Standard Media

In today's world, Standard Media has become a topic of increasing interest to a wide range of people. Whether we are talking about Standard Media on a personal, professional or cultural level, its importance and relevance cannot be underestimated. As society advances, Standard Media has become increasingly relevant in our daily lives, influencing everything from individual decisions to global trends. In this article, we will explore the different aspects of Standard Media and its impact on the modern world, as well as the various perspectives that exist around this topic.

Not to be confused with Standard Broadcast LLC, owners of streaming service Nebula.
Standard Media Group LLC
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded2018
HeadquartersNashville, Tennessee
Area served
United States (Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast)
Key people
Products
Websitewww.standardmedia.com

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.

History

Between 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

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

Main article: Chicago Sports Network

On 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 originally required an ATSC tuner that supports the more compact MPEG-4 video codec,[20] but as a result of complaints WJYS switched to the more widely-available MPEG-2 in January 2025.[citation needed] 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 conflicts with the rights to other teams, it is likely that alternate blackout programming will be transmitted to those stations. No game coverage airs in Milwaukee and Madison due to conflicts with the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks. For the same reason, no game coverage airs in West Michigan 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 in Chicago sometimes leaves much to be desired. Lazerus wrote that watching CHSN via channel 62 over-the-air requires an antenna mounted in a high position aimed at Willis Tower. Even then, he said, 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]

Due to conflicts with both a Bulls and a White Sox game, a CHSN produced Blackhawks game in April 2025 aired instead on WCIU-TV.[24]

Chicago Sports Network transmitters
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]
Edgerton, Ohio
(Angola, Indiana) 		WINM 12.3 — [19]
Fort Wayne, Indiana WEIJ-LD 38.3 — [19]
Cedar Rapids, Iowa KWKB 20.5 — [19]
Sioux City, Iowa KMEG 14.5 — [19]
Paducah, Kentucky WDKA (soon) 49.7 — [25]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin WVTV 24.4 — [19]
Grand Rapids, Michigan WWMT 3.4 — [19]
Champaign/Springfield, Illinois
TBA
Peoria, Illinois WHOI 19.4 — [19]
Quincy, Illinois
TBA
Indianapolis, Indiana WHMB-TV 40.2 40.6 [22]
Map
Grade A signal contours for stations affiliated with Chicago Sports Network.

References

  1. ^ Staff Writer (16 May 2019). "Nashville company to acquire two TV stations". NashvillePost.com. Nashville Post. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  2. ^ Lieberman, David (17 January 2017). "Nexstar Completes $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General". Dateline.com. Dateline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 Jan 2017.
  3. ^ Jessell, Harry (16 May 2019). "McDermott In The Station Game With WLNE, KLKN". TVNewscheck.com. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Citadel Communications Named New Owner of ABC6 News". abc6.com. WLNE-TV. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  5. ^ "Memorandum Opinion and Order". FCC Record. 1. FCC: 786–1040. December 1986. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  6. ^ Lafayette, Jon (November 25, 2019). "Standard Media Group Buys Waypoint, Vision Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ Notice of Non-Consummation, January 4, 2021
  8. ^ Jacobson, Adam (2021-01-20). "FCC OK's Sinclair Duo's Spin To Soo Kim". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  9. ^ 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)
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "Radio Implications To Today's Standard General Acquisition of TEGNA". RadioInsight. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  12. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (May 17, 2022). "Tegna Shareholders Approve Sale Of Broadcaster To Standard General, Apollo Global". Deadline Hollywood.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ Johnson, Ted (February 27, 2023). "Standard General Blasts FCC Decision On Tegna Merger, Calls For Full Commission Vote". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ "Standard General's Tegna Takeover Doomed After Money Dries Up". Bloomberg.com. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Libit, Daniel (3 June 2024). "Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks to Launch Chicago Sports Network". Sportico.com. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Get out your old antenna, sports fans. Chicago Sports Network to launch Oct. 1 on DirecTV and free TV". Chicago Tribune.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "CHSN". chsn.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  20. ^ "CHSN FAQ page". CHSN. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ a b "Family Broadcasting Corporation Launches Chicago Sports Network on WHMB TV-40". PRNewswire. October 17, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  23. ^ Mark Lazerus (November 15, 2024). "Blackhawks players know CHSN fiasco risks sending team back into 'oblivion'". The Athletic.
  24. ^ "Watch the Blackhawks vs. the Penguins Tuesday Night on The U". WCIU. April 3, 2025. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  25. ^ "Rabbitears affiliate list". Retrieved November 25, 2024.