ACME Communications


ACME Communications Inc. was a U.S.-based broadcasting company that was involved in operations of television stations and programming from the late 1990s to 2013.

History

ACME Communications was co-founded by chairman and original CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Broadcasting Company executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name ACME as a play on the fictional Acme Corporation featured in Warner Bros' Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner animated film series and other Looney Tunes media. In 2000, ACME Communications and Paramount Stations Group entered into a joint partnership. ACME stations would air three hours of UPN programming in three markets where UPN had no affiliate; WB programs would remain as on a secondary basis on Paramount stations in Columbus, Ohio, and Providence, Rhode Island that were switching to UPN, and were added to the UPN station in West Palm Beach.
The ownership portfolio of ACME Communications included television stations generally located in medium-sized U.S. media markets, all of which ACME obtained through acquisitions. All but one of ACME's stations were affiliated with The WB or converted to WB affiliation at purchase, likely playing on Kellner's previous relationship with that network. The ACME WB stations were among the first to line up affiliations with The CW Television Network when The WB and UPN amalgamated in 2006. ACME's station portfolio reached a peak of 11 stations in the early 2000s, at which time ACME also ventured into program production with the 2002 launch of The Daily Buzz, a syndicated daily morning news and information program that reached 180 markets at one point.
During the early 2010s, ACME set forth on cost-cutting efforts involving its assets and an admitted "exit strategy" from the television business, including the following:

Programming

Former stations

Media marketStateStationPurchasedSoldNotes
Fort Myers–NaplesFloridaWTVK19982007
SpringfieldIllinoisWBUI19992007
St. LouisMissouriKPLR-TV19972003
Albuquerque–Santa FeNew MexicoKWBQ19992012
Albuquerque–Santa FeNew MexicoKASY-TV20002012
RoswellNew MexicoKRWB-TV19992012
Springfield–DaytonOhioWBDT19992011
PortlandOregonKWBP19972003
KnoxvilleTennesseeWBXX-TV19972011
Salt Lake CityUtahKUWB19992006
Green BayWisconsinWIWB19992011
MadisonWisconsinWBUW20022012