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Paramount Stations Group

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Paramount Stations Group, Inc.
Company typeDivision
IndustryTelevision
PredecessorTVX Broadcast Group
Founded1991; 33 years ago (1991)
Defunct2001; 23 years ago (2001)
FateFolded into the Viacom Television Stations Group in 2001 (later renamed CBS Television Stations in 2006)
SuccessorCBS News and Stations
Headquarters
Hollywood, California
,
US
Owner
Parent

Paramount Stations Group, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as PSG) was a company that controlled a group of American broadcast television stations. The company existed from 1991 until 2001.

History

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Paramount Communications, the then-parent company of Paramount Pictures, formed the Paramount Stations Group in 1991 after buying out the remaining stake in TVX Broadcast Group that it did not already own.[1][2] At the time of the transition in 1991, the group consisted of six outlets: Fox affiliates KRRT (now KMYS) in the San Antonio area, WLFL-TV in Raleigh, and WTXF-TV in Philadelphia; and independent stations KTXA in Fort Worth, KTXH in Houston, and WDCA in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, the group began its expansion with its purchase of then-Fox affiliate WKBD-TV in Detroit from Cox Enterprises in 1993.[3][4]

The original incarnation of Viacom purchased Paramount in 1993, with the deal closing in March 1994; Viacom's existing group of CBS- and NBC-affiliated stations continued to be run separately from the Paramount stations until December 1995, when they were folded into PSG.[5] Viacom also included its part-time LMA with WVIT, that of WTXX.[6] Shortly afterward, Viacom entered into a joint venture with Chris-Craft Industries, which owned several television stations as part of its United Television subsidiary, to launch the United Paramount Network (UPN). Four of PSG's original six stations, along with several acquisitions such as WSBK-TV in Boston,[7] and WTXX in Waterbury, which Viacom operated through a LMA with WVIT,[6] became charter affiliates of the network when UPN launched in January 1995.

PSG sold off three of its original six stations as well; WLFL, KRRT, and WTXF were sold to other companies, with the latter becoming a Fox-owned station. To make up for the loss of its Philadelphia-owned station, PSG acquired Philadelphia independent station WGBS-TV and its call letters were changed to WPSG-TV, and the UPN affiliation was moved there. The company eventually divested itself of the CBS and NBC stations it held and purchased more UPN affiliates as the 1990s continued.

Airing since 1992 in Sweden and other European countries, 4 of the group's independent stations began in late December 1993 testing Video Games Challenge, interactive via the phone game show produced by Invisible Cities of Los Angeles and Big Band Productions of Sweden.[8] In February 2000, Paramount Stations Group and ACME Communications reached an agreement.[9]

In 2000, PSG acquired Chris-Craft's stake in UPN, shortly thereafter, Chris-Craft exited broadcasting and sold most of its stations to News Corporation's Fox Television Stations unit.

PSG was folded the next year after Viacom completed its merger with CBS. The remaining PSG stations were merged with the CBS owned-and-operated stations to form the Viacom Television Stations Group. Today, that group is called CBS News and Stations.

Stations

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Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by community of license.

City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current status
Sacramento–Stockton–Modesto, CA KMAX-TV 31 1998–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
New Britain–Hartford–New Haven, CT WVIT 30 1994–1997[a] NBC owned-and-operated (O&O)
WTXX 20 1994–1997[b] The CW affiliate WCCT, owned by Tegna Inc.
Washington, D.C. WDCA 20 1991–2001 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Fox Television Stations
Fort Pierce–West Palm Beach, FL WTVX 34 1997–2001[c] The CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL WBFS-TV 33 1995–2001 The CW affiliate owned by Paramount Global
St. Petersburg–Tampa, FL WTOG 44 1996–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
Atlanta, GA WUPA 69 1995–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
Marion–Indianapolis, IN WNDY-TV 23 1998–2001 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Circle City Broadcasting
Hutchinson–Wichita, KS KSCC 36 2001[d] MyNetworkTV affiliate KMTW, owned by Mercury Broadcasting Co.[e]
Slidell–New Orleans, LA WUPL 54 1997–2001 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
Boston, MA WSBK-TV 38 1995–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
New Bedford, MA–Providence, RI WLWC 28 1997–2001[c] Court TV affiliate owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings
Detroit, MI WKBD-TV 50 1993–2001 The CW affiliate owned by Paramount Global
St. Louis, MO KMOV 4 1994–1997[a] CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY WNYT 13 1994–1996[a] NBC affiliate owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Rochester, NY WHEC-TV 10 1994–1996[a] NBC affiliate owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville, NC WLFL-TV 22 1991–1994 The CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Chillicothe–Columbus, OH WWHO 53 1997–2001 The CW affiliate owned by Manhan Media, Inc.[f]
Oklahoma City, OK KAUT-TV 43 1998–2001 The CW affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
Jeannette–Pittsburgh, PA WNPA-TV 19 1998–2001 Independent WPKD, owned by Paramount Global
Philadelphia, PA WTXF-TV 29 1991–1995 Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
WPSG 57 1995–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
Fort Worth–Dallas, TX KTXA 21 1991–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
Houston, TX KTXH 20 1991–2001 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Fox Television Stations
Kerrville–San Antonio, TX KRRT 35 1991–1995 Dabl affiliate KMYS, owned by Deerfield Media[f]
Portsmouth–Norfolk–Newport News, VA WGNT 27 1997–2001 Independent affiliate owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
Tacoma–Seattle, WA KSTW 11 1997–2001 Independent owned by Paramount Global
KIRO-TV 7 1997 CBS affiliate owned by Cox Media Group
This list does not include KTLA in Los Angeles, WTTG in Washington, D.C., WBKB-TV (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago, KCTY in Kansas City, WABD-TV (now WNYW) in New York City and WDTV (now KDKA-TV) in Pittsburgh. These stations were owned at least in part by Paramount Pictures decades before the formation of the Paramount Stations Group.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d These stations were owned by Viacom prior to its purchase of Paramount Communications (the parent company of Paramount Pictures and the Paramount Stations Group, and was formerly known as Gulf+Western) in 1994; they were not part of PSG prior to December 1995.
  2. ^ WTXX was owned by Counterpoint Communications, but Viacom operated the station through a part-time local marketing agreement.
  3. ^ a b WTVX and WLWC were owned by Straightline Communications but operated by Viacom through local marketing agreements from 1997 to 2001. Viacom acquired the stations outright in 2001, more than one year after it completed its acquisition of CBS.
  4. ^ KSCC was the only station founded by Viacom. However, Viacom never held control of the station as it was LMA'd to Clear Channel Communications before it signed on for the first time.
  5. ^ Operated under LMA by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
  6. ^ a b Operated through SSA by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

References

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  1. ^ "Paramount acquires TVX group" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 4, 1991. p. 57. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "Paramount acquires TVX group" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 4, 1991. p. 61. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  3. ^ Foisie, Geoffrey (June 21, 1993). "Paramount buys WKBD-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. p. 12. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  4. ^ "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Detroit Station To Paramount". The New York Times. June 17, 1993. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  5. ^ Flint, Joe (December 18, 1995). "Viacom Group Merged Under Par's Cassara". Variety. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Lender, Jon (June 11, 1993). "WVIT Leases Time on WTXX as WTIC Protests". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  7. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. January 2, 1995. p. 46. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Freeman, Mike (January 3, 1994). "Games afoot at Paramount". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  9. ^ "Sharing the wealth". February 23, 2000.
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