Fiktiv USA - Cox Media Group

Cox Media Group, Inc. (CMG) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 19.9% minority stake in the company. The company primarily owns radio and television stations—many of which are located in the South, Pacific Northwest, Eastern Midwest, and Northeast, and the regional cable news network Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC).

Originally founded in December 2008 by Cox Enterprises through a consolidation of its existing publishing and broadcasting subsidiaries, the current incarnation of Cox Media Group was formed on December 17, 2019 through the acquisition by Apollo of the original Cox Media Group (along with Cox Enterprises’ advertising subsidiary, Gamut) from Cox Enterprises – which transferred a controlling interest in the company to Apollo – and Northwest Broadcasting from Brian Brady.

In December 2008, Cox Enterprises created Cox Media Group (CMG) by merging Cox Newspapers, Cox Radio, and Cox Television into one integrated digital media company. The creation of Cox Media Group was a departure from grouping subsidiaries based solely on publishing medium.

In August 2009, Cox Enterprises realigned its radio, television, newspaper/publishing, and digital assets into the same division. Under the new structure, while the local brands remain independent, they share resources and some management. Dayton, Ohio, was considered the prototype for the media group, where radio, television, newspaper, and direct mail were all in the same market and were combined into a new building. In other markets where the facilities aren't as close together, they do share some senior management; for example Houston & San Antonio Radio and the Austin American-Statesman newspaper all fall under the same regional vice president. In addition to the radio/TV stations and newspapers, Cox Media Group encompasses Cox Digital Solutions (digital sales for both Cox and non-Cox online and mobile properties), Cox Reps (national TV sales for station groups such as Gray and Gannett), Kudzu.com, Savings.com, and Valpak direct mail.

CMG introduced a new group buying discount program called DealSwarm in October 2010. DealSwarm provides online discounts at local businesses. The program is active in such Cox Media Group properties as Atlanta, Austin and Dayton.

In July 2012, CMG announced its intention to sell its radio stations in smaller markets: Birmingham, Greenville, Hawaii, Louisville, Richmond, and Southern Connecticut. It also intends to spin off its smaller market television stations in El Paso, Johnstown, Reno, and Steubenville. The company said it intended to focus on larger markets or smaller markets that could be clustered together with other CMG properties.

In April 2013, CMG launched the online-only new site Rare.us as a conservative media source, originally with the tagline “Red is the Center” and more recently “America’s News Feed”. After initially-low audience numbers, the site expanded dramatically following more prominent use of social media and a more diverse range of stories.

On February 12, 2013, CMG announced the sale of the Birmingham, Greenville, Hawaii, Louisville, and Richmond radio stations to SummitMedia, and the southern Connecticut stations to Connoisseur Media; two weeks later, on February 25, the company announced the sale of the four television stations (and the local marketing agreement for a fifth) to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

In October 2014, Cox Digital Solutions became Gamut. Smart Media from Cox., offering media solutions to address the evolution of OTT (over-the-top media). With this transition, CMG will cover linear television and radio, and Gamut will focus on OTT/CTV.

On July 24, 2018, Cox Enterprises announced that it was "exploring strategic options" for Cox Media Group's television stations, which the company said could involve "partnering or merging these stations into a larger TV company". Cox Media Group's president, Kim Guthrie, subsequently clarified to trade publication Radio & Television Business Report that the company was solely seeking "a merger or partnership" and not an outright sale of the television stations.

On February 15, 2019, Cox announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire a majority interest in the CMG television stations, as well as the Dayton radio stations and Ohio newspapers (whose operations are integrated with WHIO-TV), forming a new company that retains Cox Media Group's management and operating structure; Cox Enterprises holds a minority stake in this company. Cox's other radio stations, as well as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, were not included in the deal; Cox had previously said that any deal involving the television stations would not include radio stations or newspapers. In March 2019 filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Apollo disclosed that the new company, tentatively named Terrier Media, would purchase the Cox stations for $3.1 billion (reduced by the value of Cox's equity stake in Terrier).

On March 18, 2019, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that Cox Enterprises was "exploring options" for its radio stations. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution would not be included in any potential deal for the stations.

On June 26, 2019, Cox announced that the radio stations, as well as national advertising business – CoxReps, and local OTT advertising agency - Gamut, would also be acquired by the Apollo Global Management-backed company, which concurrently announced that it would retain the Cox Media Group name instead of Terrier Media. As they would no longer be grandfathered, the new company must divest a radio station each in the Orlando and Tampa Bay markets.

Both acquisitions, along with Apollo's concurrent $384 million acquisition of Northwest Broadcasting, were approved by the FCC on November 22, 2019, under conditions imposed after a federal court blocked changes to several FCC ownership policies. To comply with regulations prohibiting the cross-ownership of broadcast stations and daily newspapers (which the FCC had sought to repeal), Cox Enterprises reduced its stake in CMG to a non-attributable interest, eliminating an ownership conflict with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox announced the closing of the acquisition on December 17, 2019.

On February 10, 2020, Cox Enterprises announced it would repurchase the Dayton Daily News, Journal-News, and Springfield News-Sun from CMG, once again owning a 100% interest in the newspapers; the sale, which reunited the papers with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Cox Enterprises' newspaper holdings, allowed them to continue daily publication despite the court ruling. The sale was officially closed on March 2.

Current holdings:
Newspapers
Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio
Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio
Springfield News-Sun, Springfield, Ohio

Radio
Jacksonville, FL
WOKV 690 Sports (ESPN Radio)
WAPE-FM 95.1 Contemporary hit radio
WOKV-FM 104.5 News/talk
WJGL 96.9 Classic hits
WEZI 102.9 Soft adult contemporary
WXXJ 106.5 Alternative rock

Miami - Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood, FL
WEDR 99.1 Urban contemporary
WFLC 97.3 Contemporary hit radio
WFEZ 93.1 Soft adult contemporary
WHQT 105.1 Urban adult contemporary

Orlando
WDBO 580 Sports (ESPN Radio)
WCFB 94.5 Urban adult contemporary
WDBO-FM 96.5 News/Talk
WMMO 98.9 Classic hits
WPYO 95.3 Contemporary hit radio
WWKA 92.3 Country

Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater, FL
WDUV 105.5 Soft adult contemporary
WHPT 102.5 Hot talk
WPOI 101.5 Contemporary hit radio
WSUN 97.1 Alternative
WWRM 94.9 Adult contemporary
WXGL 107.3 Classic hits

Atlanta
WSB 750 News/Talk
WALR-FM 104.1 Urban adult contemporary
WSBB-FM 95.5 News/Talk (simulcasts WSB-AM)
WSB-FM 98.5 Adult contemporary
WSRV 97.1 Classic hits

Athens, GA
WGAU 1340 News/Talk
WRFC 960 Sports
WGMG 102.1 Adult contemporary
WNGC 106.1 Country
WPUP 100.1 Contemporary hit radio
WXKT 103.7 Classic rock

Nassau - Suffolk, NY
WBAB 102.3 Classic rock
WBLI 106.1 Contemporary hit radio
WHFM 95.3 Classic rock (simulcasts WBAB)

Tulsa, Oklahoma
KRMG 740 News/Talk
KJSR 103.3 Classic rock
KRMG-FM 102.3 News/Talk (simulcasts KRMG-AM)
KRAV-FM 96.5 Hot adult contemporary
KWEN 95.5 Country

Dayton, Ohio
WHIO 1290 News/Talk
WHIO-FM 95.7 News/Talk (simulcasts WHIO-AM)
WHKO 99.1 Country
WZLR 95.3 Classic hits

Houston - Galveston, TX
KHPT 106.9 Adult hits
KGLK 107.5 Classic Rock
KKBQ 92.9 Country
KTHT 97.1 Classic country

San Antonio
KKYX 680 Classic country
KONO 860 Oldies
KCYY 100.3 Country
KISS-FM 99.5 Active rock
KONO-FM 101.1 Classic hits
KTKX 106.7 Classic rock
KSMG 105.3 Hot adult contemporary

Television
Yuma, Arizona - El Centro, California
KSWT-DT 13 (13) CBS

Eureka, California
KIEM-TV 3 (3) NBC

Jacksonville
WFOX-TV 30 (32) Fox
WJAX-TV 47 (19) CBS (owned by Hoffman Communications, Inc.; CMG operates the station under a shared services agreement)

Orlando - Daytona Beach
WFTV 9 (35) ABC
WRDQ 27 (27) Independent

Atlanta
WSB-TV 2 (32) ABC

Pocatello - Idaho Falls, Idaho
KPVI-DT 6 (23) NBC

Alexandria, Louisiana
KLAX-TV 31 (31) ABC
KWCE-LP 27 MeTV

Boston
WFXT 25 (34) Fox

Greenville - Greenwood, Mississippi
WABG-TV 6 (32) ABC, Fox (DT2)
WNBD-LD 33 (33) NBC

Binghamton, New York
WICZ-TV 40 (7) Fox
WBPN-LP 10 (28) MyNetworkTV

Syracuse, New York
WSYT 68 (14) Fox
WNYS-TV 43 (44) MyNetworkTV

Charlotte
WSOC-TV 9 (19) ABC
WAXN-TV 64 (32) Independent

Dayton, Ohio
WHIO-TV 7 (33) CBS

Tulsa, Oklahoma
KOKI-TV 23 (22) Fox
KMYT-TV 41 (34) MyNetworkTV

Medford, Oregon
KMVU-DT 26 (26) Fox
KMCW-LD 14 (35) Telemundo
KFBI-LD 48 (19) MyNetworkTV

Pittsburgh
WPXI 11 (23) NBC

Memphis
WHBQ-TV 13 (13) Fox

Seattle - Tacoma
KIRO-TV 7 (23) CBS

Spokane, Washington
KAYU-TV 28 (28) Fox

Tri-Cities - Yakima, Washington
KFFX-TV 11 (11) Fox
KCYU-LD (Semi-satellite of KFFX-TV) 41 (29) Fox