Cowles Company

The Cowles Company is a diversified media company in Spokane, Washington, in the US. The company owns and operates ''The Spokesman-Review'' in Spokane, founded in 1894, and owned the ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' until it was shut down in 1992. Built by William H. Cowles, the publishing business eventually constructed striking buildings in downtown Spokane for both papers. The Chronicle Building was eventually converted into offices and then residential. The company also owned several other papers and operates Inland Empire Paper Company, television stations, and interests in real estate, insurance, marketing and financial services.

William Stacey Cowles, the publisher of ''The Spokesman-Review'', is the great-grandson of the company's founder, William H. Cowles, and the fourth generation of the Cowles family to run the paper. His sister, Elizabeth A. Cowles, is chairwoman of the parent company. Rob Curley is the editor.

History

William H. Cowles came to Spokane at age 24 to be the business manager of the ''Spokesman'', which was founded less than two years before, and excelled at local news coverage. He had experience as a police reporter for the ''Chicago Tribune'' and was the son of the ''Tribune'' treasurer, Alfred Cowles Sr. He soon bought the ''Spokesman'' from his partners. In 1893, he bought a rival paper, the ''Review'', and merged the two papers into ''The Spokesman-Review''. He acquired the ''Spokane Chronicle'' in 1897.

According to ''Time'' in 1952, he was a "determined man" who had an artificial leg yet walked two miles to the office each day.

Cowles set the ''Chronicle'' on a course to be independent, and ''The Spokesman-Review'' to support Republican Party causes. ''Time'' magazine related the paper's success gaining lowered rates for freight carried to the Northwest United States and an improved park system and that helped the region. Increasing its reputation for comprehensive local news and by opposing "gambling, liquor and prostitution", ''The Spokesman-Review'' gained popularity. The paper's opposition to building the Grand Coulee Dam was not quite so universally applauded and when it opposed the New Deal and the Fair Deal, it so disturbed President of the United States Harry Truman that he declared the Spokesman-Review to be one of the "two worst" newspapers in the United States. The ''Scripps League's Press'' closed in 1939, making Cowles the only newspaper publisher in Spokane. Cowles created four weeklies, the ''Idaho Farmer'', ''Washington Farmer'', ''Oregon Farmer'' and ''Utah Farmer''. Cowles died in 1946. When William H. Cowles Jr. succeeded his father as publisher, James Bracken received much more news and editorial control as managing editor.

The original Review Building, designed by Seaton & Ferris in 1891 in a style closest to Richardson Romanesque, is ten stories with a tower that reaches . In 1975, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Television

Cowles' television operations are centered around the two NBC affiliates in eastern Washington. The flagship is KHQ-TV in Spokane, which was founded by Cowles as Washington's second television station. Cowles also owns KNDO in Yakima, Washington, Yakima and its Tri-Cities, Washington, Tri-Cities semi-satellite KNDU (licensed to Richland, Washington, Richland). As of September 2007, Cowles planned to acquire two CBS affiliate television stations for US$41 million from Newport Television, one of the holding companies formed by Providence Equity Partners when Providence planned to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. They are KCOY-TV in Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, California, Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California and KION-TV in Monterey, California. KION carries The CW on a separate digital channel. Cowles would also have a management agreement with KCBA, the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox affiliate serving Salinas, Monterey and Santa Cruz, California, and would acquire two low power stations, KKFX-CD, KKFX-CA, also Fox in San Luis Obispo, California and the Telemundo affiliate KMUV-LD, KMUV-LP in Monterey. The deal closed on May 7, 2008.

On September 20, 2013, News-Press & Gazette Company announced that it would purchase Monterey, California, Monterey stations, KION-TV and KMUV-LD, KMUV-LP, as well as San Luis Obispo, California, San Luis Obispo station KKFX-CD, KKFX-CA. NPG will also take over some of the operations of Santa Maria, California, Santa Maria sister station KCOY-TV, which Cowles will retain, under a Local marketing agreement, shared services agreement (as NPG's holdings in the area already include KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara). The existing Local marketing agreement, LMA for KCBA was terminated on December 1, 2013, as that station's operations were assumed by Entravision Communications through a joint sales agreement (the license was retained by Seal Rock Broadcasters). On September 30, 2013, Cowles announced that it would acquire Max Media's Montana television station cluster for $18 million. The sale was finalized on November 29.

In October 2022, Cowles introduced the standardized branding ''NonStop Local'' for all of its stations' news programming, as part of an effort to promote them as multi-platform news sources.

Current

(**) - ''indicates a station built and signed on by Cowles''.

Cowles Montana Media Company

Other Notes:
* ¹ Owned by Stephen Marks, Marks Radio Group, Cowles operated KYUS as a satellite of KULR.

KHQ, Incorporated

Former

*¹ Cowles operated KCBA through a Local marketing agreement, shared services agreement (SSA).
*² From 2014 to 2015, News-Press & Gazette Company operated KCOY under an SSA.

Other Affiliations

* Basic Financial Solutions
* Citizens Realty
* Inland Empire Paper Company
* ''Spokane Journal of Business''
* River Park Square
* Nickels Worth Publications
* Northwest Farmer-Stockman
* Print Marketing Concepts
* ''The Spokesman-Review''
** ''Spokane Daily Chronicle''
* SWX Right Now

Cowles family

The Cowles family of Spokane is descended from Elizabeth (1827–1910) and Sarah Hutchinson (1837–1884) of Cayuga County, New York. The two sisters married two brothers, Alfred Cowles Sr. and Edwin Cowles of Cleveland, Ohio. Edwin published the ''The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Leader'' and Alfred moved to Chicago, Illinois where he purchased one third of the ''Chicago Tribune''. and

Feminist and educator Betsy Mix Cowles was Alfred and Edwin's paternal aunt. Edwin's sons Alfred and Eugene were chemists and metallurgists who invented and operated Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company, electric arc smelters to extract aluminum. Alfred Cowles, 3rd—the grandson of Alfred Sr.—founded the Cowles Foundation, Cowles Commission for Research in Economics following the Great Depression.

Distantly related, the Cowles family of Spokane are about sixth cousins of the family of Gardner Cowles Sr. of Des Moines, Iowa and Minneapolis, Minnesota who owned Cowles Media Company. Both Cowles publishing families are descendants of Hannah Bushoup (c.1613-1683) of Hartford, Connecticut and John Cowles (1598–1675) of Gloucestershire, England.

Gallery

File:Alfred Cowles Sr-Tribune Co.jpg, Alfred Cowles Sr. of the ''Chicago Tribune'', father of William H. Cowles
File:Edwin-Cowles-small.jpg, Edwin Cowles of the ''The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Leader'', brother of Alfred Cowles. Sr.

References

External links

Cowles Company

Company Overview of Cowles Company

{{Authority control

Cowles Company,
American companies established in 1894
Companies based in Spokane, Washington
Manufacturing companies based in Washington (state)
Mass media companies of the United States
Television broadcasting companies of the United States
1894 establishments in Washington (state)