Block Communications
Block Communications Inc. (also known as Blade Communications) is an American privately held holding company of various assets, mainly in the print and broadcast media, based in Toledo, Ohio. The company was founded in 1900 in New York City when Paul Block, a German-Jewish immigrant who came to the United States fifteen years prior, formed an ad representation firm for newspapers. The Block empire grew to encompass many newspapers on the east coast of the US, however with the Great Depression in the 1930s came the loss of all but three properties: the ad representation firm, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Toledo Blade (where Block eventually settled the company upon its purchase in 1927). After Block's death in 1941, his children took over the company. They eventually passed it on to their grandchildren, who continue to operate it to this day.
Company holdings[]
Newspapers[]
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
- The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)
Television[]
Broadcast[]
- WDRB (Fox/Antenna TV; operated by Block property Independence Television along with WBKI)
- WBKI (The CW/Cozi TVMyNetworkTV/Movies!)
- WLIO (NBC/Fox)
- WOHL-CD (ABC/CBS) - the first single operator in a market to have all four major networks under one roof.[1][2][3]
(*) - Translators for WOHL to help cover the entire Lima/Findlay market
Other markets
- WAND Decatur, Illinois (NBC)
- WFND-LD Toledo, Ohio (Youtoo America/Daystar)
Cable[]
- Buckeye CableSystem, Inc. [4] (systems in Toledo, Ohio and Sandusky, Ohio, latter officially known as Erie County Cablevision)
- Buckeye Express (High Speed Internet) [5]
- Buckeye Cable Sports Network
- HomeFinder Channel 100 cable; (Operated by Block property Buckeye Cablevision)
Online[]
- Buckeye Access (Dial up Internet)[6]
- MaxxSouth Broadband
- TeleSystem (formerly Buckeye Telesystem) [7]
- Line Systems[8] (Acquired July 2014 and now a division of Telesystem) [9]
Non-Media[]
- Metro Fiber & Cable Construction Company (a Toledo-based contractor of fiber optic installation)
Former properties[]
- Pittsburgh Press
- Newark Daily Advertiser (Now The Star Ledger), Newark, New Jersey (owned from 1915 to 1939)
- WIIC-TV, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (founded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; now Cox-owned WPXI)
- WWSW radio, Pittsburgh (also founded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; now iHeartMedia-owned WBGG)
- WLFI-TV, West Lafayette, Indiana (sold to LIN TV Corporation; now owned by Heartland Media)
- Corporate Protection Services (Sold to Guardian Alarm Co. of Toledo [10] which later was sold to Asset Protection Services, Toledo, Ohio)
- The Monterey County Herald, traded to Scripps in exchange for the Pittsburgh Press; now owned by Digital First Media
- Toledo 5, Toledo, Ohio (operated as a cable-only The WB/CW affiliate by Buckeye CableSystem; affiliation, channel slot and programming sold to SJL Broadcasting on September 1, 2013 and moved over-the-air to WTVG-DT2)
- KTRV Nampa-Boise, Idaho (Sold to Ion Media)
- WBKI-TV Campbellsville/Louisville, Kentucky (CW; owned by L.M. Communications, but operated by Block through WDRB/WMYO through a shared services agreement where WMYO duplicated its channels for the main portion of the Louisville market. Station was sold in spectrum auction and went off-air on October 25, 2017; rights to programming and CW affiliation were sold to Block, which retains WBKI's programming and call sign over WMYO's channel spectrum.)
Controversy[]
In January 2021, Susan Allen Block, a former board member of Block Communications and a member of the company's namesake family, made a Facebook post supporting the insurrectionists who took part in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. In the post Block also used several derogatory terms when describing Vice-President Kamala Harris, even referring to her as a "Whore." This set off a chain of events that ultimately led to Allen Block and Block Communications facing severe backlash from the public and other organizations. Notably, the organization was condemned by the Toledo Bureau of the NAACP, and Governor Mike DeWine's spokeswoman. [11]
Allen Block resigned from her position on the Ohio Arts Council after the controversy began.[12]
References[]
- ^ "Phipps flips Lima low-power cluster". Television Business Report. November 29, 2008. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
- ^ Sowinski, Greg (December 2, 2008). "WLIO owner buys Fox affiliate, other stations for $2.4 million". The Lima News. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
- ^ About us - Hometown Stations.com
- ^ Buckeye Cable
- ^ Buckeye Express
- ^ Buckeye Access
- ^ TeleSystem
- ^ Line Systems
- ^ Block acquires Line Systems - TeleSystem.us
- ^ [1] Archived January 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NAACP Toledo releases statement on US Capitol insurrection, The Blade and controversial social media post made by Block family member". wtol.com. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ^ Borchardt, Jackie. "Ohio Arts Council board member Susan Allan Block resigns after inflammatory comments". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
External links[]
- Mass media companies of the United States
- Television broadcasting companies of the United States
- Newspaper companies of the United States
- Privately held companies of the United States
- Companies based in Toledo, Ohio
- Mass media companies established in 1900
- 1900 establishments in New York City
- Family-owned companies of the United States