Post-Newsweek Stations
Encyclopedia
Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company
Washington Post Company
The Washington Post Company is an American education and media company, best known for owning the newspaper for which it is named, The Washington Post. The Company also owns Kaplan, Inc., a leading international provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses...

 and is a self-contained corporation within that company. The company is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 in headquarters shared with Post-Newsweek's station in that market, 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 WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

 and is headed by president and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 Alan Frank, formerly general manager of WDIV.

In 1992, Post-Newsweek bought the now defunct Detroit regional sports station PASS Sports from former Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 owner and Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....

 founder Tom Monaghan
Tom Monaghan
Thomas Stephen "Tom" Monaghan is an entrepreneur and Catholic philanthropist and activist who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983-1992....

. FSN Detroit put the channel out of business in October 1997.

As of 2006, Post-Newsweek owns 2 VHF stations and 4 UHF stations (all station map to former VHF frequencies), all of which are in the Top 50 markets. All but one has a network affiliation.

History

What today is Post-Newsweek Stations originated as WTOP, Inc. in 1949 when 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...

 sold controlling interest (55 percent) of WTOP radio
WTOP-FM
WTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...

 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 to the Post; CBS retained a minority (45 percent) stake. In 1950, WTOP bought WOIC-TV, Washington's CBS television affiliate, and changed that station's call letters to WTOP-TV.

CBS was forced to sell its remaining interest in WTOP in 1954. The Post then merged its Washington stations with recently-purchased WMBR-AM-TV in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

 and changed the company's name to Post Stations, Inc. WMBR radio was later sold off (it is now WZAZ
WZAZ
WZAZ is a Gospel music formatted radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the flagship station for Edward Waters College football.-In the media:...

); the Post then changed WMBR-TV's calls to WJXT
WJXT
WJXT, channel 4 , is an independent television station serving Jacksonville, Florida, and surrounding communities. Its transmitter is in the Kilarney Shores section of Jacksonville, with the WTLV transmitter. The station originally broadcast an analog signal on VHF channel 4 and a digital signal...

. The company adopted the Post-Newsweek name after the Post bought Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

magazine in 1961.

Post-Newsweek made its first purchase in 1969, with the acquisitions of WCKY radio
WCKY (AM)
WCKY is an AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, broadcasting at 1530 kHz with 50,000 watts, and its transmitter is located in nearby Villa Hills, Kentucky. It is a class A clear channel station, sharing the frequency with KFBK in Sacramento, and can be heard, particularly at night, over most...

 in 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...

 and WLBW-TV in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

; the TV outlet was renamed WPLG
WPLG
WPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliated television station located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, and its transmitter is located at the massive broadcast...

 after the former Washington Post publisher Philip Graham, who committed suicide in 1963. In 1974, the company added WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, changing its calls to WFSB
WFSB
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated...

 upon taking over.

In the wake of a panic swap of WTOP-TV (now WUSA
WUSA (TV)
WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...

) to the (Detroit) Evening News Association for its WWJ-TV (now WDIV) in 1978, followed by the sale of both radio stations later in the year, the Post decided to spin off their broadcasting interests into a company of its own. The Post-Newsweek name itself would later spread to the Post-owned cable operations (now known as CableOne and a company identical in structure to Post-Newsweek Stations).

In 2010, the Washington Post Company sold off Newsweek to Sidney Harman
Sidney Harman
Sidney Harman was an American businessman active in education, government, industry, and publishing. He was the Chairman Emeritus of Harman International Industries, Inc. Harman served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce in 1977 and 1978. As of August 2010 Harman was also the publisher of...

 for a reported $1 plus Harman's assumption of the magazine's debt load. The sale was completed on September 30 of that year. As a result, the stations group is expected to drop the "Newsweek" name in the near future.

2011 Bomb Scare

At roughly 7:00 PM local time April 14, 2011, someone had left a suitcase containing a suspected improvised explosive device in the lobby of WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

 (the headquarters of Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company...

) after being denied entry by the station's security guard, prompting the Detroit Police Bomb Squad to evacuate the studio. At the beginning of the 11 PM news, the news crew reported from the corner of Lafayette and Howard streets, with their mobile news truck in the background. Carmen Harlan (WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

 head anchor) had reported that a DDOT bus had arrived as a makeshift "warming station", since the breezy night air was only 39 F. Devin Scillian
Devin Scillian
Devin Scillian is an American journalist and children's author. His thirteen books include the national bestseller A Is For America , Fibblestax , and Memoirs of a Goldfish . His most recent book is D Is For Down Under: An Australia Alphabet illustrated by Geoff Cook, published by Sleeping Bear...

 (WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

's other anchor) had explained to viewers that during the time they were outside, they would be unable to access their master control boards, which meant "no news, no tapes, no editing, and no commercials, which may or may not be a bad thing for the viewers". The station's PSIP had temporarily reverted to 45.1, with the video in 720p. At 11:15, the all-clear was given for the news crew to return from the cold and re-enter the studio, with the device being detonated

Upon reentering the studio, Devin Scillian had explained that the station has a policy of not normally reporting bomb threats immediately, in case they turn out to be nothing. However, in their case, they had no access to their studio for the Local 4 News at 11, and needed to explain why they were on the street, running from their mobile truck, instead of their studio. Bernie Smilovitz (WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

 sports anchor) had also added that after he and the news crew had returned from dinner, they were called by their family members to "bring a coat". The news had first broke via the news crew posting to their Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 accounts, and had found out that their competitors (WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV, virtual channel 62 , is the CBS-owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan. It is co-owned with Detroit's CW station, WKBD-TV , and the two stations share a studio in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb....

, WJBK
WJBK
WJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...

, WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property...

 and WMYD
WMYD
WMYD is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Southeast Michigan licensed to Detroit. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter on Eight Mile Road in Oak Park along the Oakland and Wayne County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast...

) were reporting on the situation while they were locked out, and before their mobile truck could return to the studios from its assignments. The evacuations also included the Doubletree Hotel, across the street.

The briefcase in question turned out not to have any explosive materials, just a sweater and some empty soda cans, left by a homeless man that had followed a WDIV employee in for warmth and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

. He was tracked down the next day and brought to Detroit Receiving Hospital
Detroit Receiving Hospital
Detroit Receiving Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, is the state's first Level I Trauma Center. Receiving’s emergency department treats more than 105,000 patients annually, and nearly 60% of Michigan’s emergency physicians are trained at Receiving...

 for observation. The Detroit Police and Post-Newsweek's mnagement said that charges would not be laid, as this was "just a big misunderstanding".

Currently owned stations

Current DMA# Market Station ... Channel Number (DT) Current Affiliation Acquired Notes
10. Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

KPRC-TV
KPRC-TV
KPRC-TV is the NBC affiliated television station based in Houston, Texas, and serving the Greater Houston television market. It has studios located in the Sharpstown district on the Southwest portion of the city, and has a transmitter site in unincorporated Fort Bend County near Missouri City...

 2 (35)
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...

 /
This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....

 on DT2
1994 First television station in Houston.
11. Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 - Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...

WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...

 4 (45)
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...

 /
This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....

 on DT2
1978 Flagship station
16. Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

 - Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

WPLG
WPLG
WPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliated television station located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, and its transmitter is located at the massive broadcast...

 10 (10)
/
W47AC 47
ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

1969 Also seen on translator W47AC in The Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...

.
19. Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...

 - Melbourne
Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...

WKMG-TV
WKMG-TV
WKMG-TV channel 6 is the CBS network affiliate for Central Florida . WKMG is licensed to Orlando and is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station refers to itself as "Local6". WKMG's transmitter is located in Bithlo, Florida...

 6 (26)
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...

1997 Was WCPX until 1998.
37. San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

KSAT
KSAT-TV
KSAT-TV channel 12 is the local ABC affiliate television station in the greater San Antonio area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas. The station calls itself KSAT 12, pronounced as "K-Sat"....

 12 (12)
ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

1994 Last commercial VHF station in San Antonio.
49. Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

WJXT
WJXT
WJXT, channel 4 , is an independent television station serving Jacksonville, Florida, and surrounding communities. Its transmitter is in the Kilarney Shores section of Jacksonville, with the WTLV transmitter. The station originally broadcast an analog signal on VHF channel 4 and a digital signal...

 4 (42)
Independent
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....

1954 The oldest station in the market and second overall in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.
Was CBS until 2002.

Formerly owned stations

Post-Newsweek also owned two other television stations in the past, ironically both were at one time or another company flagships.
Current DMA# Market Station ...
Channel Number
Years Owned Affiliation Current Owner Notes
9. Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

WTOP-TV
WUSA (TV)
WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...

 9 (now WUSA)
1950-1978 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...

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...

Co-owned with CBS until 1954; headquarters until 1986.

Was WDVM-TV under Detroit News ownership, took WUSA calls in 1986.
30. Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

 - New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

WFSB
WFSB
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated...

 3
1974-1997 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...

Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...

Flagship from 1986-97, housed PNS headquarters until 2000


Post-Newsweek also formerly operated WTWP during its time as Washington Post Radio
Washington Post Radio
Washington Post Radio was a short-lived attempt by Bonneville Broadcasting and the Washington Post to create a commercial long-form all-news radio network in the style of National Public Radio...

.

Call letter meanings

The call letters of several Post-Newsweek stations are symbolic of persons who have had associations with the Washington Post and its parent company:
  • WPLG: Phillip L. Graham
    Phil Graham
    Philip Leslie Graham was an American publisher and businessman. He was the publisher and co-owner of The Washington Post...

    , former publisher of the Post who died in 1963.
  • WKMG: Katharine Meyer Graham, widow of Phillip Graham who would take his place as editor and head of the Washington Post Company.
  • WFSB: Frederick Scott Beebe, then-president of Post-Newsweek Stations.

External links






The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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