Bonten Media Group


Bonten Media Group was a New York City-based owner of television broadcast stations in the United States. It was formed by Randall D. Bongarten and Diamond Castle Holdings in November 2006. Its first acquisition was 14 stations from Bluestone Television, founded by Sandy DiPasquale and Providence Equity Partners on May 31, 2007. Bluestone had acquired the same stations from Lamco Communications in 2004. On January 1, 2008, Bonten entered into an agreement with Esteem Broadcasting to provide services to the Fox affiliates in the Greenville-New Bern market, in addition to WEMT in the Tri-Cities area of Northeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia, bringing the number of stations which Bonten Media Group owns or provides services up to 16 from 13.
On April 21, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations for $240 million. The deal came immediately following the re-instatement of the "UHF discount", which reduces the calculated "reach" of a station for the purposes of national ownership limits if it broadcasts on a UHF channel. The sale was approved on June 30, and the sale was completed on September 1.

Former stations

Media marketStateStationPurchasedSoldNotes
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKCVU20122017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKKTF-LD20122017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKRCR-TV20072017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKRVU-LD20122017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKUCO-LP20122017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKXVU-LP20122017
Chico–ReddingCaliforniaKZVU-LD20122017
EurekaCaliforniaKAEF-TV20072017
EurekaCaliforniaKBVU20122017
EurekaCaliforniaKECA-LD20122017
EurekaCaliforniaKEUV-LP20122017
BozemanMontanaKDBZ-CD20072017
ButteMontanaKTVM-TV20072017
KalispellMontanaKCFW-TV20072017
MissoulaMontanaKECI-TV20072017
Greenville–New BernNorth CarolinaWCTI-TV20072017
Greenville–New BernNorth CarolinaWFXI20072017
Greenville–New BernNorth CarolinaWYDO20072017
Tri-CitiesTennesseeWCYB-TV20072017
Tri-CitiesTennesseeWEMT20072017
AbileneTexasKTES-LD20072017
AbileneTexasKTXS-TV20072017
San AngeloTexasKTXE-LD20072017