Sinclair Hops From Sixth To Third In Top 30 (2024)

TV’s Top 30 Group Owners

1. FOX TELEVISION STATIONS
New York
2012 Revenue: $1.8 billion
Coverage: 37.3%
Ownership: News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS)
Portfolio: Fox owns 28 full-power stations in 18 markets — 18 Fox affiliates, 10 MNT. (Note: The station and affiliate counts are effective July 1, 2013, and reflect all pending deals, including the sale of WUTB Baltimore.)
Key executives: Rupert Murdoch, chairman-CEO, News Corp.; Chase Carey, president-COO, News Corp.; Roger Ailes, chairman-CEO, Fox News/chairman, Fox Television Stations; Jack Abernethy, CEO, Fox Television Stations; and Dennis Swanson, president, station operations, Fox Television Stations.

What’s up: Fox got the full attention of its affiliates in January 2013 with its decision to take its network affiliation away from incumbent Bahakel Communications in the wake of Fox’s $18 million pending acquisition of Capitol Broadcasting’s WJZY (CW) and WMYT (MNT) in Charlotte, N.C., (DMA 25). Fox Television Stations President Jack Abernethy said the move was motivated by the desire to acquire an O&O in another market with a National Football Conference team (the Carolina Panthers). “We paid a lot of money to acquire those football rights,” Abernethy said.

Fox named Karen Adams VP-GM of the Charlotte duopoly, effective with FCC approval of the sale. Adams will be responsible for overseeing the stations’ business and operations, reporting to Abernethy. Adams spent the last 16 years as president-GM of WGHP Greensboro, N.C., which was a Fox O&O from 1996 to 2008.

Fox Networks and Comcast Corp. also announced an agreement in February 2013 on a new distribution pact to deliver Fox Broadcasting’s (Fox) and Fox Television Stations’ entertainment, sports and local news content to Comcast Xfinity TV customers across televisions, computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and Internet-enabled televisions.

2. CBS TELEVISION STATIONS
2012 Revenue: $1.6 billion
Coverage: 38.9%
Ownership: CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS)
Portfolio: CBS owns 30 stations (29 full-powers and one low-power) in 18 markets — 16 CBS, 8 CW.
Key executives: Sumner Redstone, executive chairman, CBS Corp.; Leslie Moonves, president-CEO, CBS Corp.; Peter Dunn, president, CBS Television Stations; Anton Guitano, COO, CBS Local Media; Ezra Kucharz, president, CBS Local Digital Media.

What’s up: CBS in February reported local broadcast revenue, including TV and radio, of $787 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2012, up 9% from the prior-year period, reflecting higher political advertising and retransmission revenue. CBS Television Stations revenue increased 17% over the same period, while CBS Radio revenue was up 1%, the company said.

CBS also announced a plan to repurchase an additional $1 billion of its Class B common stock in 2013, nearly doubling the company’s commitment for the year.

In January, CBS and Charter Communications also announced the renewal of content carriage agreements covering retransmission consent for CBS’s owned TV stations and carriage of Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network and the Smithsonian Channel on Charter’s cable platform. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

In October 2012, CBS announced an extension of CEO Leslie Moonves’ term through June 30, 2017. His prior contract was slated to expire in 2015.

In April last year, CBS announced the closing of its $55 million acquisition of WLNY, an independent station on Long Island, N.Y. CBS is running the station as a duopoly with its flagship WCBS. Betty Ellen Berlamino, former SVP and director of sales for CBS Television Stations, was named VP-station manager of WLNY. CBS said it would add three hours of live local newscasts to the station each weekday, “including the tri-state area’s first one-hour 9 p.m. news program,” according to a CBS news release.

3. SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
Baltimore
2012 Revenue: $1.2 billion
Coverage: 37.8%
Ownership: Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI)
Portfolio: Sinclair owns or manages 112 stations (110 full powers and two low powers) in 61 markets – 27 Fox, 20 CW, 17 ABC, 15 CBS, 11 NBC. (Note: This count does not include the pending acquisition of Fisher Communications.)
Key executives: David Smith, president-CEO, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Steven M. Marks, VP and COO, television division; David Amy, EVP-CFO; and Barry Faber, EVP-general counsel.

What’s up: Sinclair Broadcast Group’s buying spree has continued, with the announcement in April that the company and Fisher Communications Inc. had entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby Sinclair will acquire Fisher in a merger transaction valued at approximately $373.3 million. Fisher owns 20 stations in eight markets, reaching 3.9% of U.S. TV households, and three radio stations in the Seattle market. Additionally, Fisher previously entered into an agreement to provide certain operating services for three TV stations, including two simulcasts, pending regulatory approval.

Sinclair previously purchased 24 Barrington Broadcasting Group stations and five Cox Media Group TV stations. Together the deals added 29 stations in 19 markets to the Sinclair fold. Sinclair bought 18 of the Barrington stations for $370 million and said it had agreed to operate or provide sales services for another six. The 24 Barrington stations are in 15 markets reaching 3.4% of U.S. TV households.

Sinclair also bought four Cox TV stations for $99 million, and agreed to provide sales services to an additional station that is part of a Cox duopoly. The five Cox TV stations are in four markets and reach 0.9% of U.S. TV households, Sinclair said.

At the time of the Cox deal, Sinclair also announced the creation of a new unit – Chesapeake TV – to serve as primary operating entity for the Cox stations and other “small market stations we might acquire,” said David Smith, company president-CEO. Sinclair subsequently named Steve Pruett as Chesapeake’s COO. “Steve will oversee the growth and development of our small-market strategy,” Smith said. Pruett, former CEO of group TV owner Communications Corp. of America, is chairman of the Fox affiliates board.

Also, separately, Sinclair in December 2012 announced that it had closed on the acquisition of six stations from Newport Television, and had agreed to buy another from Newport, ABC affiliate WHAM Rochester, N.Y. Sinclair agreed to pay $412.5 million for the six Newport stations and $54 million for WHAM, according to a news story.

In November 2012, Sinclair announced that it was exercising an option to buy Fox Television Stations’ WUTB Baltimore, by assigning it to a third party, Deerfield LLC. According to an FCC filing, Sinclair will run the MNT affiliate through joint sales and shared services agreements, giving Sinclair a virtual triopoly in Baltimore. Sinclair already owns WBFF, the Baltimore Fox affiliate, and operates WNUV, a CW affiliate owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, Sinclair’s long-time duopoly partner. The WUTB option was included in a deal last May in which Fox extended the affiliation agreement with WBFF – and 18 other Sinclair TV stations – for five years.

4. ABC OWNED TELEVISION STATIONS
Los Angeles
2012 Revenue: $1.06 billion
Coverage: 22.6%
Ownership: The Walt Disney Co. (Public: NYSE:DIS)
Portfolio: ABC owns eight full-power stations in eight markets – all ABC affiliates.
Key executives: Robert Iger, chairman-CEO, Disney; Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group; and Rebecca Campbell, president, ABC Owned Television Stations Group.

What’s up: In December 2012, The Walt Disney Co. and Charter Communications announced a comprehensive, long-term distribution agreement to deliver Disney’s lineup of sports, news and entertainment content to Charter TV customers across televisions, computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and Internet-enabled TV’s. The deal included retransmission consent for WABC New York, KABC Los Angeles, WLS Chicago, KGO San Francisco, KTRK Houston, WTVD Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and KSFN Fresno, Calif..

Disney/ABC Television Group announced in February that it wanted to work with its affiliates to develop an ABC TV everywhere service that would allow cable and satellite subscribers to watch on mobile devices. Each affiliate would be able to offer a locally branded service within its market. ABC would charge affiliates for the programming rights, but the affiliates could recoup these fees and perhaps make a profit by charging operators as they do for retransmission consent.

Robert Iger was elected chairman by the company’s board in March. Iger is also the company’s CEO. “The board … took this action to secure Mr. Iger’s leadership through his expected retirement in 2016,” Disney said in a news release.

The station group’s multicast Live Well Network, launched in 2009, has raised its coverage to more than 60 markets and over 60% of U.S. TV homes.

5. NBC OWNED TELEVISION STATIONS
New York
2012 Revenue: $1.05 billion
Coverage: 26.6%
Ownership: Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA)
Portfolio: NBC owns 10 full-power stations in 10 markets – all NBC affiliates.
Key executives: Brian Roberts, chairman-CEO, Comcast Corp.; Steve Burke, CEO, NBC Universal, and EVP, Comcast Corp.; Ted Harbert, chairman, NBC Broadcasting; Valari Staab, president, NBC Owned Television Stations.

What’s up: Comcast Corp. completed its acquisition of the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal from General Electric for $16.7 billion in March 2013.

“Our decision to acquire GE’s ownership is driven by our sense of optimism for the future prospects of NBCUniversal and our desire to capture future value that we hope to create for our shareholders,” said Brian Roberts, Comcast chairman-CEO.

In October 2012, NBC Owned Television Stations confirmed that it was launching Cozi TV, a multicast network mixing classic TV with hit movies and original national local programming. As of February 2013, the 24/7 channel was available to nearly 38 million homes in the largest markets in the U.S., including the multicast channels of the 10 NBC owned stations, according to a news report.

6. GANNETT BROADCASTING
McLean, VA
2012 revenue: $856 million
Coverage: 18.1%
Ownership: Gannett Co. (NYSE:GCI)
Portfolio: Gannett owns 23 full-power stations in 19 markets – 3 ABC, 6 CBS, 12 NBC.
Key executives: Majorie Magner, chairman, Gannett Co.; Gracia Martore, president-CE), Gannett Co.; and David Lougee, president, Gannett Broadcasting.

What’s up: Gannett reported 4Q 2012 revenues of $280.2 million, up 45.7% from the $192.4 million reported for the previous 4Q, with growth driven by $91.2 million in political advertising during the 2012 quarter. Retransmission revenues were $29.6 million in the 4Q, up 38.7% from $21.4 million the year before.

In the wake of some hardball negotiating, Gannett cut new retransmission consent deals with Dish and DirecTV in late 2012. Terms of the deal with Dish were not disclosed. But Dish had publicly complained that Gannett had refused Dish’s offer to increase the programming fees it was paying Gannett by more than 200%. Gannett was seeking a more than 300% increase, Dish said. Again, no details about the deal with DirecTV were released. But Gannett had warned viewers that a “signal disruption” was possible if the companies remained at an impasse.

In June 2012, Gannett named Victoria Harker CFO. Harker was previously CFO and president of global business services for AES Corp., a global power company. Before that, she was acting CFO-treasurer for MCI. She replaced Paul Saleh, who left the company.

In August last year, Gannett also named Eric Land president-GM of WTLV-WJXX Jacksonville, Fla. Land was formerly president-CEO of Walkabout Air Aviation. He also was formerly president-GM of WFLA Tampa, Fla.

7. HEARST TELEVISION
New York
2012 Revenue: $838 million
Coverage: 20.5%
Ownership: Hearst Corp. (private)
Portfolio: Hearst owns 29 full-power TV stations in 26 markets – 13 ABC, 10 NBC, 2 CBS, 2 CW.
Key executives: Frank A. Bennack Jr., executive vice chairman-CEO, Hearst Corp.; David J. Barrett, chairman-CEO, Hearst Television Inc., and Jordan Wertlieb, president, Hearst Television.

What’s up: The big news for Hearst on the executive front: David Barrett, long-time president-CEO of Hearst Television, was promoted to chairman-CEO in December last year, with Jordan Wertlieb moving up from EVP to president.

In July 2012, subscribers to Time Warner Cable, Bright House and Insight lost cable access to Hearst TV station signals in 13 markets after retransmission consent negotiations reached an impasse. Hearst announced that a new deal had been struck 10 days later. “We appreciate the support and patience of our viewers, advertisers and local communities served by our stations, and we regret the inconvenience they’ve experienced,” said David Barrett, Hearst Television chairman-CEO. “This process has been an important step to insure the ongoing vitality of our local TV service in communities across the country.” Hearst did not release details about the new pact. But when he announced the negotiating impasse on July 10, Barrett said that the fees it was seeking from Time Warner Cable were based on fees other cable companies had agreed to pay Hearst in “over 150 other recently concluded agreements.”

In January this year, Hearst announced that Barbara Maushard, a Hearst VP, news, was succeeding Brian Bracco in oversight of the company’s corporate news efforts. Bracco left in November to become GM of KSHB Kansas City. In her expanded role, Maushard is leading Hearst Television’s news products – on air, online and on mobile platforms.

In November, John L. Humphries, who since 2006 had been director of sales at Hearst Television’s WYFF Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., was named president-GM of Hearst’s NBC affiliate WGAL Harrisburg-Lancaster, Pa. (DMA 43). Humphries succeeded Paul Quinn, who announced his plans to retire after more than four decades in local TV and almost 20 years as the leader of WGAL.

In March, CW programming in Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburgh, N.Y., shifted to the ch. 5.2 subchannel of Hearst’s NBC affiliate WPTZ. The network had previously been carried on a subchannel of Nextstar Broadcasting Group’s WFFF.

8. TRIBUNE BROADCASTING
Chicago
2012 Revenue: $819 million
Coverage: 35.7%
Ownership: Control of the company has been transferred under a bankruptcy reorganization plan to the company’s largest lenders, which include JPMorgan Chase and hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Angelo, Gordon & Co.
Portfolio: Tribune owns 23 full-power TV stations in 19 markets – 7 Fox, 13 CW, 1 ABC.
Key executives: Bruce Karsh, chairman, Tribune Co., and president-co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management LLP; Peter Liguori, CEO, Tribune Co.; and Larry Wert, president, broadcast media.

What’s up: After four years of legal wrangling, a federal bankruptcy court – and the FCC – finally cleared the way for Tribune to emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 2012.
Under the court-approved plan, control of the company has shifted from an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to the company’s three largest lenders – JPMorgan Chase and hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Angelo, Gordon & Co.

The FCC cleared the way for the transaction in November 2012 by approving the transfers of the Tribune stations to the new owner. The FCC also gave the new owner a permanent waiver of its newspaper-crossownership prohibition to continue combined ownership of WGN-TV and the Tribune in the company’s hometown of Chicago. But in the other four markets in which Tribune has TV-newspaper combinations, the FCC gave the company temporary waivers that are only valid for one year, meaning the new company may have to seek FCC approval to keep the combined media properties beyond the one-year period.

In January, Tribune announced that Bruce Karsh, president-co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, had been elected Tribune chairman, and that Peter Liguori, COO of Discovery Communications, had been named Tribune CEO. In February, Tribune also announced that Larry Wert, formerly EVP, station initiatives for NBC Owned Television Stations, had been named president of broadcast media for Tribune.

9. UNIVISION COMMUNICATIONS
New York
2012 Revenue: $714 million
Coverage: 44.1%
Ownership: Broadcasting Media Partners Inc., an investor group including Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Saban Capital Group.
Portfolio: Univision owns 62 stations, 41 full-powers and 21 low-powers, in 26 markets, including Puerto Rico – 21 Univision, 21 UniMas (formerly TeleFutura).
Key executives: Randy Falco, president-CEO, Univision Communications; Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks; Kevin Cuddihy, president, Univision Television Group; and Isaac Lee, president, news.

What’s up: Univision Communications Inc. in March 2013 announced a comprehensive multi-year agreement with the nation’s leading satellite provider, DirecTV. The agreement includes carriage of Univision’s O&Os, as well as the network feeds for Univision and UniMás, and the Spanish-language cable network, Galavisión.

In addition, DirecTV will launch Univision’s Deportes Network (sports); Univision tlnovelas, home to telenovelas from Televisa 24-hours-a-day; and ForoTV, an around-the-clock cable news network. ABC News and Univision announced in May 2012 an agreement in principle to form a multiplatform joint venture targeted to Hispanic Americans in English while providing all audiences with “coverage of current events with a unique perspective.”

The agreement would capitalize on Univision’s news leadership and expertise in reaching U.S. Hispanics and ABC’s global news leadership to serve over 50 million Hispanics, the youngest and fastest-growing demographic in the U.S., according to ABC. Still expecting to launch its new English-language news and lifestyle network for Hispanics late this summer, Fusion, the joint venture of ABC and Univision, seems to be moving ahead on all fronts. Univision Communications Inc. and Bounce TV, the nation’s first broadcast television network for African Americans, also jointly announced a distribution agreement in which Univision Television Group will carry Bounce TV on subchannels of its stations in San Francisco (DMA 6); Boston (DMA 7); Tampa, Fla. (DMA 14); Miami (DMA 16); Denver (DMA 17); Sacramento, Calif. (DMA 20); and Raleigh, N.C. (DMA 24).

10. BELO CORP.
2012 Revenue: $684 million
Coverage: 15.2%
Ownership: Belo Corp. (NYSE:BLC)
Portfolio: Belo owns 20 full-power TV stations in 15 markets – 4 ABC, 4 NBC, 5 CBS, 1 Fox and 2 CW.
Key executives: Dunia A. Shive, president-CEO, and Peter L. Diaz, president, media operations.

What’s up: Dunia Shive, Belo Corp. CEO, told analysts in February that between this July 1 and Feb. 28, 2014, retransmission consent deals with six multichannel video service providers covering 40% of the subscribers in Belo’s viewing areas are coming up for renewal.

Last June, Belo named Mark Pimentel president-GM of KMOV, its CBS affiliate in St. Louis. Pimentel was previously president-GM of Belo’s WHAS (ABC) Louisville, Ky. He succeeded Allan Cohen, who retired as KMOV president-GM after 32 years at the station.

Belo also named Tod A. Smith president-GM of WWL (CBS)-WUPL (MNT), New Orleans. Smith was previously president-GM of WVEC, Belo’s ABC affiliate in Hampton Roads-Norfolk, Va.

Then Belo named Brad Ramsey president-GM of WVEC. Ramsey was previously VP-GM of Gray Television’s WCAV (CBS)-WVAW-LP (ABC)-WAHU-CD (Fox) Charlottesville, Va.

In addition, Belo named Linda Danna president-GM of WHAS, Belo’s ABC affiliate in Louisville, Ky. Danna was previously VP-GM of KGPE, Nextstar Broadcasting Group’s CBS affiliate in Fresno-Visalia, Calif.

11. RAYCOM MEDIA
Montgomery, Ala.
2012 Revenue: $680 million
Coverage: 12.7%
Ownership: Employee owned.
Portfolio: Raycom owns or manages 53 stations (51 full-power and two low-power) in 36 markets – 15 NBC, 11 CBS, 7 ABC, 13 Fox, 2 CW.
Key executives: Paul McTear, president-CEO; Wayne Daughtery, EVP-COO

What’s up: In March, the company announced that America Now, the daily syndicated newsmagazine show from Raycom and ITV Studios America co-hosted by Leeza Gibbons and Bill Rancic, would return for a fourth season.

Also in March, the company purchased more than 130 JVC GY-HM650 ProHd mobile news cameras in an effort to standardize the station group’s ENG operations. The buy follows the station group’s earlier purchase of JVC cameras for studio use.

In February, Rentrak Corp. announced a multi-year, multi-market expansion of its ratings contract with Raycom. The new contract added KCBD (NBC) Lubbock, Texas; KFVS (CBS) Paducah, Ky.-Cape-Girardeau, Mo.; KSLA (CBS) Shreveport, Miss.; WECT (NBC) and WSFX (Fox) Wilmington, N.C.; and WDBD (Fox) Jackson, Miss. Raycom was using Rentrak at 30 stations in 23 television markets as of early 2013.

12. COX MEDIA GROUP
Atlanta
2012 Revenue: $595 million
Coverage: 11.9%
Ownership: Cox Enterprises (private)
Portfolio: Cox owns and manages 14 full-power TV stations in nine markets – 3 Fox, 3 ABC, 3 CBS, 1 NBC.
Key executives: Jimmy W. Hayes, president-CEO, Cox Enterprises; Bill Hoffman, president, Cox Media Group; Neil Johnston, EVP, Strategy & Digital Innovation, Cox Media Group; Jane Williams, EVP, Television; Mike Joseph, EVP, Cox Media Group; Charles Odom, VP & CFO, Cox Media Group.

What’s up: In February 2013, Cox Media Group announced an agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group to sell five TV stations in four markets as part of a Cox broadcast portfolio realignment.

As part of the strategy, Cox added four new TV stations in two markets – Jacksonville, Fla. and Tulsa, Okla. – to its broadcast group. The new stations – WAWS (Fox) and WTEV (CBS) in Jacksonville and KOKI (Fox) and KMYT (MNT) in Tulsa – were expected to provide opportunities for collaboration with CMG’s other businesses in those markets, the company said. CMG owns WAWS, KOKI and KMYT and provides operating services to WTEV, which is owned by Bayshore Television.

In May, Cox named media industry veteran Jane Williams EVP of television. Williams reports to CMG President Bill Hoffman.

Williams oversees all of CMG’s TV markets and manages syndicated programming for the stations. She was named SVP of television in 2012 and prior to that was publisher of the Austin American-Statesman. Williams began her media career in television, joining Cox Television’s WSB Atlanta, in 1988 as an account executive, rising to sales manager and director of sales. In 2007, she was promoted to VP of sales for Cox Television and in 2009 became CMG’s VP of sales.

13. LOCAL TV LLC/FOXCO
Newport, Ky.
2012 revenue: $551 million
Coverage: 13.6%
Ownership: Oak Hill Capital Partners
Portfolio: Local TV LLC and FoxCo. Acquisition LLC own 21 full-power stations in 16 markets – 7 Fox, 5 CBS, 2 NBC, 2 ABC, 3 CW.
Key executives: Bobby Lawrence, CEO; Pam Taylor, COO; and Ted Kuhlman, CFO.

What’s up: Local TV LLC has announced that its stations are on the block, or so said Perry Sook, Nexstar CEO, who publicly blew the whistle on the topic during a conference call following the release of Nexstar’s first-quarter earnings on May 8. James David, a spokesman for Local TV LLC and the company’s owner – Oak Hill Capital Partners – told TVNewsCheck that the companies had no comment.

14. LIN MEDIA
Providence, R.I.
2012 Revenue: $532 million
Coverage: 12.4%
Ownership: LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL)
Portfolio: LIN Media owns or manages 43 stations (40 full-power and 3 low-power stations) in 23 markets – 11 CBS, 10 Fox; 7 NBC, 8 CW, 5 ABC.
Key executives: Vincent L. Sadusky, president-CEO; Scott M. Blumenthal, EVP, television; Rob Richter, SVP, digital; Rebecca Duke, VP, distribution; and Brett Jenkins, VP, chief technology officer.

What’s up: In October 2012, LIN TV announced that it had completed the $342 million acquisition of eight full-power and two low-power TV stations from New Vision Television. With the deal, LIN Media is operating or managing 43 television stations, seven digital channels and a growing portfolio of websites and mobile apps in 23 U.S. markets, accounting for 10.6% of U.S. television homes, the company said at the time.

With the stations added to its fold, LIN TV Corp. reported results for its fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2012, that included a 76% increase in 4Q net revenues to $196.2 million, compared to $111.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Approximately $41 million of fourth quarter net revenues was attributable to net revenues earned by the eight New Vision stations. LIN said.

Commenting on fourth quarter and full year 2012 results, the company’s President-CEO Vincent L. Sadusky said: “2012 was a year of record-setting results at LIN Media. We closed on the largest acquisition in our company’s history, achieved historic political and digital advertising revenues and benefited from a rebound in the automotive industry.”

15. E.W. SCRIPPS
Cincinnati
2012 Revenue: $516 million
Coverage: 13.6%
Ownership: E.W. Scripps Co. (NYSE: SSP)
Portfolio: Scripps owns and manages 19 stations (14 full-powers and five low-powers) in 13 markets – 10 ABC, 3 NBC, 5 Azteca.
Key executives: Richard A. Boehne, chairman, president and CEO, E.W. Scripps Co., and Brian Lawlor, SVP, television.

What’s up: Led by a record level of political advertising revenues and the performance of acquired television stations, The E.W. Scripps Co. in February 2013 reported operating results for the fourth quarter of 2012 that were significantly stronger than the fourth quarter of 2011, as well as the fourth quarter of the previous election year.

Revenue from the company’s television stations in the fourth quarter was $152 million, up 79.4% from $84.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. On a same-station basis (the company added four stations in 2012), television revenue increased 39% in the quarter to $118 million.

Revenue from retransmission consent agreements more than doubled year over year to $7.9 million. As a result of new agreements with cable operators that went into effect during 2012, same-station retransmission revenue in the quarter increased 41% to $5.5 million.

In January 2013, the company hired Ellen Weiss, a journalist and news executive, to take charge of the E.W. Scripps Co.’s multimedia news bureau in Washington, effective Feb. 11. She replaced Peter Copeland, who, after a long career with Scripps, became a consulting editor.

As VP-bureau chief, Weiss was assigned to oversee a team of investigative reporters whose stories appear in all Scripps television, newspaper and digital markets, plus guide the company’s daily national coverage and manage the Scripps Howard News Service. Weiss previously worked for the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization, where she was the executive editor in charge of strategic planning and investigative journalism.

In August 2012, the company pitched Wall Street analysts on two new shows set to launch Sept. 17 on many of its stations. Under the plan, Let’s Ask America and The List were supposed to eventually air in all 13 Scripps markets and the company had syndication plans as well. The new daily 30-minute shows were to replace Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Those are two of the top shows in syndication, but also pretty expensive.

This April, the company announced the appointment of Jeff Brogan as VP-GM of WCPO, its ABC affiliate in Cincinnati (DMA 35). Brogan has been interim general manager since January. He replaced Steve Thaxton, who left last December after leading the station since March 2011.

16. NEXSTAR BROADCASTING GROUP
Dallas
2012 Revenue: $483 million
Coverage: 12.2%
Ownership: Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)
Portfolio: Nexstar owns or manages 72 TV stations (68 full-power and four low-power) in 41 markets – 16 NBC, 17 ABC, 12 CBS, 13 Fox, 6 CW (one is digital multicast), 1 Telemundo.
Key executives: Perry A. Sook, chairman-president-CEO; Timothy Busch, EVP-co-COO; Brian Jones, EVP-co-COO; and Thomas Carter, EVP-CFO.

What’s up: The station trading market will remain hot through the end of next year and Nexstar will be right in the middle of it, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook told securities analysts on May 8. “The kind of rolling M&A thunder … will probably continue through the balance of this year and 2014, probably at about the same kind of pace as you’ve seen over the last 18 to 24 months,” Sook said on the conference call following the release of his company’s first-quarter earnings.

Two groups have announced that they are on the block, Local TV LLC and Allbritton Communications, he said. “That’s almost $3 billion worth of assets in the marketplace. We think there’s more to come.”

In April, Nexstar confirmed its long-rumored acquisition of Communications Corp. of America, saying that it and duopoly partner Mission Broadcasting have agreed to pay $270 million to CCA and its duopoly partner, White Knight Broadcasting, for 19 stations in 10 markets.

So that Nexstar can operate duopolies in seven of the markets in compliance with local FCC ownership limits, Mission will hold the licenses of eight of the stations.

The CCA group currently includes five duopolies. The deal will create two additional ones in Shreveport, La., and Odessa-Midland, Texas, where Nexstar already has stations. Upon closing, expected in October, the acquisition will expand the Nexstar/Mission portfolio to 91 stations in 48 markets reaching approximately 13.9% of all U.S. TV households.

In December 2012, Nexstar announced the closing of its $225.5 million acquisition of 10 stations in seven markets from Newport Television, owned by Providence Equity Partners. The sales were part of a multi-buyer series of divestitures announced by Newport in July.

Nexstar noted that the deal also includes the Inergize Digital e-Media operations of Newport. A related deal for $60 million is to send KLRT (Fox) and KASN (CW) in Little Rock, Ark. (DMA 56) to Mission Broadcasting, whose stations are in shared services arrangements with Nexstar in numerous markets.

17. MEDIA GENERAL
2012 Revenue: $405 million
Coverage: 8.3%
Ownership: Media General (NYSE: MEG)
Portfolio: Media General owns or manages 19 full-power stations in 17 markets – 9 NBC; 8 CBS, 1 ABC, 1 CW.
Key executives: George L. Mahoney, president-CEO; James R. Conschafter, VP-broadcast markets; John R. Cottingham, VP-broadcast markets.

What’s up: The big news for Media General in 2012 was its transformation into a pure-play broadcaster. In chapter one of the move, the company announced in May 2012 that a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway had agreed to buy 63 newspapers and related assets for $142 million. In October 2012, Media General announced that it had sold the Tampa Tribune – its last remaining newspaper – to a new company formed by Revolution Capital for $9.5 million. “With this transaction, we complete the transformation of Media General’s business model to be focused on broadcast television and digital media,” said Marshall Morton, the company’s president-CEO at the time.

Also last year, Media General announced that Morton was retiring at the end of the year after 23 years with the company and that the board had elected George L. Mahoney, VP-growth and performance, to succeed Morton, effective Jan 1, 2013. In the interim, Mahoney served as VP-COO.

During a UBS Global Media and Communications conference in December, the company commented on the impact of its transformation into a pure-play broadcaster: “The monumental change away from the newspaper business will enable us to focus on platforms with strong growth potential including the appeal to younger demographics.”

18. GRAY TELEVISION
Atlanta
2012 Revenue: $377 million
Coverage: 11.9%
Ownership: Gray Television Inc. (NYSE: GTN)
Portfolio: Gray owns and manages 41 TV stations (35 full-powers and 6 low-powers) in 30 markets – 20 CBS, 10 NBC, 9 ABC; 5 Fox, 8 CW.
Key executives: Hilton Howell, vice chairman-CEO; Robert S. Prather, president-COO; James C. Ryan, SVP-CFO; and Kevin Latek, VP for law and development and general counsel.

What’s up: After testing the Syncbak streaming platform at four stations over the past several months, Gray Television on May 15 said it’s rolling out the technology to all 41 of its TV stations in the coming weeks. The platform lets TV stations stream all or part of their signals so that they can be received on mobile devices. The technology restricts reception to the stations’ over-the-air markets.

“Gray Television was one of the very first broadcasters to launch mobile DTV service,” said Gray President-COO Bob Prather. “Over the past few months, Syncbak has proven that [it] can provide another critical route to reach our local viewers. We are therefore excited to be able to improve our local products by adding all of our stations to the Syncbak platform.”

Kevin Latek, Gray’s VP, law and development, said that the Gray stations will not be streaming their entire broadcast days, only those portions for which they have cleared the streaming rights – news and other local programming and “a lot of syndicated programming.” The stations, which are affiliated with all the major networks, do not have the rights to stream any network programming, he said.

However, Latek added, Gray intends to participate in the TV everywhere streaming services for mobile reception announced by ABC, NBC and Fox. Those would include network programming and be “complementary” to the Syncbak service, he said.

In February 2013, Gray announced its acquisition of independent KSNB Lincoln, Neb. (DMA 105), from Colins Broadcasting Corp. The deal was originally reported in November 2012 with a price of $1.25 million.

Gray said it planned to re-brand KSNB as 10/11 Central Nebraska. The station will provide Central Nebraska with the area’s first high-definition live 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts. Both newscasts will be devoted exclusively to the news weather and sports that matters most to the people of Central Nebraska.

Meanwhile, with retransmission consent agreements covering about two million of the subscribers in Gray Television’s broadcast service areas coming up for renewal by the end of 2013, Gray is expecting major growth in retransmission consent revenues in 2014. “Certainly we have strong expectations for a significant increase in retrans as we get into ’14,” said Jim Ryan, Gray SVP and CFO, during the company’s 4Q 2012 earnings call with analysts..

The forecast for additional growth comes on top of the record retransmission consent revenues of $33.8 million the company reported for the year ending Dec. 31, 2012, up 67% from the previous year.

19. POST-NEWSWEEK STATIONS
Detroit
2012 Revenue: $362 million
Coverage: 7.4%
Ownership: The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO)
Portfolio: Post-Newsweek owns six full-power stations in six markets -2 NBC, 2 ABC, 1 CBS.
Key executives: Donald Graham, chairman-CEO, Washington Post Co., Emily L. Barr, president-CEO, Post-Newsweek Stations.

What’s up: In July 2012, Emily L. Barr was named to succeed Alan Frank, long-time Post-Newsweek president-CEO, who retired. Barr had served as president-GM of ABC-owned WLS Chicago since1997. While in that position, she helped create the Live Well Network, a digital multicast channel focusing on home, health and lifestyle programming.

Previously in her career, Barr was president-GM of ABC-owned WTVD Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and held various positions at TV stations in Baltimore, Houston, Washington and St. Paul.

In January of 2013, Barr was also appointed to the ABC affiliate board seat on the National Association of Broadcasters TV board, succeeding Frank.

In September 2012, Post-Newsweek Stations also announced the formation of Post-Newsweek Digital, a digital media unit based in Detroit, to help support and grow this end of its business.

Catherine Badalamente was named VP of digital media for Post-Newsweek Stations. In her new role, Badalamente will oversee the hub and lead PNS’s collective digital efforts. Badalamente joined WDIV as an account executive in 2000 and became director of new business development in 2006. She took over the station’s digital media role in 2009.

20. MEREDITH LOCAL MEDIA GROUP
Des Moines, Iowa
2012 Revenue: $337 million
Coverage: 9.3%
Ownership: Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP)
Portfolio: Meredith owns or manages 13 stations (12 full-power and one low-power) in 10 markets – 6 CBS, 3 Fox, 1 NBC.
Key executives: Stephen M. Lacy, chairman-CEO, and Paul Karpowicz, president, Meredith Local Media Group.

What’s up: Meredith Corp.’s Local Media Group – which consists of local television affiliates and a video content creation unit that produces national broadcast and custom programming – delivered what the company called “record performance during the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2013.”

Fiscal 2013 second quarter Local Media Group revenues rose 32% to $111 million. Operating profit grew 65% from the prior-year period to $45 million. Both were records for any quarter in the group’s history.

“We continued to excel at our goal of delivering compelling content to viewers across broadcast, digital and mobile media platforms,” said Local Media Group President Paul Karpowicz. “At the same time, we did a great job monetizing the strength of our audience, as local over-the-air television once again demonstrated its unique ability to build brands and deliver unmatched results for advertising clients.”

In February 2013, the company announced that Next Great Family Band, a 30-minute weekly show produced by Meredith Video Studios, would premiere Feb. 17 on Cozi TV, the new network from the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The new series features 15 family bands from across the country, each hoping to follow in the footsteps of The Jackson 5, The Jonas Brothers, Hanson and The Osmonds.

In December 2012, Meredith Local Media Group also announced that Darrin McDonald, VP-GM of Fox affiliate KVVU Las Vegas (DMA 40), was returning to Kansas City (DMA 31) to take over as VP-GM of its KCTV (CBS)-KSMO (MNT) duopoly. To replace McDonald, Todd Brown, KVVU’s general sales manager, is being promoted to VP-GM of KVVU.

At KCTV-KSMO, McDonald succeeds Bobby Totsch, who left the stations in October.

21. TELEMUNDO STATION GROUP
Hialeah, Fla.
2012 Revenue: $268 million
Coverage: 33.1%
Ownership: Comcast Corp. (NYSE: CCW)
Portfolio: Telemundo owns 15 full-power TV stations in 15 markets – 14 are Telemundo affiliates.
Key executives: Brian Roberts, chairman-CEO, Comcast Corp.; Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal and EVP, Comcast Corp.; Emilio Romano, president, Telemundo Media; Jacqueline Hernandez, COO, Telemundo Media; and Manuel Abud, president, Telemundo Station Group.

What’s up: Telemundo agreed in March to buy its Philadelphia affiliate WWSI from ZGS Communications for $19 million. ZGS purchased WWSI from Hispanic Broadcasters of Philadelphia in 2008 for $10 million. It is licensed to Atlantic City, N.J.

Telemundo is a subsidiary of NBC Universal, which also owns NBC O&O WCAU Philadelphia. FCC rules permit ownership of two stations in a market if one of the stations is not among the top four rated and if eight separate TV owners will be left in the market after the deal closes. This deal meets both criteria, the parties told the FCC.

In September 2012, Telemundo Media named Chris McDonnell president-GM of its WSNS Chicago (DMA 3). McDonnell has been with the NBC-owned television station group since 1997. Most recently, he was VP, sales and marketing at NBC’s KXAS Dallas since 2009.

22. SUNBEAM TELEVISION CORP.
Miami
2012 Revenue: $232 million
Coverage: 3.5%
Ownership: Ed Ansin
Portfolio: Sunbeam owns three full-power stations in two markets – 1 NBC, 1 Fox, 1 CW.
Key executives: Ed Ansin, president; Robert W. Leider, EVP-GM, Sunbeam; and James Ansin, station manager, WSVN (Fox) Miami.

What’s up: In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of Sunbeam’s monopolization claim against Nielsen Media Research. All three judges on the court agreed with a lower court’s ruling that Sunbeam Television lacks antitrust standing to pursue its claims against Nielsen.

Sunbeam Television filed its lawsuit against Nielsen after the ratings company released its LPM (Local People Meter) service in Miami and WSVN said it experienced a ratings decrease of 50% overnight, causing the station to lose more than $1 million per month in advertising dollars because of the sudden disparity in viewers. Nielsen insisted everything was normal, and that its prior way of measuring ratings via diaries was also flawless.

The 11th Circuit agreed with Sunbeam Television on one thing, that Nielsen “exercises monopoly power over the television audience measurement services industry, both nationally, for the United States as a whole, and for all 210 markets.”

23. ALLBRITTON COMMUNICATIONS
Arlington, Va.
2012 Revenue: $209 million
Coverage: 4.9%
Ownership: Allbritton Communications (private)
Portfolio: Allbritton owns nine stations (eight full-powers and one low-power) in seven markets plus three translators – all ABC affiliates.
Key executives: Robert L. Allbritton, chairman; Frederick J. Ryan, vice chairman, president-COO; and Jerry Fritz, SVP, legal and strategic affairs.

What’s up: In May 2013, Allbritton Communications, owner of seven full-power ABC affiliates including WJLA Washington, said that it is considering selling the group, among other “strategic alternatives.”

“There can be no assurance that the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in the consummation of any transaction,” the family-owned company said in a statement, noting that there is no timetable for action.

Based in Arlington, Va., Allbritton also owns NewsChannel 8, a 24-hour, local news cable channel in Washington.

Allbritton was founded by Joe Allbritton, who died last December. His son, Robert, now runs the company as chairman. Fred Ryan, a one-time aide to President Ronald Reagan, is president. For the review, Allbritton said, it has retained Moelis & Co. as its financial adviser and Paul Hastings and Dow Lohnes as its legal counsel.

24. NEW YOUNG BROADCASTING
New York
2012 Revenue: $206 million
Coverage: 6.0%
Ownership: The four largest owners are Standard General with 41%, Oppenheimer Funds, 20%; Pyxis (Highland Capital), 14% and Ares, 6%.
Portfolio: Young owns or manages 12 full-power stations in 10 markets – 6 ABC, 3 CBS, 1 NBC, 1 Fox.
Key executives: Thomas Sullivan, chairman; Deborah McDermott, president-CEO.

What’s up: In January, New Young Broadcasting Holding Co. announced that Deborah McDermott had been named chief executive officer. She retained her Young Broadcasting position and title as president, which she has held since 2004. McDermott served on the Young board of directors from April 2004 to August 2009, at which time the company was publicly traded. Prior to being named president in 2004, she was VP of operations for Young.

In October 2012, Young Broadcasting set up triopoly for itself in Lansing, Mich. (DMA 116), with the help of partner Shield Media. Shield was buying ABC affiliate WLAJ in Lansing from Sinclair Broadcast Group at the time, but, through joint sales and sharing agreements, will turn over its operation to Young, which already owns CBS affiliate WLNS in the market and manages MNT affiliate WHTV through a joint sales agreement with owner Venture Technologies.

Young and Shield struck the same kind of arrangement in Albany, N.Y., earlier in 2012. Shield bought Fox affiliate WXXA there, but Young is running it under contracts in tandem with its own ABC affiliate, WTEN.

Such arrangements are increasingly common in broadcasting as a way to circumvent FCC rules prohibiting one company from owning Big Four network affiliates in small markets.

25. JOURNAL BROADCAST GROUP
Milwaukee
2012 Revenue: $194 million
Coverage: 4.5%
Ownership: Journal Communications (NYSE:JRN)
Portfolio: Journal Broadcast Group owns or manages 15 TV stations (13 full-powers and two low-powers) – 4 ABC, 3 Fox, 3 NBC, 2 CBS, 1 CW.

Key executives: Steve Smith, chairman-CEO, Journal Communications; Andre J. Fernandez, president-CFO, Journal Communications; Jim Prather, EVP, TV and radio operations, Journal Broadcast Group and VP-GM KTNV Las Vegas; Steve Wexler, EVP, TV and radio operations, Journal Broadcast Group and VP-GM, WTMJ Milwaukee; Debbie Turner, EVP, TV and Radio Operations and Newschannel 5 Network, Nashville.

What’s up: Journal Communications’ 1Q 2013 television station revenue increased 43.4% to $42.3 million, or 7.6% on a same-station basis. Local ad revenue, excluding political, increased 36.7%, or 3.2% on a same-station basis, primarily due to an increase in automotive advertising.

National advertising revenue, excluding political, increased 50.1% or 9.5% on a same-station basis, primarily due to increases in media and restaurant advertising. Operating earnings from television stations were $7.1 million, an increase of 84.3%.

For the company as a whole, 1Q revenue of $94.7 million increased 15.1% and operating earnings of $8.5 million increased 47.3%. Net earnings were $3.8 million, an increase of 29.9%.

In January, the company named Charles Henrich Jr. VP-GM of its Fox affiliate WFTX Fort Myers, Fla. (DMA 62). He succeeded Chris Protzman who was promoted to group SVP.

In March, Journal Communications named Alvin Pritchard VP of finance for the Journal Broadcast Group. Pritchard joined Journal from NBCUniversal, where he served for the previous nine years as VP of finance for the NBC television stations in Chicago, WMAQ (NBC) and WSNS (Telemundo).

26. ENTRAVISION
Los Angeles
2012 Revenue: $142 million
Coverage: 14.2%
Ownership: Entravision Communications Corp. (NYSE:EVC)
Portfolio: Entravision owns or manages 56 TV stations (30 full-powers and 26 low-powers) in 24 markets – 24 Univision, 20 UniMas, 1 Telemundo , 2 Fox, 2 CW.
Key executives: Walter F. Ulloa, chairman-CEO; Christopher T. Young, EVP, chief financial officer and treasurer; Jeffery A. Liberman, COO; Mario M. Carrera, chief revenue officer.

What’s up: Entravision Communications Corp. reported 1Q 2013 television segment revenue of $34.9 million, an increase of 5.4% from $33.1 million in the same period in 2012.

Net revenue for the company as a whole increased to $49.1 million for the quarter from $46.5 million for the year-ago period, an increase of $2.6 million. Of the overall increase, $1.8 million came from the television segment and was primarily attributable to an increase in local advertising revenue and an increase in retransmission consent revenue. Additionally, $0.8 million of the overall increase came from the radio segment and was primarily attributable to an increase in national advertising revenue.

In December 2012, Entravision announced a new brand identity and logo reflecting the company’s “focus on providing advertisers and markets with a comprehensive multimedia platform to reach Latino audiences and communities.”

The initiative, it said, “provides an overarching identity for the company’s multimedia platforms, and reflects the continued growth of Entravision’s digital, mobile and marketing services, which complement the company’s core television and radio assets.”

Entravision also announced in April that Critical Media’s Syndicaster platform would be used to power an expansion of video content on the digital websites operated by Entravision’s television stations, radio stations and dozens of other interactive properties.

A user of Syndicaster since 2010, Entravision renewed a multiyear agreement with it for 56 television stations and 49 radio stations.

27. HUBBARD BROADCASTING
St. Paul, Minn.
2012 Revenue: $130 million
Coverage: 5.1%
Ownership: Hubbard family
Portfolio: Hubbard owns seven full-power stations in six markets – 3 ABC, 3 NBC.
Key executives: Stanley S. Hubbard, chairman; Rob Hubbard, president, Hubbard Television Group.

What’s up: In March, Hubbard agreed to pay $2.3 million for independent WNYA Albany, N.Y., and double up in the market (DMA 58), according to an FCC application seeking approval of the deal. Hubbard currently operates NBC affiliate WNYT there.

The FCC prohibits the ownership of two stations in markets as small as Albany, but in the application Hubbard asks for a waiver on the grounds that WNYA is “failing.” Hubbard asserts that WNYA meets all four criteria for the waiver, including that it has posted three consecutive years of negative cash flow. “WNYA’s financial condition is dire,” it says.

The seller of the station is Venture Technologies, headed by CEO Paul Koplin. According to the application, the limited liability company or its members also have stakes in KBBC Bishop, Calif.; KBCB Bellingham, Wash.; WHTV Jackson, MIss.; and WAOE Peoria, Ill.

In March 2013, it was announced that Stanley S. Hubbard, chairman of Hubbard Broadcasting, would be the recipient of this year’s Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award. The award was presented during the Broadcasters Foundation of America Breakfast on April 10, at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters Show.

According to the BFA, “Hubbard has followed in the family tradition of being a true broadcast pioneer. His industry accomplishments include overseeing the building of the first successful UHF television station in a VHF market; with others in the Hubbard organization, creating the world’s first satellite newsgathering organization; and establishing U.S. Satellite Broadcasting.”

In January 2013, Hubbard announced that its ABC affiliate KSTP Minneapolis (DMA 15) was expanding its 10 p.m. newscast to a full hour – 10-11p.m. The station said the hour-long newscast would “be staffed with more reporters, more photographers and additional resources in order to tackle topics that typically are not featured in a traditional 35 minute news format.”

28. CORDILLERA COMMUNICATIONS
Ownership: Evening Post Publishing Co. (private)
2012 Revenue: $104 million
St. Paul, Minn.
Coverage: 3.8%
Portfolio: Owns or manages 15 TV stations (13 full power and 2 low powers) in 11 markets – 7 CBS, 5 NBC, 1 ABC, 1 Telemundo.
Key executives: Terry Hurley, president; Cordillera; Dan Stein, director of programming and operations.

What’s up: Cordillera Communications in February named Greg McAlister president-GM of its Corpus Christi, Texas (DMA 129), properties of NBC affiliate KRIS (which also airs the CW on its ch. 13.2), low-power Telemundo affil KAJA (K68DJ) and low-power independent KDF (K47DF), all effective March 11. He succeeds Tim Noble, who left on Dec. 31, 2012.

McAlister will also be responsible for the stations’ companion interactive platforms and will oversee Cordillera’s shared services agreement with Sagamore Hill Broadcasting LLC, owner of KZTV (CBS). Most recently, McAlister led the combined operation of KAMC and KLBK Lubbock, Texas, as VP-GM and also managed a regional operations hub for Nexstar Broadcasting Group.

29. SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS
Mishawaka, Ind.
Ownership: Private
2012 Revenue: $101 million
Coverage: 1.82%
Portfolio: Schurz owns or manages 10 full-power TV stations in six markets – 3 CBS, 3 NBC, 1 ABC, 2 CW, 1 Univision.
Key executives: Franklin D. Schurz Jr., chairman; Scott Schurz Sr., vice chairman; Todd Schurz, president-CEO.

What’s up: Schurz Communications Inc., Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (IB) and TownNews.com announced in April a multi-year partnership to serve the multiplatform digital needs of Schurz’s TV, newspaper and radio properties.

“In selecting the technology that will support the next phase of Schurz’s digital growth and innovation, the ability to fully leverage content, data and workflow efficiencies across all of our properties – and with other media partners – was paramount,” said Kerry Oslund, Schurz Communications’ VP of digital media. “The IB-TownNews.com alliance meets the unique needs of broadcast and print publishers while removing the barriers that typically disrupt the free flow of information across platforms. We are excited to be at the center of this innovative partnership.”

30. DISPATCH BROADCAST GROUP
Columbus, Ohio
Ownership: Private
2012 Revenue: $98.9 million
Coverage: 1.8%
Portfolio: Dispatch Broadcast owns two full-power TV stations – 1 NBC, 1 CBS.
Executives: Michael J. Fiorele, vice chairman-CEO; Tom Griesdorn, president-GM, WBNS-Ohio News Network; John Cardenas, VP and GM, WTHR.

What’s up: In April, Dispatch Broadcast Group-owned CBS affiliate WBNS Columbus, Ohio (DMA 32), named John Cardenas president-GM as well as VP of news for Dispatch Broadcast Group. Cardenas will replace the retiring station president Tom Griesdorn on June 10.

In January, Michael Fiorile, president of The Dispatch Printing Co., was promoted to CEO and Joseph Y. Gallo, the company’s EVP, was named COO. In announcing the promotion of both executives, John F. Wolfe , formerly CEO, who will continue in his present role as chairman of the board of Dispatch and publisher of The Columbus Dispatch, said: “Our company is fortunate to have such proven executives and community leaders to guide the future growth of our businesses.”