Citadel Communications
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry |
Broadcast Television Television Production |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Bronxville, New York |
| Area served |
 United States (Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast) |
| Key people |
Philip J. Lombardo, Founder/CEO Ray Cole, President/COO |
| Products | Broadcast television |
| Website | www.citadelltd.com |
Citadel Communications Ltd. is a Bronxville, NY-based private broadcasting company that operates 5 full-power television stations and 1 low-power station. The company was founded in 1982 by former National Association of Broadcasters joint board chairman and current Broadcasters Foundation of America chairman Phil Lombardo,[1] who is also an investor in SNN Local News, a 24-hour cable news channel in Sarasota, Florida owned by LDB Media, LLC.[2]
All of Citadel's major network affiliates share the same branding identity. They each use a variation of the circle logo and share the same website design style provided by Worldnow. Recently acquired WLNE incorporates a stylized "6" (dating back to 1994) in its version of the circle logo. Until 2011, the original four Citadel-owned stations (excluding WLNE) signed-off overnight and did not broadcast their networks' overnight newscasts. Also, the original four stations returned their digital broadcasts to their former analog channel assignments in the VHF spectrum upon completion of the Digital TV transition in 2009, and, as a result of poor propagation characteristics for digital TV in the VHF bands, the original four stations now operate low-power digital fill-in translators in the UHF band to improve coverage in their communities of license. WLNE was not owned by Citadel before 2009 and its previous owner kept that station on its pre-transition digital UHF channel 49 assignment. See the digital TV section on the WHBF-TV entry for further information on the Citadel stations' post-transition digital signals.
Also, as of January 16, 2012, all stations carry the Live Well Network (LWN) (owned by ABC, which is affiliated with all Citadel stations except for CBS-affiliated WHBF) on their digital subchannel.[3] Previously, WOI, WHBF, and KLKN carried the Retro Television Network and KCAU carried The Local AccuWeather Channel. WLNE did not carry an additional network prior to Citadel signing on with LWN.
For news, the stations broadcast in high-definition, have company-standard sets and graphics, and use the music package specified for the network they're affiliated with; the ABC affiliates use Frank Gari's Eyewitness News (ABC O&O News Collection) and the CBS affiliate uses Gari's CBS Enforcer Music Collection. The stations also offer their newscasts live and on-demand on mobile devices through the Syncbak app, available on iOS and Android systems. Sean King provides the voice-overs for all stations.
On September 16, 2013, Citadel announced that it would sell WOI-DT, KCAU-TV, and WHBF-TV to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $88 million. Nexstar immediately took over the stations' operations through a time brokerage agreement.[4] The deal followed Phil Lombardo's decision to "slow down," as well as a desire by Lynch Entertainment to divest its investments in WOI and WHBF; Citadel will continue to own KLKN, WLNE-TV, and its Sarasota properties.[5]
Stations
Current Citadel properties include:
| City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Translator | Acquired | Affiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ames/Des Moines, Iowa | WOI-DT | 5 / 5 | 50 | 1994 | ABC (LWN on DT2) |
Licensed to Capital Communications Company, Inc. (joint venture with Lynch Entertainment of Connecticut)[5][6] Operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group; full acquisition pending[4] |
| Lincoln, Nebraska | KLKN | 8 / 8 | 31 | 1986 | ABC (LWN on DT2) |
|
| New Bedford, Massachusetts/Providence, Rhode Island | WLNE-TV | 6 / 49 | 2011[7] | ABC (LWN on DT2) |
||
| Rock Island, Illinois/Quad Cities | WHBF-TV | 4 / 4 | 47 | 1987 | CBS (LWN on DT2) |
Licensed to Coronet Communications Company (joint venture with Lynch Entertainment)[5][8] Operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group; full acquisition pending[4] |
| Sarasota, Florida | WLWN-LP | 48 / 48 | 2011[9] | LWN | Low-power; Sarasota is part of the Tampa/St. Petersburg television market | |
| Sioux City, Iowa | KCAU-TV | 9 / 9 | 30 | 1985 | ABC (LWN on DT2) |
Operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group; full acquisition pending[4] |
Former Citadel-owned stations
| City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years owned | Currently |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albion, Nebraska | KLKE (satellite of KLKN) |
24 | 1996–2003 | defunct, went silent in 2003 |
| Binghamton, New York | WMGC-TV (now WIVT) |
34 / 34 | 1986–1996 | ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group |
| Buffalo, New York | WUTV | 29 / 14 | 1984–1990 | Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Burlington, Vermont/Plattsburgh, New York | WVNY | 22 / 13 | 1982–1996 | ABC affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting (operated under a local marketing agreement by Nexstar Broadcasting Group) |
References
- ↑ "NABEF Board of Directors: Philip J. Lombardo". National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- ↑ Hielscher, John (25 February 2009). "SNN set to return to the air Thursday". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "Citadel Communications Stations Grab Live Well". Broadcasting & Cable. January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Malone, Michael (September 16, 2013). "Nexstar to Acquire Citadel's Iowa Stations for $88 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hicks, Lynn (September 16, 2013). "Nexstar buys WOI, other Citadel TV stations in Iowa". Des Moines Register. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
- ↑ "Campus Journal; Vote to Sell TV Station Splits Iowans." New York Times 22 July 1992: p17.
- ↑ "Citadel Communications LLC, New Owner of WLNE-TV/ABC6". abc6.com. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
- ↑ "TV station purchased". Chicago Tribune. March 17, 1987. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
- ↑ "MMTC spinning another donated low power television". RBR.com. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
External links
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