ACME Communications

Last updated
ACME Communications Inc.
Type Public
IndustryTelevision Broadcasting & Production
Founded1997;26 years ago (1997)
DefunctDecember 11, 2012;10 years ago (2012-12-11)(stations)
December 31, 2016;6 years ago (2016-12-31)(officially)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Santa Ana, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Jamie Kellner, Chairman
  • Doug Gealy, President/CEO
  • John Hannon, EVP
  • Stan Gill, COO
Number of employees
141 [1]

ACME Communications was a U.S.-based broadcasting company that was involved in operations of television stations and programming from the late 1990s to the year of 2013.

Contents

Company profile

ACME Communications was co-founded by chairman and original CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Television Network executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name ACME as a play on the fictional Acme Corporation featured in Warner Bros' Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner animated film series and other Looney Tunes media. In 2000, ACME Communications and Paramount Stations Group made a joint partnership. ACME will air UPN programs on WB affiliates, while WB programs appear on UPN's Columbus and Providence markets. [2]

The ownership portfolio of ACME Communications included television stations generally located in medium-sized U.S. media markets, all of which ACME obtained through acquisitions (save for one station in Knoxville that the company built from the ground up). All but one of ACME's stations were affiliated with The WB or converted to WB affiliation at purchase, likely playing on Kellner's previous relationship with that network. The ACME WB stations were among the first to line up affiliations with The CW Television Network when The WB and UPN amalgamated in 2006;. [3] ACME's station portfolio reached a peak of 11 stations in the early 2000s, at which time ACME also ventured into program production with the 2002 launch of The Daily Buzz , a syndicated daily morning news and information program that reached 180 markets at one point. [4]

During the early 2010s, ACME set forth on cost-cutting efforts involving its assets and an admitted "exit strategy" from the television business, [5] including the following:

Formerly owned assets

Programming

Television stations

Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license. With one exception, all the below listed stations were affiliates of The CW or its predecessor, The WB, during ACME Communications' ownership. The exception, KASY-TV, was affiliated with UPN and MyNetworkTV (and was briefly an independent), and was part of a duopoly with an ACME-owned WB/CW affiliate.

City of license / Market Station
  • Years
  • owned
Current status
Fort Myers–Naples, FL WTVK46 (45)1998–2007 The CW affiliate, WXCW, owned by Sun Broadcasting, Inc. [lower-alpha 1]
Decatur–Champaign/Urbana–Springfield, IL WBUI 23 (22)1999–2007The CW affiliate owned by GOCOM Media, LLC [lower-alpha 2]
St. Louis, MO KPLR-TV 11 (26)1997–2003The CW affiliate, owned by Nexstar Media Group
Albuquerque–Santa Fe, NM KWBQ 19 (29)1999–2012The CW affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting [lower-alpha 3]
KASY-TV 50 (45)2000–2012 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting [lower-alpha 3]
Roswell, NM KRWB-TV [lower-alpha 4] 21 (21)1999–2012The CW affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting [lower-alpha 3]
Springfield–Dayton, OH WBDT 26 (26)1999–2011The CW affiliate owned by Vaughan Media [lower-alpha 3]
Salem–Portland, OR KWBP32 (33)1997–2003The CW affiliate, KRCW-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group
Crossville–Knoxville, TN WBXX-TV 20 (50)1997–2011The CW affiliate owned by Gray Television
Ogden–Salt Lake City, UT KUWB30 (48)1999–2006The CW affiliate, KUCW, owned by Nexstar Media Group
Suring–Green Bay, WI WIWB/WCWF 14 (21)1999–2011The CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Janesville–Madison, WI WBUW57 (32)2002–2012 Ion Television affiliate, WIFS, owned by Byrne Acquisition Group, LLC

Notes

  1. ↑ Operated by Fort Myers Broadcasting Company.
  2. ↑ Operated through an SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Operated through an SSA by Nexstar Media Group.
  4. ↑ Satellite of KWBQ.

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References

  1. ↑ "Company Profile for ACME Communications Inc (ACME)" . Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  2. ↑ Variety
  3. ↑ Source: 3/9/2006 press release by ACME Communications posted on NASDAQ GlobeNewsWire
  4. 1 2 3 "Mojo Brands Media Announces Acquisition and Extension of The Daily Buzz" (Press release). Santa Ana, California: Mojo Brands Media. April 3, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ "ACME 3Q Station Revenue Falls 9%," from TVNewsCheck, 12/9/2011
  6. ↑ Source: ACME Communications press release dated 4/21/2010
  7. ↑ Source: ACME Communications press release dated 6/4/2010
  8. ↑ "Acme Restructures, Moves Toward Exit Plan", from Broadcasting & Cable, 6/17/2010
  9. ↑ Source: FCC Daily Digest of 4/7/2011
  10. ↑ "Acme 4Q Station Revenue Rises 7%," from TVNewsCheck, 4/19/2011
  11. ↑ Source: Press Release from ACME Communications, dated 5/24/2011
  12. ↑ "Byrne Grabs Acme's Madison CW Station," from Broadcasting & Cable, 12/13/2011
  13. ↑ "Acme to Byrne Madison TV deal is done". Television Business Report. February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ "Acme Sells Albuquerque Stations to Viall for $17.3 Million," from Broadcasting & Cable, 9/11/2012
  15. ↑ ACME Communications Announces Final Cash Distribution to Its Shareholders; Expects to Dissolve by December 31, 2016, ACME Communications, 20 December 2016, Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  16. 1 2 "ACME Communications Announces Completion of Sale of The Daily Buzz and Cash Distribution to Its Shareholders" (Press release). Santa Ana, California: ACME Communications. April 2, 2013. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  17. 1 2 Boedeker, Hal (17 April 2015). "Daily Buzz canceled". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved 18 April 2015.
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