 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Fate | Acquisition byRincon Broadcasting Group pending |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
Area served | United States (Midwest,Northeast, andSoutheast) |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
| Website | www.standardmedia.com |
Standard Media Group is an American broadcast and digital media company based inNashville, Tennessee. Standard Media was founded in 2018 by Deborah A. McDermott, who serves as the company'sCEO. Previously, McDermott was thechief operating officer ofMedia General andCEO-president ofYoung Broadcasting.
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 byNexstar Broadcasting Group for $4.6 billion.[2]
On May 16, 2019, Standard Media announced plans to purchase twoABC-affiliated television stations fromCitadel Communications for $83 million.[3] The stations,WLNE-TV inProvidence,Rhode Island andKLKN inLincoln,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 sellFox affiliateKBSI andMyNetworkTV affiliateWDKA inPaducah, 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 ofStandard General andApollo Global Management announced their intent to acquireTegna; Apollo will hold non-voting shares in the company. As part of the sale, Standard General will sell Standard Media toCox Media Group, which will also acquire Tegna's stations in Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin (includingWFAA,KHOU, andKVUE).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 anadministrative 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 theChicago Blackhawks,Bulls, andWhite Sox announced the newregional sports networkChicago 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]
On September 22, 2025, it was announced thatRincon Broadcasting Group would buy all four stations for $50 million, pending FCC approval.[19]
| Media market | State | Station | Channel | Acquired | Network affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paducah | Kentucky | KBSI | 23 | 2021 | Fox |
| WDKA | 49 | 2021 | MyNetworkTV | ||
| Lincoln | Nebraska | KLKN | 8 | 2019 | ABC |
| Providence | Rhode Island | WLNE-TV | 6 | 2019[a] | Roar |
On September 15, 2024, Chicago Sports Network announced its over-the-air coverage in theChicago market through a two-channel lease for the main channel and an overflow channel (both in1080ihigh definition) on the digital subcarriers ofWJYS (channel 62), a station licensed toHammond, Indiana, with full-market coverage from theWillis Tower.[20] The subchannels for CHSN via WJYS originally required anATSC tuner that supports the more compactMPEG-4video codec,[21] but as a result of complaints WJYS switched to the more widely-availableMPEG-2 in January 2025.[citation needed] Coverage onGray Television stations inRockford andSouth Bend were announced on October 1.[22] Coverage onFamily Broadcasting Corporation stationWHMB inIndianapolis was announced on October 17.[23]
Because the network's coverage area over-the-air outside the Chicago market conflicts with the rights to other teams, alternateblackout programming or a blank "Current programming not available" message is transmitted to those stations when games air. Only Chicago Blackhawks games air in Milwaukee due to conflicts with theMilwaukee Brewers,Milwaukee Bucks, andWisconsin Herd. For the same reason, only Chicago Bulls game coverage airs inWest Michigan due to the presence of Detroit's own teams, including theTigers andRed Wings (the Bulls air in West Michigan due to the longtime availability of WGN-TV in the past over-the-air or via itssuperstation).
Mark Lazerus, the Blackhawks beat writer forThe Athletic, claimed that CHSN's over-the-air signal in Chicago sometimes left much to be desired. Lazerus wrote that watching CHSN via channel 62 over-the-air required an antenna mounted in a high position aimed at Willis Tower. Even then, he said, the picture quality was "glitchier thanscrambled late-night cable was in the 1980s." Lazerus added that the over-the-air signal was all but unviewable in rainy or windy conditions.[24]
Due to conflicts with both a Bulls and a White Sox game, a CHSN-produced Blackhawks game in April 2025 aired instead onWCIU-TV.[25]
As a result of Comcast's agreement to carry the network, CHSN dropped all of its OTA affiliates within Illinois and some in the neighboring states at midnight on June 9, 2025.[26][27] Some of its former affiliates replaced it with Stadium.[28]
| Market | Affiliate | Primary channel | Overflow channel | On-Air | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Illinois (Hammond, Indiana) | WJYS | 62.2 | 62.3 | No | [20] |
| Rockford, Illinois | WSLN | 19.3 | 19.4 | No | [22] |
| South Bend, Indiana | WNDU-TV | 16.2 | 16.4 | No | [22] |
| Des Moines, Iowa | KDMI | 19.3 | N/a | Yes | [20] |
| Edgerton, Ohio (Angola, Indiana) | WINM | 12.3 | N/a | No | [20] |
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | WEIJ-LD | 38.3 | N/a | No | [20] |
| Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KWKB | 20.5 | N/a | Yes | [20] |
| Sioux City, Iowa | KMEG | 14.5 | N/a | Yes | [20] |
| Paducah, Kentucky | WDKA | 49.7 | N/a | Yes | [29] |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WVTV | 24.4 | N/a | Yes | [20] |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan | WWMT | 3.4 | N/a | Yes | [20] |
| Peoria, Illinois | WHOI | 19.4 | N/a | No | [20] |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | WHMB-TV | 40.2 | 40.6 | Yes | [23] |
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