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.
In 1992, Post-Newsweek bought the now defunct Detroit regional sports station PASS Sports from former Detroit Tigers owner and Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan. FSN Detroit put the channel out of business in October 1997.
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.
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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).
Stations
Currently owned stations
| Current DMA# | Market | Station ... Channel Number (DT) | Current Affiliation | Acquired | Notes |
| 10. | Houston | KPRC-TV 2 (35) | NBC / This TV on DT2 |
1994 | First television station in Houston. |
| 11. | Detroit - Windsor | WDIV-TV 4 (45) | NBC / This TV on DT2 |
1978 | Flagship station |
| 17. | 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. |
| 47. | Jacksonville | WJXT 4 (42) | Independent | 1954 | The oldest station in the market and second overall in Florida. Was CBS until 2002. |
Formerly owned stations
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. |
| 30. | Hartford - New Haven | WFSB 3 | 1974-1997 | CBS | Meredith Corporation | Flagship from 1986-97, housed PNS headquarters until 2000 |
Post-Newsweek also formerly operated WTWP during its time as Washington Post Radio.
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.
External links
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