Crosley Broadcasting Corporation

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Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, founded by radio manufacturing pioneer Powel Crosley Jr., was an early operator of radio stations in the United States. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Crosley's flagship station was WLW (AM). Most of its broadcast properties adopted call signs in which the first three letters were WLW.

During World War II, the company built the Bethany Relay Station in Butler County, Ohio's Union Township, one mile west of its transmitter for WLW, for the Office of War Information. It operated as many as five shortwave stations, using the callsigns WLWK, WLWL, WLWO, WLWR and WLWS. It operated the facility for the government until 1963.

In 1945, the Crosley interests were purchased by Aviation Company. The radio and appliance manufacturing arm changed its name to Avco, but the broadcast operations continued to operate under the Crosley name, until they were changed to Avco in the 1960s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Crosley (or Avco) operated is own small television network in which programs were produced at one its stations and broadcast on the other Crosley stations in the midwest, and occasionally by non-Crosley stations as well. Since all of the Crosley television stations in Ohio were affiliated with NBC(with the exception of WLWI in Indianapolis,Indiana affiliated with ABC), the Crosley programming fit into the NBC network program schedule, and some programs were even picked up for broadcast by the entire NBC network, such as Midwestern Hayride and Breakfast Party. Other programs originated on the Crosley (or Avco) network included The Paul Dixon Show and The Ruth Lyons 50-50 Club, later hosted by Bob Braun. The Phil Donahue Show started in 1967 originating from WLWD in Dayton, Ohio. The Jerry Springer Show also started from WLWT in Cincinnati, by then owned by Multimedia, Inc., and was syndicated by Multimedia's syndication division, which had formerly been owned by Avco (as Avco Embassy Program Sales).

In 1968 Avco, which had just purchased Embassy Pictures, consolidated its television operations into Avco Embassy Television. Avco Embassy Television and Avco Embassy Program Sales were sold to Multimedia, Inc. in 1976.

Beginning in 1975, Avco sold all of its broadcasting holdings. In 1975, they sold WLWC-TV Columbus, WLWI-TV Indianapolis, WOAI-AM/FM/TV San Antonio, and WWDC-AM/FM Washington D.C.; in 1976, they sold WLW-AM and WLWT-TV Cincinnati, WLWD-TV Dayton, and their Avco Embassy Television and Avco Embassy Program Sales divisions; in 1977, they sold KYA-AM/FM San Francisco and WRTH-AM Wood River-St. Louis.

The closest thing to a "successor" to Avco Broadcasting was Multimedia, Inc., to whom Avco sold flagship TV station WLWT, as well as Avco Embassy Television and Avco Embassy Program Sales. In December 1995, Gannett (who, coincidentally, owned former Crosley station WXIA-TV Atlanta) acquired Multimedia, Inc. By 1997 all of the original Crosley radio and television properties had been sold off by its successor companies.

Broadcast outlets operated by Crosley Broadcasting or its successor Avco included:

[edit] AM Radio Stations

[edit] FM Radio Stations

[edit] Television Stations

All are currently NBC affiliates (though WLWA/WXIA and WLWI/WTHR were ABC affiliates when they were owned by Crosley/Avco).
Current DMA# Market Station Years Owned Current Owner
9. Atlanta WLTV/WLWA 2/8/11
(now WXIA 11)		 1951-62 Gannett Company
25. Indianapolis WLWI 13
(now WTHR)		 1957-74 Dispatch Broadcast Group
32. Columbus WLWC 3/4
(now WCMH 4)		 1949-76 Media General
33. Cincinnati WLWT 4/5 1948-76 Hearst-Argyle
37. San Antonio WOAI-TV 4 1965-75 Clear Channel
58. Dayton WLWD 5/2
(now WDTN 2)		 1947-76 LIN TV
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