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Industry | Media |
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Founded | 1902 |
Founder | Edwin T. Meredith |
Defunct | December 1, 2021 |
Fate | Acquired by IAC and merged with Dotdash to form Dotdash Meredith Broadcast assets acquired by Gray Television |
Successors | |
Headquarters | Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. |
Key people |
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Products |
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Revenue | ![]() |
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Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Number of employees | 7,915 (2018) |
Footnotes /references [1] |
Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than 40 million, and its websites had nearly 135 million monthly unique visitors. Its broadcast television stations reached 11% of U.S. households. [1]
Edwin Thomas Meredith founded the company in 1902 when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine. [2]
In 1922, Meredith began publishing Fruit, Garden and Home magazine, a home and family service publication. [2] In 1924, the magazine was retitled Better Homes and Gardens , [1] [2] and the first issue cost a dime on the newsstand. In 1930, the company published the first edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. In 1946, the company became a public company. In 1987, Meredith Corporation made a deal that they would purchase MMT Sales for $40 million, and would represent national advertising spot time on 60 stations across the entire US country. [3]
In 1994, Meredith and CBS struck an agreement to renew its Kansas City station and affiliate two of the Bay City and Phoenix stations with the network. [4]
In March 2012, Meredith acquired allrecipes.com from Reader's Digest Association for $175 million. [5] [6] In February 2013, Meredith and Time Warner held discussions on a possible purchase of Time Inc.; Time Warner at the time elected to spin it out as a separate company instead. [7] [8]
In October 2014, Meredith announced a 10-year licensing agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to acquire the rights to Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings and marthastewart.com. [9] [10]
In November 2014, Meredith acquired mywedding.com. [11] [12] In January 2015, the company acquired Selectable Media. [13] Also in January 2015, Meredith acquired Shape , Natural Health and Fit Pregnancy from American Media Inc. Fitness magazine was folded into Shape, while retaining its website. [14]
On September 8, 2015, Media General announced its intent to acquire Meredith in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.4 billion. [15] Pending regulatory and shareholder approval, the deal was expected to be consummated in June 2016. [15] The combined company would have operated under the name Meredith Media General, and be the third-largest owner of television stations in the United States—serving an estimated 30% of households. [15] To comply with FCC ownership limits, the company would have divested and/or swapped stations in six markets. [15] Media General shareholders would have controlled 65% of the company, with Meredith shareholders holding 35%. [16] However, the offer was countered by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, who made a successful, $4.6 billion bid to acquire Media General instead. [17]
In February 2017, it was reported that Meredith and a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. were considering another possible purchase of Time Inc. [18] On November 26, 2017, it was announced that Meredith Corporation would acquire Time Inc. in a $2.8 billion deal. [19] $640 million in backing was provided by Koch Equity Development, but the Koch family would not have a board seat or otherwise influence the company's operations. [20] [21]
On January 9, 2018, it was announced that Meredith would launch a Hungry Girl magazine on January 16, expanding from the online brand. [22]
On January 31, 2018, the company completed the acquisition of Time Inc. [23] [24] [25] In March 2018, only six weeks after the closure of the deal, Meredith announced that it would lay off 200 employees, up to 1,000 more over the next 10 months, and explore the sale of Fortune , Money , Sports Illustrated , and Time . Meredith felt that, despite their "strong consumer reach," these brands did not align with its core lifestyle properties. [26] Howard Milstein had announced on February 7, 2018, that he would acquire Golf Magazine from Meredith, [27] and Time Inc. UK was sold to the British private equity group Epiris (later rebranded to TI Media) in late February. [28] In September 2018, Meredith announced the sale of Time to Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne for $190 million. [29] In November 2018, Meredith announced the sale of Fortune to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon, whose family owns Charoen Pokphand, for $150 million. [30] [31] After failing to find a buyer for Money, Meredith in April 2019 announced that it would cease the magazine's print publication as of July 2019, but would invest in the brand's digital component Money.com. [32] In May 2019, Meredith announced the sale of Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group, for $110 million. [33]
Time Inc. Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018. The studio is under Bruce Gersh, Meredith's president of People, Entertainment Weekly , and People en Español and head of Four M Studios. [34]
In October 2019, Meredith Corporation sold the Money brand and website to Ad Practitioners LLC, a media and advertising company based in Puerto Rico. [35] Terms were not disclosed, but sources said the brand went for just over $20 million, that was more than the $10 million Meredith was seeking in early 2019. [36]
In November 2019 the company unloaded one more asset acquired in the Time Inc. acquisition, its 60% equity ownership of digital advertising company Viant Technology Holding Inc. that, among other assets, owns social networking site Myspace. [37] Also in November 2019, the company announced the launch of a new quarterly magazine, called Reveal, in January 2020 in collaboration with Drew and Jonathan Scott from HGTV's Property Brothers . [38] [39]
On May 3, 2021, Meredith announced an agreement with Gray Television for the latter to acquire Meredith's television division. The transaction will be structured as a spin-off of a new (short-lived) Meredith Corporation, containing the magazines division, to existing shareholders, to be immediately followed by the old Meredith (by then consisting solely of its TV stations group) being acquired by Gray for $2.7 billion in cash. [40]
Later that year, on October 6, Meredith announced an agreement whereby the company's remaining magazine and other non-broadcast assets would be acquired by IAC's Dotdash for $2.7 billion, forming a new entity called Dotdash Meredith. [41]
On November 15, Meredith announced it has received regulatory approvals for both the Gray and IAC transactions. [42] Both deals were completed on December 1. [43] [44] On February 9, 2022, it was revealed that six former Meredith Corporation magazines ( Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Espanol ) will cease having print circulation and switch to a digital-only format. [45]
Meredith magazines include the following brands:
Defunct magazines include
The broadcasting division owned 15 television stations. Most of the company's stations were affiliated with CBS or Fox. Meredith's broadcasting division also produced Better from 2007 until 2015, which was originally conceived as a brand extension of BH&G. Since its inception in 2007 the show has placed an increasing emphasis on celebrity interviews and music performances. There were also cooking demonstrations and regular features on health, beauty, fitness and fashion. Local versions of the concept continue to air on Meredith stations. [51]
On December 23, 2013, Meredith announced plans to buy St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV and Phoenix independent station KTVK for $407.5 million in cash from Gannett Company and Sander Media, LLC to satisfy a federal mandate that Gannett sell KMOV. [52] [ third-party source needed ] The purchase of KMOV was completed on February 28, 2014, [53] while the KTVK sale was completed on June 19. [54]
Meredith has also struck deals to acquire ABC affiliate WGGB in Springfield, Massachusetts from Gormally Broadcasting for $53.8 million [55] and Fox affiliate WALA in Mobile, Alabama from LIN Media for $86 million. [56]
The Local Media Division was sold to Gray Television on December 1, 2021. [57]
City of license / Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mobile, AL | WALA-TV | 10 | 2014–2021 | Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Phoenix, AZ | KTVK | 3 | 2014–2021 [lower-alpha 1] | Independent owned by Gray Television |
KPHO-TV | 5 | 1952–2021 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television | |
KASW | 61 | 2014 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] | The CW affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company | |
Fresno, CA | KSEE | 24 | 1984–1993 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Hartford–New Haven, CT | WFSB | 3 | 1997–2021 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Orlando–Daytona Beach, FL | WOFL | 35 | 1983–2002 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
WCPX-TV | 6 | 1997 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] | CBS affiliate WKMG-TV, owned by Graham Media Group | |
Ocala–Gainesville, FL | WOGX [upper-alpha 1] | 51 | 1996–2002 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Atlanta, GA | WGNX/WGCL-TV | 46 | 1999–2021 | CBS affiliate WANF, owned by Gray Television |
WPCH-TV | 17 | 2017–2021 [lower-alpha 5] | Independent owned by Gray Television | |
Springfield, MA | WSHM-LD [upper-alpha 2] | 3 | 2004–2021 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
WGGB-TV | 40 | 2014–2021 | ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television | |
Bay City–Flint–Saginaw, MI | WNEM-TV | 5 | 1969–2021 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Kansas City, MO | KCTV | 5 | 1953–2021 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
KSMO-TV | 62 | 2005–2021 | MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television | |
St. Louis, MO | KMOV | 4 | 2014–2021 [lower-alpha 1] | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Omaha, NE | WOW-TV | 6 | 1951–1975 | NBC affiliate WOWT, owned by Gray Television |
Henderson–Las Vegas, NV | KVVU-TV | 5 | 1985–2021 | Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Syracuse, NY | WHEN-TV/WTVH ** | 5 | 1948–1993 | CBS affiliate owned by Granite Broadcasting [lower-alpha 6] |
Portland, OR–Vancouver, WA | KPTV | 12 | 2002–2021 | Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television |
KPDX | 49 | 1997–2021 [lower-alpha 3] | MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television | |
Bend, OR | KFXO-LD | 39 | 1997–2007 | Fox affiliate owned by News-Press & Gazette Company |
KUBN-LD [upper-alpha 3] | 43 | 2006–2021 | MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television | |
Pittsburgh, PA | WPGH-TV | 53 | 1978–1986 | Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Greenville–Spartanburg, SC | WHNS | 21 | 1997–2021 [lower-alpha 3] | Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Cleveland–Chattanooga, TN | WFLI-TV | 53 | 2004–2008 | The CW affiliate owned by MPS Media [lower-alpha 7] |
Nashville, TN | WSMV-TV | 4 | 1995–2021 | NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Seattle–Tacoma, WA | KCPQ | 13 | 1998–1999 [lower-alpha 8] | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
AM Stations | FM Stations |
City of license / Market | Station | Years owned | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
Phoenix, AZ | KPHO 910 | 1952–1972 | KGME, owned by iHeartMedia |
Kansas City, MO | KCMO 810 | 1953–1983 | WHB, owned by Union Broadcasting [lower-alpha 1] |
KCMO-FM 94.9 | 1953–1983 | Owned by Cumulus Media | |
Omaha, NE | WOW 590 | 1951–1983 | KXSP, owned by SummitMedia |
WOW-FM 92.3 | 1951–1983 | KEZO-FM, owned by SummitMedia | |
Syracuse, NY | WHEN 620 | 1954–1976 | Owned by iHeartMedia |
Bridgeport, MI | WNEM 1250 | 2004–2013 | WJMK, owned by Northern States Broadcasting |
Four M Studios (Four M), formerly Time Inc. Productions, is Meredith's in-house production company and is under the oversight of Bruce Gersh, Meredith's president of People, Entertainment Weekly and People en Español. [34]
After attempting a few TV shows in 2014 and 2015, the company formed Time Inc. Productions in 2016 as its in-house production company. [61] It launched its free, ad-supported online video service PeopleTV in 2016, which got a pay TV deal by May 2018 with FuboTV. In November 2017, it launched its first over-the-top subscription service, Sports Illustrated TV, available via Amazon Channels. [34] On October 30, 2017, it announced that Paramount Network was partnering with it on two TV pilots. [62]
Time Inc. Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018. Four M would expand from the Time titles to all Meredith titles and to freestanding lifestyle shows and scripted shows. Four M also announced at that time a deal with Freeform TV channel to develop Meredith magazine stories, including People's "Heroes Among Us" franchise, into telefilms. [34]
Four M Studios partnered with Imagine Entertainment's Imagine Kids & Family division. Its first project from the partnership is LIFE for Kids, a children's TV show using LIFE Magazine's photo archive. [63]
Dotdash Meredith is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and education. It operates brands including Verywell, Investopedia, People, The Balance, Byrdie, MyDomaine, Brides, The Spruce, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, Liquor.com, Lifewire, TripSavvy, TreeHugger, and ThoughtCo. In August 2012, About.com became a property of IAC, owner of Ask.com and numerous other online brands, and its revenue is generated by advertising. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters, Dotdash Meredith maintains offices elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area, as well as in Des Moines, Iowa, and Birmingham, Alabama.
Fortune is an American multinational business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The magazine competes with Forbes and Bloomberg Businessweek in the national business magazine category and distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles.
People is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, People had the largest audience of any American magazine, but it fell to second place in 2018 after its readership significantly declined to 35.9 million. People had $997 million in advertising revenue in 2011, the highest advertising revenue of any American magazine. In 2006, it had a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age in October 2005, for excellence in editorial, circulation, and advertising. People ranked number 6 on Advertising Age's annual "A-list" and number 3 on Adweek's "Brand Blazers" list in October 2006.
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United States in 113 markets. Its station base consists of all ranges of media markets, from as large as Atlanta, to one of the smallest markets, North Platte, Nebraska.
Money is an American personal finance brand and website owned by Ad Practitioners LLC and formerly also a monthly magazine, first published by Time Inc. (1972–2018) and later by Meredith Corporation (2018–2019). Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from credit cards, mortgages, insurance, banking and investing to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement. It is well known for its annual list of "America's Best Places to Live".
IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company is incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in New York City. Joey Levin, who previously led the company's search and applications segment, has served as chief executive officer since June 2015.
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 affiliates 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.
KPDX is a television station licensed to Vancouver, Washington, United States, serving the Portland, Oregon area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is the only major commercial station in Portland that is licensed to the Washington side of the market.
Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Community Newspaper Holdings subsidiary, also owned multiple newspapers in small and medium-sized markets throughout the United States.
WRIC-TV is a television station licensed to Petersburg, Virginia, United States, serving the Richmond area as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios in unincorporated Chesterfield County, overlooking Powhite Parkway just south of the Midlothian Turnpike interchange. Its transmitter is located in Bon Air, on a tower shared with local PBS member stations WCVE and WCVW.
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark rights belonging to Travel + Leisure Co., a timeshare company capitally separate from IAC but licensing trademark to. Its main competitor is Condé Nast Traveler.
Travel + Leisure Co. is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation ownership clubs, including Club Wyndham and WorldMark by Wyndham, and provides timeshare exchange services, primarily through RCI.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake Time, Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Fortune, People, InStyle, Life, Golf Magazine, Southern Living, Essence, Real Simple, and Entertainment Weekly. It also had subsidiaries which it co-operated with the UK magazine house Time Inc. UK, whose major titles include What's on TV, NME, Country Life, and Wallpaper. Time Inc. also co-operated over 60 websites and digital-only titles including MyRecipes, Extra Crispy, TheSnug, HelloGiggles, and MIMI.
Southern Living is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama–based Southern Progress Corporation, a unit of IAC's Dotdash Meredith.
Health was an American magazine focused on women's health and owned by Dotdash Meredith. The magazine's topics range from improper diet to dealing with life issues such as weak relationships and growing stress. Additionally, this website offers latest fashion and exclusive beauty tips, various healthy food recipes, and related articles that can encourage people to be happy and healthy. Since 1999, Health has published its annual beauty awards, highlighting top products in health categories like skincare. It occasionally features cover stories on celebrities such as Marcia Cross and Elisabeth Röhm and tips from Bethenny Frankel, a celebrity chef.
Investopedia is a financial media website headquartered in New York City, U.S.A. Founded in 1999, Investopedia provides investment dictionaries, advice, reviews, ratings, and comparisons of financial products such as securities accounts. Investopedia has more than 32,000 articles and 44 million monthly viewers and posts paid advertisements as investing information. It is part of the Dotdash Meredith family of brands owned by IAC.
Magazines.com LLC is a privately held American e-commerce company. As the internet's oldest and largest print magazine retailer, Magazines.com is directly authorized by publishers to sell subscriptions. The magazines listed on Magazines.com cover a variety of subjects, such as political commentary, lifestyle, health, and hobbies.
Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and distribution of first-run television series for U.S. television syndication. Under the Entertainment Studios Networks division, it also operates a group of digital cable and satellite channels, which broadcast a mix of original programs and the company's syndicated content.
Celebrity Page is an American syndicated entertainment news program. The series is co-produced with Dotdash Meredith, Unconventional Partners, and Trifecta Entertainment & Media. The series premiered on September 9, 2013. It is also broadcast several times daily on the cable network Reelz, which is a production partner in the program.
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 66 television stations in 54 markets, and holds properties in digital media.