Ackerley Group
The Ackerley Group was an American media company owned by Barry Ackerley that owned several television stations (mainly in New York, California, as well as one in Fairbanks) that was sold to Clear Channel Communications[1] in 2001. In addition to ownership of television stations across the country, the company also owned and operated several radio stations in the Seattle, WA market. The company also owned the NBA Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA Seattle Storm professional basketball teams.
At the time of the closure of the transaction, the sale price was reported to be 38 times cashflow (approximately $1.1B USD) the highest ever sale valuation for a North American publicly traded media company in the history of the NYSE. The record setting high price tag was attributed to the overwhelming market monopoly position of the Ackerley Group's Out of Home Media (billboards) marketplace in the Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts and South Florida media markets, all areas where Clear Channel was devoid of inventory. Its chairman was Seattle-based businessman Barry Ackerley. Barry Ackerley and his immediate family owned approximately 82% of the company stock at the time of the sale.
Stations list (incomplete)
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
| City of License / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years owned | Current ownership status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks, Alaska | KTVF | 11 (26) | 1999–2002 | NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Bakersfield, California | KGET-TV | 17 (25) | 1984–2002 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Eureka, California | KVIQ | 6 (later 17 (17)) | 1999–2002 | defunct, Went dark in 2018,[2][3] license cancelled in 2020.[4] (Callsign changed to KJRW prior to the shutdown; intellectual unit and CBS programming transferred to a Northwest Broadcasting-owned license and renamed KVIQ-LD.[5]) |
| Fresno, California | KJEO/KGPE | 47 (34) | 2000–2002 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Salinas - Monterey, California | KCBA | 35 (13) | 1986–2000 1 | Fox affiliate owned by Seal Rock Broadcasters, LLC (Operated through a SSA by Entravision Communications) |
| KION | 46 (32) | 2000–2002 2 | CBS affiliate owned by News-Press & Gazette Company | |
| Santa Maria - Santa Barbara - San Luis Obispo, California |
KCOY-TV | 12 (19) | 1999–2002 | CBS affiliate owned by VistaWest Media, LLC (Operated through a SSA by News-Press & Gazette Company) |
| Santa Rosa - San Francisco - Oakland, California | KFTY | 50 (32) | 1996–2002 | Azteca América owned-and-operated station (O&O), KEMO-TV, owned by HC2 Holdings |
| Colorado Springs - Pueblo, Colorado | KKTV | 11 (49) | 1983–1999 | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Binghamton, New York | WIVT | 34 (34) | 1997–2002 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| WBGH-LP/CA | 20 | 2000–2002 | NBC affiliate, WBGH-CD, owned by Nexstar Media Group | |
| Elmira, New York | WETM-TV | 18 (18) | 3 | NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Rochester, New York | WOKR | 13 (13) | 1999–2002 | ABC affiliate, WHAM-TV, owned by Deerfield Media (Operated through a SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group) |
| Syracuse, New York | WIXT-TV | 9 (17) | 1982–2002 | ABC affiliate, WSYR-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Utica, New York | WUTR | 20 (30) | 1997–2002 | ABC affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting (Operated through a SSA by Nexstar Media Group) |
| Watertown, New York | WWTI | 50 (21) | 2000–2002 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Eugene - Springfield, Oregon | KMTR | 16 (17) | 1999–2002 | NBC affiliate owned by Roberts Media, LLC (Operated through a SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group) |
| Bellingham, Washington - Vancouver, British Columbia (Bellingham is nominally in the Seattle market) |
KVOS-TV | 12 (35) | 1987–2002 | Heroes & Icons owned-and-operated station (O&O), owned by Weigel Broadcasting |
Notes:
- 1 Divested following purchase of KION, Ackerley continued to operate station after divestiture until the merger with Clear Channel in 2002.
- 2 Operated by Ackerley from 1994 until purchased outright by Ackerley in 2000.
- 3 Ackerley never owned this station directly but did operate it through a time brokerage agreement from 2000 until the merger with Clear Channel in 2002.
Notes
- FCC approves Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia) purchase of Ackerley Group
- Suspension of Operations and Silent Authority of a DTV Station Application. Licensing and Management System, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 23 September 2018
- Station Search Details - KJRW CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- Kreisman, Barbara A. "Re: Request for Reinstatement and Extension of License Under Section 312(g)" (PDF). Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- Redwood Television Closes On KIEM Buy, TVNewsCheck.com, 4 December 2017, Retrieved 16 September 2018