Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American media company which owned television and radio stations, along with cable television systems. Founded by George B. Storer and J. Harold Ryan as the Fort Industry Oil Company in Toledo, Ohio, the company's focus quickly shifted to radio ownership, particularly in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. Fort Industry added television stations to their portfolio, adopted the Storer name in 1952, and eventually owned multiple key affiliates of the CBS television network. The company also owned Northeast Airlines from 1965 to 1972, and the Boston Bruins from 1973 to 1975. A reorientation towards cable television led Storer to divest their radio holdings between 1979 and 1981.
The company was broken up after being taken private by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985. The cable companies were gradually dissolved into TCI and Comcast, while the television stations were sold to George N. Gillett Jr. in 1987 and folded into New World Communications in 1993.
History
Origins
George B. Storer's corporate life began in 1920, when, while still a student of Cornell University, he took over Standard Steel Tube in Toledo, Ohio, following the death of his father. Between 1925 and 1928, Storer and his brother-in-law, J. Harold Ryan, built thirteen service stations for Speedene brand gasoline in the Toledo and Cleveland areas. Unlike most service stations in operation, these were built next to railroad siding and had large adjacent fuel tanks filled directly from tank cars, which bypassed the cost of trucking gasoline; the resulting savings were passed down to the customer. In 1927, Storer and Ryan founded the Fort Industry Oil Company to manage these stations.
Storer decided to buy some radio advertisements on Toledo radio station WTAL for the service stations. Storer's interest in radio dated back to 1912, when—inspired by the sinking of the Titanic that increased awareness of wireless radio—he listened to activity over a ham radio and experimented with a transmitter, both home-built. The commercials were effective to the extent Storer decided to buy the station, thinking it would be more cost-effective. WTAL was renamed WSPD on February 20, 1928, derived from Speedene. WSPD's studios were moved to the Hotel Commodore Perry, which also housed the corporate offices for Fort Industry. Detroit station WGHP was purchased in 1928; Fort Industry sold the station in 1930 to theater owners John H. Kunsky and George W. Trendle, who relaunched it as WXYZ.
Focusing on radio
Recognizing the newfound enthusiasm in broadcasting, Fort Industry sold its oil interests in May 1931 to Standard Oil of Ohio, deleting "oil" from the company name. That same year, Fort Industry bought WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia. Storer and Ryan were involved with the June 1932 establishment of Windsor, Ontario, station CHOK, but Canadian Radio League chairman Graham Spry protested CHOK's license renewal and requested an inquiry into the station's foreign ownership. CHOK was consolidated with London, Ontario, station CJGC in April 1933 to form CKLW, without Storer and Ryan's involvement. WMMN in Fairmont, West Virginia, was acquired in 1935. WBLY in Lima, Ohio, was purchased in 1937 and renamed WLOK in 1939.
Fort Industry became part of a complicated 1934 relocation request for WALR in Zanesville, Ohio, to Toledo. While the proposal had the new Toledo station running under nominally separate ownership, Fort Industry was revealed to be a stockholder and was thought could exercise control over the station. Denied the request in 1937, Fort Industry became a majority investor in WALR through West Virginia Broadcasting—the licensee for WWVA and WMMN—and renamed it WHIZ in 1939, concurrent with the station joining NBC Radio.
Atlanta radio station WAGA was purchased in April 1940 through an all-stock transaction; Storer intended to establish a secondary residence in the city. WFTL, licensed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was acquired in 1944 as Fort Industry's seventh radio station and moved to Miami outright; the call sign was changed in 1945 to WGBS, bearing Storer's initials. Storer, who also served as a procurement officer for the war effort, had a residence in nearby Surfside. By 1947, WGBS, WWVA and WAGA entered into a group affiliation deal with CBS. WJBK in Detroit was purchased in August 1946; regulatory approval took nearly one year and required the sale of WHIZ to the Littick family. Fort Industry also sold off their minority stake in KIRO to Washington governor Monrad Wallgren.
Expansion into television
In 1948, Fort Industry entered the television market, launching WSPD-TV in Toledo on July 21, 1948. This was followed by WJBK-TV in Detroit on October 24, 1948, and WAGA-TV in Atlanta on March 8, 1949. WLOK and WLOK-FM were sold to Lloyd Pixley in 1951 so Fort Industry could purchase WSAI and WSAI-FM in Cincinnati; the WSAI stations were then sold off in 1953 to complete the purchase of WBRC and WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama. KABC in San Antonio was also purchased in 1953, pairing it with KEYL, which Fort Industry purchased two years earlier; WMMN was sold off to People's Broadcasting. KABC and KEYL were then renamed KGBS and KGBS-TV. The corporate name changed from Fort Industry to the Storer Broadcasting Company in May 1952, reflecting a complete break from the company's industrial origins.
The company acquired the Empire Coil Company, a manufacturer of coils and transformers for radios and the owner of WXEL in Cleveland and KPTV (channel 27) in Portland, Oregon, for $8.5 million in January 1954; the purchase came after Empire's dispersal of KCTY, a UHF station in Kansas City, Missouri. KGBS and KGBS-TV were spun off to accommodate the purchase. Empire's factory in New Rochelle, New York, remained active until Storer closed it in 1955. WJW radio was subsequently purchased and paired with WXEL, which was renamed WJW-TV in 1956. KPTV was sold off in 1957, allowing that station to "move" to VHF as a consolidation with KOLR (channel 12).
Storer purchased WFTL-TV (channel 23), a UHF station in Fort Lauderdale, in November 1954 and moved it to Miami as WGBS-TV. Storer repeatedly pursued a VHF allocation for WGBS, including the hotly contested channels 7 and 10, while also litigating existing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits of five VHF stations and two UHF stations, an effort that ultimately failed. At one point, Storer threatened to move the company's offices out of Miami Beach unless the market's VHF stations were not converted to UHF. WCKT (channel 7) signed on and stripped WGBS-TV of their NBC affiliation, forcing the station to operate as an independent. Again unsuccessful with the pursuit for channel 10, Storer took WGBS-TV dark and sold the station's tower, studios and land to channel 10 permit winner National Airlines, allowing them to sign on WPST-TV ahead of schedule. The channel 23 license was retained by Storer until 1967, when it was sold off and relaunched as WAJA-TV.
WJW's studios in Playhouse Square were remodeled into a colonial design evoking 1770-era Georgian architecture; this design was also implemented at WGBS and WJBK-TV's studio building. Other stations had studios built to resemble Southern antebellum mansions, beginning with WBRC-TV in September 1954 and copied at WAGA-TV in 1966.
WBRC radio and television were sold to Taft Broadcasting in 1957; this was to facilitate the purchase of WIBG in Philadelphia and WVUE in Wilmington, Delaware, and followed an aborted sale of WAGA radio and TV to The Washington Post. WVUE was shut down in 1958 so Storer could purchase WITI in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, which moved to Milwaukee the following year. To complete Storer's purchase of KPOP in Los Angeles (which was renamed KGBS) WAGA and WAGA-FM were spun off to Plough, Inc. in April 1959, and renamed WPLO and WPLO-FM. WWVA and WWVA-FM were sold off in 1962 as a condition of Storer's $10.9 million purchase of WMGM in New York City (then an industry record) which reverted to the WHN call sign. WIHS-TV (channel 38) in Boston was purchased in 1966, and renamed WSBK-TV; like WBRC and WAGA, WSBK received a new studio building in 1969 with an Antebellum design.
WJW, notably, did not get a facility in this design when a new studio complex was built for them in the mid-1970s, instead opting for a more modern approach, as did WITI in 1978.
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 Electric.
The company purchased its first cable television system in 1963. It also briefly ventured into program syndication as Storer Programs Inc., during which it was the U.S. distributor of the original 1963–65 run of The Littlest Hobo, which was produced in Canada.
Northeast Airlines was fully acquired by the company in 1965, a move that George Storer personally came to regret as a financial drain. After a failed sale attempt to Northwest Orient, Northeast merged into Delta Air Lines, with Storer becoming that airline's largest shareholder. Storer merged into the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation, then the owner of the Boston Bruins (which WSBK-TV featured) and their home arena, the Boston Garden, on December 7, 1972. Both the team and arena were sold in August 1975 to Delaware North and chairman Jeremy Jacobs. George Storer was company president until his 1973 retirement, succeeded by his son Peter; George remained chairman until his death in 1975.
Storer purchased KCST (channel 39) in San Diego in March 1973 for $12 million to become their seventh television station, becoming the first group owner to reach the maximum limit of five VHF stations and two UHF stations. This came as KCST was to take over as the market's ABC affiliate from XETV in Tijuana, a switch initiated through FCC intervention. Despite improved ratings, ABC disaffiliated from KCST in 1977 in favor of KGTV. In turn, Storer disaffiliated WITI from ABC—which it had been affiliated with since 1961—in favor of CBS, while KCST switched to NBC.
Move toward cable systems
During the 1970s the company focused on 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.
Storer exited the radio industry over the course of a decade. WIBG was spun off in 1969. WJHR (the former WGBS-FM) and WDEE-FM (the former WJBK-FM) were sold to Bartell Broadcasters in 1970. WPNA (the former WIBG-FM, which had been taken dark) was sold along with WCJW (the former WJW-FM) to SJR Communications in 1971, while WSPD-FM was sold to Susquehanna Broadcasting. Globetrotters Communications purchased WDEE in 1973, and WJW was sold to an Art Modell-headed syndicate in 1977.
By December 1978, Storer made public intentions to sell off their remaining radio properties, including FM stations WLYF in Miami and WLAK-FM in Chicago, which were both purchased earlier in the year. Chairman Bill Michaels and president Peter Storer stated with the move that "the world has changed" and the divestments were necessary given Storer's publicly-traded status. The company's board of directors also approved a $100 million expansion into cable. In 1979 alone, WGBS and WLYF were sold to Jefferson-Pilot Communications, the Mutual Broadcasting System purchased WHN, KTNQ (the former KGBS) was sold to Liberman Broadcasting, KHTZ (the former KGBS-FM) was sold to Greater Media and WSPD was sold to Wood Broadcasting. WLAK-FM was sold to Viacom in 1981, owing to then-FCC restrictions requiring Storer to own the station for at least three years.
The company's name was changed to Storer Communications, Inc. on January 1, 1983; this coincided with the stock symbol changing to SCI. By 1984 it owned and operated seven television stations and held franchises to provide cable television service to over 500 communities in 18 states and had some 4,800 employees. During that time, Storer co-produced nationally syndicated programs (such as Break the Bank and the 1980s version of Divorce Court) under a joint venture with Blair Entertainment, a distribution firm founded in 1975 as the second iteration of Rhodes Productions and was renamed to the moniker it held at the time in 1983 when it was acquired by John Blair and Company. Blair later shut down in 1992 and its library was bought by All American Television, a predecessor of Fremantle North America.
Privatization and breakup
In 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) took Storer Communications private in a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout after Comcast showed interest in the cable systems, and following threats of liquidation by dissatisfied shareholders. WTVG was spun off during this process due to signal overlap between it, WJBK-TV, and WJW-TV. One year earlier, KKR took Wometco Enterprises private after the death of chairman Mitchell Wolfson; in doing so, KKR took ownership of WTVJ in Miami and Wometco's cable systems in Atlanta, prompting the FCC to direct KKR to sell either the cable systems or WTVJ and WAGA-TV. KKR opted to sell WTVJ and the Storer stations, first in an attempted $1.85 billion sale to Lorimar-Telepictures that fell apart when CBS chairman Laurence Tisch objected to the deal, threatening to buy another Miami station at a discount and disaffiliate the other Storer stations from the network. Following this, WTVJ was sold off to NBC.
SCI Holdings, the holding company for Storer Cable, was put up for sale in 1987 but decided against an outright asset sale as KKR was reportedly prevented from doing so due to debt covenants taken in the leveraged buyout. The cable group was sold to a group of competing cable systems including Comcast, TCI, ATC (the cable division of Time Inc.), and Taft Cable, in a $1.7 billion deal; the all-stock deal kept Storer Cable as a nominally separate company controlled by the partnership. Michael Tallent became president of Storer upon the consummation of this transaction, succeeding Kenneth Bagwell. Tallent joined Comcast in 1991 and was succeeded by William Whelan. TCI and Comcast jointly purchased Storer Cable from the partnership in September 1992 and was divided in half, with franchises reassigned based on the closest proximity of either company's regional offices. The Storer name was phased out in favor of either TCI or Comcast beginning in late 1993.
George N. Gillett Jr. bought majority control of the Storer stations (renamed SCI Television) in April 1987, financed through junk bonds. Such financing was raised prior to Black Monday, placing Gillett in a 10:1 debt-to-profit ratio. Rumors persisted of Gillett divesting stations either held directly by him or the SCI subsidiary, particularly WJW-TV, which was one of the chain's standouts. While Gillett did sell off his Nashville station WSMV-TV, it failed to shore up the financials of Gillett Holdings, which missed a critical loan payment in October 1989. One reorganization brought on by a bankruptcy threat in 1990 reduced Gillett's majority control of SCI to 41 percent, while a Chapter 11 restructuring in January 1992 placed Gillett as a minority owner of the holding company, now majority-owned by the bondholders. Another reorganization saw investor Ronald Perelman purchase majority control of SCI for $100 million on February 17, 1993, forcing Gillett out entirely.
Perelman folded SCI into New World Entertainment to form New World Communications, then struck a wide-reaching affiliation pact with Fox in May 1994 after News Corporation invested $500 million into New World. This resulted in the majority of the former Storer stations, including WBRC-TV, switching to Fox between 1994 and 1996. News Corp. later purchased New World outright in 1996.
Former stations
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
- (**) – indicates a station built and sign on by either Fort Industry or Storer.
Television
City of license / Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Birmingham, AL | WBRC-TV | 6 | 1953–1957 | Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television |
San Diego, CA | KCST-TV | 39 | 1974–1987 | NBC owned-and-operated (O&O) KNSD |
Wilmington, DE–Philadelphia, PA | WVUE | 12 | 1957–1958 | Defunct; ceased operations in 1958 |
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL | WFTL-TV/WGBS-TV | 23 | 1954–1957 | Defunct; license permit was retained by Storer |
WAJA-TV | 23 | 1967 | Univision owned-and-operated (O&O) WLTV-DT | |
Atlanta, GA | WAGA-TV ** | 5 | 1949–1987 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Boston, MA | WSBK-TV | 38 | 1966–1987 | Independent station owned by Paramount Global |
Detroit, MI | WJBK-TV ** | 2 | 1948–1987 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Cleveland, OH | WXEL/WJW-TV/WJKW-TV | 8 | 1954–1987 | Fox affiliate WJW, owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Toledo, OH | WSPD-TV/WTVG ** | 13 | 1948–1987 | ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Portland, OR | KPTV | 27 | 1954–1957 | Fox affiliate on channel 12, owned by Gray Television |
San Antonio, TX | KEYL/KGBS-TV | 5 | 1951–1954 | CBS affiliate KENS, owned by Tegna Inc. |
Milwaukee, WI | WITI | 6 | 1958–1987 | Fox owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Radio
AM Station | FM Station |
---|
Market | Station | Years owned | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
Birmingham, AL | WBRC 960 | 1953–1957 | WERC, owned by iHeartMedia |
WBRC-FM 106.9 | 1953–1957 | WBPT, owned by SummitMedia | |
Los Angeles, CA | KGBS/KTNQ 1020 | 1959–1979 | Owned by Latino Media Network |
KGBS-FM/KHTZ 97.1 | 1966–1979 | KNX-FM, owned by Audacy, Inc. | |
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL | WFTL/WGBS 710 | 1944–1979 | WAQI, owned by Latino Media Network |
WGBS-FM/WJHR 96.3 ** | 1948–1971 | Defunct, WMJX's license was revoked in 1981 | |
WLYF 101.5 | 1978–1979 | Owned by Audacy, Inc. | |
Atlanta, GA | WAGA 590 | 1940–1959 | WDWD, owned by Salem Media Group |
WAGA-FM 103.3 ** | 1948–1959 | WVEE, owned by Audacy, Inc. | |
Chicago, IL | WLAK-FM 93.9 | 1978–1981 | WLIT-FM, owned by iHeartMedia |
Detroit, MI | WGHP 1270 | 1928–1930 | WXYT, owned by Audacy, Inc. |
WJBK/WDEE 1500 | 1947–1973 | WLQV, owned by Salem Media Group | |
WJBK-FM/WDEE-FM 93.1 ** | 1947–1971 | WUFL, owned by Family Life Radio | |
New York, NY | WHN 1050 | 1962–1979 | WEPN, owned by Good Karma Brands |
Cincinnati, OH | WSAI 1360 | 1951–1953 | Owned by iHeartMedia |
WSAI-FM 94.1 | 1951–1953 | WNNF, owned by Cumulus Media | |
Cleveland, OH | WJW 850 | 1954–1977 | WKNR, owned by Good Karma Brands |
WJW-FM/WCJW 104.1 | 1954–1971 | WQAL, owned by Audacy, Inc. | |
Lima, OH | WLOK 1240 | 1938–1951 | Defunct, ceased operations in 1955 |
WLOK-FM 103.3 ** | 1948–1951 | Defunct, ceased operations in 1955 | |
Toledo, OH | WSPD 1370 | 1928–1979 | Owned by iHeartMedia |
WSPD-FM 101.5 ** | 1946–1971 | WRVF, owned by iHeartMedia | |
Zanesville, OH | WHIZ 1240 | 1939–1947 | Owned by Marquee Broadcasting |
Philadelphia, PA | WIBG 990 | 1957–1969 | WNTP, owned by Salem Media Group |
WIBG-FM 94.1 | 1957–1971 | WIP-FM, owned by Audacy, Inc. | |
San Antonio, TX | KABC/KGBS 680 | 1951–1954 | KKYX, owned by Cox Media Group |
Fairmont, WV | WMMN 920 | 1935–1953 | Owned by Laurel Highland Total Communications |
Wheeling, WV | WWVA 1170 | 1931–1962 | Owned by iHeartMedia |
WWVA-FM 98.7 ** | 1947–1962 | WOVK, owned by iHeartMedia | |
Windsor, ON, Canada | CHOK 540 ** | 1932–1933 | CKLW at 800 AM, owned by Bell Media |
References
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-
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- Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States
- Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States
- Defunct companies based in Ohio
- Boston Bruins owners
- Mass media companies established in 1927
- Mass media companies disestablished in 1986
- Comcast
- 1927 establishments in Ohio
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies