Quincy Media, Inc., formerly known as Quincy Newspapers, Inc., was a family-owned media company that originated in the newspapers of Quincy, Illinois. The company's history can be traced back to 1835, when the Bounty Land Register was one of four newspapers in Illinois. Over the next century, a number of mergers followed. The company moved into radio in 1947 and began television broadcasts in 1953.
The company was owned by the Oakley and Lindsay families of Quincy.
History
The corporation was formed in Quincy on June 1, 1926, as Quincy Newspapers after the merger of the Quincy Herald, direct descendant of the Illinois Bounty Land Register first published in Quincy in 1835, and the Quincy Whig-Journal, descendant of the Quincy Whig founded in 1838. The two papers were combined to form a single daily paper, the Quincy Herald-Whig.[1]
The Herald was purchased in September 1891 by three men from Rockford, Charles L. Miller, Hedley John Eaton and Edmund Botsford. Miller had earlier founded the Rockford Daily Register, that city's oldest newspaper. Subsequently, Miller brought to the Herald his brother-in-law and nephew, respectively, Aaron Burr Oakley and Ray M. Oakley, the first two generations of the Oakleys in the newspaper business in Quincy. Miller spent four years in Quincy, returning to Rockford in 1896 to join Harry M. Johnson in ownership of the Rockford Republic. He retired as editor of the Republic in 1913 and died in 1921. Hedley Eaton retired in 1913 and died in 1936. Eaton's son John Dewitt Eaton stayed with the paper as Advertising Manager until his retirement in 1955.
Two brothers from Decatur, Frank M. Lindsay, Sr. and Arthur O. Lindsay, Sr. bought the Quincy Whig in 1915, with Arthur Lindsay taking up residence in Quincy as president and manager. Frank Lindsay remained in Decatur with the Decatur Herald and formed an association with another Illinois newspaper family, the Schaubs. In 1920, the Lindsays consolidated the Whig and The Quincy Journal, founded in 1883.
QNI entered broadcasting in 1947, the year it started Quincy's first commercial FM station, WQDI. The following year QNI purchased Quincy Broadcasting Co. to operate WGEM, the city's second AM station. WQDI became WGEM-FM in 1953.
Quincy Media Corporate headquarters in Downtown Quincy
Quincy Broadcasting produced the Quincy region's first television broadcast on September 4, 1953, with the launch of WGEM-TV, the area's NBC affiliate. The building containing the ground floor studios of the WGEM stations was also the former home of the Tremont Hotel, and Quincy Media continues to operate it as the New Tremont Apartments, containing both long-term and extended stay accommodations.
In 1969, QNI and six other newspaper entities formed American Newspapers Inc., which bought The New Jersey Herald in Newton, New Jersey, converting the semi-weekly to a daily and Sunday publication in 1970. QNI acquired controlling interest in American Newspapers in 1980 and became sole owner in 1986.
Beginning in the 1970s, QNI began a major expansion into television. WSJV in Elkhart, Indiana (serving South Bend) was acquired in 1974;[2] KROC-TV (renamed KTTC) in Rochester, Minnesota in 1976;[3] WHIS-TV (renamed WVVA) in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1979;[4]KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989;[5] and WREX-TV in Rockford in 1995.[6] All of the stations were also NBC affiliates at their acquisitions except for WSJV and WREX, which were ABC affiliates; however, in 1995, WSJV dropped ABC for Fox,[7] and soon thereafter WREX joined NBC. Also in 1995, The Merchant, a weekly shopper in Quincy was purchased by the company.
In June 2001, QNI purchased from Shockley Communications five ABC affiliates in Wisconsin: WKOW-TV in Madison, WAOW-TV in Wausau; WYOW in Eagle River (a satellite of WAOW); WXOW-TV in La Crosse; and WQOW-TV in Eau Claire (a semi-satellite of WXOW). Also purchased from SCC at the time was ProVideo of Wisconsin, Inc. consisting of a component digital online suite and a fully integrated non-linear online suite in Madison, Wisconsin. Concurrent with the Shockley purchase, KTTC entered into a shared services agreement with KXLT-TV, the Fox affiliate in Rochester, Minnesota. KTTC provides all services for KXLT excluding sales, traffic, and programming.
Quincy Newspapers Logo until 2012.
On July 1, 2006, QNI purchased KWWL, the NBC affiliate in Waterloo, Iowa, from Raycom Media. In February 2009, QNI purchased Crandon, Wisconsin's WBIJ from the widow of the station's founder, with the intention to operate the station as a satellite station of WAOW;[8] QNI subsequently renamed the station WMOW to conform with its other Wisconsin properties.
On February 11, 2014, Quincy announced plans to acquire a number of small and mid-market stations from Granite Broadcasting, including WEEK-TV in Peoria, KBJR-TV in Superior, Wisconsin, KRII in Chisholm, Minnesota (a satellite of KBJR), and WBNG-TV in Binghamton, New York (the company's first CBS affiliate; WEEK and KBJR/KRII are NBC affiliates). As part of the deal, Quincy originally planned to purchase WPTA, the ABC affiliate in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from Malara Broadcast Group, and provide services to ABC affiliate WHOI and MyNetworkTV affiliate WAOE in Peoria, NBC affiliate WISE-TV in Fort Wayne, and CBS affiliate KDLH in Duluth, Minnesota.[9] In November 2014, the deal was reworked so that Quincy would acquire WISE and provide services to WPTA, retaining the arrangement between the stations established by Granite.[10] In July 2015, the deal was reworked yet again; Quincy would, yet again, acquire WPTA instead of WISE, and Malara's stations would be acquired by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. Quincy also proposed to wind down its shared services agreements with WISE and KDLH within nine months of the sale's completion: both stations would move their existing network affiliations to WPTA and KBJR, and become independently-operated stations airing The CW.[11] On September 15, 2015, the FCC approved the deal.[12]
In 2015, the company's flagship title dropped Quincy from its masthead and became simply the Herald-Whig. In 2016, the Herald-Whig and Quincy Media applied for a demolition permit for the historic Morgan-Wells House in Quincy for expansion of their offices. The NRHP-listed local landmark was the home of notable Quincy residents and institutions for over a century, now demolished.[13]
In January 2016, the company changed its name to Quincy Media.[14]
On May 21, 2018, it was announced that Quincy Media would acquire KDLH outright for $792,557 and WISE for $952,884. While the FCC normally prohibits one company from owning two television licenses in the same market when both are among the top four rated stations, Quincy submitted a filing saying that during the November 2017 "sweeps" period KBJR-TV was the top ranked station while KDLH placed fifth, and that WPTA was the second ranked station while WISE-TV placed fifth. The sale was completed on August 1.[15][16]
On August 29, 2018, Quincy Media's stations were pulled from Dish Network after failing to reach a new retransmission fee agreement.[17] On October 12, Quincy Media reached a new agreement with Dish Network to continue carrying Quincy Media stations.[18]
On May 10, 2019, Quincy announced it would purchase the Hannibal Courier-Post from GateHouse Media, marking its first daily newspaper expansion since 1969.[24] Six days later, on May 16, Quincy announced the sale of the New Jersey Herald to GateHouse Media, ending Quincy's 50-year ownership of the paper.[25]
On January 7, 2021, television industry news website FTVLive obtained an internal memo from President and CEO Ralph Oakley confirming that Quincy Media had put itself up for sale.[26] The news was later publicly confirmed by QMI.[27]
On February 1, 2021, Gray Television announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire all Quincy Media television properties for $925 million in a cash transaction, along with the WGEM AM/FM radio stations in Quincy (Gray owned one small radio station in Texas otherwise, also acquired as part of another television group). As a result, several Quincy stations will be divested to be in compliance with regulations from the FCC and the Department of Justice.[28] On April 29, it was announced that Allen Media Group will purchase 10 Quincy stations not being acquired by Gray Television for $380 million.[29] The newspapers were sold to another family-owned publishing company, Phillips Media Group of Harrison, Arkansas, in a separate transaction.[30] The transaction was completed on August 2.[31]
Former properties
Newspapers
Herald-Whig, Quincy, Illinois - now owned by Phillips Media Group.[30]
WAOW is a television station in Wausau, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Allen Media Group. The station's studios are located on Grand Avenue/US 51 in Wausau, and its transmitter is located on Rib Mountain.
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time-buy.
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.
Granite Broadcasting LLC is a broadcasting holding company in New York City which owns one television station in the United States, in Syracuse, New York. Granite was founded by W. Don Cornwell and Stuart Beck in 1988, and was the first African-American station group in the United States considered to be a "major" station operator.
WGEM-TV is a television station licensed to Quincy, Illinois, United States, serving the Quincy, Illinois–Hannibal, Missouri–Keokuk, Iowa market as an affiliate of NBC, The CW Plus, and Fox. Owned by Gray Television, it is sister to the company's sole radio property, sports station WGEM-FM (105.1). Both stations share studios in the New Tremont Apartments on Hampshire Street in downtown Quincy. WGEM-TV's transmitter is located east of the city on Cannonball Road near I-172.
KWWL is a television station licensed to Waterloo, Iowa, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Eastern Iowa. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, KWWL maintains studios on East 5th Street in Waterloo, with news bureaus and advertising sales offices in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Iowa City. The station's transmitter is located north of Rowley, Iowa, a city in Buchanan County.
WEEK-TV is a television station in Peoria, Illinois, United States, affiliated with NBC, ABC, and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Springfield Road in East Peoria, a section of Groveland Township, Tazewell County.
KDLH is a television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Superior, Wisconsin–licensed dual NBC/CBS affiliate KBJR-TV, channel 6. The two stations share studios on South Lake Avenue in Canal Park, downtown Duluth; KDLH's transmitter is located west of downtown in Hilltop Park.
KBJR-TV is a television station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Duluth, Minnesota, area as an affiliate of NBC and CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CW+ affiliate KDLH. The two stations share studios on South Lake Avenue in Canal Park, downtown Duluth; KBJR-TV's transmitter is located west of downtown in Hilltop Park.
Schurz Communications, Inc. is an American broadband media group and cloud services provider based in South Bend, Indiana. It previously owned newspapers and television stations.
WPTA is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC, NBC, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CW+ affiliate WISE-TV. The two stations share studios on Butler Road in Northwest Fort Wayne, where WPTA's transmitter is also located.
WISE-TV is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC/NBC/MyNetworkTV affiliate WPTA. The two stations share studios on Butler Road in Northwest Fort Wayne, where WISE-TV's transmitter is also located.
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 29 full-power television stations in 26 markets in the United States. The group's chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2011. All but one of Mission's stations are located in markets where Nexstar Media Group also owns a station, and all of Mission's stations are managed by Nexstar through shared services and local marketing agreements—effectively creating duopolies between the top two stations in a market or in markets with too few stations or unique station owners to legally allow duopolies. The company moved its headquarters from Westlake, Ohio, to Wichita Falls, Texas, in 2018. The company's stations are based in markets as large as New York City and as small as Grand Junction, Colorado.
WBNG-TV is a television station in Binghamton, New York, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on Columbia Drive in Johnson City and a transmitter on Ingraham Hill Road in the town of Binghamton.
Malara Broadcast Group of Sarasota, Florida, a Delaware corporation, also known as Malara Broadcasting, was a broadcasting holding company. Malara Broadcasting was founded in 2004 by Tony Malara, former president of affiliate relations for CBS. Malara owned two television stations: KDLH in Duluth, Minnesota and WPTA in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
WMOW is a television station licensed to Crandon, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is a full-time satellite of Wausau-licensed WAOW which is owned by Allen Media Group. WMOW's transmitter is located just east of downtown Crandon; its parent station maintains studios on Grand Avenue/US 51 in Wausau. Besides the transmitter, WMOW does not maintain any physical presence locally in Crandon.
WGEM-FM is a radio station in Quincy, Illinois, broadcasting a sports radio format. The station is the lone radio station owned by Gray Television, which owns WGEM-TV in Quincy, and is affiliated with ESPN Radio.
WGEM was a radio station in Quincy, Illinois, broadcasting a sports radio format. The station was owned by Gray Television and was an affiliate of ESPN Radio. The station also broadcast via FM translator W255CY, 98.9 FM, licensed to Quincy.
WFXS-DT was a television station licensed to Wittenberg, Wisconsin, United States, which served north-central Wisconsin, including Wausau and Rhinelander. Owned by Davis Television, LLC, it was most recently affiliated with the Fox network. WFXS-DT's studios were located on North 3rd Street in Wausau, and its transmitter was located northeast of Nutterville in unincorporated Marathon County.
3Owned by Branson Visitors TV; Gray holds a 50.1% interest in this company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
