The Top 25 station groups in B&C’s annual list are ranked according to the percentage of U.S. homes they reach. To compile these records, B&C has relied heavily this year on information from media research firm SNL Kagan as a baseline; that research was supplemented by our own studies, Nielsen data and information provided by the companies themselves.
As with last year, B&C considers higher-powered VHF and lower-powered UHF stations to be on equal footing because the transition to digital broadcasting rendered the difference moot, and many VHF stations converted to UHF with no loss in market coverage.
The FCC’s UHF discount, however, remains in place at the commission. By FCC rule, broadcasters are limited to owning stations that cover no more than a total of 39.4% of the country; since the transition, however, that rule has been ignored. Three groups— Ion, Univision and Trinity—now exceed that limit.
In most cases, B&C counts local market and other management agreements in a group’s station ownership count, due to the influence that managing a station allows a group to wield in a market. In the cases of ownership of multiple stations in one market—duopolies, triopolies, repeaters and satellites—the market is only counted once in the coverage tally.
B&C does not include non-commercial or nonprofit groups on this list. As a result, otherwise large groups such as Daystar are excluded.
1 ION Media Networks
Ownership: Privately held
64.9% coverage
60 stations
Ion Media Networks
601 Clearwater Park Rd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
561-659-4122
www.iontelevision.com
Brandon Burgess, chairman and CEO
2 Univision Communications
Ownership: Privately held by Broadcasting Media Partners, an investor group including Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Saban Capital Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners and TPG
45.2% coverage
62 stations
605 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10158
212-455-5200
www.univision.net
Haim Saban, interim executive chairman
Randy Falco, EVP/COO
3 Trinity Broadcasting
Ownership: Privately held
44.76% coverage
35 stations
2442 Michelle Dr.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-832-2950
www.tbn.org
Paul F. Crouch, president
Paul Crouch, Jr., chief of staff
4 CBS Television Stations
Ownership: CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS, CBS.A)
37.8% coverage
28 stations
51 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
212-975-4321
www.cbslocal.com,
www.cbscorporation.com
Sumner M. Redstone, executive chairman
Leslie Moonves, president/CEO
Peter Dunn, president, CBS Television Stations
5 Fox Television Stations
Ownership: News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS)
37.21% coverage
27 stations
1211 Ave. of the Americas, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10036
212-301-3000
www.newscorp.com
K. Rupert Murdoch, chairman, News Corp.
Chase Carey, deputy chairman, president and chief operating officer, News Corp.
Roger Ailes, chairman/CEO, Fox News; chairman, Fox Television Stations; chairman, Twentieth Television
Jack Abernethy, CEO, Fox Television Stations
Dennis Swanson, president, Fox Television Station Operations
6 Comcast/ NBCUniversal
Ownership: Comcast, 51%, and General Electric, 49%; Comcast's acquisition of a controlling interest in NBCUniversal closed in January. (NYSE: CMCSA, GE)
35.89% coverage
25 stations, including NBC's 10 stations and Telemundo's 15 stations
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
212-664-4444
www.nbclocalmedia.com
Stephen B. Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal; EVP, Comcast Corp.
Ted Harbert, chairman, NBC Broadcasting Valari Dobson Staab, president, NBCUniversal Local Media
John Wallace, president, NBCUniversal Media Works
Don Browne, president, Telemundo
Ronald Gordon, president, Telemundo Stations Group
7 Tribune Co.
Ownership: Employee-owned
35.4% coverage
23 stations
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
312-222-3333
www.tribune.com
Eddy Hartenstein, co-president, Tribune Co.; publisher and CEO, Los Angeles Times
Tony Hunter, co-president, Tribune Co.; president, publisher and CEO, Chicago Tribune
Nils Larsen, co-president, Tribune Co.; chief investment officer
Donald J. Liebentritt, co-president, Tribune Co.; chief restructuring officer
Jerry Kersting, president, Tribune Broadcasting
8 Liberman Broadcasting, Inc.
Ownership: Privately held
23.09% coverage
9 stations
1845 Empire Ave.
Burbank, CA 91504
818-729-5300
www.lbimedia.com
Jose Liberman, founder
Lenard Liberman, president/CEO
Winter Horton, COO
9 Disney/ABC
Ownership: Public (NYSE: DIS)
22.37% coverage
8 stations
77 W. 66th Street
New York, NY 10023
212-456-7777
corporate.disney.go.com; abclocal.go.com
Robert Iger, president/CEO, The Walt Disney Co.
Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, and president, Disney/ABC Television Group
Rebecca Campbell, president, ABC Owned Television Stations Group
10 Sinclair Broadcast Group
Ownership: Public: (NASDAQ: SBGI)
21.17% coverage
57 stations
10706 Beaver Dam Rd.
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
410-568-1500
www.sbgi.net
David D. Smith, president/CEO/chairman
Steven M. Marks, VP/COO, television
11 Hearst Television
Ownership: Wholly-owned subsidiary of Hearst Corp.
18.3% coverage
29 stations
300 W. 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
212-887-6800
www.hearsttelevision.com
Frank A. Bennack Jr., vice chairman/CEO, Hearst Corp.
David J. Barrett, president/CEO, Hearst Television
12 Gannett Co.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: GCI)
18.2% coverage
23 stations
7950 Jones Branch Dr.
McLean, VA 22107
703-854-6000
www.gannett.com
Craig A. Dubow, chairman/CEO
Dave Lougee, president, Gannett Broadcasting
13 Belo Corp.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: BLC)
14.56% coverage
20 stations
400 S. Record St.
Dallas, TX 75202-4841
214-977-6606
www.belo.com
Dunia A. Shive, president/CEO
Peter L. Diaz, president, media operations
14 Entravision Communications Corp.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: EVC)
13.94% coverage
53 stations
2425 Olympic Blvd.
Suite 6000 West
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-447-3870
www.entravision.com
Walter F. Ulloa, chairman/CEO
Philip C. Wilkinson, president/COO
15 Raycom Media
Ownership: Employee-owned
12.5% coverage
42 stations
RSA Tower, 20th Floor
201 Monroe St.
Montgomery, AL 36104
334-206-1400
www.raycommedia.com
Paul McTear, president/CEO
16 Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Ownership: Public (NASDAQ: NXST)
11.5% coverage
62 stations
5215 North O'Connor Blvd.
Suite 1400
Irving, TX 75039
972-373-8800
www.nexstar.tv
Perry A. Sook, chairman, president, CEO
17 Local TV LLC
Ownership: Privately held by Oak Hill Capital Partners
10.74% coverage
19 stations
1717 Dixie Hwy., Suite 650
Ft. Wright, KY 41011
859-448-2700
www.localtvllc.com
Bobby Lawrence, CEO
18 Cox Media Group
Ownership: Subsidiary of Cox Enterprises
10.46% coverage
15 stations
6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30328
678-645-0000
www.coxmediagroup.com
James C. Kennedy, chairman/CEO, Cox Enterprises
Jimmy W. Hayes, president/CEO, Cox Enterprises
Doug Franklin, president, Cox Media Group
19 E.W. Scripps Co.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: SSP)
9.84% coverage
10 stations
312 Walnut St., Scripps Center 2800
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513-977-3000
www.scripps.com
Richard A. Boehne, president/CEO
Brian G. Lawlor, senior vice president, television
20 Meredith Corp.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: MDP)
9.12% coverage
12 stations
1716 Locust St.
Des Moines, IA 50309
515-284-3000
www.meredith.com
Stephen M. Lacy, chairman/CEO
Paul Karpowicz, president, Meredith Local Media Group
21 WRNN License Co.
Ownership: Privately held
9.02% coverage
2 stations
800 Westchester Ave.
Suite S-640
Rye Brook, NY 10573
914-217-4700
Website: www.rnntv.com
Richard French, owner
22 Newport Television
Ownership: Privately held by Providence Equity Partners
8.8% coverage
50 stations
460 Nichols Rd., Suite 250
Kansas City, MO 64112
816-751-0200
www.newporttv.com
Sandy DiPasquale, president/CEO
23 LIN Television Corp.
Ownership: Public (NYSE: TVL)
8.53% coverage
32 stations
1 W. Exchange St., Suite 5A
Providence, RI 02903
401-454-2880
www.linmedia.com
Vincent Sadusky, president/CEO
Scott Blumenthal, EVP, television
24 Media General
Ownership: Public (NYSE: MEG)
8.21% coverage
18 stations
333 E. Franklin St.
Richmond, VA 23219
804-649-6000
www.mediageneral.com
J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman, Media General
Marshall N. Morton, president/CEO
25 Post-Newsweek
Ownership: The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO)
7.36% coverage
6 stations
550 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226-3123
313-223-2260
www.washpostco.com
Donald E. Graham, chairman/CEO, The Washington Post Co.
Alan Frank, president/CEO, Post-Newsweek Stations
