Barrington Broadcasting Group, LLC
Private
GenreTelevision broadcasting
FoundedMay 2003 (age 23)
DefunctNovember 25, 2013 (age 12)
FateAcquired by Sinclair
SuccessorSinclair Broadcast Group
Founders
  • Keith Bland
  • Chris Cornelius
  • Mary Flodin
  • K. James Yager
Hq location citySchaumburg, Illinois
Hq location countryUSA
Num locationsFifteen ranked television markets (U.S.)
Key people
  • K. James Yager, CEO
  • Warren Spector, CFO
IndustryMass media
ServicesBroadcasting
ParentPilot Group

Barrington Broadcasting Group, LLC was an American mass media and broadcasting company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It owned television stations primarily in middle and small-sized media markets. Barrington owned or operated via duopoly twenty-four television stations, with the potential to reach about 3.4 percent of households in the U.S.[1] It was owned by Pilot Group, a private equity firm.

History

Barrington Broadcasting was established in May 2003 by a team of former executives from Benedek Broadcasting. Following Benedek's bankruptcy and subsequent divestiture of all television assets in 2002, K. James Yager, the former President, along with Senior Vice-Presidents Chris Cornelius, Keith Bland, and Mary Flodin, formed a company for medium and small market broadcasting.[2]

The company began operations in January 2004 with its purchases of former Benedek stations WHOI-TV (Peoria, Illinois) and KHQA-TV (Hannibal, Missouri/Quincy, Illinois) along with WEYI-TV in Vienna Township, Michigan. Barrington grew slowly at first, adding five more stations between 2004 and early 2006. A major expansion took place on March 27, 2006, when Raycom Media agreed to sell twelve of its network-affiliated TV stations to Barrington for $262 million.[3] The sale was completed on August 11.[4] In recent years, Barrington had been at the forefront of integrating social media and the internet into their on-air content.[2]

In late 2012, it was announced that Pilot Group had put Barrington up for sale and that both Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group were in final talks to acquire the full regiment of stations.[5] On February 28, 2013, Barrington announced that it would sell its stations to Sinclair.[6] The sale was granted FCC approval on November 18.[7] The transaction was formally consummated on November 25.[8]

Former stations

Stations owned by Barrington Broadcasting
Media marketStateStationPurchasedSoldNotes
Colorado Springs–PuebloColoradoKXRM-TV20062013
KXTU-LD20062013
AlbanyGeorgiaWFXL20062013
Peoria–BloomingtonIllinoisWHOI20042013
QuincyKHQA-TV20042013
MarquetteMichiganWLUC-TV20062013
Saginaw–Bay City–FlintWEYI-TV20042013
WBSF20042013
Sault Ste. Marie, MIWGTQ20092013[A][a]
WTOM-TV20062013[B]
Traverse CityWGTU20092013[a]
WPBN-TV20062013
Columbia–Jefferson CityMissouriKRCG20052013
KirksvilleKTVO20062013
ClovisNew MexicoKVIH-TV20052013[C]
SyracuseNew YorkWSTM-TV20062013
WTVH20092013[a]
WSTQ-LP20062013
ToledoOhioWNWO-TV20062013
ColumbiaSouth CarolinaWACH20062013
Florence–Myrtle BeachWPDE-TV20052013
WWMB20052013[a]
AmarilloTexasKVII-TV20052013
Harlingen–McAllen–BrownsvilleKGBT-TV20062013
  1. ^ Owned by a third party and operated by Barrington.
  1. ^ Satellite of WGTU.
  2. ^ Satellite of WPBN.
  3. ^ Satellite of KVII.

References

  1. ^ "About Us". Barrington Broadcasting corporate website. 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Malone, Michael (2011). "K. James Yager, CEO and Co-founder, Barrington Broadcasting Group, LLC". Broadcasting & Cable magazine via website. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  3. ^ Raycom and Barrington Announce Deal For Twelve Television Stations, businesswire.com, March 27, 2006, Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  4. ^ "Barrington and Raycom Announce Completion of Transaction for Twelve Television Stations". Raycom Media. August 11, 2006. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  5. ^ "Sinclair, Nexstar in Running for Barrington". TV News Check-Jack Messmer. November 29, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  6. ^ Malone, Michael (February 28, 2013). "Sinclair's Chesapeake TV Acquires Barrington Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  7. ^ FCC approves sales of three Syracuse TV stations cnyradio.com, Retrieved November 19, 2013
  8. ^ "Sinclair Broadcast Group Closes On Acquisition Of Barrington Stations". Sinclair Broadcast Group. November 25, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2018.