Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by

Stanley E. Hubbard Stanley Eugene Hubbard (June 26, 1897 - December 27, 1992) was an American businessman, the founder of Hubbard Broadcasting. Early life Stanley E. Hubbard was born on June 26, 1897, in Red Wing, Minnesota, the son of Frank Valentine Hubbard and ...

. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across

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 ...

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 ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

KSTP radio,

KSTP-FM KSTP-FM (94.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. It is the flagship FM station of Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format. The station has ...

KTMY KTMY (107.1 FM) is an entertainment-oriented talk radio station, serving the Twin Cities as well as portions of West Central Wisconsin. The station is owned and operated by Hubbard Broadcasting. KTMY's studios and offices are located on Univ ...

KSTP-TV KSTP-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Hubbard Broadcasting, which has owned the ...

, and

KSTC-TV KSTC-TV (channel 5.2) is an independent television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, it is sister to Saint Paul–licensed ABC affiliate and company flagshi ...

, which serve the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

region of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, are regarded as the company's legacy flagship stations.

History

KSTP has its origins in the Twin Cities radio station WAMD ("Where All Minneapolis Dances"), which started broadcasting live dance music from a local ballroom on February 13, 1925 with Stanley E. Hubbard as owner and station director. It was the first radio station to be completely supported by income generated by advertisements. In 1928, WAMD merged with KFOY (Kind Friends of Yours) radio (first broadcast: March 12, 1924) in St. Paul to become KSTP, which was advertised as being operated by the National Battery Broadcasting Co. Hubbard became the merged station's general manager, and bought controlling interest in 1941. In 1938 Hubbard bought the first

television camera A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). O ...

available from

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. Following the television blackout brought on by

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 opposin ...

, KSTP began television broadcasts in 1948. KSTP is still Hubbard's flagship, although there are now three different stations that carry that name. KSTP (AM) broadcasts a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format, and KSTP-FM broadcasts

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

; KSTP-TV is affiliated with

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 ...

. After the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

relaxed rules about television station ownership, Hubbard bought a second television station in the Twin Cities. Originally affiliated with the

Home Shopping Network HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flor ...

when it started operations in 1994, KVBM was bought by Hubbard and became general-entertainment

independent station 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 ...

in 2000. It has been used as an alternate outlet for ABC network programming when KSTP-TV is broadcasting coverage of

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

football games or other special shows, including severe-weather coverage. Aside from terrestrial broadcast stations, other current ventures include the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

network

ReelzChannel Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

(launched in 2006), the arts network

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

, and the Hubbard Radio Network, which is used to distribute KSTP's local talk shows to subscribing radio stations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The cable channels are run through subsidiary company Hubbard Media Group. In 1981, Hubbard Broadcasting started U.S. Satellite Broadcasting (USSB), and later was instrumental in the development and launching of the first digital satellite system for television in 1994. The new satellite could deliver 175 channels to a (at the time) tiny, 18 inch dish. USSB's development partner,

Hughes Electronics Hughes Electronics Corporation was formed in 1985 when Hughes Aircraft was sold by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to General Motors for $5.2 billion. The surviving parts of Hughes Electronics are today known as The DirecTV Group. On June 5, ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

), launched its own subscription satellite service called

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

. The two services did not compete against each other (they carried different channels), and were often marketed together to subscribers by retailers and in

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, until DirecTV's 1998 acquisition of USSB. Hubbard was also instrumental in the development of mobile satellite news vehicles. In 1983, Hubbard-owned CONUS Communications and Florida-based subsidiary Hubcom built the first

Satellite News Gathering Electronic news-gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape technol ...

(SNG) mobile vehicle, which allowed for much easier live news coverage for network and local television news operations. This ultimately resulted in CONUS—later a joint-venture with

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 ...

—becoming a nationwide, satellite-based newsgathering cooperative (with Hubbard charging stations to relay their footage). As an outgrowth of this, Hubbard Broadcasting also operated a 24-hour news station, the

All News Channel All News Channel (ANC) was an American satellite television news channel that was owned by CONUS Communications, a joint venture between Viacom and Hubbard Broadcasting. The channel was carried mainly on direct-broadcast satellite provider D ...

, which relied on CONUS-sourced news footage and primarily acted as a "sustaining feed" for television stations to fill air time with; ANC was also responsible for producing news programming for third-parties. The news channel lasted from 1989 until it folded in September 2002. Hubbard Broadcasting also owned the now-closed Bound to be Read

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

s in St. Paul,

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, and

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

. As of October 2007, it is engaged in a fevered battle with

NABET The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) is a labor union representing employees in television, radio, film, and media production. A division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), NABET represents abou ...

union repping employees of WNYT in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. In June 2009, the "

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

" honored Hubbard Broadcasting and KSTP-TV with its national Historical Site in Journalism award. On January 19, 2011, Hubbard announced the purchase of 17 radio stations in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

from

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

subsidiary

Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation is a media and broadcasting company, wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation. It began as a radio and TV networ ...

for $505 million. The sale closed on April 29, 2011. On February 25, 2013, Hubbard announced that it would purchase

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 ...

station

WNYA WNYA (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States, serving New York's Capital District as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting alongside Albany-licensed NBC affiliate WNYT ...

to form a duopoly with WNYT, pending FCC approval. No financial details were announced. On July 16, 2013, Hubbard announced that it had agreed to purchase 10 stations from Ohio-based Sandusky Radio for $85.5 million. Hubbard announced on November 13, 2014 that it would purchase the sixteen stations owned by

Omni Broadcasting Omni Broadcasting was a small-market radio broadcasting company that operated for 25 years from headquarters in Bemidji, Minnesota. Organized in 1988, the company was owned and operated by Louis H. Buron, Jr., and Mary Campbell. They relocated fro ...

. The Omni stations are all located in central and northern Minnesota. Accessed July 2, 2017 (archived link) On September 26, 2018, Hubbard announced that it agreed to purchase six stations owned by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

in West Palm Beach Florida, for $88 million. The stations include Urban AC 102.3

WMBX WMBX (102.3 MHz "X 102.3") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Jensen Beach, Florida. It serves the West Palm Beach and Treasure Coast areas, broadcasting an Urban Adult Contemporary radio format. WMBX is owned by Hubbard Radio. Its ...

, Country 103.1

WIRK WIRK (103.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Indiantown, Florida, the station serves the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County area. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, through licensee WPB FCC Lic ...

, Adult Contemporary 107.9

WEAT WEAT (107.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida. It airs a classic hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. It is owned by Hubbard Radio, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, ...

, Hot Adult Contemporary 97.9

WRMF WRMF (97.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Palm Beach, Florida. It serves the West Palm Beach, Florida radio market. The station airs a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Hubbard Radio. The studios and offices are ...

, News/Talk 850

WFTL WFTL (850 AM) is a news/talk radio station licensed to West Palm Beach, Florida with studios located in West Palm Beach. The station operates with 50,000 watts daytime power and 20,000 watts nighttime power, providing coverage of Palm Beach ...

and Sports/Talk 640

WMEN WMEN (640 AM, "Fox Sports 640") is a sports radio station licensed to Royal Palm Beach, Florida, United States. The station primarily serves the West Palm Beach, Florida market and provides strong coverage of nearby Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Fo ...

. Hubbard Broadcasting took over production of ''

Country Top 40 ''Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 with Fitz'' (sometimes abbreviated as CT40) is an American country music radio countdown show created by former ''American Country Countdown'' host Bob Kingsley, who hosted the show from its January 2006 debut unti ...

'' in January 2020 after the death of the program's founder

Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...

. Fitz, a mononymous host with several syndicated country radio programs to his credit, took over as the program's host.

Hubbard-owned stations

Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and

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 broa ...

. All of the assets are owned by the Stanley S. Hubbard Revocable Trust, and administered by Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.Ownership Report for Hubbard Broadcasting
- at the

(FCC) :(**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by Hubbard.

Television stations

Radio stations

Cable channels (through Hubbard Media Group division)

(purchased August 2006; co-owned with

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

and

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...

and

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

) *

Reelz Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

(launched September 2006)

Former Hubbard-owned stations

Former television stations

Hubbard also owned a partial stake in KWK-TV (later KMOX-TV, now

KMOV KMOV (channel 4) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Circle owned-and-operated station KDTL-LD (channel 16). The two stations s ...

), channel 4, in

during the mid-1950s.

Radio stations

Cable channels

(1989–2002, defunct)

Notes

References

External links

Hubbard Broadcasting website
{{coord, 44, 58, 5, N, 93, 12, 25, W, display=title Hubbard Broadcasting, Companies based in Saint Paul, Minnesota Radio in Minnesota Television broadcasting companies of the United States Television in Minnesota Radio broadcasting companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1926 1926 establishments in Minnesota

History

Hubbard-owned stations

Television stations

Radio stations

Cable channels (through Hubbard Media Group division)

Former Hubbard-owned stations

Former television stations

Radio stations

Cable channels

Notes

References

Further reading

External links