Graham Media Group

Last updated
Graham Media Group
Formerly
  • WTOP Inc. (1949–1954)
  • Post Stations (1954–1961)
  • Post-Newsweek Stations (1961–2014)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Broadcast television
Founded1949;75 years ago (1949)
Headquarters
Detroit, MI
,
USA
Area served
Key people
Catherine Badalamente, president and CEO
Parent Graham Holdings Company
Website www.grahammedia.com

Graham Media Group (formerly Post-Newsweek Stations) is the television broadcasting subsidiary of the Graham Holdings Company. It is now headquartered in Detroit, [1] co-locating with its local NBC affiliate WDIV-TV, after spending 10 years in Chicago. [2]

Contents

History

Previous logo as Post-Newsweek Stations Post-Newsweek Stations.png
Previous logo as Post-Newsweek Stations

The origins of Graham Media can be traced to 1944, when The Washington Post began its broadcasting activities with its purchase of WINX radio in Washington, D.C. Four years later the newspaper's parent firm, the Washington Post Company, announced its intention to acquire controlling interest in a rival station, WTOP radio from CBS. The two firms formed a joint venture known as WTOP Incorporated, with the Post holding 55 percent and CBS maintaining the balance (45 percent). The Post sold wholly owned WINX but retained its FM adjunct WINX-FM, which became the original WTOP-FM when the sales became final in 1949. In 1950 WTOP Inc. purchased WOIC, Washington's CBS television affiliate, and changed that station's call letters to WTOP-TV. This Post-CBS joint venture is the direct predecessor of Graham Media Group.

CBS was forced by the Federal Communications Commission to sell its remaining interest in WTOP Inc. in 1954. The Post then merged its Washington stations with recently purchased WMBR-AM-TV in Jacksonville, Florida and changed the company's name to Post Stations, Inc. WMBR radio was later sold off (it is now WQOP); the Post then changed WMBR-TV's calls to WJXT. The company was rechristened as Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. after the Post acquired Newsweek magazine in 1961. From 1961 to 1962, Post-Newsweek held 46% ownership with San Diego television station KFSD-TV (later KOGO-TV) with the investment firm of Fox, Wells & Rogers owning 54%. Post-Newsweek declined to acquire full ownership of KOGO-TV (now KGTV) and the venture ended when the station was sold to the broadcasting division of Time-Life in 1962.

Post-Newsweek made its first purchase in 1969, with the acquisitions of WCKY radio in Cincinnati and WLBW-TV in Miami; the TV outlet was renamed WPLG after the former Washington Post publisher Philip Graham, who committed suicide in 1963. WTOP-FM in Washington was donated to Howard University in 1971 and became WHUR-FM soon after. In 1974, the company added WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, changing its calls to WFSB upon taking over.

In the wake of a panic swap of WTOP-TV (now WUSA) to the (Detroit) Evening News Association for its WWJ-TV (now WDIV) in 1978, followed by the sale of both radio stations later in the year, the Post decided to spin off their broadcasting interests into a company of its own. The Post-Newsweek name itself would later spread to the Post-owned cable operations (now known as Cable One and a company identical in structure to Post-Newsweek Stations). During the 1970s and 1980s, the stations tended to have vaguely similar on-air looks, along with the common slogan "The One & Only Channel/TV (number)"; some of the stations continue to use this or a variant as a slogan.

In 1992, Post-Newsweek bought the now-defunct Detroit regional sports station PASS Sports from former Detroit Tigers owner and Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan. On April 22, 1994, the Texas stations of H&C Communications, KPRC-TV in Houston and KSAT-TV in San Antonio were acquired. Three years later, the company traded WFSB to Meredith Corporation in exchange for WCPX-TV in Orlando, Florida. [3] In keeping with tradition of renaming stations after notable people within the Post family, WCPX became WKMG-TV in honor of Katharine Graham.

Post-Newsweek nearly expanded to seven stations in 2008, when it offered to purchase NBC-owned WTVJ, creating a duopoly with WPLG. The sale was cancelled however, due to lack of FCC approval and poor economic conditions at that time, along with local reaction against media consolidation. [4]

2013–present: The post-Post-Newsweek era

The Post-Newsweek Stations group was not involved in the sales of Newsweek to Sidney Harman in August 2010, [5] and of the Washington Post to Jeff Bezos in October 2013, [6] after which the Washington Post Company was renamed Graham Holdings Company. [7] Graham's station group continued to operate under the Post-Newsweek name until July 28, 2014, when it was announced that it would be renamed Graham Media Group. [8]

In March 2014, Graham announced that it would sell WPLG to Berkshire Hathaway, in exchange for a large majority of Berkshire Hathaway's shares in Graham Holdings. Berkshire Hathaway and its chairman, Warren Buffett, had been longtime stockholders in the company. [9] The acquisition closed on June 30, 2014; Berkshire Hathaway entered into agreements with Graham to continue providing WPLG with the station group's centralized services following the sale. [10] [11] [12] [13]

On May 27, 2016, Graham announced that as part of the acquisition of Media General by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, it would acquire Nexstar's The CW affiliate WCWJ in Jacksonville (forming Graham's first-ever duopoly, with WJXT) and Media General's NBC affiliate WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, in divestitures tied to the sale. [14]

Stations

Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.

Current stations

City of license / Market Station
  • Owned
  • since
Affiliation
Jacksonville, FL WJXT 4 (18)1953 Independent
WCWJ 17 (20)2017 The CW
Orlando–Daytona Beach–Melbourne, FL WKMG-TV [lower-alpha 1] 6 (26)1997 CBS
Detroit, MI WDIV-TV 4 (32)1978 NBC
Houston, TX KPRC-TV [lower-alpha 2] 2 (35)1994NBC
San Antonio, TX KSAT-TV [lower-alpha 2] 12 (12)1994 ABC
Roanoke–Lynchburg, VA WSLS-TV 10 (34)2017NBC

Former stations

Television

City of license / MarketStation
  • Channel
  • TV (RF)
  • Years
  • owned
Current status
San Diego, CA KFSD-TV/KOGO-TV [lower-alpha 3] 10 (10)1961–1962 ABC affiliate KGTV, owned by E. W. Scripps Company
Hartford–New Haven, CT WFSB [lower-alpha 4] 3 (33)1974–1997 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Washington, D.C. WTOP-TV [lower-alpha 5] 9 (9)1950–1978CBS affiliate WUSA, owned by Tegna Inc.
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL WPLG [lower-alpha 6] 10 (10)1969–2014ABC affiliate owned by BH Media

Radio

AM StationFM Station
City of license / MarketStationYears ownedCurrent status
Washington, D.C. WTOP 1500 [lower-alpha 5] 1949–1978 WFED, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
WTOP-FM 96.3 [lower-alpha 5] 1949–1971 WHUR-FM, donated to and owned by Howard University
Jacksonville, FL WMBR 14601953–1958 WQOP, owned by Relevant Radio, Inc.
Cincinnati, OH WCKY 15301969–1976Owned by iHeartMedia

Notes

  1. ↑ Named after Katharine Meyer Graham, widow of Phillip Graham who took his place as head of The Washington Post Company.
  2. 1 2 Owned by H&C Communications prior to its acquisition by Post-Newsweek in 1994.
  3. ↑ Co-owned with Fox, Wells & Rogers from 1961 to 1962 in a joint venture; 54% owned by Fox, Wells & Rogers, 46% owned by Post-Newsweek.
  4. ↑ Named after Frederick Scott Beebe, former president of Post-Newsweek Stations, later chairman of the Post Company from Philip Graham's death until his own in 1973.
  5. 1 2 3 Co-owned with CBS until 1954 in a joint venture; 55% owned by the Post, 45% owned by CBS.
  6. ↑ Named after Phillip L. Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post who died in 1963.

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References

  1. ↑ Miller, Mark (2022-03-09). "Graham Media Group Headquarters Returns To Detroit". TV News Check. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  2. ↑ "Emily Barr leaves ABC 7 on top — but doesn't go far". Time Out Chicago . May 8, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Meredith Corporation to acquire Hartford Conn., television station], Business Wire , June 2, 1997.
  4. ↑ "Breaking News: Post Newsweek Backs Out of WTVJ Deal". SFL.tv.com. 23 December 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Ahrens, Frank (August 3, 2010). "Harman Media buys Newsweek from Washington Post Co. for Undisclosed Amount". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Farhi, Paul (1 October 2013). "The Washington Post closes sale to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Wilgoren, Debbi (November 18, 2013). "Washington Post Co. Renamed Graham Holdings Company to Mark Sale of Newspaper". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Washington Post's former TV arm changes name to Graham Media Group". Chicago Tribune. July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Warren Buffett Buys Post-Newsweek's WPLG". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Application For Consent To Transfer Control Of Entity Holding Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Graham Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway Complete Deal for Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire WPLG-TV Archived 2014-07-06 at archive.today , Press Release, Graham Holdings Company, 1 July 2014, Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "Exhibit 7 - Exchange Agreement", CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Nexstar Selling Five Stations in Four Markets". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
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