Freedom Communications, Inc. is a media conglomerate in the United States. It owns approximately 100 daily and weekly newspapers in the US, with a combined daily circulation of nearly one million subscribers, and also operates over seventy local news websites. The broadcast division includes eight television stations, including five CBS network affiliates, one CW Television Network affiliate, and two ABC network affiliates. Freedom also publishes specialty magazines and custom-published products. It is headquartered in Irvine, California. Freedom Communications is the 12th largest media conglomerate in the United States.[1]
Freedom's flagship newspaper is the Orange County Register, based in Santa Ana, California with a circulation of approximately 250,000. The Register has won three Pulitzer Prizes. The Register's website is the largest, most in-depth of Freedom's websites, drawing the most daily traffic and unique visitors of all of the local news sites. It received both high interest and criticism for the website's open forums, allowing visitors to openly comment on stories and features. Freedom had acquired substantial debt in 2004 when private-equity firms Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners acquired a 40 percent share for about $460 million.[2]
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, August 31, 2009, that Freedom Communications was close to announcing a Chapter 11 reorganization. On September 1, 2009, they did, in fact, do so.[3] The company left bankruptcy on April 30, 2010, under the ownership of investment firms Alden Global Capital, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Luxor Capital Group. Lenders to the company also retained a stake in Freedom. The company announced on November 2, 2011 that it would sell its entire television division to Sinclair Broadcast Group in a move to eliminate the company's debt.[4]
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Founder and chief executive officer R.C. Hoiles gained a one-third interest in his first newspaper (The Alliance Review in Ohio) sometime in the 1910s. He and his brother Frank bought many more local newspapers over the next several decades. In 1935 he moved his base of operations to Santa Ana, California, and in 1950 he incorporated his syndicate as Freedom Newspapers, Inc. After Hoiles' death in 1970, he was succeeded as CEO by his son C.H. Hoiles (until 1981), and then by
Freedom Communications' self-proclaimed mission is "to advance human liberty."[5] They publish articles on a "wide variety of topics and viewpoints," so long as they support what they consider "the two most important principles for a free country: individual liberty and the individual responsibility that entails."[5]
Freedom Interactive was formed in June 2006. This division, also headquartered in Irvine, California, is solely responsible for the online presence of Freedom's media properties. All interactive advertising, marketing, content, business development, finance, and technology management is centralized within this arm of the organization. Early partnerships with search giant Google, user submitted calendar program Zvents, and employment site Monster.com gained recognition for the newly formed interactive division in early 2007. Financially, Freedom Communications is an investor in USIS, the nation's largest investigative company for government-level security clearances.
All stations are in the process of being acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) approval.[4]
| Current DMA # | Market | Station | Channel (DT) | Affiliation | Acquired | Notes |
| 38. | West Palm Beach, Florida | WPEC | 12 (13) | CBS | 1996 | Freedom's flagship station |
| 39. | Kalamazoo, Michigan | WWMT | 3 (8) | CBS | 1998 | The CW on DT2 |
| 56. | Albany/Schenectady, New York | WRGB | 6 (6) | CBS | 1986 | This TV on DT2 |
| WCWN | 45 (43) | The CW | 2006 | Operated by WRGB Universal Sports on DT2 |
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| 86. | Chattanooga, Tennessee | WTVC | 9 (9) | ABC | 1983 | This TV on DT2 |
| 112. | Lansing, Michigan | WLAJ | 53 (51) | ABC | 1998 | Operated by WWMT The CW on DT2 |
| 140. | Medford, Oregon | KTVL | 10 (10) | CBS | 1981 | Freedom's first broadcast property[4] The CW on DT2 |
| 141. | Beaumont, Texas | KFDM | 6 (21) | CBS | 1983 | The CW on DT2 |
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