Deerfield Media, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryBroadcast media
Founded
FounderStephen P. Mumblow
HeadquartersPark City, Utah,
U.S.
OwnerStephen P. Mumblow

Deerfield Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company and a shell corporation owned and operated by Stephen P. Mumblow. It was established on December 1, 2012, by the acquisition of several television stations connected to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Most of its stations are part of duopolies with another Sinclair-owned station, and are operated under local marketing agreements or similar by Sinclair.

As a part of its acquisition of multiple stations from Newport Television in Cincinnati and San Antonio, Sinclair sold WSTR-TV and KMYS (MyNetworkTV and The CW affiliates respectively) to Deerfield, and also gave them an option to purchase WJTC and WPMI at a later date.[1][2] Deerfield Media also acquired KBTV-TV, a Fox affiliate in Beaumont, Texas, from Nexstar Broadcasting Group, whose operations were assumed by Sinclair's KFDM.[3] Through an option exercised by Sinclair, Deerfield also acquired WUTB, a MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Fox Television Stations. This purchase created a triopoly between Sinclair's Fox affiliate, WBFF, and CW affiliate, WNUV (owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, and also operated under an LMA by Sinclair).[4] Deerfield also reached a deal to acquire the license assets of WHAM-TV, an ABC affiliate in Rochester, New York, also from Newport Television,[5] and to acquire KAME-TV, the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Reno, Nevada, from Ellis Communications on February 1, 2013, as part of Sinclair's purchase of KRXI-TV from Cox Media Group.[6]

In April 2018, Deerfield Media moved its headquarters from New York City to Park City, Utah.[7]

During the winter of 2022–2023, Deerfield Media laid off all production and office staff at its Park City, Utah location and relocated its headquarters to Vail, Colorado.

2021 FCC fine

On July 28, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Forfeiture Order against Deerfield Media related to the lawsuit DirecTV, LLC v. Deerfield Media, Inc., ordering the company to pay 6 fines of $512,228 each, totaling $3,073,368. The order was the result of a lawsuit filed by DirecTV and its parent AT&T alleging that Deerfield Media, along with several other station groups whose stations are managed by Sinclair Broadcast Group, failed to negotiate for retransmission consent in good faith for its stations KBTV, KMYS, WHAM, WJTC, WPMI, and WSTR.[8] The FCC adopted a Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability on September 2, 2020, affirming the lawsuit allegations.[9] The stations affected by the fines were represented in retransmission negotiations by Duane Lammers of Max Retrans.[8]

Current stations

Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.

City of license / market Station Channel Owned since Network affiliation
Vail, CO K34QB-D 342021Independent
Pensacola, FL–Mobile, AL WPMI-TV 152012NBC
WJTC 442012Independent
Baltimore, MD WUTB 242013TBD
Reno, NV KNSN-TV 212013MyNetworkTV
Rochester, NY WHAM-TV 132013ABC
Cincinnati, OH WSTR-TV 642012MyNetworkTV
Port Arthur–Beaumont, TX KBTV-TV 42012Dabl
Kerrville–San Antonio, TX KMYS 352012Dabl
Park City, UT K36PL-D 452017Independent

K36PL (branded as Park City Television) and K34QB (branded as TV8 Vail) are operated directly by Deerfield Media with no involvement from Sinclair Broadcast Group.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sinclair Broadcast to buy 7 TV outlets for $452.5M". MarketWatch. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Newport Sells 22 Stations For $1 Billion". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Sinclair Makes It A Triopoly in Baltimore". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Sinclair's Rochester dealings detailed | Radio & Television Business Report".
  6. ↑ "Sinclair Buys Four Cox Stations". TVNewsCheck. February 25, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  7. ↑ Alder, Carolyn Webber. "Deerfield Media, owner of Park City Television, to move corporate office to Park City". www.parkrecord.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  8. 1 2 "Forfeiture Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  9. ↑ "FCC Proposes Forfeiture Against Eight Television Station Groups". Federal Communications Commission. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
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