Diversified Communications is a multimedia company, headquartered in Portland, Maine. The company provides market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital products and publications.
Diversified was founded in 1949 when Horace A. Hildreth, the former governor of Maine, president of Bucknell University and U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, purchased Community Broadcasting Service, owner of Maine's oldest radio station, WABI in Bangor. In 1953, he launched Maine's first TV station, WABI-TV in Bangor.
In 1970, Diversified entered the publishing and trade show business with the acquisition of National Fisherman and FISH EXPO Boston. In 1972, it formed New England Cablevision which it sold in 2000. The company was also the original owner of Home Theater Network, until Westinghouse Broadcasting bought out a majority stake in the company in 1980. [1]
Throughout the 1980s, Diversified expanded its publishing and trade show business with products in the commercial marine and seafood industries. In 1993, it expanded internationally with the European Seafood Exposition. Diversified continued its international growth with the acquisition of Australia Exhibition Services in 2000, the formation of DBC Canada and the acquisition of UK-based Full Moon Communications in 2002. In 2004 it began to co-produce Kosherfest, a two-day trade show for the kosher-certified [2] until it was discontinued after its last show in 2022. [3] In 2009, Diversified expanded into Hong Kong with the acquisition of Asia Business Events and established a presence in India with the acquisition of Infocast.
On July 15, 2014, the contracts that Diversified Communications had with Dish Network expired. Among the issues Diversified cited included financial terms, customer service issues between the station and Dish Network, and, in Bangor, viewership changes on Dish's part in several counties to another CBS station on account of DMA location (including WGME in the Portland area). After a breakdown on contract talks, which picked up slowly, an agreement was reached on October 8, 2014, allowing both stations to return to Dish Network later that day. [4]
On February 16, 2017, it was announced that WABI-TV and sister station WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida would be sold to Gray Television for $85 million, pending FCC approval. [5] It will make WCJB a sister station to WCTV (Gray Television's then-flagship station) in Tallahassee and WJHG-TV and WECP-LD in Panama City, while reuniting WABI-TV with WAGM-TV (which Gray acquired two years prior) in Presque Isle, Maine. The sale was completed on May 1, 2017. [6]
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Today, Diversified operates trade fairs on four continents, produces trade publications, and owns several digital businesses. SPAR Point Group, which focuses on the 3D imaging technologies sector, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Diversified. [7]
Stations arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville, FL | WCJB-TV | 20 | 1976–2017 | ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Bangor, ME | WABI-TV ** | 5 | 1953–2017 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Poland Spring–Portland, ME | WMTW ** | 8 | 1954–1964 [lower-alpha 1] | ABC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Presque Isle, ME | WAGM-TV | 8 | 1957–1984 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| New Bern–Greenville–Washington, NC | WCTI-TV | 12 | 1986–1993 | ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA | WYOU | 22 | 1986–1996 | CBS affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting [lower-alpha 2] |
| Florence–Myrtle Beach, SC | WPDE-TV | 15 | 1985–2006 | ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| WWMB | 21 | [lower-alpha 3] | The CW affiliate owned by Howard Stirk Holdings [lower-alpha 4] |
| AM Station | FM Station |
|---|
| Market | Station | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor, ME | WABI 910 | 1949–1993 | WTOS, owned by Blueberry Broadcasting |
| WABI-FM/WBGW/ WYOU-FM 97.1 ** | 1961–1993 | WBFB, owned by Blueberry Broadcasting | |
| Houlton, ME | WABM 1340 | 1957–1959 | Defunct, ceased operations in 1994 as WHGS |
| Portland, ME | WPOR 1490 | 1958–1971 | WBAE, owned by Saga Communications |
| WPOR-FM 101.9 ** | 1967–1971 | owned by Saga Communications | |
| Presque Isle, ME | WAGM 950 | 1957–1981 | Defunct, ceased operations in 1991 |
| Mount Washington, NH | WMTW-FM 94.9 ** | 1958–1964 [lower-alpha 1] | WHOM, owned by Townsquare Media |
LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low powered weather station in Indiana.
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WVII-TV is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting alongside Fox affiliate WFVX-LD. WVII-TV and WFVX-LD share studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WVII-TV's spectrum from an antenna on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot and Hancock county line.
WLBZ is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor, and its transmitter is located on Rider Bluff in Holden.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television stations across the U.S., most of which are affiliated with the four "major" U.S. television networks and MyNetworkTV. It also operates all of the stations owned by affiliated companies, such as Mission Broadcasting and Vaughan Media, under local marketing agreements, and operates major TV network The CW through a 75% majority stake, two terrestrial television networks airing classic shows, Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and has full or partial ownership stakes in three pay television networks.
WAGM-TV is a television station in Presque Isle, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS, Fox, and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Fort Kent–licensed low-power NBC affiliate WWPI-LD. The two stations share studios on Brewer Road in Presque Isle; WAGM-TV's transmitter is located on the northern section of Mars Hill Mountain among the wind turbines.
WABI-TV is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on Hildreth Street in West Bangor, and its transmitter is atop Peaked Mountain in Dixmont.
Fisher Communications was a media company in the United States. Based in Seattle, Washington, the company primarily owned a number of radio and television stations in the Western United States. It was the last company in the Seattle area to own a local TV station before being acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Fisher was acquired the same year KOMO-TV's competitor KING-TV's owner, Belo, was acquired by the Gannett Company.
Schurz Communications is a South Bend, Indiana-based broadband media group and cloud services provider. It owned newspapers.
WZON is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format, with one afternoon talk show. The station is licensed to Bangor and serves Central Maine.
WCJB-TV is a television station in Gainesville, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Northwest 43rd Street in Gainesville, and its transmitter is located near Micanopy, Florida.
WVOM-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Howland, Maine and serving Central and Down East Maine, including Bangor. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Maine-based Blueberry Broadcasting which is headed by Louis Vitale and Bruce Biette. WVOM-FM is known as "The Voice of Maine News/Talk Network."
WARP-CD, virtual channel 20, is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States. The station is owned by the Sunshine Broadcasting Company.
Hoak Media Corporation was a broadcast media company based in Dallas, Texas. Hoak once owned eighteen television stations, all in medium and small-markets, mostly in the Great Plains states and Colorado. Hoak Media was established in August 2003.
WBFB is a commercial FM radio station in Bangor, Maine. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format, simulcast on sister stations WBFE in Bar Harbor and WMCM in Rockland.
WTOS is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bangor, Maine, United States. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting. WTOS broadcasts a mainstream rock format, simulcast with WTOS-FM in Skowhegan and WTUX in Gouldsboro.
Black Bear Sports Network is the radio and television name for University of Maine sports. The radio affiliates broadcast football, men's and women's basketball, men's ice hockey and select baseball and softball games. The current network formed in the summer of 2007 when Learfield Sports took over the marketing for the Maine Black Bears. Previous to this the radio network was known as The Sports Zone Black Bear Network and was heard on Bangor, Maine ESPN Radio affiliate WZON, at times including WLOB and WEGP.
WNBW-DT is a television station in Gainesville, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with New Age Media, owner of High Springs–licensed dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WGFL and low-power, Class A Antenna TV affiliate WYME-CD, for the provision of certain services. All three stations, in turn, are operated under a master service agreement by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The stations share studios on Northwest 80th Boulevard in Gainesville and transmitter facilities on Southwest 30th Avenue near Newberry.
Tegna Inc. is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies. Tegna comprised the more profitable broadcast television and digital media divisions of the old Gannett, while Gannett's publishing interests were spun off as a "new" company that retained the Gannett name. Tegna owns or operates 68 television stations in 54 markets, and holds properties in digital media.
WKZX was a radio station broadcasting on 950 AM in Presque Isle, Maine, that operated from 1932 to 1991. It was the first radio station in Presque Isle, broadcasting under the call letters WAGM from its inception until 1981.