Equity Media Holdings
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Company type | Public |
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Nasdaq: EMDAQ | |
Industry | Broadcasting |
Founded | 1998 |
Founders |
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Defunct | 2009 |
Fate | Chapter 11 bankruptcy |
Headquarters | , USA |
Key people |
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Services | TV Stations |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | web |
Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a
Equity was known for its use of broadcast automation to control dozens of small, local VHF and UHF television broadcasting stations from one central Little Rock location; the feeds were readily visible on free-to-air satellite television through much of North America, despite the very small terrestrial footprint of the individual stations over the air. Most commonly, Equity stations were low-power television affiliates of Univision, Fox, The WB/UPN or carried music videos and classic television reruns.
In late 2005, Equity launched the
Equity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 8, 2008
Financial troubles
In the company's annual report for 2007, released on April 2, 2008, Equity said that the company was in default on its credit lines, and that if it could not find additional financing it "will need to cease all or a portion of its operations, seek protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws and regulations, engage in a restructuring or undertake a combination of these and other actions." An earlier indication of Equity's troubles came one month previously when its board of directors appointed its chairman, Henry Luken, to replace Equity founder Larry Morton as president and CEO.[3] Morton remained the chair, president and CEO of Retro Television Network.
Retro Television Network was sold to Luken's company, Luken Communications, on June 25, 2008.[4] Luken Communications continued to operate RTN out of Little Rock, Arkansas as a client of Equity's C.A.S.H. system.
In June 2008, Equity instituted a companywide suspension of news programs.[5]
In November 2008, Equity began attempts to sell all of its TV stations[6] and cut most of the company's top management[7] in a move which Chief Restructuring Officer Paul Brissette believed could allow the company a chance to avoid bankruptcy.
Equity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 8, 2008, after the company defaulted on a loan worth $41.5 million.[1][8] One of its creditors, Silver Point Finance, soon filed to change the bankruptcy from a voluntary Chapter 11 to an involuntary Chapter 7 in an attempt to foreclose on Equity assets, as they felt that there was no way Equity could reorganize under Chapter 11, nor did they have enough funds to cover payroll.[9]
Silver Point ended its attempts to push the company directly into liquidation on December 23, in return for the appointment of Kim D. Kelly, a new Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) who exerted near-total control to run the company and handle decisions on the sale of the individual stations.[10]
Trading in Equity Media Holdings Corporation (EMDA.Q) common stock, units, and warrants were suspended on December 18, 2008;
The sale of Equity's flagship Little Rock TV station KWBF (now Nexstar Broadcasting Group's KARZ-TV) closed at the end of January 2009; similarly named RTN radio station KWBF-FM had also been sold (to Flinn Broadcasting Corporation) and went silent in November 2008, later returning as KZTS under its new owner. Equity had also unexpectedly terminated a deal with the Southland Conference to carry University of Central Arkansas basketball games on KKYK-DT, effective January 14, 2009.[12]
Silver Point extended a $58 million "debtor in possession" loan on February 2, 2009, to keep Equity on-air under chief restructuring officer Kim D. Kelly, but at a hefty interest rate premium: 8% above the current London Interbank Offered Rate. The chief restructuring officer was not answerable in any way to Equity's board.[13]
On April 10, 2009, Equity announced an auction of all its stations, held on April 16 in Dallas.[2] About 60 stations (counting repeater transmitters) were sold (subject to FCC approval) at a total of $21.3 million.
Retro Television Network
Equity Media had been paid to provide
On January 4, 2009, a contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications, the owners of RTN, interrupted the programming on many RTN affiliates[15] with Luken alleging that Equity had left many obligations to RTN's creditors, including programming suppliers, unpaid. As a result, Luken restored a national RTN feed from its headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, via SES Americom-owned satellite AMC 9 (83.0°W), with individual feeds to non-Equity-owned affiliates following on a piecemeal basis. Equity owned or operated stations lost RTN affiliation immediately, though Luken vowed to find new affiliates for RTN in those areas.[16] A message displayed on-screen by Equity's stations in place of RTN gave Henry Luken's cell number as a contact number for viewers.[17] As a result of this dispute, Luken pulled out of a deal to buy Equity's southwest Florida stations.
By January 7, 2009, various Equity-owned or operated stations were broadcasting
Digital transition issues
In mid-December 2008, Equity filed notice with the
Equity had requested that the FCC extend the expiry dates of digital
Full-service stations taken dark at the end of digital transition include:
Affected stations sold to
- KUTF (TeleFutura, Logan, Utah)[21]
- KQUP (ex-RTN, Pullman, Washington)[22]
- KWBM (MyTV, Harrison, Arkansas)[23]
- WBIF (This TV, Marianna, Florida)[24]
- WNGS (This TV, Springville, New York)[25]
- WNYI (Univisión, Ithaca, New York)[26]
Affected stations sold to Max Media, then closed down:
- KBTZ (Fox, Butte, Montana)[27]
- KLMN* (Fox, Great Falls, Montana)[28]
- KMMF (Fox, Missoula, Montana)[29]
Affected station sold to Pinnacle Media:
- KPBI (MyTV, Eureka Springs, Arkansas)[30]
Affected station sold to Tyler Media:
- KUOK (Univisión, Woodward/Oklahoma City)[31]
Affected station sold to Valley Bank, and then Fusion Communications:
- KWWF (ex-RTN, Waterloo, Iowa)[32]
- While KLMN had already applied to reduce its analog signal power to 50 kW,[33]the license remained that of a full-service station. Its new owners therefore would've had to convert it to digital to continue broadcasting after December 6, 2009.
- While KLMN had already applied to reduce its analog signal power to 50
Often, the stations went dark on the June 12, 2009, analog shutdown date only to return to the air digitally under their new owners just before the June 2010 FCC expiry date of their digital TV construction permits. WNGS and WNYI are among this group.
Equity's situation was unique due to its rapid and recent expansion. Many of its full-service stations were built during the last few years of
The former Equity full-service stations therefore represented the single largest block of stations to go dark on the June 12, 2009, digital transition date.
C.A.S.H. system
A trait unique to Equity Media Holdings Corporation was their usage of a centralized group-wide hub (called by Equity the Central Automated Satellite Hub, or C.A.S.H[usurped], system) where all production, programming, and master control is handled from a facility adjacent to the company's headquarters. Though such hubbing is done on regional scales for many groups, no other company had done it to the scale and magnitude of Equity and C.A.S.H.
Various C.A.S.H. stations were available free-to-air throughout North America on Ku band via Galaxy 18 (123°W) [34] or on C band via Galaxy 3C (95°W).[35] The feeds were in a format intended to be fed directly to a terrestrial television transmitter with no further studio processing.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Equitybroadcasting.png)
Satellite transponder space was rented from Intelsat, which claimed as of December 2008 to be owed over $580,000.
As much of the free-to air satellite programming in North America consists of ethnic-language or specialised content, Equity's demise represented a significant loss in available English/Spanish-language Ku-band free television in the US.
Stations
Under the protection of
City of license / market | Call sign | Channel | Network affiliation | Current status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eureka Springs, AR | KPBI | 34 | MyNetworkTV | KXNW, owned by Nexstar Broadcast Group |
Fayetteville, AR | KXUN-LP | 36 | Univision | KFFS-CD translator KQRY-LD, owned by Pinnacle Media |
Fort Smith, AR | KFDF-CA | 44 | This TV[a] | Estrella TV affiliate owned by Pinnacle Media |
Fort Smith, AR | KPBI-CA | 46 | MyNetworkTV | Defunct, ceased operations in 2008 |
Harrison, AR–Springfield, MO | KWBM | 31 | MyNetworkTV | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Little Rock, AR | KLRA-LP | 30 | Univision | Telemundo affiliate KKYK-CD, owned by KTV Media |
Little Rock, AR | KWBF | 42 | MyNetworkTV | KARZ-TV, owned by Nexstar Broadcast Group |
Little Rock, AR | KKYK-DT | 49 | Independent[a] | MeTV affiliate KKYK-DT, owned by LR Telecasting |
Denver, CO | KQDK-CA
|
33 | Independent[a] | CTN owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Fort Myers, FL | WTLE-LP | 18 | TeleFutura | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Fort Myers, FL | WUVF-LD | 2 | Univision | Sun Broadcasting[b] |
Fort Myers, FL | WEVU-CA | 4 | Univision (WUVF-LP) | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Naples, FL | WBSP-CA | 7 | Univision (WUVF-LP) | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Naples, FL | WLZE-LD | 51 | Univision | Sun Broadcasting[b] |
Marianna, FL | WBIF | 51 | This TV[a] | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Williston, FL | W56EJ | 56 | LAT TV | Defunct, license cancelled in 2010[37] |
Williston, FL | W63DB | 63 | — | Defunct, license cancelled in 2012[38] |
Waterloo, IA | KWWF | 22 | Independent[a] | Defunct, license cancelled in 2013 |
Mount Vernon, IL–St. Louis, MO | WPXS | 13 | Independent[a] | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Lexington, KY | WBLU-LP | 62 | Independent[a] | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Detroit, MI | WUDT-CA | 23 | Univision | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Marquette, MI | WMQF | 19 | Fox/MyNetworkTV | MeTV/CBS affiliate WZMQ, owned by Lilly Broadcasting |
Minneapolis, MN | WTMS-CA | 7 | TeleFutura | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Minneapolis, MN | WUMN-CA | 21 | Univision | Owned by Media Vista Group |
Kansas City, MO | KUKC-LP | 20 | Univision | Owned by Media Vista Group |
Jackson, MS | WJMF-LP | 6 | Univision (KUOK) | Independent owned by Rainey Radio |
Butte, MT | KBTZ | 24 | Fox/MyNetworkTV | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Great Falls, MT | KLMN | 26 | Fox | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Missoula, MT | KMMF | 17 | Fox/MyNetworkTV | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Scottsbluff, NE | KTUW
|
16 | Independent[a] | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Goldfield, NV | KEGS | 7 | Independent[a] | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Las Vegas, NV | KEGS-LP | 30 | Independent[a] | All-infomercial independent owned by Innovate Corp. |
Las Vegas, NV | KNBX-CA | 31 | TeleFórmula | EEE Network affiliate owned by Innovate Corp. |
Laughlin, NV | KMCC[c] | 34 | Multimedios Televisión | Independent owned by the E. W. Scripps Company |
Reno, NV | KRRI-LP
|
25 | Independent[a] | Silent station owned by Adaptive Broadcasting Group |
Reno, NV | KELM-LP | 43 | — | Defunct, ceased operations in 2014 |
Ithaca, NY | WNYI | 52 | Univision | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Springville–Buffalo, NY | WNGS[d] | 67 | This TV[a] | MeTV affiliate WBBZ-TV, owned by Philip A. Arno |
Norman, OK | KUOK-CA | 11 | Univision (KUOK) | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Tulsa, OK | KUTU-CA | 25 | Univision | Owned by Tyler Media Group |
Woodward–Oklahoma City, OK | KUOK | 36 | Univision | Owned by Tyler Media Group |
Roseburg–Eugene, OR | KTVC | 36 | Independent[a] | 3ABN owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Nashville, TN | WNTU-LP
|
26 | Univision | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Amarillo, TX | KAMT-LP | 50 | TeleFutura | Defunct, ceased operations in 2010 |
Borger–Amarillo, TX | KEYU | 31 | Univision | Telemundo affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Waco, TX | KWKO-LP | 38 | Univision | Defunct, license cancelled in 2010 |
Wichita Falls, TX | KUWF-LP
|
36 | Univision | Defunct, ceased operations in 2010 |
Price, UT | KCBU | 3 | Independent[a] | Defunct, ceased operations in 2009 |
Salt Lake City, UT | KUTF | 12 | TeleFutura | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Salt Lake City, UT | KUTH[e] | 32 | Univision | Univision owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Burlington, VT | WGMU-CA | 39 | MyNetworkTV | Defunct, ceased operations in 2013 |
Pullman–Spokane, WA | KQUP | 24 | Independent[a] | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Seattle, WA | KUSE-LP
|
46 | Daystar (KWDK) | Vision Latina affiliate owned by Innovate Corp. |
Cheyenne, WY | KQCK | 33 | AMGTV[a] | CTN owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Cheyenne, WY | KDEV-LP | 40 | ABC (KTWO-TV) | Defunct, ceased operations in 2012 |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Affiliated with RTN until the dispute between Equity and Luken in January 2009.
- ^ a b Operated by Fort Myers Broadcasting Company.
- ^ Owned by Cranston II and managed by Equity Media Holdings.
- ^ Operated by Granite Broadcasting.
- ^ Owned by Univision and operated by Equity Media Holdings.
The following stations were pending purchases by Equity Media in 2008 but never completed:[39]
- WBQM-LP- Brooklyn, New York - A Cornerstone Television station
- WMBQ-CA- Cranford, New Jersey - An MTV2 station; since changed to Cornerstone Television
The following
- Reno, Nevada (another station)
- West Palm Beach, Florida
Other properties
- Arkansas RiverBlades (a defunct ECHL ice hockey franchise in Little Rock, Arkansas; Equity owned 51% interest in team; folded in 2003)
- Allen Wranglers, as part of the Indoor Football League)
Liabilities
In December 2008, Equity's key liabilities included:
- $41.5 million to private equity firm Silver Point Finance LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut.
- $1.3 million to Retro Television Network.
- $583,931.25 to Intelsat.
- Undetermined additional liabilities to NBC (as a programming supplier) and Univision.
See also
- Retro Jams
- Retro Television Network
- FTA receiver
References
- ^ a b Larson, Erik (December 8, 2008). "Equity Media, U.S. TV Station Owner, Seeks Bankruptcy". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ^ Jessell, Harry A. (April 3, 2008). "RTN Parent Equity Media in Financial Trouble". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012.
- Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the originalon July 20, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
- ^ Manthey, Toby (June 14, 2008). "Equity ends newscasts; N.Y. station buy teeters". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
- ^ Equity Media unloading TV stations, TOBY MANTHEY, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, November 4, 2008 Archived December 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Clock's Ticking for Brissette at Equity, Price Colman, TVNEWSDAY, Oct 29 2008
- ^ "Equity Media Holdings Chapter 11 Petition" (PDF). PacerMonitor. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ Arkansas Business: "Creditor Files to Liquidate Equity Media, Claims Company Cannot Meet Payroll Obligations", 12/10/2008.
- ^ Equity Media dispute resolved, Radio Business Report, December 23, 2008 Archived February 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Delisting of Securities of Equity Media Holdings Corporation From The NASDAQ Stock Market: Globe NewsWire, MSNBC, Jan 15, 2009[dead link]
- ^ http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/249737/[permanent dead link]
- Arkansas Business, February 2, 2009
- ^ http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/EQUITYMEDIA/0x0xS1144204-08-48304/1327012/filing.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ What’s Wrong with MyTV? Archived January 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TV Newsday: "Financial Dispute Disrupts RTN Diginet", 1/5/2009.
- ^ Equity's Management Cause of Downfall, Former CEO Asserts, Mark Hengel, Arkansas Business, February 2, 2009
- ^ Classic reruns dropped from local station, Buffalo News, Jan 7, 2009
- Buffalo News, Jan 23, 2009
- ^ "Application View ... Redirecting".
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- ^ WNYI (Univisión) FCC DTV status report, indicating station will go dark in Feb '09
- ^ "Application View ... Redirecting".
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- ^ TV stations pay high price for digital conversion, RICHARD ECKE, Great Falls Tribune, February 1, 2009
- ^ Galaxy 18 at 123.0°W - LyngSat
- ^ Galaxy 3C at 95.0°W - LyngSat
- ^ "Web Page Under Construction".
- ^ "Facility Details « Licensing and Management System Admin « FCC". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Facility Details « Licensing and Management System Admin « FCC". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Equity Media Holdings Corporation - Equity Media Announces Acquisition of Three New York City Television Stations". Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2007.