ACME Communications

ACME Communications Inc. was an American broadcasting company focused on owning, operating, and providing services to local television stations. It was co-founded by Jamie Kellner, a television executive associated with the Fox Broadcasting Company and the creation of The WB Television Network. The company’s name referenced the fictional Acme Corporation associated with Warner Bros.’ Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, reflecting Kellner’s connection to Warner Bros. television properties. ACME built its business primarily through acquisitions of stations in medium-sized U.S. media markets. Most of its stations were affiliated with The WB, or became WB affiliates after acquisition. This gave the company a relatively coherent portfolio during the network’s development, while also positioning its stations for the 2006 merger of The WB and UPN into The CW. ACME’s stations were among the early affiliates to align with the new network. At its peak in the early 2000s, the company controlled 11 television stations. The company also expanded beyond station ownership into programming. In 2002, it launched The Daily Buzz, a weekday syndicated morning news and information program aimed particularly at younger adult viewers. The program originated from the studios of ACME-owned WBDT in Dayton, Ohio, and later moved its production base to Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. At one point, the program was distributed in approximately 180 U.S. markets. The Daily Buzz became ACME’s principal programming asset and remained associated with the company after the station portfolio began to contract. During the early 2010s, ACME pursued cost reductions and an explicit exit strategy from the television-station business. It transferred or outsourced selected operational, administrative, sales, accounting, and production functions to other companies. In 2010, Fisher Communications entered into a licensing and consulting arrangement concerning The Daily Buzz, while LIN TV Corporation agreed to provide services for several ACME stations and markets with overlapping ownership interests. ACME also reorganized its corporate leadership and reduced its central staff. ACME then sold its remaining television stations in stages. Stations in Dayton, Green Bay, and Knoxville were sold in transactions completed in spring 2011; the Madison station was sold in 2012; and the company’s Albuquerque–Santa Fe duopoly was sold in September 2012. The sale of The Daily Buzz to Mojo Brands Media in April 2013 removed ACME’s last broadcast asset and placed the company into a formal wind-down. The program was later cancelled in April 2015 after an investor withdrew funding, although it was revived in a reduced weekly form in 2017. ACME itself completed the closure of its remaining accounts and formally ceased operations in December 2016.

ACME Communications emerged in the late 1990s as a television broadcasting company co-founded by Jamie Kellner. Kellner had previously held senior roles connected with Fox Broadcasting Company and had been the founding chief executive of The WB Television Network. The ACME name was drawn from the fictional Acme Corporation in Warner Bros. animated entertainment, linking the company’s identity to the studio and network relationships that shaped its early strategy. Rather than developing a consumer product brand, ACME assembled a portfolio of local television stations through acquisitions. The stations were generally located in medium-sized American markets. With one principal exception, the stations were affiliated with The WB or converted to WB affiliation after acquisition. The strategy gave ACME exposure to a national network brand while retaining the economics and local presence of individual broadcast outlets. In 2000, ACME entered a partnership with Paramount Stations Group to manage programming arrangements in markets where UPN lacked an affiliate and where stations were changing network affiliations. ACME’s station holdings reached a high point of 11 outlets during the early 2000s. The company’s relationship with The WB also helped it respond to the 2006 creation of The CW, formed through the combination of The WB and UPN. ACME’s stations were among the early outlets to take CW affiliations, preserving network programming relationships during a major restructuring of the U.S. broadcast landscape. In 2002, ACME diversified into program production and syndication by launching The Daily Buzz. The three-hour weekday morning program combined news and information for a young-adult audience. It initially originated at WBDT’s facilities in Dayton, Ohio, and from 2007 was produced at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. At its height, the show reached roughly 180 markets, making it an important asset beyond ACME’s local-station portfolio. By the beginning of the 2010s, ACME was reducing its exposure to station ownership. The company described its approach as an exit strategy and pursued lower-cost operating structures. In April 2010, Fisher Communications received a licensing and consulting role relating to The Daily Buzz and its production. In June of that year, LIN TV Corporation agreed to provide operational, administrative, joint-sales, and related services for ACME stations in Dayton and the Green Bay–Fox Cities market. LIN also agreed to provide selected services, including third-party accounting, for ACME’s Albuquerque duopoly. ACME reorganized its corporate structure in July 2010. Corporate staffing was reduced, Kellner remained chairman, and Doug Gealy assumed the president and chief executive roles. Stan Gill, then associated with the KWBQ–KASY operation in Albuquerque–Santa Fe, became chief operating officer, while John Hannon, formerly a vice president and general manager at WBDT in Dayton, became executive vice president. The station divestitures proceeded in several stages. Sales involving the Dayton, Green Bay, and Knoxville stations closed in spring 2011. The Madison station was sold in February 2012, followed by the Albuquerque–Santa Fe duopoly in September 2012. These transactions removed the company’s local broadcast assets. In April 2013, ACME sold The Daily Buzz to Mojo Brands Media, ending its role as the program’s owner and leaving the company in a closedown phase. The Daily Buzz was subsequently cancelled on April 17, 2015, after a Mojo Brands investor withdrew funding. It was later revived in June 2017 in a weekly format, after ACME had already ceased to be an operating broadcast company. ACME completed its remaining administrative and financial closeout and officially folded operations in December 2016.

• 2016

  Operations formally closed

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME completed outstanding account closures and folded operations in December.

• 2013

  Sale of The Daily Buzz

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME sold its syndicated program to Mojo Brands Media, ending its ownership of broadcast assets.

• 2012

  Sale of Madison station and Albuquerque–Santa Fe duopoly

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME sold its Madison station in February and its Albuquerque–Santa Fe duopoly in September.

• 2011

  Sales of Dayton, Green Bay, and Knoxville stations

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME completed sales of three remaining local television stations as it implemented its exit from station ownership.

• 2010

  Cost reduction and management restructuring

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME reduced corporate staffing, transferred selected services to outside partners, and appointed Doug Gealy as president and chief executive officer.

• 2006

  Early affiliation with The CW

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME’s stations were among the early broadcasters to affiliate with The CW after The WB and UPN were combined.

• 2002

  Launch of The Daily Buzz

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME launched a syndicated weekday morning news and information program from the studios of WBDT in Dayton, Ohio.

• 2000

  Programming partnership with Paramount Stations Group

  [1]ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org

  ACME and Paramount Stations Group established a joint arrangement involving UPN programming in St. Louis, Knoxville, and Champaign, Illinois, while WB programming continued on selected Paramount stations.

A U.S. television broadcasting and syndicated-programming company built around local stations in medium-sized markets, with a strong historical relationship to The WB and later The CW.

• Syndicated television program · 2002

  The Daily Buzz

  The Daily Buzz was a three-hour weekday morning news and information program designed to appeal to younger adult viewers. ACME launched it in 2002 from WBDT’s Dayton studios. From 2007, production originated at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The program eventually reached approximately 180 markets. ACME sold it to Mojo Brands Media in April 2013; it was cancelled in April 2015 after an investor withdrew funding and later returned in a weekly form in 2017.

• Broadcast television stations

  Local television station portfolio

  ACME’s principal business was the acquisition and operation of local television stations in medium-sized U.S. markets. Most outlets carried The WB and later became early affiliates of The CW. The portfolio reached 11 stations before the company began selling its assets between 2011 and 2012.

• 2013

  Sold The Daily Buzz to Mojo Brands MediaM&A

  Background

  After selling its local television stations, ACME no longer intended to retain a broadcast operating portfolio.

  Action taken

  ACME transferred ownership of The Daily Buzz to Mojo Brands Media in April 2013.

  Aftermath

  The sale left ACME without broadcast assets and placed it into a closedown phase.

  Source

• 2010

  Adopted an exit strategy from television-station ownershipStrategy

  Background

  ACME sought to reduce costs and withdraw from direct ownership of local broadcast stations while retaining or transferring selected programming and operating activities.

  Action taken

  The company outsourced selected station, accounting, sales, and programming functions, reduced corporate staffing, and began selling its remaining stations.

  Aftermath

  The station portfolio was fully divested by 2012, leaving The Daily Buzz as ACME’s principal remaining broadcast asset until its 2013 sale.

  Source

1. 1ACME Communicationsen.wikipedia.org