Lilly Broadcasting

Lilly Broadcasting, LLC is a privately owned American broadcasting company owned and operated by the Lilly Brothers’ Brian Lilly and Kevin Lilly. The company was founded in September 1999 with the purchase of WENY-TV (ABC) and WENY-FM & AM radio. In 2002, Kevin Lilly purchased WSEE-TV (CBS) in Erie, Pennsylvania and have since added the CBS and The CW affiliates in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and ABC in the Virgin Islands.

Lilly Broadcasting, LLC
Typeprivate Limited liability company
IndustryTV broadcasting
SubsidiariesSJL Broadcasting
Websitelillybroadcasting.com

Brian and Kevin Lilly are the sons of George Lilly, whose SJL Broadcast Management (also previously known as the Montecito Broadcast Group) was founded in 1984 and based in Montecito, California. SJL owns WICU-TV in Erie and the two Companies purchased three TV stations from Gateway Communications in 2000, and four stations from Emmis Communications in 2005.

Lilly Broadcasting most recently with Sankety Advisors purchased KITV (ABC) in Hawaii. Lilly sold the station to Byron Allen's Allen Media Broadcasting in 2021.

History

WJRT-TV was sold to SJL Broadcast Management in 1989.[1] In 1991, a SJL affiliated partnership,[2] Media Communications Partners Limited Partnership, purchased WTVG.[3]

SJL announced the sale of WJRT-TV and WTVG to Capital Cities/ABC for $155 million on October 1994[4] after CBS signed a long-term deal with Meredith Corporation, owner of Flint's NBC affiliate, WNEM-TV.[5] NBC was rumored to be courting WJRT-TV as a possible replacement for WNEM,[6] prompting Capital Cities/ABC to buy the stations outright.[7] The deal resulted in WTVG converting from an NBC affiliate to ABC.[4]

In 2000, it purchased the Gateway Communications stations for $96 million.[8] In 2002, SJL sold off WOWK-TV to West Virginia Media Holdings for $40.5 million.[9] In April 2006, SJL sold off WBNG-TV to Granite Broadcasting for $45 million,[10] this was followed on July 26, 2006 by selling WTAJ-TV and the licensee assets of WLYH-TV to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $56 million, completely undoing the Gateway/SJL deal.[11]

On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced the sale of all of its remaining stations except WICU (KHON-TV, KOIN, KSNW and KSNT) to New Vision Television, ending the partnership between SJL and The Blackstone Group.[12] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval of this sale in late-October of that year, and ownership was officially transferred on November 1.

On March 1, 2009, the last station formally owned by SJL, WICU, transferred its copyrights to Lilly Broadcasting when it merged its news operations with crosstown sister station WSEE-TV. Though SJL still technically exists (and still ostensibly owns WICU), its visible operations have now been subsumed by Lilly Broadcasting.

On November 3, 2010, Broadcasting & Cable magazine announced that SJL Broadcasting made an agreement with Disney to buy back WJRT-TV and WTVG, the two smallest stations in ABC's O&O portfolio.[13] The sale was completed on April 1, 2011 with both stations general manager exiting their positions at change of ownership.[14] Lilly announced on July 24, 2014, that it would sell both WJRT and WTVG to Gray Television in a $128 million transaction.[15] In 2016, Gray announced that it would operate its bureau in Washington, DC, in cooperation with Lilly.[16]

On May 13, 2015, Hearst Television announced that it would sell KITV in Honolulu, Hawaii, and its satellites (KHVO in Hilo and KMAU in Wailuku) to SJL; the deal marks the return of the company to Hawaii, following its prior ownership of KHON-TV.[17] The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on July 10, 2015[18] and completed on September 1, 2015.[19]

Lilly Broadcasting re-entered radio in 2019 by purchasing the three-station cluster in Warren, Pennsylvania, that had previously been owned by Frank Iorio's Radio Partners; Iorio sold off his only other broadcast asset, Pittsburgh's WJAS, to another buyer in 2020.[20] Lilly had previously owned and operated radio stations in Elmira before selling those off a few years after acquiring that cluster.[21]

Stations currently owned or operated by Lilly or SJL

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

Television
City of license / Market Station
Owned since Network affiliation
Marquette, Michigan WZMQ 19 (19) 2017
Elmira, NY WENY-TV 36 (35) 2000
Ithaca, NY W07BJ 36 (34) 2018[lower-alpha 1] FWW[lower-alpha 2]
Erie, PA WICU-TV 12 (12) 1996 NBC
WSEE-TV 35 (16) 2002[lower-alpha 3]
Christiansted, USVI WCVI-TV 23 (23) 2019
    1. Operated by WENY as NY Local Ithaca.[22]
    2. First Warning Weather, a mostly locally originated loop of local weather forecasts. The WSEE First Warning Weather feed also brands as "Erie News Now Plus" in addition to the First Warning Weather brand.
    3. Operates under a shared services agreement with WICU.

    Radio
    AM Station FM Station
    City of license/Market Station Owned since Current format
    Warren, PA WICU 1310 2019 Contemporary hit radio
    WNAE 104.3 2019Country
    WRRN 92.3 2019Classic hits
    Erie, PA WICU-FM 92.7 2019 Contemporary hit radio

    Cable
    • WNY News Now—Jamestown, NY, via a joint operations agreement with The WNY Media Company[23]

    Former stations
    City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
    San Luis Obispo, CA KSBY 6 1996–2002 NBC affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
    Honolulu, HI KHON-TV 2 2006–2007 Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    KITV 4 2015–2021 ABC affiliate owned by Allen Media Broadcasting
    Hilo, HI KHAW-TV[upper-alpha 1] 11 2006–2007 Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    KHVO[upper-alpha 2] 4 2015–2021 ABC affiliate owned by Allen Media Broadcasting
    Maui–Wailuku, HI KAII-TV[upper-alpha 1] 7 2006–2007 Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    KMAU[upper-alpha 2] 4 2015–2021 ABC affiliate owned by Allen Media Broadcasting
    Kauai, HI K55DZ[upper-alpha 1] 55 2006–2007 Defunct, license cancelled in 2013
    Pittsburg, KS–Joplin, MO KOAM-TV 7 1991–1995 CBS affiliate owned by Morgan Murphy Media
    Topeka, KS KSNT 27 1988–1995;
    2006–2007    		 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Wichita–Hutchinson, KS KSNW 3 1988–1995;
    2006–2007    		 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Garden City–Dodge City, KS KSNG[upper-alpha 3] 11 1988–1995;
    2006–2007    		 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Great Bend–Hays–Salina, KS KSNC[upper-alpha 3] 2 1988–1995;
    2006–2007    		 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    McCook, NE–Colby–Goodland, KS KSNK[upper-alpha 3] 8 1988–1995;
    2006–2007    		 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Flint, MI WJRT-TV 12 1989–1995;
    2011–2014    		 ABC affiliate owned by Allen Media Broadcasting
    Billings, MT KTVQ 2 1984–1994 CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
    Butte, MT KXLF-TV 4 1984–1986 CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
    Great Falls, MT KRTV 3 1984–1986 CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
    Missoula, MT KPAX-TV 8 1984–1986 CBS affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
    Binghamton, NY WBNG-TV 12 2000–2006[lower-alpha 1] CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
    Buffalo, NY WGRZ-TV 2 1986–1988 NBC affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
    Syracuse, NY WSTM-TV 3 1986–1992 NBC affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
    Toledo, OH WTVG 13 1991–1995;
    2011–2014    		 ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
    Portland, OR KOIN 6 2006–2007 CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Altoona–State College–Johnstown, PA WTAJ-TV 10 (33) 2000–2006[lower-alpha 1] CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    Lancaster–Harrisburg–York–Lebanon, PA WLYH-TV 15 (21) 2000–2006[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] TBD affiliate, WXBU, owned by Howard Stirk Holdings
    Huntington–Charleston, WV WOWK-TV 13 (13) 2000–2002[lower-alpha 1] CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
    1. Satellite of KHON-TV.
    2. Satellite of KITV.
    3. Satellite of KSNW.
    1. Acquired from Gateway Communications.
    2. Owned by SJL, but operated by Clear Channel Communications under a time shared agreement.

    References
    1. "WJRT". Station Listings. Michiguide.com. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
    2. Report No. MM 95-60
    3. WTVG TV Channel 13 Toledo, OH. Michigan Television Dial Guide. Michiguide.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.
    4. "Capital Cities-ABC Completes Buy of Two TV Stations". Associated Press News. August 30, 1995. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
    5. Mattern, Hal (June 30, 1994). "Eye say! Channel 5 called up to majors: Homeless CBS picks longtime independent". The Arizona Republic. pp. A1, A7. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
    6. Pullen, Doug (September 2, 1994). "Channel 5 Adds Weathercaster; Channel 25 Focuses On Health". Flint Journal. Flint, Michigan. pp. C16, C25. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023 – via GenealogyBank.
    7. "Notes: Scramble for affiliates". The Journal Times Spectrum Sunday. Racine, Wisconsin. October 16, 1994. p. 2. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
    8. Holmes, Alisa; A. Rathburn, Elizabeth (2000-09-18). "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
    9. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. 2002-03-04. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
    10. www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2006/07/24/daily24.html. Retrieved 2021-10-27. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
    11. www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/12/25/daily35.html. Retrieved 2021-10-27. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
    12. New Vision Buys Montecito Stations Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine Broadcasting & Cable July 24, 2007
    13. Grego, Melissa (November 3, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: Disney to Sell Two Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
    14. Exclusive: New GMs For Former ABC O&Os in Flint, Toledo Broadcasting & Cable. March 31, 2011.
    15. "Gray Buys Stations in Flint, Toledo for $128M," from TVNewsCheck, 7/24/2014
    16. McAdams, Deborah D. (February 2, 2015). "Gray Opens Washington, D.C. News Bureau". TV Technology. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
    17. Engle, Erika (May 13, 2015). "Local TV station sold". Hawaii Star-Advertiser. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
    18. "Assignment of License". Federal Communications Commission. July 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
    19. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
    20. "WJAS/Pittsburgh Sold; Price for WFUN-F/St. Louis Spin-Off $8 Million".
    21. Venta, Lance (April 12, 2019). "LILLY BROADCASTING ACQUIRES NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA TRIO". RadioInsight.com. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
    22. "New local television station opens in Downtown Ithaca". 17 November 2018.
    23. "Erie News Now & WNY News Now Partner, Strengthening Regional Coverage". 12 July 2021.
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