BHC Communications, Inc. was the holding company for the broadcast property of
Chris-Craft Industries. BHC stands for "broadcasting holding company".
History
The firm was originally incorporated in 1977 as BHC, Incorporated by
Chris-Craft Industries to hold its two existing incorporated
independent television stations
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
, KCOP Television (
KCOP
KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both stations ...
in Los Angeles) and Oregon Television (
KPTV
KPTV (channel 12) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States. affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Vancouver, Washington–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX (channel 49). Both stations s ...
in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
), within BHC's Chris-Craft Television subsidiary. That same year, Chris-Craft purchased a share of
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. In 1981, the 20th Century Fox share, then at 20 percent, was traded for 19% of
United Television
BHC Communications, Inc. was the holding company for the broadcast property of Chris-Craft Industries. BHC stands for "broadcasting holding company".
History
The firm was originally incorporated in 1977 as BHC, Incorporated by Chris-Craft Ind ...
.
United owned three other television stations: independent
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetwo ...
in
Minneapolis
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 ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate
KTVX
KTVX (channel 4) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Ogden-licensed CW owned-and-operated station KUCW (channel 30). Both stations share studios o ...
in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
-affiliated KMOL-TV (now
WOAI-TV
WOAI-TV (channel 4) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KABB (channel 29); Sinclair also provides certain services to Kerr ...
) in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
.
Warner Communications, Inc. purchased a 42.5 percent share in BHC for $200 million in convertible preferred stock. With the Time, Inc./Warner Communications, Inc. merger into
Time-Warner, Inc., BHC got a return of some stock held by Warner, cash, and Time Warner convertible preferred stock in Time Warner, a total of valued at $2.3 billion over a six-year period. With this settlement, BHC was reincorporated as BHC Communications, Inc. with stock restructured with two classes of stock giving Chris-Craft most of the voting power. Some BHC's shares were distributed to other Warner stockholders made it a publicly traded corporation. Some the payment were used to buy back BHC class A shares.
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...
, an independent station (and national
superstation
''Superstation'' (alternatively rendered as "super station" or informally as "SuperStation") is a term in North American broadcasting that has several meanings. Commonly, a "superstation" is a form of distant signal, a terrestrial television, br ...
) in the New York City area, was purchased in 1992 for $313 million. In 1995, United Sales Enterprises was formed to hand national spot advertising time for all BHC/United stations.
Chris-Craft TV teamed up with
MCA Television
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUnive ...
for a syndicated programming block,
Hollywood Premiere Network, for only the 1990–1991 season. In the early 1990s, BHC Television formed an alternative programming consortium,
Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. Fi ...
, with other station groups and Time Warner-owned
Warner Bros. Domestic Television that was planned to expand into the fifth television network.
In January 1995, BHC affiliated all of its stations, except the Salt Lake City and San Antonio outlets, with the newly launched
United Paramount Network
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pro ...
, which it fully owned and financed but ran with
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
/
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, the network's producer. In December 1996, Paramount exercised its option to buy half of the Network by paying half of the losses ($160 million). Included in the deal was to continue selling UPN "''
Star Trek: Voyager''" instead of placing it in syndication.
In the late 1990s, BHC acquired two television stations, WHSW (now
WUTB
WUTB (channel 24) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the digital multicast network TBD. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Sinclair Broadcast ...
) in Baltimore, Maryland, and
WRBW
WRBW (channel 65), branded on-air as Fox 35 Plus, is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WOFL (channel 35). Both ...
in Orlando, Florida, it resulted in the increase of BHC's number of television stations to ten.
In 1999, Viacom announced plans to merge with CBS Corporation. Because of a regulation upheld by the FCC years ago, prohibiting companies from owning two broadcast networks. Viacom's announcement raised questions regarding the future of Chris-Craft and Viacom's joint ownership of UPN. In Viacom and Chris-Craft's original agreement, two options for exiting the partnership had been determined—buying out the other partner or paying for what the partner had invested up to that date and providing funds for the future operation of UPN. Either option would cost Viacom substantial sums of money. Industry analysts agreed that Chris-Craft could emerge the winner and offered other possible scenarios—that Viacom might offer Chris-Craft some of its stations in exchange for severing the partnership or that Chris-Craft might sell Viacom's share to another company.
In 2000, a lawsuit was filed by BHC against the
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
-
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
merger as BHC saw this as a breach of the UPN partnership. BHC lost the suit and sold its remaining ownership in UPN to Viacom for $5 million. Shortly thereafter, Chris-Craft announced that it was getting out of broadcasting after losing $500 million on UPN, the possibility of UPN shutting down or having their affiliation pulled. Many industry observers thought Viacom would end up getting the stations, but Viacom's bid lost out to
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
's
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
, resulting in a sale which closed on July 31, 2001.
Former television stations
Footnotes:
*
1 KCOP-TV and KPTV were owned directly by Chris-Craft prior to the formation of BHC in 1977.
*
2 KUTP is the only station built and signed-on by Chris-Craft/United.
*
3 KMSP-TV, KTVX, and KMOL-TV were owned by United Television prior to its merger with Chris-Craft in 1981.
*
4 KTVX is the only station that never affiliated with UPN in the timeframe Chris-Craft owned stations in the mid-to-late 1990s.
*
5 KMOL-TV, a primary NBC affiliate, had a secondary affiliation to UPN in 1998–2000 when another station dropped it.
*
6 WWOR-TV is MNTV's flagship station, and was UPN's flagship station prior to Chris-Craft/United's acquisition by Viacom in 2001.
United Television
United Television was a corporation operating multiple television stations founded in 1956 to run station
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetwo ...
in
Minneapolis
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 1975, United purchased
KTVX-TV
KTVX (channel 4) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Ogden-licensed CW owned-and-operated station KUCW (channel 30). Both stations share studios o ...
, a Salt Lake City ABC affiliate, and
KMOL-TV, a
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
NBC affiliate. Fox purchased an interest in the company making it a subsidiary, and in 1980, briefly consider purchasing NBC affiliate
WRBT
WRBT (94.9 FM, "Bob 94.9") is a country music radio station broadcasting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts with a power of 25 kilowatts from a transmitter site in Enola, Pennsylvania.
WRBT br ...
in
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
prior to the interest change in 1981. In 1981, BHC/Chris-Craft traded its interest in 20th Century Fox to
Marvin Davis
Marvin H. Davis (August 31, 1925 – September 25, 2004) was an American industrialist. He made his fortunes as the chair of Davis Petroleum and at one time owned 20th Century Fox, the Pebble Beach Corporation, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the ...
and
Marc Rich
Marc Rich (born Marcell David Reich; December 18, 1934 – June 26, 2013) was an international commodity, commodities Trader (finance), trader, hedge fund manager, financier, businessman, and financial criminal. He founded the commodities company ...
for a 19% interest in United. BHC upped its stake in United to 50.1 percent of common stock in 1983. A UHF station was acquired that same year in San Francisco. In the final quarter of 1985, United started a new UHF station in
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
KUTP
KUTP (channel 45), branded on-air as Fox 10 Xtra, is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KSAZ-TV (cha ...
. Loaning its name to a network joint venture of its parent corporation BHC with
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, most of United stations switch programming to
United Paramount Network
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pro ...
. In January 1998, United Television acquired a third UHF station in Baltimore for $80 million, changed its call letters to WUTB, and made the station a UPN affiliate. United, in October 1997, agreed to purchase
WRBW
WRBW (channel 65), branded on-air as Fox 35 Plus, is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WOFL (channel 35). Both ...
(channel 65), a UHF station and UPN affiliate in Orlando, Florida, for $60 million and possible further considerations (WRBW was later acquired by
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
after the BHC-News Corp. merger, and is now a
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 ...
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
).
In April 1998, United took a minority stake in
Bohbot Entertainment & Media.
20th Century Fox later returned to interest in the broadcast industry when in 1986, it purchased 6 stations from
Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...
, which these stations became affiliated with Fox's new Fox Broadcasting Company, which was first aired in late 1986. Fox later reacquired United Television's stations as part of the acquisition of BHC by the latter in 2001.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:BHC Communications
Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States
Defunct television broadcasting companies of the United States
UPN
Prime Time Entertainment Network
Holding companies established in 1977
Mass media companies disestablished in 2001
*
Companies formerly listed on NYSE American
Mass media companies established in 1977
2001 mergers and acquisitions