Everything about Metromedia totally explained
Metromedia (also often
MetroMedia) was a media company that owned
radio and
television stations in the
United States from
1956 to
1986.
Overview
The company arose from the ashes of the
DuMont Television Network, the world's first licensed commercial
television network. By
1955, DuMont realized it couldn't compete against
CBS,
NBC and a revived
ABC, and decided to shut down network operations. Soon after DuMont formally shut down network operations in
1956, it spun-off its two remaining
owned and operated stations, WABD in
New York City and
WTTG in
Washington, D.C., to shareholders as the
DuMont Broadcasting Corporation. In
1957, DuMont Broadcasting changed its name to the
Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation to distance itself from the failure associated with DuMont. The company's headquarters were co-located with WABD in the former DuMont Tele-Centre (which was later renamed the Metromedia Telecenter) in New York.
In
1958, DuMont's namesake, Dr.
Allen B. DuMont, sold his shares in Metropolitan Broadcasting to Washington-based investor
John Kluge, who installed himself as the company's chairman with a 75-percent controlling interest. Kluge then merged his two New York radio stations, WNEW
-AM-FM, into the company, and changed WABD's calls to WNEW-TV to match its new radio sisters. Kluge's first acquisitions included
WHK-AM-
FM in
Cleveland (in 1958);
KOVR in
Stockton, California, WTVH-TV (now
WHOI) in
Peoria, Illinois, and the
Foster & Kleiser outdoor advertising firm (all in 1959); and
WIP-AM-
FM in
Philadelphia and WTVP television (now
WAND) in
Decatur, Illinois (both in
1960). In
1961, Kluge changed the company's name to
Metromedia.
Also in 1961, Metromedia purchased
KMBC-AM-
FM-
TV in
Kansas City, Missouri. In separate
1963 deals the company expanded into
Los Angeles, buying first
KTTV, and later
KLAC and KLAC-FM (later
KMET and now
KTWV). Metromedia also entered the realm of live entertainment by purchasing the
Ice Capades (in 1963) and the
Harlem Globetrotters (in 1967). Later in the decade Metromedia opened a television production center in Los Angeles, known as
Metromedia Square, which served as the studio facility for numerous network programs. Metromedia also owned a TV production and distribution company called
Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC), established in
1968 from
Wolper Productions. MPC produced and syndicated various programs and TV movies, most notably the game show
Truth or Consequences and the 1972-84 version of
The Merv Griffin Show.
Metromedia spent the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s increasing its television and radio station portfolio, and continued to expand its syndication business. They entered the
record business in
1969 when they launched the
Metromedia Records label, whose biggest-selling artist was
Bobby Sherman; but the label went out of business by
1974. In
1982 Metromedia made its biggest broadcasting purchase when it acquired
WCVB-TV in
Boston for $220 million, which at the time was the largest amount ever spent on a single television station property.
Two years later, John Kluge bought out Metromedia's shareholders and took the company private.
On
May 6,
1985, Kluge announced the sale of Metromedia's television stations, and Metromedia Producers Corp., to the
News Corporation (owned by
Australian newspaper publisher
Rupert Murdoch) and
20th Century Fox Film Corporation (owned jointly by Murdoch and
Marvin Davis) for $3.5 billion. With the exception of WCVB-TV (which was subsequently sold to the
Hearst Corporation), all of the former Metromedia stations formed the nucleus of the
Fox Broadcasting Company, while MPC was folded into
20th Century Fox Television. The transactions became official on
March 6,
1986. Kluge also sold Metromedia's outdoor advertising firm, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Ice Capades in that same year, and spun-off the radio stations into a separate company (which ironically took on the Metropolitan Broadcasting name) before they were sold to various other owners by the early 1990s.
The Metromedia name has lived on in other projects by Kluge, though the ventures have been largely unrelated to television. When Kluge bought into
Major League Soccer in 1995, the club he operated was named
MetroStars (now
Red Bull New York) after his company.
Based on the common link to Metromedia, television historian
Clarke Ingram claims that Fox is a direct descendant, if not a revival, of DuMont. Indeed, the former WNEW-TV, now Fox flagship
WNYW, is still headquartered in the former Metromedia Telecenter, now known as the Fox Television Center.
Former Metromedia stations
Television stations
Radio stations
DMA#
| Market |
Station |
Current Ownership |
1.
| New York City | WNEW-FM-102.7
(now WWFS) |
CBS Radio |
WNEW-1130
(now WBBR)
Bloomberg L.P. |
2.
| Los Angeles | KLAC-FM/KMET-94.7
(now KTWV) |
CBS Radio |
KLAC-570
| Clear Channel Communications |
Chicago WMET-95.5
(now WNUA) |
Clear Channel Communications |
4.
| San Francisco | KSAN-FM-94.9
(now KYLD) |
Clear Channel Communications |
KNEW-910
| Clear Channel Communications |
5.
| Dallas - Fort Worth | KAFM-92.5
(now KZPS) |
Clear Channel Communications |
KRLD-1080
| CBS Radio |
7.
| Philadelphia | WIP-FM/WMMR-93.3 |
Greater Media |
WIP-610
| CBS Radio |
Washington, D.C. | WASH-97.1 |
Clear Channel Communications |
Detroit | WOMC-104.3 |
CBS Radio |
Seattle - Tacoma | KJR-950 |
Clear Channel Communications |
19.
| Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater | WWBA-FM-107.3
(now WXGL) |
Cox Enterprises |
WWBA-680
(now WGES)
Grupo Génesis |
21.
| Baltimore | WCBM-FM-106.5
(now WWMX) |
CBS Radio |
WCBM-680
| WCBM Maryland Inc. |
Denver - Boulder | KHOW-630 |
Clear Channel Communications |
28.
| Cleveland | WHK-FM/WMMS-100.7 |
Clear Channel Communications |
WHK-1420
| Salem Communications |
32.
| Kansas City, Missouri | KMBC-FM-99.7
(now KBLV) |
Entercom Communications |
KMBC-980
(now KMBZ)
Entercom Communications |
Allen Ludden's Gallery
Charlie's Angels *
The Cross-Wits
Dusty's Trail
Dynasty (distributor, 1985-87)
Family *
Firehouse
Groovie Goolies and Friends
Hart to Hart *
Hit Man
The Howdy Doody Show (1976 revival series)
Jeopardy! (original version - distributor, 1974; now distributed by CBS Television Distribution and Sony Pictures Television)
Mayberry RFD (distributor; now distributed by Warner Bros. Television)
Merv Griffin Show (distributor, 1972-83)
My Favorite Martian (distributor; now distributed by Warner Bros. Television)
National Geographic Specials (1964-71)
Primus (1971-72)
Queen for a Day (1969-1970)
Small Wonder (production company, 1985-89)
Soul Train (now syndicated by Tribune Entertainment)
Starsky and Hutch *
Star Search (production company, 1983-86)
Strike Force
S.W.A.T. *
That Girl (distributor; now distributed by CBS Television Distribution)
Thicke of the Night (distributor; now distributed by Warner Bros. Television)
T.J. Hooker *
Too Close for Comfort
Truth or Consequences (distributor, 1966-78)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
Untamed World
Vauldeville
Vega$
Winchell-Mahoney Time
Wonderama
* -- MPC was the international distributor for these programs. Distribution was later transferred to 20th Century Fox Television, following Murdoch's acquisition of MPC. These programs ane now distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television. In the United States, Sony Pictures Television and its predecessor, Columbia Pictures Television, was always the distributor of syndicated repeats of these programs.Further Information
Get more info on 'Metromedia'.
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