Multimedia (media company)
| Public | |
| Industry | Media |
| Fate |
Acquired by Gannett Co. (television counterpart sold to Universal Studios in 1996; cable TV counterpart sold to Cox Communications in 2000) Assets now existing as part of Gannett and Tegna, Inc. |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Greenville, South Carolina |
Key people | Craig A. Dubow; Chairman, President & CEO |
| Products | Newspapers, television, and Internet media |
Number of employees | 49,675 |
Multimedia, Inc. was a media company that owned 10 daily newspapers, three weekly newspapers, two radio stations, five television stations, and a cable television system division. The company was headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.
It also owned TV syndicator Multimedia Entertainment (formerly Avco Embassy Television, which is now owned by NBCUniversal Television Distribution).
Multimedia was founded in 1968, when the News-Piedmont Company of Greenville merged with Southern Broadcasting Corporation. The new company called the Southeastern Broadcasting Corporation comprised four newspapers (two morning, two afternoon), three television stations and six radio stations. The company's biggest purchase came in 1976, when it bought WLWT in Cincinnati—and with it, the distribution rights to The Phil Donahue Show.
The company was involved in one of the more unusual media transactions in history. In 1983, it sold its flagship television station, WFBC-TV in Greenville (now WYFF) and WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Pulitzer, Inc. In return, Multimedia received Pulitzer's former flagship television station, KSDK in St. Louis. Multimedia used its new purchase as the testing ground for a new show hosted by Sally Jessy Raphael.
Multimedia was acquired by the Gannett Company in 1995,[1] after the sale was finalized, Gannett sold Multimedia Entertainment to MCA the following year.[2] In January 2000 the cable television division, which included systems in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Carolina was sold to Cox Communications. The North Carolina systems were resold to Suddenlink Communications in 2006.
The Multimedia name lives on as a holding company and licensee within what is now Tegna, Inc.'s corporate structure. Productions under Multimedia Entertainment are now part of the NBCUniversal Television Distribution archives.
Former Multimedia-owned stations
Stations are listed in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
Television stations
Note: two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station that was built and signed-on by a predecessor company of Multimedia.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Years Owned | Current Ownership Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macon, Georgia | WMAZ-TV | 13 (13) | 1963–1995 | CBS affiliate owned by Tegna, Inc. |
| St. Louis | KSDK | 5 (35) | 1983–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Tegna, Inc. |
| Winston-Salem - Greensboro - High Point | WXII-TV | 12 (31) | 1972–1983 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Cincinnati | WLWT | 5 (35) | 1976–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Cleveland | WKYC-TV 1 | 3 (17) | 1991–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Tegna, Inc. |
| Greenville - Spartanburg - Asheville | WFBC-TV ** | 4 (36) | 1953–1983 | NBC affiliate, WYFF, owned by Hearst Television |
| Knoxville | WBIR-TV | 10 (10) | 1960–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Tegna, Inc. |
| Nashville | WZTV | 17 (15) | 1979–1988 | Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Footnotes:
1: Multimedia purchased only a simple majority (51 percent) stake in WKYC-TV from NBC in 1991. Gannett retained the same share until 1999, when it purchased the remaining portion (49 percent) from NBC.
Radio stations
(a partial listing)
| AM Stations | FM Stations |
| Market | Station | Years owned | Current ownership |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macon, Georgia | WMAZ-940 (now WMAC) |
1963–1995 | owned by Cumulus Media |
| WMAZ-FM/WAYS-99.1 (now WDEN-FM) |
1963–1995 | owned by Cumulus Media | |
References
- ↑ "Gannett and Multimedia enter into a merger agreement by which Gannett will acquire Multimedia", Business Wire, July 24, 1995. Retrieved March 2, 2011 from HighBeam Research.
- ↑ Miller, Nick. "Gannett Sells Talk Shows", The Cincinnati Post, November 25, 1996. Retrieved March 2, 2011 from HighBeam Research.