Liberty Corporation

The Liberty Corporation was a media corporation originally based in Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, Liberty owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Cable advertising sales group CableVantage Inc., video production facility Take Ten Productions and broadcast equipment distributor Broadcast Merchandising Corporation were also some of its assets.

Not to be confused with Liberty Media, a media conglomerate.
The Liberty Corporation
TypePublic
NYSE: LC
IndustryBroadcast Television, Insurance
Founded1919
DefunctJanuary 31, 2006 (2006-01-31)
FateAcquired by Raycom Media
Successor
HeadquartersGreenville, South Carolina
Area served
 United States (Nationwide)
Key people
  • Elliott Estes
  • A. H. Twitchell
  • W. Frank Hipp
  • Herman Hipp
  • W. Hayne Hipp
Products
  • CableVantage
  • Take Ten Productions
  • Broadcasting Merchandising Corporation

Liberty was founded in 1919 when W. Frank Hipp, a former top agent at Spartanburg-based Southeastern Life Insurance Company, struck out on his own. Within a decade, Liberty had grown large enough to buy his former employer. It entered broadcasting in 1930, when it bought WIS in Columbia—the start of what would become the Broadcasting Company of the South, renamed Cosmos Broadcasting in 1965. Under Francis Hipp, who succeeded his father in 1943, Liberty reorganized as a holding company, The Liberty Corporation, in 1967.[1]

Liberty sold its insurance subsidiaries, Liberty Life and Pierce National Life, to Royal Bank of Canada in 2000. Cosmos was then folded directly into the Liberty banner.

After the sale of its insurance division, the company employed approximately 1,400 people. The executive officers included chairman and CEO W. Hayne Hipp (who, with his family, owned about 25% of the company before its sale to Raycom Media), president and COO James M. Keelor, CFO Howard L. Schrott.

On August 25, 2005, Liberty agreed to be bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom paid $987 million, or $47.35 per Liberty share, and assumed Liberty's debts of approximately $110 million in the buyout.[2] The acquisition was completed on January 31, 2006.[3] After closing the deal, Raycom sold a number of stations, including two from the Liberty portfolio. They included ABC affiliate WWAY-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina to Morris Multimedia and CBS affiliate KGBT-TV in Harlingen, Texas to Barrington Broadcasting.[4] Also included with the merger was a construction permit for a new station in the Myrtle Beach–Florence, South Carolina market that Liberty applied for in 1996[5] and was granted by the FCC in October 2005, shortly after the merger announcement;[6] Raycom would use the permit to build and sign-on WMBF-TV on August 7, 2008.[7]

Former stations

Stations are arranged in order by state and city of license.

  • (**) – Indicates station was built and signed-on by Liberty.
City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
Montgomery–Selma, AL WSFA-TV 121959–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Jonesboro, AR KAIT 81986–2006ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Albany, GA WALB 101998–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Evansville, IN WFIE 141981–2006[lower-alpha 1]NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Louisville, KY WAVE 31981–2006[lower-alpha 1]NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Lake Charles, LA KPLC 71986–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
New Orleans, LA WDSU 61972–1989NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television
Marquette–Escanaba–Iron Mountain, MI WJMN-TV[upper-alpha 1] 31981–1984[lower-alpha 1]MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Biloxi–Gulfport–Pascagoula, MS WLOX 131995–2006ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Jackson, MS WLBT 32000–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Wilmington, NC WWAY 31999–2006ABC affiliate owned by Morris Multimedia
Toledo, OH WTOL 111965–2006CBS affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
Columbia, SC WIS ** 101953–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Myrtle Beach–Florence, SC WMBF-TV 32[lower-alpha 2]NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Harlingen–Brownsville–McAllen, TX KGBT-TV 41998–2006Antenna TV affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Lubbock, TX KCBD 112000–2006NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Tyler–Longview, TX KLTV 72002–2006ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Lufkin–Nacogdoches, TX KTRE[upper-alpha 2] 92002–2006ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Green Bay, WI WFRV-TV 51981–1984[lower-alpha 1]CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group

Notes
  1. Semi-satellite of WFRV-TV.
  2. Semi-satellite of KLTV.
  1. Acquired from Orion Broadcasting.
  2. Raycom acquired WMBF's construction permit from Liberty, applied for in 1996 and granted in 2005, prior to the station's sign-on in 2008.

References
  1. Archive of company history
  2. "Liberty Corporation to Merge with Raycom Media, Inc". businesswire.com. August 25, 2005. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  3. "Liberty Corporation Completes Merger with Raycom Media". businesswire.com. January 31, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  4. "Raycom Media to sell 15 stations, including 2 it's still buying". Birmingham Business Journal. November 1, 2005. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  5. "Cosmos applies for station in MB". Sun-News. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. October 12, 1996. p. 1D. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Rich, Emma (March 23, 2007). "MB to get first NBC affiliate station". Sun-News. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. p. 1C, 6C. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Fleisher, Lisa (August 8, 2008). "MB's NBC to get some air". The Sun News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2008.
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