Field Communications was an American broadcast media company and a wholly owned division of Field Enterprises, which owned the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News. Based in Chicago, Illinois, the company had owned UHF independent television stations in the United States, with WFLD-TV in Chicago as its flagship and largest-market station.
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Broadcast television |
Founded | 1966 |
Defunct | 1983 |
Fate | Dissolved |
Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
Area served | United States |
Key people |
|
Products | Broadcast television |
Parent | Field Enterprises |
The broadcasting arm of Field Enterprises began in January 1966 with the initial sign-on of WFLD.
On May 26, 1972, Field sold a majority ownership (about 77.5 percent) of WFLD-TV to Oakland, California–based Kaiser Broadcasting; in turn, Kaiser sold a 22.5 percent minority stake in their station group to Field.[1] The Kaiser chain consisted of WKBD-TV in Detroit, WKBF-TV in Cleveland, WKBS-TV in the Philadelphia area, KBHK-TV in San Francisco, WKBG-TV in Boston (owned by Kaiser in a joint venture with the Boston Globe) and KBSC-TV in the Los Angeles area.[2] KBSC-TV, which had struggled in the Los Angeles area since it took to the air in 1966, was put up for sale,[3] but a deal could not be finalized until 1975.[4][5] The Kaiser/Field partnership was named Kaiser Broadcasting Co. (Kaiser Co.) when the deal was completed in May 1973.[2]
The Boston Globe sold its minority ownership stake in WKBG-TV back to Kaiser/Field in 1974,[6] with the station renamed WLVI.[7] WKBF-TV was shut down permanently on April 25, 1975, after years of mounting financial losses, with Kaiser/Field selling the station's non-license assets to WUAB parent United Artists Broadcasting.[8] In turn, Kaiser/Field purchased a 36 percent equity stake in WUAB,[9] which it held until United Artists sold off that station to Gaylord Broadcasting in 1977.[10]
In January 1977, Field purchased Kaiser's majority control in the entire broadcast group for a combined $42.625 million (equivalent to $214 million in 2023), while also resulted in an outright repurchase of WFLD-TV.[11] This transaction was instigated by a larger disposition of Kaiser Industries throughout 1977 in which 90 percent of the conglomerate's assets were divested.[12]
In 1982, half-brothers Marshall Field V and Frederick W. (Ted) Field, who each controlled half of Field Enterprises, were at odds on how the company should operate which left them unable to work together.[13] As a result of the dispute, Field opted to dissolve the company and the broadcast holdings were put up for sale as a group;[14] when no prospective buyers emerged, the stations were individually put up for sale.
By the end of 1982, Field had deals in place for three of the stations: WFLD-TV to Metromedia,[15][16] WLVI-TV to Gannett,[17] and KBHK-TV to Chris-Craft Industries/United Television.[18] The search for buyers for the Detroit and Philadelphia outlets would continue well into 1983. While WKBD-TV was sold to Cox Enterprises in May 1983,[19] finding an entity to purchase WKBS-TV proved to be difficult. Faced with a deadline to complete the liquidation of Field Enterprises, and with no purchasers having been found, Field took WKBS-TV dark on August 30, 1983, and returned the station's license to the FCC.[20] Field did achieve some financial recoupment by selling most of WKBS-TV's non-license assets to WPHL-TV.[21]
City of license / Market | Station | Sold to | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose, CA | KBHK-TV 44 | Chris-Craft/United Television | Independent KPYX, owned by Paramount Global |
Chicago, IL | WFLD-TV 32 | Metromedia | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Cambridge–Boston, MA | WLVI-TV 56 | Gannett | The CW affiliate owned by Sunbeam Television |
Detroit, MI | WKBD-TV 50 | Cox Broadcasting | Independent owned by Paramount Global |
Burlington, NJ–Philadelphia, PA | WKBS-TV 48 | None, taken off the air | Defunct, license cancelled |