Multimedia (media company)
Encyclopedia
Multimedia, Inc. was a media
company that owned 10 daily newspaper
s, 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 Raphaël
.
Multimedia was acquired by the Gannett Company
in 1995, after the sale was finalized, Gannett sold Multimedia Entertainment to MCA the following year. In January 2000 the cable television division, which included systems in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Carolina was sold to Cox Communications
in 2000. The North Carolina systems were resold to Suddenlink Communications
in 2006.
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.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
company that owned 10 daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, three weekly newspapers, two radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations, five television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations, and a cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
system division. The company was headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
.
It also owned TV syndicator Multimedia Entertainment
Multimedia Entertainment
Multimedia Entertainment was an American television production/distribution company originally formed in 1968.-History:...
(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
WLWT
WLWT, virtual channel 5 , is an NBC-affiliated television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, the station is owned by Hearst Television...
in Cincinnati--and with it, the distribution rights to The Phil Donahue Show
The Phil Donahue Show
The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, is an American television talk show that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, and it was broadcast nationwide between 1967 and 1996.In 2002, Donahue was ranked #29 on TV Guide's...
.
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
WYFF
WYFF is the NBC-affiliate television station based in Greenville, South Carolina. It serves a media market which includes Greenville/Spartanburg and Anderson in South Carolina and Asheville/Hendersonville, North Carolina. The market covers large portions of western North Carolina and upstate South...
) and WXII-TV
WXII-TV
WXII-TV is the NBC television station licensed for the Greensboro–High Point–Winston-Salem, North Carolina designated market area with Parts of SWVA. It is licensed to Winston-Salem and is currently owned by the Hearst Corporation. Its transmitter is located on Sauratown Mountain in...
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
to Pulitzer, Inc.
Pulitzer, Inc.
Founded by Joseph Pulitzer , Pulitzer Inc., owned 14 daily newspapers across the United States, and one weekly chain. Its papers included the St...
In return, Multimedia received Pulitzer's former flagship television station, KSDK
KSDK
KSDK, Channel 5, is the NBC-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KSDK is owned and operated by Gannett Company, and the station's transmitter is located in Marlborough, Missouri. The station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its former analog channel assignment...
in St. Louis. Multimedia used its new purchase as the testing ground for a new show hosted by Sally Jessy Raphaël
Sally Jessy Raphaël
Sally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...
.
Multimedia was acquired by the Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
in 1995, after the sale was finalized, Gannett sold Multimedia Entertainment to MCA the following year. In January 2000 the cable television division, which included systems in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Carolina was sold to Cox Communications
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
in 2000. The North Carolina systems were resold to Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO,...
in 2006.
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.| DMA# Media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content... |
City of license City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... /Market |
Station | Channel TV Analog television Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal... / DT Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals... |
Years owned | Current Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18. | Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border... |
WKYC-TV WKYC-TV WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio.... 1 |
3 / 17 | 1991–1995 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... affiliate owned by Gannett Company Gannett Company Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend... |
| 21. | St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St... |
KSDK KSDK KSDK, Channel 5, is the NBC-affiliated television station in St. Louis, Missouri. KSDK is owned and operated by Gannett Company, and the station's transmitter is located in Marlborough, Missouri. The station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its former analog channel assignment... |
5 / 35 | 1983–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Gannett Company |
| 29. | Nashville Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home... |
WZTV WZTV WZTV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter on Knob Road north of downtown along I-24... |
17 / 15 | 1979–1988 | Fox Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the... affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of... |
| 33. | Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's... |
WLWT WLWT WLWT, virtual channel 5 , is an NBC-affiliated television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, the station is owned by Hearst Television... |
5 / 35 | 1976–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| 36. | Greenville Greenville, South Carolina -Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families... - Spartanburg Spartanburg, South Carolina thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of... - Asheville Asheville, North Carolina Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active... |
WFBC-TV ** (now WYFF WYFF WYFF is the NBC-affiliate television station based in Greenville, South Carolina. It serves a media market which includes Greenville/Spartanburg and Anderson in South Carolina and Asheville/Hendersonville, North Carolina. The market covers large portions of western North Carolina and upstate South... ) |
4 / 36 | 1953–1983 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| 46. | Winston-Salem Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to... - Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S... - High Point High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina.... |
WXII-TV WXII-TV WXII-TV is the NBC television station licensed for the Greensboro–High Point–Winston-Salem, North Carolina designated market area with Parts of SWVA. It is licensed to Winston-Salem and is currently owned by the Hearst Corporation. Its transmitter is located on Sauratown Mountain in... |
12 / 31 | 1972–1983 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| 59. | Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region... |
WBIR-TV WBIR-TV WBIR-TV, channel 10, is the NBC affiliate television station in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station is licensed to the Gannett Pacific Corporation, a subsidiary of the Gannett Company... |
10 / 10 | 1960–1995 | NBC affiliate owned by Gannett Company |
| 122. | Macon, Georgia Macon, Georgia Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia... |
WMAZ-TV WMAZ-TV WMAZ-TV, channel 13, is the CBS affiliate television station in Macon, Georgia, United States. It is owned by Gannett.-History:The station signed on for the first time on September 27, 1953, owned by Southeastern Broadcasting Company along with WMAZ radio... |
13 / 13 | 1963–1995 | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... affiliate owned by Gannett Company |
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 |
| DMA# | Market | Station | Years owned | Current ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 157. | Macon, Georgia Macon, Georgia Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia... |
WMAZ-940 (now WMAC) |
1963–1995 | owned by Cumulus Media Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is the second largest Owner and Operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States, behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets as of September 16, 2011. The company also owns Cumulus Media Networks... |
| WMAZ-FM/WAYS-99.1 (now WDEN-FM WDEN-FM WDEN-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Macon, Georgia, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and the broadcast license is held by Cumulus Licensing, LLC. WDEN broadcasts a country music format.... ) |
1963–1995 | owned by Cumulus Media | ||