Smith Media, LLC, successor to Smith Television aka Sunrise Television, was a broadcasting group co-based in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
and
St. Petersburg, Florida, that formerly owned and operated several television stations across the United States. In 1986, it bought the three smaller television stations from publishing company
Times Mirror Company
The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000.
History
It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...
. In 2002, Sunrise sold six of the stations to
LIN Television
LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low powered weather station in Ind ...
.
Smith Television became Smith Media, LLC in 2004 at the death of Bob Smith, head of the family run organization. The family decided to re-capitalize their stations and sold the stations to Boston Ventures, which created Smith Media. The similarities in names have created much confusion.
During the early 2010s, Smith Media sold off its stations; on October 1, 2013, Smith Media reached a deal to sell its last remaining station,
WKTV in
Utica, New York
Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot ...
, to
Heartland Media, a company owned by former
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
executive Bob Prather, pending
FCC approval.
The sale was completed on March 20, 2014.
Consummation Notice
''CDBS Public Notice'', Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...
, Retrieved 21 March, 2014.
Formerly-owned Stations
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license
In American, 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 b ...
.
* With the exception of KATN, KEYT, KJUD, KYUR, WFFF, & WKTV, the second incarnation of Smith Media never owned these stations. Smith Media, LLC was successor to Smith Television, Inc. who owned the following:
Notes:
*1 Acquired along with KSBW but divested almost immediately due to Smith's ownership of KEYT.
*2 Operated on channel 8 under Smith's ownership.
*3 From 2000-2004, The Ackerley Group, and later Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
would operate this station through a local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA).
*4 Operated on channel 25 until 2001.
*5 From 2001 to 2002, United Communications operated the station under a LMA.
*6 From 1998 to 1999, Smith operated WFFF through an LMA, until Smith bought it outright in 1999.
*7 Owned by Lambert Broadcasting, Smith operated WVNY through an LMA.
References
{{reflist
External links
Smith Media via Boston Ventures site
Smith Media
Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States
Mass media companies disestablished in 2014
Companies disestablished in 2014
Companies based in St. Petersburg, Florida
Companies based in Los Angeles