Storer Broadcasting
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Storer Broadcasting, Inc. is a former owner of television and radio stations in the United States. It was incorporated in Ohio in 1927, and sold its broadcasting properties in 1983.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1920s-1940s
In 1927, George B. Storer and his brother-in-law J. Harold Ryan were building service stations for Speedene brand gasoline in the Toledo, Ohio area. Speedene sales were booming, thanks to a cost-cutting device implemented by the partners. They bypassed the cost of trucking gasoline to service stations by building the stations beside railroad sidings and sold their product at two or three cents a gallon under the going retail rate by filling their tanks directly from railroad tank cars. Storer decided to buy some radio spots on WTOL in Toledo to advertise his gas stations. The spots were effective, and Storer decided to use his wealth to buy the station. Storer Broadcasting was born, and the Toledo radio station became WSPD, "Speedy AM," symbolic of the gasoline brand.
[edit] 1950s-1960s
The company was primarily in the broadcast radio business. In the 1950s as television broadcasting boomed, the company entered the television market starting WSPD-TV in Toledo and purchasing several television stations in other markets. The company focused primarily on the radio and television businesses through much of its history. However, it did venture into the cable television business in the early 1960s. In addition, it also purchased Northeast Airlines. George Storer was President of the company until his death. Due to his position as a director of CBS, he was able to obtain lucrative CBS network affiliations for Storer-owned television stations, such as WXEL and WJBK which had been DuMont affiliates. By 1961 Storer was the nation's sixth-largest television broadcaster—exceeded in size only by the three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC), Metropolitan Broadcasting (later Metromedia) and the Group W division of Westinghouse. George's son, Peter Storer, became President in 1973.
The company purchased its first cable television system in 1963.
[edit] 1970s-1980s
During the 1970s Peter Storer and the Storer Board of Directors decided to focus the company on cable television. Storer sold the radio assets and the airline. It reinvested the funds into cable television. Commencing in 1978, it embarked on an aggressive program of acquiring cable franchises. Unlike many cable operators, Storer preferred to acquire franchises and build its cable systems rather than acquire existing cable operations.
The company's name was changed to Storer Communications, Inc. in 1983. By 1984, Storer owned and operated seven television stations and held franchises to provide cable television service to over 500 communities in 18 states and employed approximately 4,800. In 1985, Storer sold its cable assets to Hauser Communications.
[edit] 1980s-1990s
In 1985, the Storer television stations were sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., also known as KKR. Shortly thereafter, WTVG (the former WSPD-TV) was sold to a local ownership group, eventually becoming an ABC owned-and-operated (O&O) station in 1995 (it had been a longtime NBC affiliate prior to its sale to ABC). The remaining former Storer television stations were then sold to Gillett Communications in 1987, and then sold to SCI, then to New World Communications in 1993. Fox Television Stations purchased the stations in 1997 except WSBK and KNSD. Most of the stations switched to Fox affiliation, resulting in CBS scrambling to find affiliates in Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee, and eventually landing UHF stations in those cities. WSBK which remained independent and was sold to Viacom (which at one point owned the former WJBK-FM, WDRQ) to eventually become a UPN affiliate. KNSD, which remained an NBC affiliate, was later sold directly to NBC to become an NBC owned and operated station.
[edit] Television stations owned
Note: ** indicates a station built and signed on by Storer.
| Current DMA# | Market | Station | Years Owned | Current Affiliation/Owner |
| 4. | Philadelphia | WVUE 12 | 1957-58 | went dark September 13, 1958 (frequency currently occupied by PBS member station WHYY-TV, licensed to Wilmington, DE) |
| 7. | Boston | WSBK-TV 38 | 1966-85 | Independent owned by CBS Corporation |
| 8. | Atlanta | WAGA-TV 5** | 1949-85 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
| 11. | Detroit | WJBK-TV 2** | 1948-85 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
| 16. | Miami/Fort Lauderdale | WGBS-TV 23 | 1956?-1957 | went dark April 13, 1957 (see WAJA-TV/WLTV, below, for frequency's present-day occupant) |
| WAJA-TV 23 (now WLTV) |
1967-71 | Univision owned-and-operated (O&O) | ||
| 17. | Cleveland | WJW-TV/WJKW 8 | 1954-85 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) (Pending sale to Local TV) |
| 23. | Portland, Oregon | KPTV 27 (now 12) |
1954-57 | Fox affiliate owned by Meredith Corporation |
| 27. | San Diego | KCST-TV 39 (now KNSD) |
1974-85 | NBC owned-and-operated (O&O) (co-owned with LIN Television [24%]) |
| 34. | Milwaukee | WITI 6 | 1958-85 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) (Pending sale to Local TV) |
| 40. | Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa, Alabama | WBRC-TV 6 | 1953-57 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) (Pending sale to Local TV) |
| 72. | Toledo, Ohio | WSPD-TV/WTVG 13** | 1948-85 | ABC owned-and-operated (O&O) |
[edit] Radio stations owned
| Current DMA# | Market | Station | Current Format/Owner |
| 1. | New York City | WHN AM-1050 (now WEPN) |
Sports/talk station owned by ESPN Radio |
| WINS AM-1010 | All-news station owned by CBS Radio | ||
| 2. | Los Angeles | KGBS AM-1020 (now KTNQ) |
Spanish-language news/talk station owned by Univision |
| KGBS FM-97.1 (now KLSX) |
Talk-radio station owned by CBS Radio | ||
| 7. | Philadelphia | WIBG AM-990 (now WNTP) |
News/talk station owned by Salem Communications |
| 9. | Atlanta | WAGA AM-1460 (now WYZE) |
Urban Contemporary Gospel station |
| WAGA FM-103.3 (now WVEE) |
Urban Contemporary station owned by CBS Radio | ||
| 10. | Detroit | WJBK FM-93.1 (now WDRQ) |
Variety hits station owned by ABC Radio (sale pending to Citadel Communications) |
| WJBK AM-1500 (now WLQV) |
Christian talk station owned by Salem Communications | ||
| 12. | Miami/Fort Lauderdale | WGBS AM-710 (now WAQI) |
Spanish-language news station owned by Univision |
| 26. | Cleveland, Ohio | WJW AM-850 (now WKNR) |
Sports/talk station owned by Good Karma Broadcasting |
| WJW FM-104.1 (now WQAL) |
Hot AC station owned by CBS Radio | ||
| 87. | Toledo, Ohio | WSPD AM-1370 | Talk station owned by Clear Channel |
| 154. | Wheeling, West Virginia | WWVA AM-1170 | Talk station owned by Clear Channel |
