Milton Grant (May 13, 1923 – April 28, 2007) was an American disc jockey and owner of television stations. Born in New York City, it was in Washington, D.C., where he made his mark as a disc jockey at radio stations
WINX and
WOL. Beginning in the early 1950s, he began appearing on Washington television station
WTTG
WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA sh ...
. From 1956 to 1961, he hosted the six-time-a-week ''
The Milt Grant Show'' on WTTG; it was Washington's primary teen dance show on TV and made him a Washington icon of the period. When WTTG abruptly canceled the show in 1961, Grant continued to host programs on a "Teen Network" of four regional radio stations.
In the 1960s, Grant shifted from being an on-air personality to a behind-the-scenes figure. He organized the Capital Broadcasting Company, which built Washington independent
WDCA
WDCA (channel 20), branded on-air as Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WTTG (channel 5). WDCA and WTTG shar ...
. Grant owned the station until 1969 and continued as its general manager until January 1980, when he resigned to pursue applying for and building his own station in the city. That never occurred, but Grant aligned with
Sidney Shlenker and other investors to launch two independent stations in Texas in the early 1980s:
KTXA
KTXA (channel 21) is an independent television station in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside Fort Worth–based CBS station KTVT (channel 11). B ...
in
Fort Worth and
KTXH
KTXH (channel 20), branded on-air as My 20 Vision, is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KRIV (channel 26). Both ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
. These stations were where Grant perfected his launch strategy for new stations to come on "full-grown", freely spending on syndicated programming and promotion. They were sold to Gulf Broadcasting in 1984.
Grant then started a second station group, Grant Broadcasting System (GBS), which built
WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV (channel 33) is an independent television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WFOR-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on Northwest 1 ...
in Miami, launched
WGBS-TV
WGBS-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 23 in Miami, Florida, United States, from 1953 to 1957. Originally established as WFTL-TV in Fort Lauderdale, it moved south to Miami when it was purchased by Storer Broadcasting at the ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, and relaunched
WGBO-TV
WGBO-DT (channel 66) is a television station licensed to Joliet, Illinois, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to the Chicago area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Aurora-licensed UniMás ...
in Chicago. Grant used the same strategy in these markets, and while particularly the Miami and Philadelphia outlets saw success, the prices paid for syndicated shows and a flat advertising market left the company overextended. In December 1986, GBS filed for bankruptcy protection; Grant lost control of the stations, which were transferred to a group of GBS bondholders operating as Combined Broadcasting.
In 1990, Grant returned to broadcast station ownership with the purchase of bankrupt
WZDX
WZDX (channel 54) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on North Memorial Parkway ( US 72/231/431) in Huntsville, and its transmi ...
, a
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliate serving
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
. The new company—known variously as Grant Communications or Grant Broadcasting System II—later acquired stations in Virginia, New York, Iowa, and Wisconsin, broadcasting Fox,
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
, and
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
. After Grant's death in 2007, his family sold the stations to
Nexstar Broadcasting Group and affiliated companies in 2014.
Early life
Grant was born on May 13, 1923, in New York City—a fact that was not well known during his life, as Grant was notoriously reticent to divulge it.
He told Washington business publication ''
Regardie's
''Regardie's'' (1980–1992) was a Washington, D.C. business magazine that was published from 1980 through 1992. It was distinguished by its quirky nature, but was also able to boast about breaking a number of significant financial stories such a ...
'' in an August 1988 cover story, "We're all so caught up in this age thing".
After growing up in
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City." , and studying economics and English at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, he first came to Washington after reportedly being recruited to the
Office of Strategic Services during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, later telling stories of spying for the U.S. in north Africa and Italy.
After the war, Grant returned to Columbia to finish his degree. He spent time in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...
, at
WARM, where he served as a color commentator on sportscasts. He returned to Washington in 1947 as a summer replacement at
WTOP, then joined the staff of
WINX as a disc jockey in 1950. By 1953, he had moved to
WOL, where he hosted ''The Milt Grant Record Show''.
''The Milt Grant Show''
Grant began appearing on television on March 7, 1954, when Washington station
WTTG
WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA sh ...
began airing a Sunday program known as ''Marion Showcase'', which featured a movie, talent show, and dancing. In July 1956, Grant started a new program on the station: ''Milt Grant's Record Hop'', which debuted on July 22, 1956, as a simulcast on WOL and WTTG.
The program was supported by local police and civic organizations with the hope to be a "constructive approach" against juvenile delinquency. That October, WTTG extended a contract offer to Grant, which he accepted effective October 1; he then left WOL to become a full-time television broadcaster.
Live from a ballroom at the
Raleigh Hotel, ''The Milt Grant Show'' became the city's highest-rated local program by 1958. High-profile stars of the day, such as
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
,
Buddy Holly,
Frankie Avalon
Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" an ...
,
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
,
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.
He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...
,
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...
,
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
,
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
,
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937),
known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...
, and
Fabian were guests on the show during its run.
In addition to hosting the show, Grant was also the producer and sold advertising for such brands as
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi wa ...
,
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
, and Briggs ice cream; the kids on the program often knew the sponsors well. Grant got half of all advertising revenues in the first contract, a share that diminished as revenues increased; at one point, his contract was renegotiated because he earned more than
John Kluge
John Werner Kluge (; September 21, 1914September 7, 2010) was a German-American entrepreneur who became a television industry mogul in the United States. At one time he was the richest person in the U.S.
Early life and education
Kluge was bo ...
, the CEO of WTTG parent
Metropolitan Broadcasting. The dancers—among them future reporter
Carl Bernstein
Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original n ...
—were mostly White; Black dancers were only allowed on Tuesdays, and they were not allowed to dance with White partners.
In addition, Grant ventured into the record business. He founded Punch Records in December 1958, and he was one of the few DJs not to be mentioned in connection with the late-1950s
payola
Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...
scandals in the U.S. Prior to founding Punch, Grant had already made a connection with music. At one of Grant's record hops,
Link Wray improvised a song that impressed the audience so much that Grant paid for it to be recorded at a Washington studio. Grant got songwriting credit for "
Rumble"; Wray told
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's ''
Fresh Air
''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...
'' in 2005, "Milt Grant smelt a dollar". Punch also released the regional hit "The Bug" by Jerry Dallman and the Knightcaps—also with a songwriting credit from Grant, though he only bought into the song—which was later featured in
the soundtrack to the 1988 film ''
Hairspray
Hairspray may refer to:
* Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind
* ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters
** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album
** ''Hairspray ...
''.
WTTG opted to cancel ''The Milt Grant Show'' after its April 15, 1961, edition. The move disappointed Grant, baffled media experts, and led high schoolers to picket ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', hoping to draw attention to their cause.
With his cancellation from television, Grant began airing two weekend afternoon shows aired over Washington stations
WPGC,
WAVA, WINX, and
WEEL, forming the "teen network". Shows originated live from such local haunts as recreation halls and amusement parks. However, he expressed continued fondness for the time he spent hosting ''The Milt Grant Show''. In 1990, when he returned to Washington for a
National Archives screening of the only surviving footage of the program, he told the assembled crowd, "It was a very important time of my life. We were part of the great new beginning of television and there was just so much energy. It made me fall in love with television and all its powers." Grant would later note the importance of his disc jockey years in his career as a television station owner: "I learned about the audiences and how to influence them so they respond to what you ask them to do."
WDCA-TV
A company headed by Grant, Capital Broadcasting Company, applied in November 1962 to build
ultra high frequency
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ( ...
(UHF) channel 20 in Washington. The permit was awarded the next year,
and
WDCA-TV began broadcasting on April 20, 1966, emphasizing sports programming. With his pivot from talent to management, Grant stopped going by "Milt" and instead preferred "Milton". Grant sold the station to Superior Tube Company, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of metal tubing products, in 1969, but he remained station president and general manager.
In a 1986 interview, Grant would admit that he "went to school" managing WDCA-TV, which—as a UHF station competing in a four-VHF market—was at a disadvantage. He told ''
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
'' magazine, "No one had ever heard of UHF."
During Grant's management tenure at channel 20, the station cemented itself as the second independent in Washington, behind WTTG, with a counterprogramming approach to program scheduling. Local programs ranged from monkey races during afternoon cartoons to late-night horror movies
and coverage of the
Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
basketball and
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...
hockey teams.
Grant–Shlenker partnership
Superior Tube sold WDCA-TV to
Taft Broadcasting
The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The company was rooted in the family of William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the Un ...
for $15.5 million in 1979. Shortly after, Grant left channel 20 and applied for Washington's then-vacant channel 14. One reason he left was because his work habits—a late start and finish—clashed with the corporate culture of Taft.
While that application was adjudicated, Grant joined a consortium led by
Sidney Shlenker that was building two new independent stations in Texas. On January 4, 1981,
KTXA
KTXA (channel 21) is an independent television station in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside Fort Worth–based CBS station KTVT (channel 11). B ...
began broadcasting to the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It aired a mix of
subscription television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
programs from
ON TV ONTV or variant may refer to:
* ''ONTV'' (pay TV), now-defunct American UHF subscription television service owned by National Subscription Television
* ''ONTV'' (Egyptian TV channel), now known as ''ON'', an Egyptian digital television channel lau ...
and conventionally available independent shows. November 1982 brought
KTXH
KTXH (channel 20), branded on-air as My 20 Vision, is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KRIV (channel 26). Both ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, which was a full-time commercial independent.
At the Texas stations, Grant iterated on a strategy that would initially be successful. KTXA had been the second of three new stations in six months in the Dallas–Fort Worth market, all of them hybrid commercial/subscription stations. In contrast to the other two hybrid startups that "merely appeared", Ed Bark of ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
'' wrote that KTXA had "burst into living rooms like a world-champion encyclopedia salesman", with nearly ubiquitous billboards, high-profile programming, and an emphasis on weekend movies. Grant declared the first month of KTXH—similarly fueled by high-profile programming and a plan to spend $250,000 on advertising in just two months—a success, fulfilling his goal of signing on a "full-grown TV station". KTXH also benefited from its other owners, which included Shlenker—owner of the
Houston Rockets basketball team—and the Houston Sports Association, owner of the
Houston Astros. Both teams were broadcast on the new station.
The pairing of KTXA and KTXH had proven to be successful and highly lucrative. Grant's aggressive programming and promotions strategy, plus a favorable climate for independent stations nationally, made the two stations highly profitable and attracted major bidders. Outlet Communications, the broadcasting division of
The Outlet Company
The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence, Rhode Island, which owned holdings in both retail and broadcasting. The centerpieces of the group was its flagship Providence store (''The Outlet'') and WJAR radio and television, also in P ...
of Rhode Island, was one of several parties negotiating to buy KTXA and KTXH. However, negotiations fell through, and Grant instead sold the pair to the Gulf Broadcast Group for $158 million in May 1984.
The sale was held up for several months at the FCC, which conditioned the purchase on Gulf divesting FM stations in both cities.
The sale price was considered unprecedented given the short period of operation of the stations.
Grant Broadcasting System
After selling the Texas stations, Grant started a new company, known as the Grant Broadcasting System (GBS), and developed three new independent stations. The first to go on air was also the most successful:
WBFS-TV
WBFS-TV (channel 33) is an independent television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WFOR-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on Northwest 1 ...
(channel 33) in Miami, which began broadcasting in December 1984.
An estimated $2 million in advertising over the station's first 60 days supported the launch of the new station,
which secured the rights to
Miami Hurricanes men's basketball
The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team is the college basketball team of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The University of Miami men's basketball team was formed i ...
.
By March 1986, WBFS had tied
WCIX
WCIX (channel 49) is a television station licensed to Springfield, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Champaign-licensed CBS affiliate WCIA (c ...
as the top independent station in South Florida.
However, other Miami stations, having already seen the Grant strategy at work in Dallas and Houston, also made aggressive program and advertising purchases, slightly blunting the impact of the full-grown approach.
In 1985, Grant bought two additional stations which were relaunched. The first to emerge was
WGBS-TV
WGBS-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 23 in Miami, Florida, United States, from 1953 to 1957. Originally established as WFTL-TV in Fort Lauderdale, it moved south to Miami when it was purchased by Storer Broadcasting at the ...
"Philly 57" in Philadelphia, which went on the air that October. It was the conversion of the former WWSG-TV, an all-subscription station with an underpowered transmission facility.
The station was anchored by two major sports attractions—
Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the "Wildcats", Villanova is ...
and
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
hockey
—and made expensive syndicated program purchases.
One reason the market was able to absorb WGBS-TV was that the previous third independent in the market,
WKBS-TV
WKBS-TV (channel 47) is a religious broadcasting, religious television station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Cornerstone Television. The station's transmitter is located in Logan Towns ...
, had been liquidated two years prior.
Toward the end of the year, Grant acquired WFBN in
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362.
Hist ...
, a suburb of Chicago, which relaunched as
WGBO-TV
WGBO-DT (channel 66) is a television station licensed to Joliet, Illinois, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to the Chicago area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Aurora-licensed UniMás ...
at the start of 1986.
The crowded Chicago independent market greeted the relaunched "Super 66" with defensive increases in their own promotional budgets. A fourth independent station launch,
KGBS in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, Utah, was planned for 1987.
Grant kept up the development of these stations despite his unusual work habits. He rarely came into his office before noon and was known to hold business meetings well past midnight, a practice he attributed to reducing the amount of telephone interruptions he received. Grant served as the general manager of all three GBS stations.
Bankruptcy
However, Grant's tactics and particularly the upward pressure he placed on syndicated program prices would turn out to be his downfall. As the advertising market went flat while prices remained high, a problem that had already claimed several independent stations in late 1985 and early 1986, the stations became unable to pay their bills to syndicators. On December 8, 1986, GBS filed for federal bankruptcy protection in Philadelphia, seeking to avoid its creditors forcing it into involuntary bankruptcy.
In 1986, GBS lost $35.96 million: WBFS-TV in Miami lost $6.54 million, WGBS-TV in Philadelphia lost $9.72 million, and Chicago's WGBO-TV lost $13.76 million.
The flat market, higher programming costs, and defensive maneuvers by competing broadcasters had prevented Grant from achieving the same success he had with the strategy in the Texas markets.
The Chicago station's difficulties were deeper, so much so that media analyst Paul Kagan speculated that if the stations had been differently structured, only WGBO-TV might have filed for bankruptcy.
In March 1987, GBS was allowed to continue operating its stations until at least July 1 through cash and accounts receivables to fund operations, denying a motion by the company's creditors to assume control of the stations or force their sale. However, on July 7, Grant agreed to enter into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
and turn over control of the company and its three stations to its television program suppliers and bondholders under a reorganization plan—approved on March 30, 1988—to repay $420 million in debt from the stations' operations by 1995, at which point the stations would be sold off. In July 1988, Combined Broadcasting, a creditor-controlled company, took over GBS and the three stations.
Grant, in a May 1988 interview with ''
Electronic Media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical means for the audience to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which today are most often created digitally, but do not require el ...
'' magazine, analyzed the downfall of GBS. He told Diane Mermigas that, given the changes in market revenue and competitors' understanding of what happened with the Texas stations, "I should have been more cautious in our program buying" and cited a lack of time and backup revenue to make up for shortfalls.
In other interviews, he cited defensive actions by other stations in the GBS markets, escalating programming costs, and purchasing too much programming. After being forced out of GBS, Grant continued to own 25 percent of
KLRT-TV
KLRT-TV (channel 16) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting alongside Pine Bluff–licensed ''de facto'' CW owned-and-operated station KASN (channe ...
in
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
, in which he had previously received an option to buy a minority stake as a result of a settlement for the channel,
and provide consulting services to the winner of
channel 14 in Washington. GBS and
TVX Broadcast Group
The TVX Broadcast Group was an Television in the United States, American media company that owned a group of ultra high frequency, UHF television stations during the 1980s. Originally known as the Television Corp. of Virginia, the company was hea ...
—with the stations Grant built in Washington, Fort Worth, and Houston in its portfolio—were cited by ''Television Engineering'' editor Peter Caranicas and ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' writer John Lippman as among the highest-profile economic failures in late 1980s independent television, with Kagan telling ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1988 that GBS's failure burst the independent stations bubble.
Grant Communications: Rebuilding
After losing GBS, Grant expressed a desire to return to the stations marketplace, and by May 1988, a new company, Grant Communications, had been set up to own broadcast stations. He sought "properties that are underdeveloped or undermanaged—primarily independents, but not necessarily UHFs—who have opportunities for good growth and profitability". More than a year later, Grant partnered with
Citicorp
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomer ...
to purchase
WZDX
WZDX (channel 54) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on North Memorial Parkway ( US 72/231/431) in Huntsville, and its transmi ...
, the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliate in
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
, out of bankruptcy, marking his return to station ownership.
The next year, Grant agreed to purchase a second Fox affiliate that had only recently emerged from its own bankruptcy:
KLJB-TV in
Davenport, Iowa.
[ This article misidentifies the Huntsville station Grant owned.] A third was added in 1993 when Grant acquired
WJPR–
WVFT
WVFT (93.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Gretna, Florida
Gretna is a city in Gadsden County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,460 as of the 2010 census, down from 1,709 at the 2000 census. It ...
, a simulcasting Fox affiliate for
Lynchburg and
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...
.
![WLAXTVStudio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/WLAXTVStudio.jpg)
Grant made three additional acquisitions in 1996. Two were inactive stations. In
Burlington, Iowa, south of Davenport,
KJMH had closed after losing its Fox affiliation in 1994; it was purchased by Grant in 1995 and returned to air in March 1996 as a simulcaster of KLJB-TV.
Grant acquired the dormant
WTJA in
Jamestown, New York, which had last broadcast in 1991; he then traded it and $12 million to
Tri-State Christian Television
Tri-State Christian Television, Inc., doing business as TCT Network and TCT Ministries, is a religious television network in the United States. The network was founded in May 1977 by Garth Coonce and his wife, Tina Coonce.
TCT Network includes t ...
to acquire channel 49 in
Buffalo, which returned to the air as
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...
affiliate
WNYO-TV
WNYO-TV (channel 49) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate WUTV (channel 29). Both stations share studios on Hertel Avenue near ...
in October 1996.
The third was
WLAX–WEUX, the Fox affiliate for
La Crosse and
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...
.
Grant parlayed his relationship with The WB, formed after the relaunch of the Buffalo station, into secondary WB affiliations for the Davenport, Roanoke–Lynchburg, and Huntsville stations in 1999, when the network ceased distributing its programming nationally via
Superstation WGN.
Full secondary services with The WB programming—cable channels in Roanoke and Huntsville and a relaunched KJMH for the Quad Cities market—were rolled out in 2001.
Meanwhile, Grant sold WNYO-TV to
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
for $51.5 million.
Death and sale of stations
Milton Grant died in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 28, 2007; he had reportedly been suffering from cancer, though ''The Post'' could not obtain a confirmation of his death from his privately held company. He was survived by three children and four grandchildren; his son, Thomas Grant II, became the company's vice president, and corporate programming director Drew Pfeiffer was elevated to CEO.
On November 6, 2013,
Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced its intent to purchase the Grant stations for $87.5 million. Due to FCC ownership regulations, one of the stations—KLJB—was spun off to
Marshall Broadcasting Group
Marshall Broadcasting Group, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company that owned three full power television stations in Iowa, Louisiana and Texas. The company was founded on December 1, 2014 by Pluria Marshall, Jr. All three of its tel ...
, with Nexstar handling much of its operations through a
shared services agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time ...
.
The sale was completed on December 1, 2014.
Stations owned by Milton Grant
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by
city of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American br ...
.
References
External links
KLJB — biography of Milton Grant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Milton
Nexstar Media Group
1923 births
2007 deaths
American radio DJs
American television hosts
American television company founders
New York University alumni
Columbia University alumni
Office of Strategic Services