Lilly Broadcasting
Lilly Broadcasting, LLC is a privately owned American broadcasting company owned and operated by the Lilly Brothers’ Brian Lilly and Kevin Lilly. The company was founded in September 1999 with the purchase of WENY-TV (ABC) and WENY-FM & AM radio. In 2002, Kevin Lilly purchased WSEE-TV (CBS) in Erie, Pennsylvania and have since added the CBS and The CW affiliates in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and ABC in the Virgin Islands.
 | |
| private Limited liability company | |
| Industry | TV broadcasting |
| Headquarters | |
| Subsidiaries | SJL Broadcasting |
| Website | lillybroadcasting |
Brian and Kevin Lilly are the sons of George Lilly, whose SJL Broadcast Management (also previously known as the Montecito Broadcast Group) was founded in 1984 and based in Montecito, California. SJL owns WICU-TV in Erie and the two Companies purchased three TV stations from Gateway Communications in 2000, and four stations from Emmis Communications in 2005.
Lilly Broadcasting most recently with Sankety Advisors purchased KITV (ABC) in Hawaii.
History
WJRT-TV was sold to SJL Broadcast Management in 1989.[1] In 1991, a SJL affiliated partnership,[2] Media Communications Partners Limited Partnership, purchased WTVG.[3]
In 1994, SJL announced the sale of WJRT-TV and WTVG to ABC[4] due to the possibility of WXYZ-TV changing its affiliation to CBS as part of a large swath of television network affiliation changes occurring at the time; the deal was approved by the FCC in 1995 even though WXYZ-TV was able to renew its affiliation with ABC, which caused three of its sister stations to affiliate with the network.[5]
On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced the sale of all of its remaining stations except WICU (KHON-TV, KOIN, KSNW and KSNT) to New Vision Television, ending the partnership between SJL and The Blackstone Group.[6] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval of this sale in late-October of that year, and ownership was officially transferred on November 1.
On March 1, 2009, the last station formally owned by SJL, WICU, transferred its copyrights to Lilly Broadcasting when it merged its news operations with crosstown sister station WSEE-TV. Though SJL still technically exists (and still ostensibly owns WICU), its visible operations have now been subsumed by Lilly Broadcasting.
On November 3, 2010, Broadcasting & Cable magazine announced that SJL Broadcasting made an agreement with Disney to buy back WJRT-TV and WTVG, the two smallest stations in ABC's O&O portfolio. The sale was completed on April 1, 2011 with both stations general manager exiting their positions at change of ownership.[7] Lilly announced on July 24, 2014, that it would sell both WJRT and WTVG to Gray Television in a $128 million transaction.[8] In 2016, Gray announced that it would operate its bureau in Washington, DC, in cooperation with Lilly.[9]
On May 13, 2015, Hearst Television announced that it would sell KITV in Honolulu, Hawaii and its satellites (KHVO in Hilo and KMAU in Wailuku) to SJL; the deal marks the return of the company to Hawaii, following its prior ownership of KHON-TV.[10] The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on July 10, 2015[11] and completed on September 1, 2015.[12]
Lilly Broadcasting re-entered radio in 2019 by purchasing the three-station cluster in Warren, Pennsylvania that had previously been owned by Frank Iorio's Radio Partners; Iorio will retain his only other broadcast asset, Pittsburgh's WJAS. Lilly had previously owned and operated radio stations in Elmira before selling those off a few years after acquiring that cluster.[13]
Stations currently owned or operated by Lilly or SJL
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
Television
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Owned since | Network affiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | KITV | 4 (20) | 2015 | ABC MeTV (DT2) FWW1 (DT3) |
Licensed to "KITV, Inc." (subsidiary of SJL). |
| Hilo, Hawaii | KHVO (satellite of KITV) |
4 (18) | |||
| Wailuku, Hawaii | KMAU (satellite of KITV) |
4 (29) | |||
| Marquette, Michigan | WZMQ | 19 (19) | 2017 | MeTV MyNetworkTV on DT2 Antenna TV on DT3 |
Licensed to "WZMQ, LLC" |
| Elmira, New York | WENY-TV | 36 (36) | 2000 | ABC CBS (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
|
| Ithaca, New York | NY Local Ithaca | N/A | 2018 | FWW1 | Cable-only station operated by WENY[14] |
| Erie, Pennsylvania | WICU-TV | 12 (12) | 1996 | NBC MeTV (DT2) Ion (DT3) |
Licensed to "SJL of Pennsylvania, Inc." |
| WSEE-TV | 35 (16) | 2002 | CBS The CW (DT2) FWW1 (DT3) |
Operates under a shared services agreement with WICU | |
| Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands | WCVI-TV | 23 (23) | 2019 | CBS ABC (DT2) |
Licensed to "Lilly Broadcasting Ventures, LLC" |
- 1 First Warning Weather, a mostly locally originated loop of local weather forecasts.
Radio
| City of license / Market | Station | Band | Frequency | Owned since | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren, Pennsylvania | WICU | AM | 1310 | 2019 | Contemporary hit radio | Translator W244DY (FM 96.7) |
| WNAE | FM | 104.3 | 2019 | Country | ||
| WRRN | FM | 92.3 | 2019 | Classic hits | ||
| Erie, Pennsylvania | WICU-FM | FM | 92.7 | 2019 | Contemporary hit radio | Licensed to "SJL of Pennsylvania, Inc." |
Stations formerly owned by SJL
- ‡‡ – Indicates a station that was owned by Gateway Communications prior to its sale to SJL Broadcasting in 2000.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years owned | Current ownership status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo, California | KSBY | 6 (15) | 1996–2002 | NBC affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | KHON-TV | 2 (8) | 2006–2007 | Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Hilo, Hawaii | KHAW-TV (satellite of KHON-TV) |
11 (11) | 2006–2007 | Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Maui | KAII-TV (satellite of KHON-TV) |
7 (7) | 2006–2007 | Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Kauai | K55DZ (satellite of KHON-TV) |
55 | 2006–2007 | defunct, license cancelled in 2013 |
| Pittsburg, Kansas - Joplin, Missouri | KOAM-TV | 7 (7) | 1991–1995 | CBS affiliate owned by Morgan Murphy Media |
| Topeka, Kansas | KSNT | 27 (27) | 1988–1995 2006–2007 |
NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Wichita - Hutchinson, Kansas | KSNW | 3 (45) | 1988–1995 2006–2007 |
NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Garden City - Dodge City, Kansas | KSNG (satellite of KSNW) |
11 (11) | 1988–1995 2006–2007 |
NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Great Bend - Hays - Salina, Kansas | KSNC (satellite of KSNW) |
2 (22) | 1988–1995 2006–2007 |
NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| McCook, Nebraska - Colby - Goodland, Kansas |
KSNK (satellite of KSNW) |
8 (12) | 1988–1995 2006–2007 |
NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Flint, Michigan | WJRT-TV | 12 (12) | 1989–1995[5] 2011[7]–2014[8] |
ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Billings, Montana | KTVQ | 2 (10) | 1984–1994 | CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Butte, Montana | KXLF-TV | 4 (5) | 1984–1986 | CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Great Falls, Montana | KRTV | 3 (7) | 1984–1986 | CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Missoula, Montana | KPAX-TV | 8 (7) | 1984–1986 | CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Binghamton, New York | WBNG-TV ‡‡ | 12 (7) | 2000–2006 | CBS affiliate owned by Quincy Media |
| Buffalo, New York | WGRZ-TV | 2 (33) | 1986–1988 | NBC affiliate owned by Tegna Inc. |
| Syracuse, New York | WSTM-TV | 3 (24) | 1986–1992 | NBC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Toledo, Ohio | WTVG | 13 (13) | 1991[2]–1995[5] 2011[7]–2014[8] |
ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
| Portland, Oregon | KOIN | 6 (40) | 2006–2007 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Altoona - State College - Johnstown, Pennsylvania |
WTAJ-TV ‡‡ | 10 (33) | 2000–2006 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Lebanon - Harrisburg - York - Lebanon, Pennsylvania |
WLYH-TV ‡‡ | 15 (21) | 2000–2006 | Comet affiliate, WXBU, owned by Howard Stirk Holdings |
| Huntington - Charleston, West Virginia | WOWK-TV ‡‡ | 13 (13) | 2000–2002 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
References
- "WJRT". Station Listings. Michiguide.com. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- Report No. MM 95-60
- WTVG TV Channel 13 Toledo, OH. Michigan Television Dial Guide. Michiguide.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.
- Grego, Melissa (November 3, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: Disney to Sell Two Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- Lilly Broadcasting: Michigan Television. Michigan Radio and TV Ownership Guide. Michiguide.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.
- New Vision Buys Montecito Stations Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine Broadcasting & Cable July 24, 2007
- Exclusive: New GMs For Former ABC O&Os in Flint, Toledo Broadcasting & Cable. March 31, 2011.
- "Gray Buys Stations in Flint, Toledo for $128M," from TVNewsCheck, 7/24/2014
- McAdams, Deborah D. (February 2, 2015). "Gray Opens Washington, D.C. News Bureau". TV Technology. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
- Engle, Erika (May 13, 2015). "Local TV station sold". Hawaii Star-Advertiser. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
- "Assignment of License". Federal Communications Commission. July 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- Venta, Lance (April 12, 2019). "LILLY BROADCASTING ACQUIRES NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA TRIO". RadioInsight.com. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- https://ithacavoice.com/2018/11/new-local-television-station-opens-in-downtown-ithaca/
External links
- Lilly Broadcasting Corporate Website