Raycom Media

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Raycom Media, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Broadcast television Television production
Founded	1996; 25 years ago (1996)
Defunct	January 2, 2019; 2 years ago (2019-01-02)
Fate	Assets merged into Gray
Successor	Gray Television
Headquarters	Montgomery, Alabama , U.S.
Area served	United States (Nationwide)
Key people	Pat LaPlatney (President & CEO)
Revenue	$2.4 billion
Number of employees	8,300
Subsidiaries	Broadview Media Community Newspaper Holdings Pure Cars Raycom Sports RTM Productions Tupelo Raycom
Footnotes / references [1]

Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Community Newspaper Holdings subsidiary, also owned multiple newspapers in small and medium-sized markets throughout the United States.

History[]

Raycom Media's logo from its 1996 founding until December 2017, using elements from the original Raycom Sports logo.

Raycom's three founding owners were Stephen Burr (a Boston lawyer), Ken Hawkins (general manager) and William Zortman (news director) with funding from Retirement Systems of Alabama.^[2] In 1996, Raycom purchased 15 television and two radio stations and Bert Ellis's Raycom Sports from Ellis Communications for over $700 million.^[2][3] In mid-1996, the company agreed to purchase eight stations from Federal Enterprises Inc. of suburban Detroit for $160 million.^[2] Raycom bought Aflac's broadcast division of five TV stations in August 1996, using, in part, a loan from the RSA.^[2][4] The three groups merged to form Raycom Media. John Hayes initially headed up the company until 2001.^[3]:2

In 1998, Raycom took a 35% stake in Worldnow, an internet publishing provider for broadcast media.^[3]:2 That same year, Raycom purchased Malrite Communications, owner of five stations: two Puerto Rico stations, three Ohio stations, and one Florida station.^[5]

In 2001, Paul McTear took over as Raycom's president and CEO from Hayes.^[3]:2

In April 2005, Raycom tested The Tube Music Network on station WFLX, a Fox affiliate, for three weeks.^[6] Raycom announced on April 25, 2005, it was the launch station group for The Tube affiliating 29 stations.^[6] Raycom launched the network in June 2005 on 30 stations.^[7] Raycom Media was an initial round investor in The Tube Music Network.^[8]

On January 31, 2006, the company acquired the Liberty Corporation.^[9] Raycom agreed to affiliate its NBC stations' subchannels with NBC Weather Plus,^[6] a joint venture between the affiliates and the NBC station group.^[10] In August, Raycom sold a dozen of its stations to Barrington Broadcasting.^[11]

On November 12, 2007, Raycom announced its intention to acquire some of the television broadcasting properties of Lincoln National Corporation's Lincoln Financial Media for $583 million.^[12] Lincoln Financial Sports was merged into Raycom Sports later that year.^[13] The purchase of the stations were completed on April 2, 2008.^[14]

Around 2010, Raycom moved into producing its own programming.^{[citation needed]} In September 2011, Raycom partnered with E.W. Scripps and Cox Media to produce Right This Minute.^[15] Also in 2011, the company partnered with ITV Studios America and launched America Now, a lifestyle-oriented news magazine.^[16] The magazine lasted until September 2014. In partnership with Bellum Entertainment Group in 2014, Flip My Food and Fix It and Finish It were launched as lead in strips to Raycom early newscasts. In the third quarter of 2014, Raycom purchased RTM Productions, based in Nashville and produces PowerNation branded auto-oriented shows for the Paramount Network, NBCSN, and CBS Sports Network.^[3]:2 Raycom acquired the assets of live and studio sports programming production company Tupelo-Honey Productions in January 2012.^[17]

In 2011, Raycom was an initial investor in Bounce TV, a broadcast subchannel network.^[18]1 Raycom News Network Digital Hub, an online news aggregator and exchange, was started in 2011 at the company's main office in Montgomery, Alabama.^[3]:2 Raycom Media was an initial investor in Katz Broadcasting, launched in 2014 and a Bounce affiliated subchannel network group.^[18]

On November 20, 2013, Raycom entered into a shared services agreement to operate Louisiana Media Company's WVUE-TV in New Orleans.^[19]

On August 10, 2015, Raycom announced that it would purchase stations owned by Drewry Communications for $160 million.^[20] The sale was completed on December 1, 2015.^[21]

Raycom acquired Indianapolis-based sports production company WebStream Sports on September 14, 2015.^[22] WebStream was subsequently merged with existing Raycom entity Tupelo Honey to form Tupelo Raycom.^[23]

In October 2015, Raycom acquired Fox affiliate KNIN-TV for $14.5 million from E. W. Scripps Company; the FCC required that the station be divested during Scripps' acquisition of Journal Communications, but Scripps entered into shared services agreements with Raycom to continue operating KNIN.^[24]

Raycom purchased PureCars, a digital ad platform focused on automotive sales, for $125 million in November 2015.^[25]

On April 4, 2017, Raycom reached an agreement to acquire WVUE outright.^[26]

In May 2017, Raycom purchased Calkins Media's WWSB and WTXL-TV. A sale of Calkins' WAAY-TV to Raycom affiliate American Spirit Media was blocked by the Department of Justice due to Raycom's ownership of WAFF-TV, and was instead sold to Heartland Media.^[27] The deal increased Raycom's reach to 16% of U.S. television households.^[28]

On September 25, 2017, Raycom announced that it would merge with Community Newspaper Holdings (CNHI), which was principally owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama. CNHI would continue to operate as a subsidiary of Raycom. To comply with FCC newspaper cross-ownership restrictions, Raycom divested newspapers in the seven markets where CNHI and Raycom both owned properties.^[29][30][31]

On June 14, 2018, Raycom announced the launch of InvestigateTV, an OTT app that showcased longer-form content from Raycom as well as content from ProPublica, News21 at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, and NerdWallet.^[32]

On June 25, 2018, Gray Television announced its intent to acquire Raycom for $3.65 billion, pending regulatory approval. The combined company would be led by Raycom's current president and CEO Pat LaPlatney, with current Gray CEO Hilton Howell acting as executive chairman and co-CEO. The acquisition, which Gray expected to close in late 2018, would give Gray 142 stations in 92 markets, making Gray the third-largest owner of television stations in the United States, with a total market share of 24%.^[33][34][35] CNHI, which was sold separately, was not included in the sale to Gray.^[36][37] The sale was approved by the FCC on December 20.^[38][39][40] The deal was completed on January 2, 2019.^[41][42]

Aftermath[]

Following Raycom Media acquisition by Gray Television, All content was abruptly set to private on Machinima's YouTube channels on January 18, 2019 following the consummation of the reorganization. ^[35] Fullscreen explained that Machinima would now be a unit of Fullscreen, producing content under the Machinima banner while Machinima's partners would migrate into Fullscreen's creator network. Fullscreen GM Beau Bryant stated in an email sent to Machinima partners that they were "going to great lengths 'behind-the-scenes' to ensure a smooth and efficient transition".^[43][44]

On February 1, 2019, Machinima officially announced that it had laid off its 81 employees and ceased remaining operations.^[45][46] The company stated that certain employees were being retained to work for Otter Media, and that Russell Arons was "assisting with transitional activities as she explores new opportunities".^[45]Shortly afterward, it was announced that a number of former Machinima series and shows would move under Rooster Teeth, including a revival of Inside Gaming.^[47]

On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of its broadcasting assets to effectively dissolve Turner Broadcasting System. Its assets are to be dispersed across multiple units of WarnerMedia, including the newly created WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports. WarnerMedia Entertainment would consist of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and an upcoming direct-to-consumer video service (led by former NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt), while WarnerMedia News & Sports would consist of CNN, Turner Sports, and the AT&T SportsNet regional networks (which would be led by CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker). Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, and Turner Classic Movies would be moved under Warner Bros. via the new "Global Kids & Young Adults" business unit.^[48][49]Although AT&T did not specify any timetable for the changes, WarnerMedia had already begun to remove references to Turner Broadcasting System in corporate communications, with press releases referring to its networks as being "divisions of WarnerMedia".^[50]

From left to right: CBS Corporation and Viacom

On August 13, CBS Corporation and Viacom officially announced their merger; CBS Corporation would purchase Viacom and change its name to ViacomCBS. Bakish would become president and CEO of ViacomCBS with Ianniello serving as chairman and CEO of CBS, where he will oversee the CBS-branded assets. Shari Redstone would also serve as chairwoman of the new company.^[51]

The music video and the song were both released on September 13, 2019. It features the singers dressed up in black angel costumes and wearing wings on their backs on the song Don't Call Me Angel. The ending featured Elizabeth Banks showcasing her role as Rebekah Bosley from the film.^[52][53] The video has since surpassed the 100 million view mark becoming Grande's first video since "7 Rings" to do so, Del Rey's first since "Lust for Life" and Cyrus' first since "Malibu".^[54]

The black-and-white music video was directed by Sophie Muller and filmed entirely on an iPhone 11 Pro in Los Angeles. It features Selena Gomez singing straight to the camera, in a confessional on Lose You to Love Me.^[55] The video premiered on YouTube on October 22, 2019, coinciding with the song's release. The video has since amassed over 300 million views.^[56]

Logo ViacomCBS, introduced on December 4, 2019

On October 29, 2019, National Amusements approved the re-merger deal and expected to close the deal in early December with the recombined company trading its shares on Nasdaq under the symbols "VIAC" and "VIACA".^[57] On December 4, the deal was completed.^[58]

Operations[]

Prior to its merger with Gray, Raycom owned and/or operated 65 television stations and two radio stations in 44 markets located in 20 states, covering over 16% of U.S. television households. Raycom also employed more than 4,800 individuals in full- and part-time positions.

Former owned or operated television stations[]

Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.

Notes:

• (**) – built and signed-on by Raycom Media.
• (^^) – owned by Ellis Communications prior to the formation of Raycom in 1996.
• (§§) – owned by Aflac prior to the formation of Raycom in 1996.
• (≈≈) – owned by Federal Communications prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 1997.
• (¤¤) – owned by Malrite Communications prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 1998.
• (##) – owned by Waitt Media prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 2003.
• (++) – owned by The Liberty Corporation prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 2006.
• (~~) – owned by Lincoln Financial Media prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 2008.
• (∆) – owned by Drewry Communications prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 2015.
• (♦♦) – owned by Calkins Media prior to its acquisition by Raycom in 2017.

Other notes:

• ¹ Owned by Tegna Inc., Raycom operated by KMSB through a shared service agreement.
• ² Owned by Tucker Operating Co., LLC. Raycom operated by KTTU through a shared service agreement.
• ³ While KNIN-TV and WFLX were owned by Raycom, these stations are operated through a shared services agreement by the E. W. Scripps Company.
• ⁴ Owned by American Spirit Media, Raycom operated the stations through a shared services agreement.
• ⁵ Owned by MCG Capital Corporation, Raycom operated KFVE and its satellites through a shared services agreement between 2009 until 2018. Raycom owned KFVE outright prior to 2009.
• ⁶ Owned by Louisiana Media Company, Raycom operated WVUE through a shared services agreement, from 2013 until it acquired the station outright in 2017.
• ⁷ Owned by Tougaloo College and partnered with American Spirit Media station WDBD through a joint sales agreement. Raycom provided limited engineering support.
• ⁸ The company continuously owned the two stations after Univision began operating them under a Local Marketing Agreement in 2002. Univision later bought the stations outright. Also, WORA-TV in Mayagüez which repeats 95% of WLII/WSUR's programming but operates under a separate owner. WLII & WSUR also operate locally owned WSTE under an LMA. Like all Univision owned and operated stations, WLII and WSUR-TV opted to add/change the "-DT" suffix to their callsigns after the digital transition and eliminate the "-TV" suffix.

Former owned radio stations[]

Other assets[]

In addition to television stations, Raycom also owned:

• Bounce TV (investment)^[18]
• Broadview Media
• Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
• Frankly (20%)
  • WorldNow^[60]
• Katz Broadcasting (investment)^[18]
• Pure Cars
• Raycom Sports
• RTM Productions
  • PowerNation (automotive hobby programming for the Paramount Network, CBS Sports Network and NBCSN)

Tupelo Raycom[]

Tupelo Raycom is Raycom Media's production company formed from the merger of Tupelo Honey Productions and WebStream Sports. Clients of the company include NBC, CBS, ESPN, Turner Sports, Fox, Travel Channel, Bounce TV and Live Nation.^[23]

Raycom acquired the assets of live and studio sports programming production company Tupelo-Honey Productions in January 2012. Tupelo Honey assets included a 50% share of MY Tupelo Entertainment, a joint venture form in 2009 as partnership between Cary Glotzer's Tupelo-Honey and Michael Yudin's MY-Entertainment Company. Yudin bought back Raycom's half of My Tupelo in March 2014.^[17]

Raycom acquired Indianapolis, Indiana-based sports production company WebStream Sports on September 14, 2015.^[22] WebStream was subsequently merged with existing Raycom entity Tupelo Honey to form Tupelo Raycom in January 2016.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• InvestigateTV