Northwest Broadcasting


Northwest Broadcasting, Inc. was a television broadcasting company based in Okemos, Michigan, United States, a suburb of Lansing. The broadcasting group owned or operated twelve television stations in six markets, through subsidiaries such as Broadcasting Communications, Mountain Communications, Stainless Broadcasting, and Bristlecone Broadcasting.

History

Northwest Broadcasting was founded in 1995 by Brian Brady to acquire the television stations of Salmon River Communications, including KAYU-TV in Spokane, Washington, K68EB in Yakima, Washington, KBWU-LP in the Tri-Cities, and KMVU in Medford, Oregon. In 1997, Northwest purchased Stainless, Inc. for $17 million; while Stainless was primarily a manufacturer of broadcasting towers, the purchase also added WICZ-TV in Binghamton, New York and KTVZ in Bend, Oregon to Northwest's station group. Stainless had owned broadcast stations since purchasing WICZ in 1971. Though Northwest would sell the Stainless tower company to SpectraSite Holdings in 1999 and KTVZ to News-Press & Gazette Company in 2002, it still owns WICZ-TV under the Stainless Broadcasting Company name.
Brian Brady expanded his broadcast holdings in 2002, when he teamed up with Alta Communications to acquire the K-Six Television stations under the name Eagle Creek Broadcasting; Alta had also invested in Northwest Broadcasting in 1996. Alta divested its interest in Northwest Broadcasting in 2007 and in Eagle Creek Broadcasting in 2013. During the 2010s, Brady acquired additional stations through companies such as Blackhawk Broadcasting, Bristlecone Broadcasting, and Cedar Creek Broadcasting. These companies have occasionally made joint filings with Northwest Broadcasting in Federal Communications Commission proceedings under the name "The TV Station Group."
In February 2019, Reuters reported that Apollo Global Management had agreed to acquire the entirety of Brian Brady's television portfolio, which it intends to merge with Cox Media Group and stations spun off from Nexstar Media Group's purchase of Tribune Broadcasting, once the purchases are approved by the FCC. In March 2019 filings with the Federal Communications Commission, Apollo confirmed that its newly-formed broadcasting group, Terrier Media, would acquire Northwest Broadcasting, with Brian Brady holding an unspecified minority interest in Terrier. In June 2019, it was announced that Terrier Media would instead operate as Cox Media Group, as Apollo had reached a deal to also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses. The transaction was completed on December 17.

Former stations

Media marketStateStationPurchasedSoldNotes
YumaArizonaKSWT20142019
YumaArizonaKYMA-DT20142019
EurekaCaliforniaKIEM-TV20172019
EurekaCaliforniaKVIQ20162017
EurekaCaliforniaKVIQ-LD20162019
Pocatello–Idaho FallsIdahoKPVI-DT20162019
Twin FallsIdahoKXTF20162017
Bowling GreenKentuckyWNKY19972003
AlexandriaLouisianaKLAX-TV20182019
AlexandriaLouisianaKWCE-LP20182019
Greenville–GreenwoodMississippiWABG-TV20162019
Greenville–GreenwoodMississippiWFXW20162019
Greenville–GreenwoodMississippiWNBD-LD20162019
Greenville–GreenwoodMississippiWXVT-LD20172019
BinghamtonNew YorkWBPN-LP20002019
BinghamtonNew YorkWICZ-TV19972019
SyracuseNew YorkWNYS-TV20132019
SyracuseNew YorkWSYT20132019
BendOregonKTVZ19972002
MedfordOregonKFBI-LD20132019
MedfordOregonKMCW-LP20132016
MedfordOregonKMVU-DT19952019
Corpus ChristiTexasKZTV20022010
LaredoTexasKNEX-LP20122015
LaredoTexasKVTV20022015
SpokaneWashingtonKAYU-TV19962019
Tri-Cities–YakimaWashingtonKCYU-LD19962019
Tri-Cities–YakimaWashingtonKFFX-TV19992019
Walla WallaWashingtonKBKI20012002