Hubbard Broadcasting

Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard.

Hubbard Broadcasting
Corporation
IndustryTelevision and radio broadcasting
FoundedFebruary 13, 1925 (1925-02-13) in Twin Cities, Minneapolis, U.S.
FounderStanley E. Hubbard
Headquarters
Saint Paul, Minnesota
,
U.S.
Area served
U.S.
Key people
Stanley S. Hubbard
BrandsKSTP radio, KSTP-FM and KSTP-TV
Websitehubbardbroadcasting.com

The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and New Mexico, but the flagship stations are KSTP radio, KSTP-FM and KSTP-TV, which serve the Twin Cities region of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

History

KSTP has its origins in the Twin Cities radio station WAMD ("Where All Minneapolis Dances"), which started broadcasting live dance music from a local ballroom on February 13, 1925 with Stanley E. Hubbard as owner and station director. It was the first radio station to be completely supported by income generated by advertisements.

In 1928, WAMD merged with KFOY (Kind Friends of Yours) radio (first broadcast: March 12, 1924) in St. Paul to become KSTP, which was advertised as being operated by the National Battery Broadcasting Co. Hubbard became the merged station's general manager, and bought controlling interest in 1941. Ten years later, in 1938, Hubbard bought the first television camera available from RCA. Following the television blackout brought on by World War II, KSTP started television broadcasts in 1948.

KSTP is still Hubbard's flagship, although there are now three different stations that carry that name. KSTP-AM broadcasts a sports radio format, and KSTP-FM broadcasts adult contemporary music; KSTP-TV is affiliated with ABC.

After the Federal Communications Commission relaxed rules about television station ownership, Hubbard bought a second television station in the Twin Cities. Originally affiliated with the Home Shopping Network when it started operations in 1994, KVBM was bought by Hubbard and became general-entertainment independent station KSTC-TV in 2000. It has been used as an alternate outlet for ABC network programming when KSTP-TV is broadcasting coverage of Vikings football games or other special shows, including severe-weather coverage.

Aside from terrestrial broadcast stations, other current ventures include the film network ReelzChannel (launched in 2006), the arts network Ovation, and the Hubbard Radio Network, which is used to distribute KSTP's local talk shows to subscribing radio stations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The cable channels are run through subsidiary company Hubbard Media Group.

In 1981, Hubbard Broadcasting started U.S. Satellite Broadcasting (USSB), and later was instrumental in the development and launching of the first digital satellite system for television in 1994. The new satellite could deliver 175 channels to a (at the time) tiny, 18 inch dish. USSB's development partner, Hughes Electronics (a General Motors subsidiary), launched their own subscription satellite service called DirecTV. The two services did not compete against each other (they carried different channels), and were often marketed together to subscribers by retailers and in advertisements until DirecTV's 1998 acquisition of USSB.

Hubbard was also instrumental in the development of mobile satellite news vehicles. In 1983, Hubbard-owned Conus Communications and Florida-based Hubcom built the first Satellite News Gathering (SNG) mobile vehicle which allowed for much easier live news coverage for network and local television news operations.

Hubbard Broadcasting also operated a 24 Hour News station titled All News Channel which featured longtime KSTP anchor Stan Turner. The news channel lasted from 1991 until it folded in September 2002.

Hubbard Broadcasting also owned the now-closed Bound to be Read bookstores in St. Paul, Albuquerque, and Key Largo.

As of October 2007, it is engaged in a fevered battle with NABET union repping employees of WNYT in Albany, New York.

On January 19, 2011, it was announced that Hubbard will purchase 17 radio stations in Cincinnati, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints subsidiary Bonneville International for $505 million.[1] The sale closed on April 29, 2011.[2]

On February 25, 2013, Hubbard announced that it would purchase MyNetworkTV station WNYA to form a duopoly with WNYT, pending FCC approval. No financial details were announced.[3]

On July 16, 2013, Hubbard announced that it had agreed to purchase 10 stations from Ohio-based Sandusky Radio for $85.5 million.[4]

Hubbard announced on November 13, 2014 that it would purchase the sixteen stations owned by Omni Broadcasting. The Omni stations are all located in central and northern Minnesota.[5]

On September 26, 2018, Hubbard announced that it agreed to purchase six stations owned by Alpha Media in West Palm Beach Florida. The stations include Urban AC 102.3 WMBX, Country 103.1 WIRK, Adult Contemporary 107.9 WEAT, Hot Adult Contemporary 97.9 WRMF, News/Talk 850 WFTL and Sports/Talk 640 WMEN. The purchase price was disclosed on November 14, 2018 for $88 Million.

Hubbard Broadcasting took over production of Country Top 40 in January 2020 after the death of the program's founder Bob Kingsley. Fitz, a mononymous host with several syndicated country radio programs to his credit, took over as the program's host.[6]

Hubbard-owned stations
The Hubbard Broadcasting headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, with the KSTP SkyMax 5 tower in the background.

Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.

All of the assets are owned by the Stanley S. Hubbard Revocable Trust, and administered by Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.[7][8]

  • (**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by Hubbard.
  • (νν) indicates a station that was acquired by Hubbard from Viacom in 1996.

Television stations
City of license / Market Station Channel
TV (RF)		 Owned Since Affiliation
Austin - Rochester, MN - Mason City, Iowa KAAL 6 (36) 2001 ABC
Duluth, Minnesota - Superior, Wisconsin WDIO-DT 10 (10) 1987 ABC
Hibbing, Minnesota WIRT-DT
(satellite of WDIO-DT)		 13 (13) 1987 ABC
St. Paul - Minneapolis, Minnesota KSTP-TV ** 5 (35) 1948 ABC
KSTC-TV 45 (45) 2000 Independent
Alexandria, Minnesota KSAX **
(satellite of KSTP-TV)		 42 (42) 1987 ABC
Redwood Falls, Minnesota KRWF **
(semi-satellite of KSTP-TV)		 43 (27) 1987 ABC
Albuquerque - Santa Fe, New Mexico KOB 4 (26) 1957 NBC
Farmington, New Mexico KOBF
(satellite of KOB)		 12 (12) 1983 NBC
Las Cruces, NM - El Paso, Texas K22NM-D 4 (22) 1 NBC
Roswell, New Mexico KOBR
(satellite of KOB)		 8 (8) 1985 NBC
Albany - Schenectady - Troy, New York WNYT νν 13 (12) 1996 NBC
WNYA
(licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts)		 51 (13) 2013 MyNetworkTV
Rochester, New York WHEC-TV νν 10 (10) 1996 NBC

Note:

Radio stations
AM Stations FM Stations
Market Station Owned Since Current Format
Phoenix KDUS-1060 2013 Sports radio
KAZG-1440 2013 Oldies
KDKB-93.3 2013 Alternative rock
KUPD-97.9 2013 Active rock
KSLX-FM-100.7 2013 Classic rock
Washington, D.C. WBQH-1050 2011 Regional Mexican
WFED-1500 2011 Federal news/talk
WWFD-820 2011 Freeform
WTOP-FM-103.5 2011 News
WTLP-103.9
(simulcasts WTOP-FM)		 2011
WWWT-FM-107.7
(simulcasts WTOP-FM)		 2011
Chicago WDRV-97.1 2011 Classic rock
WWDV-96.9
(simulcasts WDRV)		 2011
WSHE-FM-100.3 2011 Adult contemporary
WTMX-101.9 2011 Hot adult contemporary
Alexandria, Minnesota KULO-94.3 2015 Oldies
KIKV-FM-100.7 2015 Country
Bemidji, Minnesota KBUN-1450 2015 Sports radio
KKZY-95.5 2015 Adult contemporary
KLLZ-FM-99.1 2015 Classic rock
KBHP-101.1 2015 Country
KBUN-FM-104.5 2015 Sports radio
Brainerd-Baxter, Minnesota KVBR-1340 2015 Business news/talk
KLIZ-1380 2015 Sports radio
KBLB-93.3 2015 Country
KUAL-FM-103.5 2015 Oldies
WJJY-FM-106.7 2015 Adult contemporary
KLIZ-FM-107.5 2015 Classic rock
Minneapolis - Saint Paul KSTP-1500 ** 1928 Sports radio
KSTP-FM-94.5 ** 1966 Hot adult contemporary
KTMY-107.1 2000 Female-oriented Talk
Wadena-Staples, Minnesota KWAD-920 2015 Classic country
KNSP-1430 2015 Sports radio
KKWS-105.9 2015 Country
St. Louis KPNT-105.7 2018 Alternative
KSHE-94.7 2018 Mainstream Rock
WARH-106.5 2011 Adult hits
WIL-FM-92.3 2011 Country
WXOS-101.1 2011 Sports radio
Cincinnati WKRQ-101.9 2011 Adult Top 40
WREW-94.9 2011 Rhythmic AC
WUBE-FM-105.1 2011 Country
WYGY-97.3 2011 Country Top 40
Seattle KIXI-880 2013 Adult standards
KKNW-1150 2013 Brokered programming
KQMV-92.5 2013 Contemporary hit radio
KNUC-98.9 2013 Country Top 40
KRWM-106.9 2013 Adult contemporary
West Palm Beach WMEN-640 2018 Sports radio
WFTL-850 2018 News Talk
WRMF-97.9 2018 Adult Top 40
WMBX-102.3 2018 Urban Adult Contemporary
WIRK-103.1 2018 Country
WEAT-107.9 2018 Adult Contemporary

Cable channels (through Hubbard Media Group division)

Former Hubbard-owned stations

Television stations
City of license / Market Station Channel
TV (RF)		 Years owned Current ownership status
St. Petersburg - Tampa WTOG ** 44 (44) 1968–1996 The CW affiliate owned by CBS Corporation
Silver City, New Mexico KOBG-TV **
(satellite of KOB)		 6 (12) 2000–2011 defunct, went dark in 2011
(replaced by KOB translator K12QW-D)

Hubbard also owned a partial stake in KWK-TV (later KMOX-TV, now KMOV), channel 4, in St. Louis during the mid-1950s.

Radio stations
AM Stations FM Station
Market Station/
Frequency		 Years owned Current ownership
Albuquerque KOB 770 1957–1986 KKOB, owned by Cumulus Media
KOB-FM 93.3 1957–1986 KKOB-FM, owned by Cumulus Media
Winter Haven, FL WGTO 540 1964–1986 WFLF, owned by iHeartMedia
New Richmond, WI WIXK 1590 2000–2012 owned by Hmong Radio Broadcast, LLC

Cable channels
gollark: You can have "good friends" however instead of dragging in stupid """love""" things.
gollark: This is true, English bad.
gollark: And it sounds like "love" has that.
gollark: Well, frequently addiction.
gollark: Which are apparently bad thus no.

References
  1. "$505M sale: Bonneville sells Chicago, D.C., St. Louis and Cincinnati to Hubbard". January 19, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Accessed July 2, 2017 (archived link; scroll down)
  2. "Hubbard deal to purchase Bonneville stations closes". Archived from the original on 2012-03-12.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Accessed July 2, 2017 (archived link)
  3. "WNYT Albany to Purchase MyNet WNYA". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  4. "Hubbard buys Sandusky radio stations for $85.5M". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. "Hubbard Picks up 16 Stations From Omni". November 13, 2014. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Accessed July 2, 2017 (archived link)
  6. "fitz-named-new-host-for-bob-kingsleys-country-top-40". MusicRow.com. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  7. Ownership Report for Hubbard Broadcasting - at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
  8. Attributable Interests Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. - at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Further reading

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