games Free Over-The-Air to Viewers in Rockford, IL and South Bend, IN" (Press release). October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
- ^ a b "Family Broadcasting Corporation Launches Chicago Sports Network on WHMB TV-40". PRNewswire. October 17, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
- ^ Mark Lazerus (November 15, 2024). "Blackhawks players know CHSN fiasco risks sending team back into 'oblivion'". The Athletic.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Rabbitears affiliate list". Retrieved November 25, 2024.