Luken Communications

Luken Communications, LLC

Type	Private LLC
Industry	Broadcast Television
Founded	Chattanooga, Tennessee (2008)
Founder	Henry Luken III
Headquarters	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Area served	United States (Nationwide)
Key people	Henry Luken III (president and CEO)
Products	Television stations Digital broadcast television networks
Owner	Henry Luken III
Number of employees	50 (2010)
Subsidiaries	The Family Channel Heartland Retro Television PBJ Tuff TV Rev'n
Website	luken.tv

Luken Communications, LLC is a privately owned American broadcast holding company, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which owns or operates around 80 television stations in the United States and six digital television multicast networks.

History

Luken Communications (LC) was formed in 2008 by Henry Luken III, formerly president and CEO of Equity Media Holdings. LC agreed to purchased six TV stations from Equity Media for $17.5 million and paid a $5 million installment with the rest pending on regulatory approval. The stations are in Amarillo and Waco, Texas; Fort Myers/Naples, Florida, Minneapolis; and Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma and were then affiliated with Univision and TeleFutura. In June 2008, Equity sold to Luken Retro Television Network for $18.5 million and 8.05 million Equity warrants for $1.5 million.^[1]

On January 4, 2009, a contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications interrupted RTN programming on many of its affiliates with Luken alleging that Equity had left many obligations to RTN's creditors, including programming suppliers, unpaid. As a result, Luken restored a national feed of the network from its Chattanooga headquarters.^[2] As a result of this dispute, Luken pulled out of a deal to purchase Equity's stations in southwestern Florida.

In June 2009, Luken and Seals Entertainment Company LLC launched the male-oriented digital multicast channel Tuff TV.^[3] On March 22, 2011, Luken became part-owners of My Family TV in a joint venture with existing owner ValCom.^[4] In June 2011, Luken Communications announced the purchase of 78 low-power translator stations from the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council for $390,000; the purchase was made in order to expand coverage of its ten existing and planned digital multicast networks with hopes to eventually acquire 400 low-power stations.^[5] In late summer 2011, Luken and Classic Media launched PBJ, featuring classic children's programs from the Classics Media library.^[6] With Frost Cutlery's shopping network and outdoor shows, Luken launched in 2011 the Frost Great Outdoors network.^[7]

On April 16, 2012, Luken Communications and Jim Owens Entertainment announced that the companies had teamed to relaunch The Nashville Network as a digital broadcast television network set for a late summer 2012 launch (TNN previously existed as a cable channel started by Gaylord Entertainment Company in 1983, and is now known as Spike under Viacom ownership). Jim Owens Entertainment acquired the rights to The Nashville Network trademark and logo around 2010-2011.

On June 23, 2013, Luken Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing came just two days after an Arkansas jury awarded a $47.4 million verdict against the company for a “fraudulent transfer” of the ownership of RTV six years ago.^[8] Luken Communications emerged from bankruptcy protection in October 2014.^[9]

Assets owned by Luken Communications

Digital multicast networks

• The Family Channel
• Frost Great Outdoors
• Heartland, formerly the Nashville Network ^[10] The Heartland Network, LLC
• Jewelry Television - America's Collectibles Network, Inc.
• Retro TV (Formerly Retro Television Network) Retro Television, Inc.
• PBJ
• Tuff TV (jointly owned by Seals Entertainment Company)
• Rev'n (planned as My Car TV)^[11]

Broadcast television stations

Notes: All stations are owned by Digital Networks, LLC. (a subsidiary of Luken Communications). Many of these stations were former Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) translators, unless specified.

• ¹ Indicates stations were not previously owned by TBN
• ² Indicates flagship station
• ³ Indicates station managed by Great Plains Television Network, LLC

References

External links

• Official website