Deerfield Media, Inc. is a

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

company and a

shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

owned and operated by Stephen P. Mumblow. It was established on December 1, 2012, by the acquisition of several

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s connected to the

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

. Most of its stations are part of duopolies with another Sinclair-owned station, and are operated under

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

s or similar by Sinclair. As a part of its acquisition of multiple stations from

Newport Television Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. History In September 2007, Newport a ...

in Cincinnati and San Antonio, Sinclair sold WSTR-TV and KMYS (

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

and

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

affiliates respectively) to Deerfield, and also gave them an option to purchase

WJTC WJTC (channel 44) is an independent station, independent television station licensed to Pensacola, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama. It is owned by Deerfield Media alongside Mobile, Alabama–licensed NBC a ...

and WPMI at a later date. Deerfield Media also acquired KBTV-TV, a Fox affiliate in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, from Nexstar Broadcasting Group, whose operations were assumed by Sinclair's KFDM. Through an option exercised by Sinclair, Deerfield also acquired WUTB, a

affiliate owned by

Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...

. This purchase created a triopoly between Sinclair's Fox affiliate, WBFF, and CW affiliate, WNUV (owned by

Cunningham Broadcasting Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company owns fifteen stations–eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affiliated with ...

, and also operated under an LMA by Sinclair). Deerfield also reached a deal to acquire the license assets of WHAM-TV, an ABC affiliate in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, also from Newport Television, and to acquire KAME-TV, the

affiliate in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, from Ellis Communications on February 1, 2013, as part of Sinclair's purchase of KRXI-TV from

Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company p ...

. In April 2018, Deerfield Media moved its headquarters from New York City to Park City, Utah. In November 2022, Deerfield Media laid off all production and office staff at its Park City, Utah location and relocated its headquarters to Vail, Colorado. In March 2025, Deerfield then laid off all production and office staff at its Vail location as it announced its intent not to renew its lease on the studios there and would shut down its station there March 28.

2021 FCC fine

On July 28, 2021, the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(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 DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

and its parent

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

alleging that Deerfield Media, along with several other station groups whose stations are managed by

, failed to negotiate for retransmission consent in good faith for its stations KBTV, KMYS, WHAM,

, WPMI, and WSTR. The FCC adopted a Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability on September 2, 2020, affirming the lawsuit allegations. The stations affected by the fines were represented in retransmission negotiations by Duane Lammers of Max Retrans.

Current stations

Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

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

References

{{SBGI, state=collapsed 2012 establishments in New York City Mass media companies established in 2012 Sinclair Broadcast Group Television broadcasting companies of the United States

2021 FCC fine

Current stations

See also

References