Post-Newsweek Stations
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Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company. The company is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan in headquarters shared with Post-Newsweek's station in that market, NBC affiliate WDIV-TV and is headed by president and chief executive officer Alan Frank, formerly general manager of WDIV.
As of 2006, Post-Newsweek owns 6 VHF stations, all of which are in the Top 50 markets. All but one has a network affiliation.
[edit] History
What today is Post-Newsweek Stations originated as WTOP, Inc. in 1949 when CBS sold 55% (controlling interest) of WTOP-AM 1500 in Washington, D.C. to the Post. CBS retained a 45% stake. In 1950, WTOP bought WOIC-TV, Washington's CBS affiliate, and changed the calls to WTOP-TV. CBS was forced to sell its remaining interest in WTOP in 1954. The Post then merged WTOP-AM-FM-TV with recently-purchased WMBR-AM-TV in Jacksonville, Florida and changed the company's name to Post Stations, Inc. WMBR-AM was later sold off; the Post changed WMBR-TV's calls to WJXT. The company adopted the Post-Newsweek name after the Post bought Newsweek in 1961. Soon thereafter, Post-Newsweek purchased radio station WCKY in Cincinnati, Ohio which was sold in 1978.
In the wake of a panic swap of its Washington broadcast properties to the (Detroit) Evening News Association for their Detroit stations in 1978, the Post decided to spin off their broadcasting interests into a company of its own. The Post-Newsweek name itself would later spread to the Post-owned cable operations (now known as CableOne and a company identical in structure to Post-Newsweek Stations).
| Current DMA# | Market | Station ... Channel Number (DT) | Current Affiliation | Acquired | Notes |
| 10. | Houston | KPRC-TV 2 (35) | NBC | 1994 | First television station in Houston. |
| 11. | Detroit - Windsor | WDIV-TV 4 (45) | NBC | 1978 | Flagship station |
| 16. | Miami - Fort Lauderdale | WPLG 10 (9) / W47AC 47 |
ABC | 1969 | Also seen on translator W47AC in The Florida Keys. |
| 19. | Orlando - Daytona Beach - Melbourne | WKMG-TV 6 (26) | CBS | 1997 | Was WCPX until 1998. |
| 37. | San Antonio | KSAT 12 (48) | ABC | 1994 | Last commercial VHF station in San Antonio. |
| 49. | Jacksonville | WJXT 4 (42) | Independent | 1954 | The oldest station in the market and second overall in Florida. Was CBS until 2002 |
Post-Newsweek also owned two other television stations in the past, ironically both were at one time or another company flagships.
| Current DMA# | Market | Station ... Channel Number |
Years Owned | Affiliation | Current Owner | Notes |
| 9. | Washington | WTOP-TV 9 (now WUSA) | 1949-1978 | CBS | Gannett Company | Flagship from 1949-78, headquarters until 1986. Was WDVM-TV under Detroit News ownership, took WUSA calls in 1986. |
| 29. | Hartford - New Haven | WFSB 3 | 1974-1997 | CBS | Meredith Corporation | Flagship from 1986-97, housed PNS headquarters until 2000 |
[edit] Call letter meanings
The call letters of several Post-Newsweek stations are symbolic of persons who have had associations with the group.
- WPLG: Phillip L. Graham, former publisher of the Post who died in 1963.
- WKMG: Katharine Meyer Graham, widow of Phillip Graham who would take his place heading the group.
- WFSB: Frederick Scott Beebe, then-president of Post-Newsweek Stations.
[edit] External links
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