 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2013) |
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Genre | Technology |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | 150 Granby Street Norfolk, Virginia 23510-2075 |
Key people | Charles Watkins (president and CEO) |
| Subsidiaries | Dominion Enterprises |
Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC (a spinoff of Landmark Communications, Inc.) is a privately held technology company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Norfolk Landmark was established in 1873. It had various editors. [1] K. C. Murray was one of them. He testified in suit against another paper for slander. [2]
Norfolk Newspapers was founded in 1905 as a holding company for the newspaper properties of Samuel L. Slover, including the Norfolk Landmark. They included papers which would eventually become today's Virginian-Pilot .
Frank Batten, Slover's nephew, took over the company in 1955, and changed its name to Norfolk-Portsmouth Newspapers Inc. in 1957 (reflecting the merger of the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch and Portsmouth Star), then to Landmark Communications in 1967. [3] Landmark Media Enterprises was spun off from Landmark Communications in 2008. Landmark is controlled by the Batten family.
Landmark owns Dominion Enterprises, which provides software as a service and information products to auto dealers, motorcycle dealers, real estate agents, hotels and franchisors. The businesses owned by Dominion Enterprises include DominionDMS, Activator, Dealer Specialties, Cross-Sell, DataOne Software, Prime Street, Franchise Ventures, DX1, ZiiDMS, and Travel Media Group.
One of Landmark Communications's holdings was TeleCable Corporation, a cable television service that began in a small Virginia town in the late 1950s. Landmark obtained franchise licenses to operate in about two dozen cities throughout the eastern half of the U.S., including Overland Park, Kansas; Plano & Arlington, Texas; Bloomington, Illinois; Racine, Wisconsin; Springfield, Missouri; Wytheville & Princeton, Virginia; Selma, Alabama, and other cities. TeleCable was a progressive company that inspired HBO 2, Disney 2, and Showtime 2 in Overland Park, Kansas. Prior to the 1980s, technology enabled subscribers to receive only 12 channels on a CATV system. TeleCable built two CATV systems in one when the franchise was granted in Overland Park in the late 1960s. Customers had A/B switches at their TVs so they could select either set of channels. This gave TeleCable of Overland Park twice as many channels (24) as other CATV companies. With advances in technology, TeleCable of Overland Park was able to double the number offered to 48 channels. In the early 1980s, there were very few satellite channels, and the pay cable channels typically signed off the air before midnight on weeknights (later on the weekends). Customers complained to TeleCable of Overland Park that they missed the 7 p.m. movie start due to late working hours, dinner, or children's activities. TeleCable management contacted HBO, Showtime, and The Disney Channel to ask to receive the Eastern Time Zone satellite feed of their programs for its Central Time Zone operation. TeleCable officials planned to charge customers who requested this expanded service an extra 50 cents per month. The movie channels dismissed the idea, believing no one would pay for that option. After several months, management had the full attention of the networks, as thousands were signing up. The sole benefit for customers was a one-hour earlier start for movies and other programs. But HBO and Showtime soon decided to create separate services for those channels. Disney followed suit a few years later.
Landmark's predecessor, Norfolk Newspapers, entered broadcasting in 1930, when it bought Virginia's oldest radio station, WTAR. It later added Virginia's second television station (and Hampton Roads' first), WTAR-TV (now WTKR) and an FM station (now WVKL). It acquired WFMY-TV in Greensboro as part of its purchase of the Greensboro, North Carolina newspapers in 1965. However, U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cross-ownership rules forced Landmark to sell off WFMY in 1976 and WTAR-TV in 1981. Under the rules then, a company could not own both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
Landmark was an owner of KNTV in San Jose, California from 1978 to 1990. During its 12-year ownership of the station, KNTV (then affiliated with ABC and serving the Monterey / Salinas media market) was its only station that was not an affiliate of the CBS network. Landmark briefly owned WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, but was forced to sell it immediately due to FCC restrictions. Landmark owned The Travel Channel from 1992 to 1996, when it was sold to Paxson Communications.
The company owned Chicago magazine from 1990 to 1995, when it was sold to Primedia. At one time, Landmark owned a minority share of the Washingtonian magazine, until its rights were traded to Eleanor Merrill, widow of its publisher Philip Merrill, in exchange for full ownership of the Annapolis Capital and five other Maryland newspapers. [4]
Landmark owned the hobby publisher Antique Trader Publications until its sale to Krause Publications in 1999. [5] In December 2001, Landmark announced it would close its subsidiary Church Impressions, based in Greenville, North Carolina, which published church directories, portraits, and other print and web media products.
Landmark once owned four career training schools that focus on health-related career education: Glendale Career College, Certified Careers Institute, Nevada Career Institute and Virginia Career Institute.
On September 19, 2007, it was announced that Continental Broadband (CB), a Landmark Communications (Landmark Media Enterprises) company, sold its South Florida business unit, WebUnited, to Host.net, the leading provider of data center (colocation) and managed network services in Florida. [6] On May 15, 2009, CB sold its Chicago business unit, ANET, to Cogent Communications, a global Internet service provider. On January 23, 2010, CB divested its Richmond Business Unit, NET Telcos, to Cavalier Telephone, a full-service provider of telecommunications solutions.
In early 2008, the Landmark confirmed that it was exploring the sale of the entire company. [7] Two separate investment banks, JPMorgan Chase and Lehman Brothers, were hired to help with the sale of The Weather Channel and the newspapers.
Landmark's best-known media outlet was the Weather Channel, based in Atlanta, Georgia. As part of its divestiture, the company announced in July 2008 the $3.5 billion sale of its Weather Channel properties, which included its share of The Weather Network and weather.com, plus Weather Services International and MétéoMédia, to a consortium comprising NBCUniversal and the private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. Landmark and NBC Universal completed the sale on September 12, 2008. [8]
On July 14 of that year, it was announced that WTVF in Nashville, Tennessee would be sold to Bonten Media Group, [9] but that sale did not close. Landmark eventually sold the station to Journal Communications in 2012. [10] [11]
In October 2008, the company suspended further sales of its properties, citing the ongoing credit crisis, with the exception of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. [12]
Landmark sold the News & Record newspaper in Greensboro, North Carolina to Berkshire Hathaway on January 31, 2013. In May 2013, Landmark sold the Roanoke Times , the metropolitan newspaper serving Roanoke, Virginia, also to Berkshire Hathaway. [13]
Landmark sold its Maryland newspapers to The Baltimore Sun Media Group on May 1, 2014. [14]
CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, was acquired by Landmark in 1978 from a trust left by Howard Hughes upon his death. On November 21, 2014, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it planned to purchase KLAS for $145 million. [15] The sale closed on February 13, 2015.
In 2016, Dominion Enterprises sold Dominion Marine Media (BoatTrader.com, YachtWorld.com, Boats.com) to funds advised by Apax Partners. The company is now Boats Group.
In 2017, Dominion Enterprises sold Dominion Web Solutions (CycleTrader.com, RVTrader.com, CommercialTruckTrader.com, EquipmentTrader.com) to Eurazeo and West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division. The company is now called Trader Interactive.
On Sept. 12, 2017, CoStar Group agreed to purchase the ForRent apartment advertising division of Dominion Enterprises.
In May 2018, Landmark sold The Virginian-Pilot and its associated publications and websites to Tribune Publishing.
In October 2019, Landmark sold Expedient Data Centers to AMP Capital.
In November 2020, Landmark sold its seven+ remaining Colorado newspapers -- Brighton Standard Blade, Fort Lupton Press, Commerce City Sentinel Express, Metro Advertiser, Canyon Courier, Clear Creek Courant and 285 Hustler to Colorado Community Media. [16] [17]
In April 2021, Landmark announced the sale of Homes.com, a unit of its Dominion Enterprises subsidiary, to CoStar Group Inc. for $156 million. [18]
Landmark formerly owned more than 50 community newspapers and special-interest publications in 11 states. That includes seven publications that cover college sports at Florida State University, University of Florida, Indiana University, University of Iowa (Voice of The Hawkeyes), University of Nebraska, University of Kentucky and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and two daily newspapers: Citrus County Chronicle of Crystal River, Florida and The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
| Name | U.S. state | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson News | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Brunswick Beacon | North Carolina | Newspaper |
| Carolina Blue | North Carolina | Sports Publication |
| Carolina Gateway | South Carolina | Newspaper |
| Carrollton News-Democrat | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Casey County News | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Cedar Key Beacon | Florida | Newspaper |
| Central Kentucky Homes | Kentucky | Real Estate Magazine |
| Central Kentucky News-Journal | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Chester News And Reporter | South Carolina | Newspaper |
| Chiefland Citizen | Florida | Newspaper |
| Citrus County Chronicle | Florida | Newspaper |
| Cynthiana Democrat | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Declaration | Virginia | Newspaper |
| Gadsden County Times | Florida | Newspaper |
| Gator Bait | Florida | Sports Publication |
| Grant County News and Express | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Henry County Local | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Huskers Illustrated | Nebraska | Sports Publication |
| Inside Indiana | Indiana | Sports Publication |
| Lafollette Press | Tennessee | Newspaper |
| Las Vegas Optic | New Mexico | Newspaper |
| Lebanon Enterprise | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Los Alamos Monitor | New Mexico | Newspaper |
| Morgan County News | Tennessee | Newspaper |
| Mt. Vernon Democrat | Indiana | Newspaper |
| Oldham Era | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Opinion-Tribune | Iowa | Newspaper |
| Owenton News-Herald | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Pageland Progressive-Journal | South Carolina | Newspaper |
| Perry County News | Indiana | Newspaper |
| Pioneer News | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| PLG-TV | Kentucky | Television station |
| Red Oak Express | Iowa | Newspaper |
| Riverland News | Florida | Newspaper |
| Roane County News | Tennessee | Newspaper |
| Sentinel-News | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| South Marion Citizen | Florida | Newspaper |
| Spencer County Journal-Democrat | Indiana | Newspaper |
| Spencer Magnet | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Springfield Sun | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Standard Publishing Company | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Sumter County Times | Florida | Newspaper |
| The Bedford Bulletin | Virginia | Newspaper |
| The Cats' Pause | Kentucky | Sports Publication |
| The Gazette | Virginia | Newspaper |
| The Kentucky Standard | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| The Lancaster News | South Carolina | Newspaper |
| The Larue County Herald-News | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| The News-Enterprise | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| The Osceola | Florida | Sports Publication |
| The Record | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| The Wakulla News | Florida | Newspaper |
| Trimble Banner | Kentucky | Newspaper |
| Vandalia Leader-Union | Illinois | Newspaper |
| West Marion Messenger | Florida | Newspaper |
| Williston Pioneer Sun News | Florida | Newspaper |
In May 2021, Landmark Community Newspapers was sold to Paxton Media Group. [20]
Stations are alphabetically by state and city of license.
| City of license / market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current ownership status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA | KNTV | 11 | 1978–1990 | NBC owned-and-operated (O&O) |
| Las Vegas, NV | KLAS-TV | 8 | 1978–2014 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC | WFMY-TV | 2 | 1965–1976 | CBS affiliate owned by Tegna Inc. |
| Nashville, TN | WTVF | 5 | 1994–2012 | CBS affiliate owned by E. W. Scripps Company |
| Norfolk–Hampton, VA | WTAR-TV ** | 3 | 1950–1981 | CBS affiliate WTKR, owned by E. W. Scripps Company |
| Roanoke–Lynchburg, VA | WDBJ-TV | 7 | 1969 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
In 2008, Landmark announced that it would terminate its pension fund, which covered some of its retirees and current employees. The plan was fully funded. The pension beneficiaries were able to choose between a lump-sum distribution or an annuity provided by an insurance company.[ citation needed ]
Cox Enterprises, Inc. is an American privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $21 billion in total revenue. Its major operating subsidiaries are Cox Media Group, Cox Communications, and Cox Automotive. The company's major national brands include AutoTrader, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim Auctions and more.
MétéoMédia is a Canadian French-language weather information specialty channel and web site owned by Pelmorex. MétéoMédia primarily serves viewers in Quebec, although some cable TV systems in Ontario and New Brunswick carry the channel as well. It is available nationwide via satellite. MétéoMédia went on the air along with the bilingual specialty service's English-language component, The Weather Network, for the first time on September 1, 1988; both MétéoMédia and The Weather Network broadcast separate 24-hour-a-day feeds.
WKRN-TV is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Murfreesboro Road on Nashville's southeast side, and its transmitter is located in Forest Hills, Tennessee.
WTVF is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television owned-and-operated station WNPX-TV. WTVF's studios are located on James Robertson Parkway in downtown Nashville, and its transmitter is located north of downtown along I-24 near Whites Creek.
WAVY-TV is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Virginia Beach–licensed Fox affiliate WVBT. The two stations share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth; WAVY-TV's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
WTKR is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed CW affiliate WGNT. The two stations share studios on Boush Street near downtown Norfolk; WTKR's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
WGNT is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Norfolk-licensed CBS affiliate WTKR. Both stations share studios on Boush Street in downtown Norfolk, while WGNT's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
WTVZ-TV is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Clearfield Avenue in Virginia Beach, and its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
WVBT is a television station licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Portsmouth-licensed NBC affiliate WAVY-TV. The two stations share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth; WVBT's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
The Virginian-Pilot is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia United States. Commonly known as The Pilot, it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina. It was a locally owned, family enterprise from its founding in 1865 at the close of the American Civil War until its sale to Tribune Publishing in 2018. Its headquarters is in Newport News, and prior to 2020 was in Norfolk.
WDBJ is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Danville-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WZBJ, channel 24. WDBJ and WZBJ share studios on Hershberger Road in northwest Roanoke; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WDBJ's spectrum from an antenna on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County.
Frank Batten was a co-founder of the first nationwide, 24-hour cable weather channel, The Weather Channel. His media company, Landmark Media Enterprises, once owned nine daily newspapers, more than 50 weekly newspapers, television stations in Las Vegas and Nashville, and a national chain of classified advertising publications.
WFXR is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Lynchburg-licensed CW station WWCW. The two stations share studios at the Valleypointe office park on Valleypoint Parkway in northeastern Roanoke County; WFXR's transmitter is located on Poor Mountain in southwestern Roanoke County. WWCW broadcasts WFXR's Fox programming from its transmitter on Thaxton Mountain in Bedford County as one of its subchannels and vice versa.
The Carroll County Times was founded on October 6, 1911, as The Times. Owner and publisher George Mather, whose father owned the once-prominent Mather's Department Store in Westminster, Maryland, sold The Times in 1947. The Times expanded and became the Carroll County Times in 1956.
WVKL – branded 95-7 R&B – is a commercial urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to serve Norfolk, Virginia. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Hampton Roads region, and is the market affiliate for The Steve Harvey Morning Show. The WVKL studios are located in Virginia Beach, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Suffolk. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WVKL broadcasts over two HD Radio digital subchannels, and is available online via audacy
The News & Record is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensboro and Rockingham County, North Carolina.
WNIS is a commercial radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads media market. WNIS is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc. It airs a talk radio format.
Dominion Enterprises is a Norfolk, Virginia-based software and information services company for the automotive, power sports, real estate, travel and franchising industries. The businesses owned by Dominion Enterprises include DominionDMS, Activator, Dealer Specialties, Cross-Sell, DataOne Software, Prime Street, Franchise Ventures, DX1, ZiiDMS, and Travel Media Group.
The Roanoke Times is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, covering the eastern New River Valley and Virginia Tech.
WWCW is a television station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, serving as the CW outlet for the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Roanoke-licensed Fox affiliate WFXR. The two stations share studios at the Valleypointe office park on Valleypointe Parkway in northeastern Roanoke County; WWCW operates an advertising sales office on Airport Road, along Lynchburg's southwestern border with Campbell County. The station's transmitter is located on Thaxton Mountain in unincorporated central Bedford County. WFXR broadcasts WWCW's CW programming from its transmitter on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County as one of its subchannels and vice versa.
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