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Meredith Corporation

Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than 40 million, and its websites had nearly 135 million monthly unique visitors. Its broadcast television stations reached 11% of U.S. households.[1]

Meredith Corporation
IndustryMedia
Founded1902; 121 years ago (1902)
FounderEdwin T. Meredith
DefunctDecember 1, 2021; 17 months ago (2021-12-01)
FateAcquired by IAC and merged with Dotdash to form Dotdash Meredith
Broadcast assets acquired by Gray Television
Successors
HeadquartersDes Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Key people
  • Steve Lacy
  • (Executive Chairman)
  • Tom Harty
  • (President and CEO)
Products
  • Newspapers
  • magazines
  • television stations
  • radio stations
  • educational services
  • websites
Revenue $810.5 million (FY December 2019)
$37.8 million (FY December 2019)
Total assets $6.727 billion (FY 2018)
Total equity $1.097 billion (FY 2018)
Number of employees
7,915 (2018)
Footnotes / references
[1]
Former logo from 1960s to 2009

History

Early years

Edwin Thomas Meredith founded the company in 1902 when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine.[2]

In 1922, Meredith began publishing Fruit, Garden and Home magazine, a home and family service publication.[2] In 1924, the magazine was retitled Better Homes and Gardens,[1][2] and the first issue cost a dime on the newsstand. In 1930, the company published the first edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. In 1946, the company became a public company. In 1987, Meredith Corporation made a deal that they would purchase MMT Sales for $40 million, and would represent national advertising spot time on 60 stations across the entire US country.[3]

In 1994, Meredith and CBS struck an agreement to renew its Kansas City station and affiliate two of the Bay City and Phoenix stations with the network.[4]

2012–2021: Merger with Time Inc.; Gray/Dotdash sale

In March 2012, Meredith acquired allrecipes.com from Reader's Digest Association for $175 million.[5][6] In February 2013, Meredith and Time Warner held discussions on a possible purchase of Time Inc.; Time Warner at the time elected to spin it out as a separate company instead.[7][8]

In October 2014, Meredith announced a 10-year licensing agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to acquire the rights to Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings and marthastewart.com.[9][10]

In November 2014, Meredith acquired mywedding.com.[11][12] In January 2015, the company acquired Selectable Media.[13] Also in January 2015, Meredith acquired Shape, Natural Health and Fit Pregnancy from American Media Inc. Fitness magazine was folded into Shape, while retaining its website.[14]

On September 8, 2015, Media General announced its intent to acquire Meredith in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.4 billion.[15] Pending regulatory and shareholder approval, the deal was expected to be consummated in June 2016.[15] The combined company would have operated under the name Meredith Media General, and be the third-largest owner of television stations in the United States—serving an estimated 30% of households.[15] To comply with FCC ownership limits, the company would have divested and/or swapped stations in six markets.[15] Media General shareholders would have controlled 65% of the company, with Meredith shareholders holding 35%.[16] However, the offer was countered by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, who made a successful, $4.6 billion bid to acquire Media General instead.[17]

In February 2017, it was reported that Meredith and a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. were considering another possible purchase of Time Inc.[18] On November 26, 2017, it was announced that Meredith Corporation would acquire Time Inc. in a $2.8 billion deal.[19] $640 million in backing was provided by Koch Equity Development, but the Koch family would not have a board seat or otherwise influence the company's operations.[20][21]

On January 9, 2018, it was announced that Meredith would launch a Hungry Girl magazine on January 16, expanding from the online brand.[22]

On January 31, 2018, the company completed the acquisition of Time Inc.[23][24][25] In March 2018, only six weeks after the closure of the deal, Meredith announced that it would lay off 200 employees, up to 1,000 more over the next 10 months, and explore the sale of Fortune, Money, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Meredith felt that, despite their "strong consumer reach," these brands did not align with its core lifestyle properties.[26] Howard Milstein had announced on February 7, 2018, that he would acquire Golf Magazine from Meredith,[27] and Time Inc. UK was sold to the British private equity group Epiris (later rebranded to TI Media) in late February.[28] In September 2018, Meredith announced the sale of Time to Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne for $190 million.[29] In November 2018, Meredith announced the sale of Fortune to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon, whose family owns Charoen Pokphand, for $150 million.[30][31] After failing to find a buyer for Money, Meredith in April 2019 announced that it would cease the magazine's print publication as of July 2019, but would invest in the brand's digital component Money.com.[32] In May 2019, Meredith announced the sale of Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group, for $110 million.[33]

Time Inc. Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018. The studio is under Bruce Gersh, Meredith's president of People, Entertainment Weekly, and People en Español and head of Four M Studios.[34]

In October 2019, Meredith Corporation sold the Money brand and website to Ad Practitioners LLC, a media and advertising company based in Puerto Rico.[35] Terms were not disclosed, but sources said the brand went for just over $20 million, that was more than the $10 million Meredith was seeking in early 2019.[36]

In November 2019 the company unloaded one more asset acquired in the Time Inc. acquisition, its 60% equity ownership of digital advertising company Viant Technology Holding Inc. that, among other assets, owns social networking site Myspace.[37] Also in November 2019, the company announced the launch of a new quarterly magazine, called Reveal, in January 2020 in collaboration with Drew and Jonathan Scott from HGTV's Property Brothers.[38][39]

On May 3, 2021, Meredith announced an agreement with Gray Television for the latter to acquire Meredith's television division. The transaction will be structured as a spin-off of a new (short-lived) Meredith Corporation, containing the magazines division, to existing shareholders, to be immediately followed by the old Meredith (by then consisting solely of its TV stations group) being acquired by Gray for $2.7 billion in cash.[40]

Later that year, on October 6, Meredith announced an agreement whereby the company's remaining magazine and other non-broadcast assets would be acquired by IAC's Dotdash for $2.7 billion, forming a new entity called Dotdash Meredith.[41]

On November 15, Meredith announced it has received regulatory approvals for both the Gray and IAC transactions.[42] Both deals were completed on December 1.[43][44] On February 9, 2022, it was revealed that six former Meredith Corporation magazines (Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Espanol) will cease having print circulation and switch to a digital-only format.[45]

Divisions

National media

Magazines

Meredith magazines include the following brands:

Defunct magazines include

Digital media

Local media

The broadcasting division owned 15 television stations. Most of the company's stations were affiliated with CBS, Fox, or MyNetworkTV. Meredith's broadcasting division also produced Better from 2007 until 2015, which was originally conceived as a brand extension of BH&G. Since its inception in 2007 the show has placed an increasing emphasis on celebrity interviews and music performances. There were also cooking demonstrations and regular features on health, beauty, fitness and fashion. Local versions of the concept continue to air on Meredith stations.[51]

On December 23, 2013, Meredith announced plans to buy St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV and Phoenix independent station KTVK for $407.5 million in cash from Gannett Company and Sander Media, LLC to satisfy a federal mandate that Gannett sell KMOV.[52][third-party source needed] The purchase of KMOV was completed on February 28, 2014,[53] while the KTVK sale was completed on June 19.[54]

Meredith has also struck deals to acquire ABC affiliate WGGB in Springfield, Massachusetts from Gormally Broadcasting for $53.8 million[55] and Fox affiliate WALA in Mobile, Alabama from LIN Media for $86 million.[56]

The Local Media Division was sold to Gray Television on December 1, 2021.[57]

Television stations

  • (**) Indicates a station that was built and signed on by Meredith.
City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
Mobile, AL WALA-TV 10 2014–2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television
Phoenix, AZ KTVK 3 2014–2021[a] Independent owned by Gray Television
KPHO-TV 5 1952–2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
KASW 61 2014[a][b] The CW affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Fresno, CA KSEE 24 1984–1993 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
HartfordNew Haven, CT WFSB 3 1997–2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
OrlandoDaytona Beach, FL WOFL 35 1983–2002 Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
WCPX-TV 6 1997[c][d] CBS affiliate WKMG-TV, owned by Graham Media Group
OcalaGainesville, FL WOGX[A] 51 1996–2002 Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
Atlanta, GA WGNX/WGCL-TV 46 1999–2021 CBS affiliate WANF, owned by Gray Television
WPCH-TV 17 2017–2021[e] Independent owned by Gray Television
Springfield, MA WSHM-LD[B] 3 2004–2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
WGGB-TV 40 2014–2021 ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Bay CityFlintSaginaw, MI WNEM-TV 5 1969–2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Kansas City, MO KCTV 5 1953–2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
KSMO-TV 62 2005–2021 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television
St. Louis, MO KMOV 4 2014–2021[a] CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Omaha, NE WOW-TV 6 1951–1975 NBC affiliate WOWT, owned by Gray Television
HendersonLas Vegas, NV KVVU-TV 5 1985–2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television
Syracuse, NY WHEN-TV/WTVH ** 5 1948–1993 CBS affiliate owned by Granite Broadcasting[f]
Portland, ORVancouver, WA KPTV 12 2002–2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television
KPDX 49 1997–2021[c] MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television
Bend, OR KFXO-LD 39 1997–2007 Fox affiliate owned by News-Press & Gazette Company
KUBN-LD[C] 43 2006–2021 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray Television
Pittsburgh, PA WPGH-TV 53 1978–1986 Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
GreenvilleSpartanburg, SC WHNS 21 1997–2021[c] Fox affiliate owned by Gray Television
ClevelandChattanooga, TN WFLI-TV 53 2004–2008 The CW affiliate owned by MPS Media[g]
Nashville, TN WSMV-TV 4 1995–2021 NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
SeattleTacoma, WA KCPQ 13 1998–1999[h] Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
  1. ^ a b c Acquired from Belo Corporation.
  2. ^ Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting and operated under a shared services agreement.
  3. ^ a b c Acquired from First Media.[58]
  4. ^ Swapped to Post-Newsweek Stations for WFSB.
  5. ^ Owned by Time Warner subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System and operated by Meredith through a local marketing agreement (LMA) between 2011 and 2017.[59] Meredith purchased the station in 2017 prior to Time Warner's merging into AT&T.[60]
  6. ^ Operated under an local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
  7. ^ Operated under a shared services agreement by New Age Media.
  8. ^ Acquired solely to be traded to Tribune Broadcasting for WGCL.
  1. ^ Semi-satellite of WOFL.
  2. ^ Semi-satellite of WFSB.
  3. ^ Semi-satellite of KPDX.

Radio stations

AM Stations FM Stations
City of license / Market Station Years owned Current status
Phoenix, AZ KPHO 910 1952–1972 KGME, owned by iHeartMedia
Kansas City, MO KCMO 810 1953–1983 WHB, owned by Union Broadcasting[a]
KCMO-FM 94.9 1953–1983 Owned by Cumulus Media
Omaha, NE WOW 590 1951–1983 KXSP, owned by SummitMedia
WOW-FM 92.3 1951–1983 KEZO-FM, owned by SummitMedia
Syracuse, NY WHEN 620 1954–1976 Owned by iHeartMedia
Bridgeport, MI WNEM 1250 2004–2013 WJMK, owned by Northern States Broadcasting
  1. ^ KCMO is now at 710 AM.

Four M Studios

Four M Studios (Four M), formerly Time Inc. Productions, is Meredith's in-house production company and is under the oversight of Bruce Gersh, Meredith's president of People, Entertainment Weekly and People en Español.[34]

After attempting a few TV shows in 2014 and 2015, the company formed Time Inc. Productions in 2016 as its in-house production company.[61] It launched its free, ad-supported online video service PeopleTV in 2016, which got a pay TV deal by May 2018 with FuboTV. In November 2017, it launched its first over-the-top subscription service, Sports Illustrated TV, available via Amazon Channels.[34] On October 30, 2017, it announced that Paramount Network was partnering with it on two TV pilots.[62]

Time Inc. Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018. Four M would expand from the Time titles to all Meredith titles and to freestanding lifestyle shows and scripted shows. Four M also announced at that time a deal with Freeform TV channel to develop Meredith magazine stories, including People's "Heroes Among Us" franchise, into telefilms.[34]

Four M Studios partnered with Imagine Entertainment's Imagine Kids & Family division. Its first project from the partnership is LIFE for Kids, a children's TV show using LIFE Magazine's photo archive.[63]

Production library

Time Inc. Productions
Time Inc. Productions/Four M Studios
Four M Studios[34]
  • Home (Apple) 10 one-hour episodes[65]
  • People Magazine Investigates: Cults (Investigation Discovery)
  • People Magazine Investigates: Crimes of Fashion (Investigation Discovery)
  • The Story of the Royals (ABC) documentary miniseries

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Meredith Corporation FY 2018 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. ^ a b c "Timeline: Meredith Corp. history". The Des Moines Register. September 8, 2015.
  3. ^ "Meredith Agrees To Buy MMT Sales For $40,000,000". Variety. July 15, 1987. p. 37.
  4. ^ "Meredith Shifts Stations to CBS." The New York Times June 30, 1994; p6
  5. ^ "Meredith Completes Acquisition of Allrecipes.com From Reader's Digest" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 1, 2012.
  6. ^ Rubin, Ben Fox (January 24, 2012). "Meredith to Buy AllRecipes.com". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
  7. ^ Steigrad, Alexandra (February 5, 2014). "Time Inc. Lays Out Restructuring". WWD. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Lauria, Peter (February 13, 2013). "Time Warner in talks with Meredith on magazines: source". Reuters. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  9. ^ Haughney, Christine (October 15, 2014). "Martha Stewart's Magazines to Outsource Business Side to Meredith". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  10. ^ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (October 15, 2014). "Martha Stewart Magazines to Be Licensed to Meredith Corp". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
  11. ^ "Meredith Adds To Growing Presence In Wedding Marketplace With Acquisition Of Rapidly Growing Mywedding.com Brand" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 17, 2014.
  12. ^ O'Shea, Chris (November 17, 2014). "Meredith Buys Mywedding.com". AdWeek.
  13. ^ "Meredith Expands Digital Capabilities With Acquisition Of Selectable Media" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 6, 2015.
  14. ^ Bill Mickey (January 28, 2015). "Meredith Buys Shape From AMI for $60 Million". Folio. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d "Media General to Acquire Meredith Corp. in $2.4B Deal to Create TV Station Giant". The Hollywood Reporter. September 8, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  16. ^ "Media General to Buy Meredith Corp. for $2.4 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  17. ^ Lieberman, David (January 11, 2017). "FCC Approves Nexstar's $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General". Deadline. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  18. ^ A. Trachtenberg, Jeffrey (February 7, 2017). "Meredith, Bronfman Move Forward in Effort to Acquire Time Inc". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  19. ^ Danner, Chas (November 26, 2017). "Meredith, Backed by Koch Brothers, Acquires Time Inc. for $2.8 Billion". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  20. ^ Nyren, Erin; Littleton, Cynthia (November 26, 2017). "Meredith Corp. Acquires Time Inc. in $2.8 Billion Koch Brothers-Backed Deal". Variety. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  21. ^ Ember, Sydney; Ross, Andrew (November 26, 2017). "Time Inc. Sells Itself to Meredith Corp., Backed by Koch Brothers". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  22. ^ Hardy, Kevin (January 9, 2018). "Meredith launches new Hungry Girl magazine". Des Moines Register. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Meredith Corporation Announces Completion Of Time Inc. Acquisition And Reports Fiscal 2018 Second Quarter And First Half Results" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 31, 2018.
  24. ^ Hays, Kali (February 1, 2018). "Time Inc., Now Meredith and More Changes to Come". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  25. ^ Gold, Howard R. (February 1, 2018). "Who killed Time Inc.?". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i Spangler, Todd (March 21, 2018). "Meredith Laying Off 1,200, Will Explore Sale of Time, SI, Fortune and Money Brands". Variety. from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  27. ^ "Banker shells out big bucks to buy Golf Magazine". New York Post. February 8, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  28. ^ Sweney, Mark (February 26, 2018). "Marie Claire publisher Time Inc UK sold to private equity group". The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  29. ^ "Marc and Lynne Benioff will buy Times magazine from Meredith for $190M". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  30. ^ NUSCA, ANDREW (November 9, 2018). "FORTUNE Sells to Thai Businessman for $150 Million". Fortune.
  31. ^ Hauser, Christine; Lee, Edmund (November 9, 2018). "Fortune Magazine Sold to Thai Businessman for $150 Million". The New York Times.
  32. ^ "Money Magazine Is No Longer for Sale, and It's Going Digital Only". www.adweek.com. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  33. ^ "Meredith Corporation Announces Sale of Sports Illustrated to ABG for $110 million". May 27, 2019.
  34. ^ a b c d e f Otterson, Joe (May 15, 2018). "Time Inc. Productions Rebrands as Four M Studios (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  35. ^ "Meredith Sells Money Magazine Brand, Nearly Two Years After Time Inc. Merger". Folio. October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  36. ^ "Meredith sells Money.com to former Google exec's startup". New York Post. October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  37. ^ Jett, Tyler. "Meredith Corporation sells stake in MySpace owner". Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  38. ^ Corporation, Meredith. "Meredith Corporation And Drew And Jonathan Scott Of HGTV's Property Brothers Name New Magazine, Reveal". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  39. ^ "'Property Brothers' Stars Drew and Jonathan Scott Name New Meredith Magazine 'Reveal'". TheWrap. November 20, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  40. ^ Cynthia Littleton (May 3, 2021). "Gray Television to Acquire Meredith TV Stations for $2.7 Billion". Variety.
  41. ^ "IAC's Dotdash to Acquire Meredith Corporation's National Media Group". Meredith Corporation MediaRoom. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  42. ^ "Pending Meredith Acquisitions By Gray And IAC's Dotdash Receive Regulatory Approvals", prnewswire.com, November 15, 2021, Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  43. ^ "Gray Television Closes On Acquisition of Meredith Corporation's Local Media Group", Gray Television, December 1, 2021, Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  44. ^ "IAC's Dotdash Announces Close of Meredith Transaction", IAC, December 1, 2021, Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  45. ^ Bruell, Alexandra (February 9, 2022). "Barry Diller's Media Group Ends Print Versions of InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, Others". Wall Street Journa. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  46. ^ Dale, Martin (September 28, 2014). "Emilio Alcalde, Krishna Mahon, A+E Networks Latin America, on Brazil's Pay TV Market". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  47. ^ Porter, Sierra. "Meredith Corp. sells Money website to Puerto Rico media and advertising company". Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  48. ^ Patane, Matthew. "Meredith ceasing More magazine publication". Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  49. ^ . March 1, 2012. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  50. ^ . November 17, 2014. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  51. ^ Pursell, Chris (January 2008). . TV Week. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  52. ^ "Meredith to Expand TV Portfolio with Deal to Add Stations in Phoenix, St. Louis" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 23, 2013.
  53. ^ Brown, Lisa (February 28, 2014). "Meredith Corp. closes on $177 million purchase of KMOV". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  54. ^ Gannett-Sander Complete Phoenix Sale, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  55. ^ Malone, Michael (June 19, 2014). "Meredith to Acquire WGGB Springfield, Mass". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  56. ^ "Media General, LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets". August 20, 2014.
  57. ^ "Gray Television Closes on Acquisition of Meredith Corporation's Local Media Group" (Press release). Gray Television. Globe Newswire. December 1, 2021.
  58. ^ "Meredith To Purchase Channel 6".
  59. ^ Swartz, Kristi E. (January 18, 2011). "Parent of CBS Atlanta to take over operations of Peachtree TV". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  60. ^ Rodney Ho (February 23, 2017). "Meredith purchases Peachtree TV from Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting System". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  61. ^ Applefeld Olson, Cathy (January 11, 2018). "At Time Inc. Productions, It's All About the Brands – Cynopsis Media". Cynopsis Media. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  62. ^ a b c "Paramount Network, Time Inc. Productions Announce Collaboration". TVWeek. October 30, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  63. ^ Sippell, Margeaux (January 16, 2019). "TV Roundup: Syfy Drops First Trailer for Season 2 of 'Happy!'". Variety. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  64. ^ a b c d Stanhope, Kate (February 13, 2017). "Princess Diana Documentary in the Works at ABC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  65. ^ a b c Alcinii, Daniele (August 9, 2018). "Bruce Gersh on Four M Studios' unscripted strategy". Realscreen. Retrieved November 10, 2018.

Further reading

  • Brown, Kathi Ann (2002). Meredith: the first 100 years. ISBN 978-0-696-21668-8.
  • Pendergast, Sara (2006). "Meredith Corporation". International Directory of Company Histories. Retrieved May 13, 2018 – via Encyclopedia.com.

External links

  • Agriculture.com portal by Successful Farming
  • Better Homes and Gardens main website

meredith, corporation, american, media, conglomerate, based, moines, iowa, that, owned, magazines, television, stations, websites, radio, stations, publications, readership, more, than, million, paid, circulation, more, than, million, websites, nearly, million. Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines Iowa that owned magazines television stations websites and radio stations Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more than 40 million and its websites had nearly 135 million monthly unique visitors Its broadcast television stations reached 11 of U S households 1 Meredith CorporationIndustryMediaFounded1902 121 years ago 1902 FounderEdwin T MeredithDefunctDecember 1 2021 17 months ago 2021 12 01 FateAcquired by IAC and merged with Dotdash to form Dotdash MeredithBroadcast assets acquired by Gray TelevisionSuccessorsDotdash MeredithGray TelevisionHeadquartersDes Moines Iowa U S Key peopleSteve Lacy Executive Chairman Tom Harty President and CEO ProductsNewspapersmagazinestelevision stationsradio stationseducational serviceswebsitesRevenue 810 5 million FY December 2019 Net income 37 8 million FY December 2019 Total assets 6 727 billion FY 2018 Total equity 1 097 billion FY 2018 Number of employees7 915 2018 Footnotes references 1 Former logo from 1960s to 2009 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 2012 2021 Merger with Time Inc Gray Dotdash sale 2 Divisions 2 1 National media 2 1 1 Magazines 2 1 2 Digital media 2 2 Local media 2 2 1 Television stations 2 2 2 Radio stations 3 Four M Studios 3 1 Production library 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksHistory EditEarly years Edit Edwin Thomas Meredith founded the company in 1902 when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine 2 In 1922 Meredith began publishing Fruit Garden and Home magazine a home and family service publication 2 In 1924 the magazine was retitled Better Homes and Gardens 1 2 and the first issue cost a dime on the newsstand In 1930 the company published the first edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book In 1946 the company became a public company In 1987 Meredith Corporation made a deal that they would purchase MMT Sales for 40 million and would represent national advertising spot time on 60 stations across the entire US country 3 In 1994 Meredith and CBS struck an agreement to renew its Kansas City station and affiliate two of the Bay City and Phoenix stations with the network 4 2012 2021 Merger with Time Inc Gray Dotdash sale Edit In March 2012 Meredith acquired allrecipes com from Reader s Digest Association for 175 million 5 6 In February 2013 Meredith and Time Warner held discussions on a possible purchase of Time Inc Time Warner at the time elected to spin it out as a separate company instead 7 8 In October 2014 Meredith announced a 10 year licensing agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to acquire the rights to Martha Stewart Living Martha Stewart Weddings and marthastewart com 9 10 In November 2014 Meredith acquired mywedding com 11 12 In January 2015 the company acquired Selectable Media 13 Also in January 2015 Meredith acquired Shape Natural Health and Fit Pregnancy from American Media Inc Fitness magazine was folded into Shape while retaining its website 14 On September 8 2015 Media General announced its intent to acquire Meredith in a cash and stock deal valued at 2 4 billion 15 Pending regulatory and shareholder approval the deal was expected to be consummated in June 2016 15 The combined company would have operated under the name Meredith Media General and be the third largest owner of television stations in the United States serving an estimated 30 of households 15 To comply with FCC ownership limits the company would have divested and or swapped stations in six markets 15 Media General shareholders would have controlled 65 of the company with Meredith shareholders holding 35 16 However the offer was countered by Nexstar Broadcasting Group who made a successful 4 6 billion bid to acquire Media General instead 17 In February 2017 it was reported that Meredith and a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr were considering another possible purchase of Time Inc 18 On November 26 2017 it was announced that Meredith Corporation would acquire Time Inc in a 2 8 billion deal 19 640 million in backing was provided by Koch Equity Development but the Koch family would not have a board seat or otherwise influence the company s operations 20 21 On January 9 2018 it was announced that Meredith would launch a Hungry Girl magazine on January 16 expanding from the online brand 22 On January 31 2018 the company completed the acquisition of Time Inc 23 24 25 In March 2018 only six weeks after the closure of the deal Meredith announced that it would lay off 200 employees up to 1 000 more over the next 10 months and explore the sale of Fortune Money Sports Illustrated and Time Meredith felt that despite their strong consumer reach these brands did not align with its core lifestyle properties 26 Howard Milstein had announced on February 7 2018 that he would acquire Golf Magazine from Meredith 27 and Time Inc UK was sold to the British private equity group Epiris later rebranded to TI Media in late February 28 In September 2018 Meredith announced the sale of Time to Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne for 190 million 29 In November 2018 Meredith announced the sale of Fortune to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon whose family owns Charoen Pokphand for 150 million 30 31 After failing to find a buyer for Money Meredith in April 2019 announced that it would cease the magazine s print publication as of July 2019 but would invest in the brand s digital component Money com 32 In May 2019 Meredith announced the sale of Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group for 110 million 33 Time Inc Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018 The studio is under Bruce Gersh Meredith s president of People Entertainment Weekly and People en Espanol and head of Four M Studios 34 In October 2019 Meredith Corporation sold the Money brand and website to Ad Practitioners LLC a media and advertising company based in Puerto Rico 35 Terms were not disclosed but sources said the brand went for just over 20 million that was more than the 10 million Meredith was seeking in early 2019 36 In November 2019 the company unloaded one more asset acquired in the Time Inc acquisition its 60 equity ownership of digital advertising company Viant Technology Holding Inc that among other assets owns social networking site Myspace 37 Also in November 2019 the company announced the launch of a new quarterly magazine called Reveal in January 2020 in collaboration with Drew and Jonathan Scott from HGTV s Property Brothers 38 39 On May 3 2021 Meredith announced an agreement with Gray Television for the latter to acquire Meredith s television division The transaction will be structured as a spin off of a new short lived Meredith Corporation containing the magazines division to existing shareholders to be immediately followed by the old Meredith by then consisting solely of its TV stations group being acquired by Gray for 2 7 billion in cash 40 Later that year on October 6 Meredith announced an agreement whereby the company s remaining magazine and other non broadcast assets would be acquired by IAC s Dotdash for 2 7 billion forming a new entity called Dotdash Meredith 41 On November 15 Meredith announced it has received regulatory approvals for both the Gray and IAC transactions 42 Both deals were completed on December 1 43 44 On February 9 2022 it was revealed that six former Meredith Corporation magazines Entertainment Weekly InStyle EatingWell Health Parents and People en Espanol will cease having print circulation and switch to a digital only format 45 Divisions EditNational media Edit Magazines Edit Meredith magazines include the following brands 25 Beautiful Homes Ageless Iron Allrecipes Magazine American Baby American Patchwork amp Quilting Better Homes and Gardens 26 Country Life Diabetic Living Do It Yourself Eat This Not That EatingWell Entertainment Weekly from Time Inc 26 Every Day with Rachael Ray FamilyFun Fitness Food amp Wine Health InStyle from Time Inc 26 Living the Country Life Midwest Living Parents 26 and Ser Padres People from Time Inc 26 Practical Boat Owner Real Simple from Time Inc 26 Shape Siempre Mujer Southern Living Successful Farming Travel Leisure from Time Inc 26 Wood Defunct magazines include Family Circle 46 Ladies Home Journal Money from Time Inc 47 More 48 Readymade Scrapbooks Etc Traditional HomeDigital media Edit Allrecipes com 49 mywedding com 50 Local media Edit The broadcasting division owned 15 television stations Most of the company s stations were affiliated with CBS Fox or MyNetworkTV Meredith s broadcasting division also produced Better from 2007 until 2015 which was originally conceived as a brand extension of BH amp G Since its inception in 2007 the show has placed an increasing emphasis on celebrity interviews and music performances There were also cooking demonstrations and regular features on health beauty fitness and fashion Local versions of the concept continue to air on Meredith stations 51 On December 23 2013 Meredith announced plans to buy St Louis CBS affiliate KMOV and Phoenix independent station KTVK for 407 5 million in cash from Gannett Company and Sander Media LLC to satisfy a federal mandate that Gannett sell KMOV 52 third party source needed The purchase of KMOV was completed on February 28 2014 53 while the KTVK sale was completed on June 19 54 Meredith has also struck deals to acquire ABC affiliate WGGB in Springfield Massachusetts from Gormally Broadcasting for 53 8 million 55 and Fox affiliate WALA in Mobile Alabama from LIN Media for 86 million 56 The Local Media Division was sold to Gray Television on December 1 2021 57 Television stations Edit Indicates a station that was built and signed on by Meredith City of license Market Station Channel Years owned Current statusMobile AL WALA TV 10 2014 2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionPhoenix AZ KTVK 3 2014 2021 a Independent owned by Gray TelevisionKPHO TV 5 1952 2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionKASW 61 2014 a b The CW affiliate owned by the E W Scripps CompanyFresno CA KSEE 24 1984 1993 NBC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media GroupHartford New Haven CT WFSB 3 1997 2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionOrlando Daytona Beach FL WOFL 35 1983 2002 Fox owned and operated O amp O WCPX TV 6 1997 c d CBS affiliate WKMG TV owned by Graham Media GroupOcala Gainesville FL WOGX A 51 1996 2002 Fox owned and operated O amp O Atlanta GA WGNX WGCL TV 46 1999 2021 CBS affiliate WANF owned by Gray TelevisionWPCH TV 17 2017 2021 e Independent owned by Gray TelevisionSpringfield MA WSHM LD B 3 2004 2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionWGGB TV 40 2014 2021 ABC affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionBay City Flint Saginaw MI WNEM TV 5 1969 2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionKansas City MO KCTV 5 1953 2021 CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionKSMO TV 62 2005 2021 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionSt Louis MO KMOV 4 2014 2021 a CBS affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionOmaha NE WOW TV 6 1951 1975 NBC affiliate WOWT owned by Gray TelevisionHenderson Las Vegas NV KVVU TV 5 1985 2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionSyracuse NY WHEN TV WTVH 5 1948 1993 CBS affiliate owned by Granite Broadcasting f Portland OR Vancouver WA KPTV 12 2002 2021 Fox affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionKPDX 49 1997 2021 c MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionBend OR KFXO LD 39 1997 2007 Fox affiliate owned by News Press amp Gazette CompanyKUBN LD C 43 2006 2021 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionPittsburgh PA WPGH TV 53 1978 1986 Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast GroupGreenville Spartanburg SC WHNS 21 1997 2021 c Fox affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionCleveland Chattanooga TN WFLI TV 53 2004 2008 The CW affiliate owned by MPS Media g Nashville TN WSMV TV 4 1995 2021 NBC affiliate owned by Gray TelevisionSeattle Tacoma WA KCPQ 13 1998 1999 h Fox owned and operated O amp O a b c Acquired from Belo Corporation Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting and operated under a shared services agreement a b c Acquired from First Media 58 Swapped to Post Newsweek Stations for WFSB Owned by Time Warner subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System and operated by Meredith through a local marketing agreement LMA between 2011 and 2017 59 Meredith purchased the station in 2017 prior to Time Warner s merging into AT amp T 60 Operated under an local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcast Group Operated under a shared services agreement by New Age Media Acquired solely to be traded to Tribune Broadcasting for WGCL Semi satellite of WOFL Semi satellite of WFSB Semi satellite of KPDX Radio stations Edit AM Stations FM StationsCity of license Market Station Years owned Current statusPhoenix AZ KPHO 910 1952 1972 KGME owned by iHeartMediaKansas City MO KCMO 810 1953 1983 WHB owned by Union Broadcasting a KCMO FM 94 9 1953 1983 Owned by Cumulus MediaOmaha NE WOW 590 1951 1983 KXSP owned by SummitMediaWOW FM 92 3 1951 1983 KEZO FM owned by SummitMediaSyracuse NY WHEN 620 1954 1976 Owned by iHeartMediaBridgeport MI WNEM 1250 2004 2013 WJMK owned by Northern States Broadcasting KCMO is now at 710 AM Four M Studios EditFour M Studios Four M formerly Time Inc Productions is Meredith s in house production company and is under the oversight of Bruce Gersh Meredith s president of People Entertainment Weekly and People en Espanol 34 After attempting a few TV shows in 2014 and 2015 the company formed Time Inc Productions in 2016 as its in house production company 61 It launched its free ad supported online video service PeopleTV in 2016 which got a pay TV deal by May 2018 with FuboTV In November 2017 it launched its first over the top subscription service Sports Illustrated TV available via Amazon Channels 34 On October 30 2017 it announced that Paramount Network was partnering with it on two TV pilots 62 Time Inc Productions was renamed Four M Studios in May 2018 Four M would expand from the Time titles to all Meredith titles and to freestanding lifestyle shows and scripted shows Four M also announced at that time a deal with Freeform TV channel to develop Meredith magazine stories including People s Heroes Among Us franchise into telefilms 34 Four M Studios partnered with Imagine Entertainment s Imagine Kids amp Family division Its first project from the partnership is LIFE for Kids a children s TV show using LIFE Magazine s photo archive 63 Production library Edit Time Inc ProductionsPeople Magazine Investigates Investigation Discovery 26 The Mars Generation Netflix 64 The Making of SI Swimsuit 2017 DirecTV Now 64 Puppy Bowl Where Are They Now Animal Planet 64 The Story of Diana ABC 2017 documentary miniseries 2 nights 2 hours each 64 A Year in Space PBS Emmy winning 34 Cultureshock A amp E pop culture docuseries from Entertainment Weekly 65 89 Blocks Fox East St Louis high school football team documentary from Sports Illustrated which was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award 65 Time Inc Productions Four M StudiosSports Illustrated True Crime pilot working title Paramount Network Jerry Bruckheimer TV 62 Entertainment Weekly The Bullseye pilot Paramount Network Conveyor Media 62 Four M Studios 34 Home Apple 10 one hour episodes 65 People Magazine Investigates Cults Investigation Discovery People Magazine Investigates Crimes of Fashion Investigation Discovery The Story of the Royals ABC documentary miniseriesSee also Edit 1 Companies portalNew Media Strategies List of United States magazinesReferences Edit a b c Meredith Corporation FY 2018 Form 10 K Annual Report U S Securities and Exchange Commission a b c Timeline Meredith Corp history The Des Moines Register September 8 2015 Meredith Agrees To Buy MMT Sales For 40 000 000 Variety July 15 1987 p 37 Meredith Shifts Stations to CBS The New York Times June 30 1994 p6 Meredith Completes Acquisition of Allrecipes com From Reader s Digest Press release PR Newswire March 1 2012 Rubin Ben Fox January 24 2012 Meredith to Buy AllRecipes com The Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Steigrad Alexandra February 5 2014 Time Inc Lays Out Restructuring WWD Retrieved February 5 2014 Lauria Peter February 13 2013 Time Warner in talks with Meredith on magazines source Reuters Retrieved February 20 2013 Haughney Christine October 15 2014 Martha Stewart s Magazines to Outsource Business Side to Meredith The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Trachtenberg Jeffrey A October 15 2014 Martha Stewart Magazines to Be Licensed to Meredith Corp The Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Meredith Adds To Growing Presence In Wedding Marketplace With Acquisition Of Rapidly Growing Mywedding com Brand Press release PR Newswire November 17 2014 O Shea Chris November 17 2014 Meredith Buys Mywedding com AdWeek Meredith Expands Digital Capabilities With Acquisition Of Selectable Media Press release PR Newswire January 6 2015 Bill Mickey January 28 2015 Meredith Buys Shape From AMI for 60 Million Folio Retrieved March 9 2015 a b c d Media General to Acquire Meredith Corp in 2 4B Deal to Create TV Station Giant The Hollywood Reporter September 8 2015 Retrieved October 29 2019 Media General to Buy Meredith Corp for 2 4 Billion The Wall Street Journal September 8 2015 Retrieved September 8 2015 Lieberman David January 11 2017 FCC Approves Nexstar s 4 6B Acquisition Of Media General Deadline Retrieved April 21 2018 A Trachtenberg Jeffrey February 7 2017 Meredith Bronfman Move Forward in Effort to Acquire Time Inc The Wall Street Journal Retrieved February 8 2017 Danner Chas November 26 2017 Meredith Backed by Koch Brothers Acquires Time Inc for 2 8 Billion Intelligencer Retrieved October 29 2019 Nyren Erin Littleton Cynthia November 26 2017 Meredith Corp Acquires Time Inc in 2 8 Billion Koch Brothers Backed Deal Variety Retrieved November 27 2017 Ember Sydney Ross Andrew November 26 2017 Time Inc Sells Itself to Meredith Corp Backed by Koch Brothers The New York Times Retrieved November 27 2017 Hardy Kevin January 9 2018 Meredith launches new Hungry Girl magazine Des Moines Register Retrieved January 15 2018 Meredith Corporation Announces Completion Of Time Inc Acquisition And Reports Fiscal 2018 Second Quarter And First Half Results Press release PR Newswire January 31 2018 Hays Kali February 1 2018 Time Inc Now Meredith and More Changes to Come Women s Wear Daily Retrieved February 10 2018 Gold Howard R February 1 2018 Who killed Time Inc Columbia Journalism Review Retrieved February 10 2018 a b c d e f g h i Spangler Todd March 21 2018 Meredith Laying Off 1 200 Will Explore Sale of Time SI Fortune and Money Brands Variety Archived from the original on April 26 2021 Retrieved May 17 2021 Banker shells out big bucks to buy Golf Magazine New York Post February 8 2018 Retrieved March 22 2018 Sweney Mark February 26 2018 Marie Claire publisher Time Inc UK sold to private equity group The Guardian Retrieved March 22 2018 Marc and Lynne Benioff will buy Times magazine from Meredith for 190M TechCrunch Retrieved September 17 2018 NUSCA ANDREW November 9 2018 FORTUNE Sells to Thai Businessman for 150 Million Fortune Hauser Christine Lee Edmund November 9 2018 Fortune Magazine Sold to Thai Businessman for 150 Million The New York Times Money Magazine Is No Longer for Sale and It s Going Digital Only www adweek com Retrieved April 26 2019 Meredith Corporation Announces Sale of Sports Illustrated to ABG for 110 million May 27 2019 a b c d e f Otterson Joe May 15 2018 Time Inc Productions Rebrands as Four M Studios EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved November 9 2018 Meredith Sells Money Magazine Brand Nearly Two Years After Time Inc Merger Folio October 22 2019 Retrieved October 23 2019 Meredith sells Money com to former Google exec s startup New York Post October 22 2019 Retrieved October 23 2019 Jett Tyler Meredith Corporation sells stake in MySpace owner Des Moines Register Retrieved November 22 2019 Corporation Meredith Meredith Corporation And Drew And Jonathan Scott Of HGTV s Property Brothers Name New Magazine Reveal www prnewswire com Retrieved November 22 2019 Property Brothers Stars Drew and Jonathan Scott Name New Meredith Magazine Reveal TheWrap November 20 2019 Retrieved February 21 2020 Cynthia Littleton May 3 2021 Gray Television to Acquire Meredith TV Stations for 2 7 Billion Variety IAC s Dotdash to Acquire Meredith Corporation s National Media Group Meredith Corporation MediaRoom Retrieved October 6 2021 Pending Meredith Acquisitions By Gray And IAC s Dotdash Receive Regulatory Approvals prnewswire com November 15 2021 Retrieved November 17 2021 Gray Television Closes On Acquisition of Meredith Corporation s Local Media Group Gray Television December 1 2021 Retrieved December 1 2021 IAC s Dotdash Announces Close of Meredith Transaction IAC December 1 2021 Retrieved December 1 2021 Bruell Alexandra February 9 2022 Barry Diller s Media Group Ends Print Versions of InStyle Entertainment Weekly Others Wall Street Journa Retrieved May 10 2022 Dale Martin September 28 2014 Emilio Alcalde Krishna Mahon A E Networks Latin America on Brazil s Pay TV Market Variety Retrieved February 13 2019 Porter Sierra Meredith Corp sells Money website to Puerto Rico media and advertising company Des Moines Register Retrieved December 18 2019 Patane Matthew Meredith ceasing More magazine publication Des Moines Register Retrieved December 18 2019 Meredith Completes Acquisition of Allrecipes com From Reader s Digest March 1 2012 Archived from the original on January 28 2015 Retrieved August 25 2015 Meredith Adds To Growing Presence In Wedding Marketplace With Acquisition Of Rapidly Growing Mywedding com Brand November 17 2014 Archived from the original on September 12 2015 Retrieved August 25 2015 Pursell Chris January 2008 Meredith Speeds Up Better Rollout TV Week Archived from the original on July 15 2009 Retrieved January 19 2011 Meredith to Expand TV Portfolio with Deal to Add Stations in Phoenix St Louis Press release PR Newswire December 23 2013 Brown Lisa February 28 2014 Meredith Corp closes on 177 million purchase of KMOV St Louis Post Dispatch Retrieved February 28 2014 Gannett Sander Complete Phoenix Sale TVNewsCheck Retrieved June 19 2014 Malone Michael June 19 2014 Meredith to Acquire WGGB Springfield Mass Broadcasting amp Cable Retrieved September 9 2014 Media General LIN Sell Stations In 5 Markets August 20 2014 Gray Television Closes on Acquisition of Meredith Corporation s Local Media Group Press release Gray Television Globe Newswire December 1 2021 Meredith To Purchase Channel 6 Swartz Kristi E January 18 2011 Parent of CBS Atlanta to take over operations of Peachtree TV Atlanta Journal Constitution Retrieved January 18 2011 Rodney Ho February 23 2017 Meredith purchases Peachtree TV from Time Warner Turner Broadcasting System Atlanta Journal Constitution Retrieved February 25 2017 Applefeld Olson Cathy January 11 2018 At Time Inc Productions It s All About the Brands Cynopsis Media Cynopsis Media Retrieved November 9 2018 a b c Paramount Network Time Inc Productions Announce Collaboration TVWeek October 30 2017 Retrieved November 9 2018 Sippell Margeaux January 16 2019 TV Roundup Syfy Drops First Trailer for Season 2 of Happy Variety Retrieved September 23 2019 a b c d Stanhope Kate February 13 2017 Princess Diana Documentary in the Works at ABC The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 9 2018 a b c Alcinii Daniele August 9 2018 Bruce Gersh on Four M Studios unscripted strategy Realscreen Retrieved November 10 2018 Further reading EditBrown Kathi Ann 2002 Meredith the first 100 years ISBN 978 0 696 21668 8 Pendergast Sara 2006 Meredith Corporation International Directory of Company Histories Retrieved May 13 2018 via Encyclopedia com External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meredith Corporation Agriculture com portal by Successful Farming Better Homes and Gardens main website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meredith Corporation amp oldid 1151778831, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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