ACME Communications
ACME Communications was a United States-based broadcasting company that was involved in operations of television stations and programming from the late 1990s until 2013.
Company profile
ACME Communications was co-founded by Chairman and original CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Television Network executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name ACME as a play on the fictitious Acme Corporation featured in Warner Bros.' Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner animated film series and other animated Warner media.The ownership portfolio of ACME Communications included television stations generally located in medium-sized US media markets, all of which ACME obtained through acquisitions. All but one of ACME's stations were affiliated with The WB or converted to WB affiliation at purchase, likely playing on Kellner's previous relationship with that network. The ACME WB stations were among the first to line up affiliations with The CW Television Network when The WB and UPN amalgamated in 2006;. ACME's station portfolio reached a peak of 11 stations in the early 2000s, at which time ACME also ventured into program production with the 2002 debut of The Daily Buzz, a syndicated daily morning news and information program that reached 180 markets at one point.
During the early 2010s, ACME set forth on cost-cutting efforts involving its assets and an admitted "exit strategy" from the television business, including the following:
- A licensing and consulting agreement with Fisher Communications for The Daily Buzz, announced in April 2010, that would see Fisher handle production of Buzz.
- A June 2010 agreement with LIN TV Corporation involving stations in 2 markets where the companies had common ownership, where the LIN stations would provide operational, administrative, and joint sales services for the ACME stations. At the same time, LIN TV also entered into an agreement to provide some services for ACME's duopoly in.
- A reduction and restructuring of its corporate staff, set forth in July 2010, that would see Jamie Kellner remain as company chairman but Doug taking over Keller's titles of President and CEO. Stan Gill, Vice President and General Manager of ACME's KWBQ-KASY duopoly in Albuquerque-Santa Fe, became COO while WBDT, Dayton, Ohio, Vice President and General Manager John Hannon was elevated to ACME's Executive Vice President.
- The sales of its last remaining stations: single stations in Dayton, Green Bay, Knoxville, and Madison ; as well as an Albuquerque/Santa Fe duopoly.
- The sale of The Daily Buzz to Mojo Brands Media in April 2013, which left ACME with no remaining broadcast assets and put the company into a closedown mode; ACME officially folded operations once it closed its outstanding accounts in December 2016. The Daily Buzz itself was abruptly canceled April 17, 2015, when a Mojo Brands investor pulled their funding for the series.
Formerly owned assets
Programming
- The Daily Buzz, a 3-hour-per-weekday morning news and information program geared toward a young adult audience. The show launched in 2002 from the studios of ACME-owned WBDT in Dayton, and from 2007 onward would originate from the studios of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The show was sold to Mojo Brands Media in April 2013, and was cancelled in April 2015. The show was revived in June 2017, but is now broadcast weekly.
Television stations
Note: With one exception, all the below listed stations were affiliates of The CW or its predecessor, The WB, during ACME Communications' ownership. The exception, KASY-TV, was affiliated with UPN and MyNetworkTV, and was part of a duopoly with an ACME-owned WB/CW affiliate.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV | Years owned | Current ownership status | |||
| Fort Myers - Naples, FL | WTVK | 46 | 1998–2007 | The CW affiliate, WXCW, owned by Sun Broadcasting, Inc. | |||
| Decatur - Champaign/Urbana - Springfield, IL | WBUI | 23 | 1999–2007 | The CW affiliate owned by GOCOM Media, LLC | |||
| St. Louis, MO | KPLR-TV | 11 | 1997–2003 | The CW affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group | |||
| Albuquerque - Sante Fe - Roswell, NM | KWBQ | 19 | 1999–2012 | The CW affiliate owned by Tamer Media, LLC | |||
| Albuquerque - Sante Fe - Roswell, NM | KASY-TV | 50 | 2000–2012 | MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Tamer Media, LLC '' | 21 | 1999–2012 | The CW affiliate owned by Tamer Media, LLC |
| Springfield - Dayton, OH | WBDT | 26 | 1999–2011 | The CW affiliate owned by Vaughan Media | |||
| Salem - Portland, OR | KWBP | 32 | 1997–2003 | The CW affiliate, KRCW-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group | |||
| Crossville - Knoxville, TN | WBXX-TV | 20 | 1997–2011 | The CW affiliate owned by Gray Television | |||
| Ogden - Salt Lake City, UT | KUWB | 30 | 1999–2006 | The CW affiliate, KUCW, owned by Nexstar Media Group | |||
| Suring - Green Bay - Appleton - Fox Cities, WI | WIWB/WCWF | 14 | 1999–2011 | The CW affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group | |||
| Janesville - Madison, WI | WBUW | 57 | 2002–2012 | Ion Plus affiliate, WIFS, owned by Byrne Acquisition Group, LLC |