Midco (known as Midcontinent Communications until 2016) is a regional cable provider, providing a
triple play
In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season.
Th ...
service of
Cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
,
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
and
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
service for both
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
and
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
, along with much of
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, and several communities in
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. The company's business-class service also provides direct
fiber-optic communication
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is pref ...
s services via leased data circuits for larger companies.
Headquartered in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
and operated as a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between Midcontinent Media and
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
, Midco provides service to 200 communities both urban and rural, serving an area that covers over 1.2 million people.
History
Midcontinent Media was founded in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
in 1931 as the Welworth Theater Company, an operator of movie theaters. The company remained in that business until the 1990s, when it sold its theaters to various chains, including
Carmike
Carmike Cinemas was a motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United States. The company b ...
. In 1952, it bought the Midcontinent Broadcasting Company, owner of
KELO-AM-
FM in Sioux Falls; the company name changed to Midcontinent Media. The company also bought the construction permit for South Dakota's first television station,
KELO-TV
KELO-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls; its tran ...
, which took to the air in 1953. Midcontinent purchased several other radio and television stations, but began exiting broadcasting in the 1990s (with KELO-TV and its satellites sold off to
Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting, LLC was an American media company that owned or operated 12 television stations in 10 markets with a total U.S. television household coverage of 5.9%. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgr ...
, currently owned by
Nexstar), selling off the last of their radio holdings in 2004.
Midco diversified and extended its reach into other areas of the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
, providing telephone and cable TV in rural parts of its service area, starting in the 1960s. In 1999, Midcontinent Media and
AT&T Broadband
AT&T Broadband was AT&T's cable operations division. It was formed in 1999 when AT&T acquired the assets of TCI and renamed it to AT&T Broadband. The next year, AT&T Broadband acquired MediaOne as well and became the largest cable operations com ...
(formerly known as
TCI) merged their cable operations in the Dakotas,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
and
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
into Midcontinent Communications, a joint venture between both companies. The partnership continued after Comcast's purchase of AT&T Broadband.
In the fall of 2008,
Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, ...
announced their filing for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
protection and the sale of some assets in non-critical areas. On October 14, 2008, an article appeared in the
Fairmont, Minnesota
Fairmont is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,487 at the 2020 census.
History
Fairmont was platted in 1857. The city was so named on account of its elevated town site. A post office ...
''Sentinel'', reporting that
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
was selling parts of their system to Midcontinent Communications, including its
Bemidji
Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,279, making it ...
and
International Falls
International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census.
International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acro ...
headends. Starting February 1, 2009 Midcontinent Communications took over some Charter's cable systems in Minnesota including
Balaton,
Bemidji
Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,279, making it ...
,
Canby Canby may refer to:
People
* Canby (surname)
Places
;In the United States
* Canby, California
* Canby, Iowa
* Canby, Minnesota
* Canby, Oregon
* Canby Creek, a stream in Minnesota
* Canby Mountains, Oregon
{{disambiguation, geo ...
,
Ely Ely or ELY may refer to:
Places Ireland
* Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely
* Ely Place, Dublin, a street
United Kingdom
* Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England
** Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formal ...
,
Fairmont,
International Falls
International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census.
International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acro ...
,
Littlefork,
Sherburn, and surrounding communities. Other areas in Minnesota were sold off to
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
.
In June 2011, Midcontinent Communications acquired 33,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin subscribers from
US Cable
The US Cable Group was a cable television provider that at its peak served over 240,000 subscribers in twelve states. It was among the top 35 cable providers in the nation and had cable systems in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, M ...
.
Midco previously provided
paging
In computer operating systems, memory paging is a memory management scheme by which a computer stores and retrieves data from secondary storage for use in main memory. In this scheme, the operating system retrieves data from secondary storage ...
service, starting in 1985, but sold its paging services to another South Dakota company, Vantek Communications, in 2004. The former paging service was renamed Midco Connections.
On January 12, 2016, the company officially adopted the shortened Midco name across all of their operations, rendering it in all-caps as "MIDCO", with the new tagline of "Let's Go".
In October 2016, Midco acquired the assets of the cable system serving
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...
from
Wide Open West
WideOpenWest (doing business as WOW!) is the sixth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 3,248,600 homes and businesses. The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services ...
.
Midco Sports Network
Midco offers a
regional sports network
In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region.
...
called MidcoSN (formerly MC23 until August 2010) which carries coverage of NCAA Division I athletics in the
Summit League
The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...
,
Missouri Valley Football Conference
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...
, and
National Collegiate Hockey Conference
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...
with a specific focus on member schools South Dakota, South Dakota State University, North Dakota, and North Dakota State University. Additionally, MidcoSN is the primary broadcast partner for the NCAA Division II
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
providing coverage of football, basketball, and volleyball events. Each school in the 18-team conference is guaranteed a minimum number of appearances on the network each season.
MidcoSN's signature coverage comes each February and March with full coverage of the NSIC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments from the
Sanford Pentagon
The Sanford Pentagon (colloquially known as The Pentagon) is an indoor arena located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Pentagon opened in September 2013 and has a seating capacity of 3,250 spectators. It hosts the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G ...
in Sioux Falls. The network broadcasts each game from the quarterfinals on to the championships in its entirety. That's followed by coverage of the Summit League Men's and Women's tournament quarterfinals and semifinals from the
Denny Sanford Premier Center
The Denny Sanford Premier Center is an indoor arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The building is located at 1201 North West Avenue, and is connected to the Sioux Falls Arena and Sioux Falls Convention Center. The Aren ...
. The network does not carry the championship games for those tournaments, as those rights are held by ESPN.
All MidcoSN Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference coverage is syndicated to
ESPN3
ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...
as well.
In addition to coverage of college events, MidcoSN also carries select high school sporting events in both North and South Dakota, including the prestigious Howard Wood Dakota Relays held each year in Sioux Falls.
MidcoSN and its overflow channels, MidcoSN2 and MidcoSN3, are available on to all MIDCO cable customers along with other cable systems in the region through distribution deals.
MidcoSN employs over 30 full-time on-air talent and behind-the-scenes staffers.
The success of MidcoSN in the Dakotas has led to the development of a similar network in Kansas, Midco Sports Kansas, in Lawrence. The network broadcasts high school sports and college games in the northeastern Kansas area.
References
External links
*
Midco Connections websiteMidco Sports Network website
{{Comcast
American companies established in 1931
1931 establishments in Minnesota
Cable television companies of the United States
Communications in South Dakota
Companies based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Economy of the Midwestern United States
Joint ventures
Internet service providers of the United States
Streaming television
Comcast subsidiaries