Granite Broadcasting
{{Short description|American television broadcast company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Primary sources|date=September 2008}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Granite Broadcasting LLC
| logo = Granitebclogo.jpg
| logo_size = 250px
| type = Private
| fate = Acquired by Quincy Media
| successor = Quincy Media
Gray Media
| founded = {{Start date and age|1988}}
| founders = {{Plainlist|
- W. Don Cornwell
- Stuart Beck
}}
| defunct = {{End date and age|2015|11|02}}
| hq_location = 767 Third Avenue
| hq_location_city = New York City, New York
| hq_location_country = United States
| key_people = {{Plainlist|
}}
| industry = Television
| owner = Silver Point Capital
}}
Granite Broadcasting LLC is a broadcasting holding company in New York City which owns one television station in the United States, in Syracuse, New York. Granite was founded by W. Don Cornwell and Stuart Beck in 1988,[https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/cornwell-and-deushane-stepping-down-granite-broadcasting-41853 Cornwell And Deushane Stepping Down At Granite Broadcasting], Broadcasting & Cable, August 11, 2009, Retrieved October 19, 2018 and was the first African-American station group in the United States considered to be a "major" station operator (though not the first minority-owned chain, a distinction held by the now-defunct Aleut-owned Cook Inlet Broadcasting).{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
Granite's chairman/CEO is Peter Markham, with Duane Lammers as COO.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/4775864|title=Duane A Lammers|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=Bloomberg}}
History
W. Don Cornwell left Goldman Sachs' investment banking department in 1988. He co-founded Granite Broadcasting Corporation with Stuart Beck on February 8, 1988.{{Cite web|title=Father and Son Investment Bankers Describe Wall Street Regrets|url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/two-generations-on-wall-street-disappointed-by-progress-on-race|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=BloombergQuint|date=August 3, 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/1402729|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=Bloomberg|title=W Don Cornwell, Granite Broadcasting Corp: Profile and Biography }} In 1993, it purchased two stations from Meredith Corporation, which included WTVH in Syracuse and KSEE in Fresno for $38 million.{{Cite web|author=|date=December 20, 1993|title=Financial Briefs|url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/financial-briefs-156-116638/|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US}}
In 1997, Granite purchased TV station KOFY-TV for $143.8 million, becoming the largest purchase ever.{{Cite web|author=|date=October 7, 1997|title=Granite purchases KOFY|url=https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/granite-purchases-kofy-111662362/|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=Variety|language=en-US}} Cornwell was CEO and chairman of Granite until stepping down in 2009. During his time with the company, Granite expanded to 23-channels and 11 markets. In April 2006, Granite bought out WBNG-TV in Binghamton from SJL Broadcasting, which was in the process of liquidating its broadcasting holdings, which paid $45 million to cost.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2006/07/24/daily24.html|access-date=October 27, 2021|website=Buffalo Business Journal|title=Granite closes on Southern Tier TV station}}
Granite declared Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy{{Cite web|date=May 1, 2007|title=Granite Broadcasting Goes Bankrupt|url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/granite-broadcasting-goes-bankrupt/|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=Black Enterprise|language=en-US}} on December 11, 2006, mainly due to the complications of the 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment which nullified the sales of the group's Detroit and San Francisco The WB affiliates due to those stations being left out of The CW because of CBS Corporation-owned stations in both cities taking the affiliation by default.
{{cite press release
| title = Granite Broadcasting Voluntarily Files Petition for Reorganization
| publisher = Granite Broadcasting Corporation
| date = December 11, 2006
| url = http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-11-2006/0004489358
| access-date = December 12, 2006}}
It emerged from bankruptcy in June 2007 under the control of private equity firm Silver Point Capital (which also took over ComCorp later that year).
In 2011, it filed a lawsuit against Nexstar Broadcasting Group for having the Fox affiliation to appear on WPTA's digital subchannel after dropping it from WFFT. The suit was settled in 2013, and WFFT reclaimed the Fox affiliation.{{Cite web|title=Nexstar Settles Antitrust Suit Against Local TV Rival - Law360|url=https://www.law360.com/articles/413476/nexstar-settles-antitrust-suit-against-local-tv-rival|access-date=November 26, 2021|website=www.law360.com|language=en}}
In February 2014, Granite reached deals to sell the majority of its stations. WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York and WMYD in Detroit were sold to the E. W. Scripps Company{{Cite web|last=cmarcucci|date=June 17, 2014|title=Scripps closes on Granite deal {{!}} Radio & Television Business Report|url=https://www.rbr.com/scripps-closes-on-granite-deal/|access-date=August 18, 2021|language=en-US}} for $110 million (the latter forming a duopoly with Scripps-owned ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV). Most of its remaining stations (mostly in small markets), along with the Malara Broadcast Group's two stations, went to Quincy Newspapers and SagamoreHill Broadcasting (which originally planned to operate the LMA-controlled stations Granite currently provides services to for Quincy).[http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/73998/scripps-buying-granite-tvs-in-buffalo-detroit Scripps Buying Granite TVs in Buffalo, Detroit], TVNewsCheck, Retrieved February 10, 2014{{cite news|title=Quincy Buying Stations From Granite, Malara|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/74018/quincy-buying-stations-from-granite-malara|access-date=February 11, 2014|newspaper=TVNewsCheck|date=February 11, 2014}} SagamoreHill was subsequently dropped from the Quincy transaction.{{cite web|title=Amendment to Agreements and Description of Transaction (KBJR-TV)|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101656471&qnum=5120©num=1&exhcnum=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117044843/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101656471&qnum=5120©num=1&exhcnum=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2015|website=CDBS Public Access|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=November 25, 2014|format=PDF|date=November 24, 2014}}
In July 2015, the deal was reworked yet again to have SagamoreHill acquire WISE, the SSA between WISE and WPTA (owned by Quincy) wound down within nine months of its closure, and have all of WISE's network affiliations moved to WPTA in exchange for its The CW Plus affiliation.{{cite web|title=Amended Description of Agreements, Description of Transaction, and Request for Temporary Waiver|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101683852&qnum=5120©num=1&exhcnum=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925182556/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101683852&qnum=5120©num=1&exhcnum=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2015|publisher=Quincy Newspapers, Inc.|access-date=August 1, 2015}} On September 15, 2015, the FCC approved the deal,[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60546 Letter] CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved September 15, 2015 which was completed on November 2.{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Doug|title=Quincy Newspapers Inc. acquires four TV stations|url=http://www.whig.com/story/30412956/quincy-newspapers-inc-acquires-four-tv-stations|access-date=November 3, 2015|work=Quincy Herald-Whig|date=November 2, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107055838/http://www.whig.com/story/30412956/quincy-newspapers-inc-acquires-four-tv-stations|archive-date=November 7, 2015}}
Station list
= Current =
| class="wikitable" | ||
| scope="col" | Media market
! scope="col" | Station ! scope="col" | Channel ! scope="col" | Owned since ! scope="col" | Current affiliation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Syracuse, NY
! scope="row" | WTVH | 5 | 1993{{efn-lr|Owned by Granite and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group.}} | CBS |
= Former =
- Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Stations formerly owned by Granite Broadcasting ! scope="col" | Media market ! scope="col" | State ! scope="col" | Station ! scope="col" | Purchased ! scope="col" | Sold ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes | |||
| Fresno | rowspan="3" | California
! scope="row" | KSEE | 1993 | 2013 | |
| rowspan="2" | San Francisco–San Jose
! scope="row" | KNTV | 1990 | 2002 | ||
| scope="row" | KOFY-TV
| 1998 || 2018 || {{Efn|Known as KBWB from 1998 through 2008.}} | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="3" | Peoria | rowspan="3" | Illinois
! scope="row" | WEEK-TV | 1988 | 2015 | |
| scope="row" | WHOI
| 2009 || 2015 || {{efn|Owned by a third party.|name=3rdP}} | |||
| scope="row" | WAOE
| 1999 || 2014 || {{efn|name=3rdP}} | |||
| rowspan="2" | Fort Wayne | rowspan="2" | Indiana
! scope="row" | WPTA | 1989 | 2005 | {{efn|Owned by Malara Broadcast Group from 2005 to 2015.|name=Malara}} |
| scope="row" | WISE-TV
| 2005 || 2015 || | |||
| Detroit | rowspan="3" | Michigan
! scope="row" | WMYD | 1997 | 2014 | {{Efn|Known as WXON prior to 1997 and as WDWB from 1997 to 2006.}} |
| Kalamazoo
! scope="row" | WWMT | 1995 | 1998 | ||
| Lansing
! scope="row" | WLAJ | 1996 | 1998 | ||
| Chisholm | rowspan="3" | Minnesota
! scope="row" | KRII | 2002 | 2015 | {{efn-ua|Satellite of KBJR-TV.}} |
| rowspan="2" | Duluth
! scope="row" | KBJR-TV | 1988 | 2015 | ||
| scope="row" | KDLH
| 2005 || 2015 || {{efn|name=Malara}} | |||
| Binghamton | rowspan="2" | New York
! scope="row" | WBNG-TV | 2006 | 2015 | |
| Buffalo
! scope="row" | WKBW-TV | 1995 | 2014 | ||
| Austin | Texas
! scope="row" | KEYE-TV | 1994 | 1999 | {{Efn|Known as KBVO-TV prior to 1995.}} |
{{notelist}}
{{notelist-ua}}
Notes
{{notelist-lr}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/19970119044634/http://www.granitetv.com/ Company site] (archived 19 January 1997)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312025653/http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=GBTVK Company Profile] at Forbes (archived 12 March 2007)
- [http://www.mediaza.com/MIDir/portalinfo/PICompany.asp?codigo=87983 List of company contacts and locations]
- [http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/08/new_world_of_tv_testing_granit.php Don Cornwell interview April 17, 2000]
{{Gray_TV|state=collapsed}}
Category:American companies established in 1988
Category:American companies disestablished in 2015
Category:Defunct television broadcasting companies of the United States
Category:Defunct companies based in New York (state)
Category:Mass media companies established in 1988
Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 2015
Category:Mass media companies based in New York City
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006