Updated at 9:40pm Eastern
Some have labeled it a “shell company.” Others simply believe it is an independently owned broadcast licensee who has decided to enter into shared services agreements with larger, more established players.
However you label it, Deerfield Media and its owner, Stephen P. Mumblow, are about to shrink the asset stable. The buyer? That aforementioned SSA partner.
Three separate LMS filings seeking FCC approval have been made by the legal representatives of Deerfield Media and Sinclair Inc., and each seek the Commission’s OK in giving Sinclair outright ownership of several properties it has been operating under SSAs with Deerfield.
In the first deal, Deerfield Media and Sinclair have struck a deal transferring the latter control of Dabl-affiliated KBTV-TV in Port Arthur, Tex., serving Beaumont and the areas east of Houston. A $1.5 million purchase price has been agreed to for this property.
The second transaction awaiting Commission approval would see Sinclair take full ownership of KNSN-TV in Reno, Nev. and the following TV translator stations:
| K34BL-D | 19192 | 0000274537 | LPT | LOVELOCK, NV |
| K35FL-D | 19196 | 0000274538 | LPT | SILVER SPRINGS, NV |
| K35AX-D | 19193 | 0000274539 | LPT | HAWTHORNE, NV |
| K34QQ-D | 19197 | 0000274540 | LPT | TAHOE CITY, CA |
| K32GW-D | 19195 | 0000274541 | LPT | CARSON CITY, NV |
| K34QL-D | 19194 | 0000274542 | LPT | FALLON, NV |
The Reno transaction is valued at $420,000
Lastly, WSTR-TV in Cincinnati is poised to become a Sinclair station. A $5.15 million deal has been agreed to.
Waivers would be needed; they are largely expected, given FCC Chairman Brendan Carr‘s deregulatory ambitions.
For the Cincinnati-Covington market, MyNetwork TV-aligned WSTR “Star 64” would become a sister property of WKRC “LOCAL 12,” the CBS affiliate that has The CW Network on Channel 12.2.
In Reno-Carson City, KNSN, “Nevada Sports Net,” would be fully joined with KRXI “FOX 11.” A second shared services agreement, with Cunningham Broadcasting for operation of NBC affiliate KRNV-4, would remain as is.
In Beaumont-Port Arthur, Tex., KBTV would become a full sibling of KFDM-6, a CBS affiliate; The CW Network is on Channel 6.2. No waiver would be needed; on February 1, 2021 FOX programming shifted to a subchannel of KFDM. This was incorrectly reported in an initial version of this story on July 2.
Sinclair has not offered comment on the deal, with its lone corporate announcement of late confirming its Q2 earnings report’s release on August 6 following the closing bell on Wall Street.
Mumblow is known as the President and Owner of Manhan Media Inc., Deerfield Media Inc. and the Deerfield Media group of companies, licensees of television stations in 10 mid-size U.S. television markets. Until January 2002, Mumblow was the President and a Director of Communications Corporation of America, a television and radio broadcasting company, having joined that company in 1998. CCA concluded its operations in 2013, with MVP Partners engineering a deal that gave Nexstar Media Group nearly all of its TV stations.
