Schurz Communications, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryBroadband, cloud services provider
Founded1872
FounderAlfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett
SuccessorGray Television (television assets only)
Gannett (newspaper assets only)
Key people
Todd F. Schurz
(President and CEO)
Websitewww.schurz.com

Schurz Communications is a South Bend, Indiana-based broadband media group and cloud services provider. It owned newspapers.

History

The company was founded in 1872 by Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett with the creation of the South Bend Tribune. Over the years the company grew through the acquisition of other newspapers, media outlets, radio and television stations, digital companies, broadband operations and cloud services provider. The expanding company was renamed Schurz Communications Inc. in 1976, when the newspapers division and the TV/broadcast division were split into separate entities.[1]

Schurz Communications announced on September 14, 2015 that it would exit broadcasting and sell its television and radio stations, including the Rushmore Media Company stations, to Gray Television for $442.5 million.[2][3][4] Gray subsequently announced on October 1 that it would sell the KOTA-TV license to Legacy Broadcasting for $1, a deal that also includes the license for satellite station KHSD-TV and the station's subchannel affiliations with MeTV and This TV;[5] [6][7] a month later, on November 2, Gray announced that HomeSlice Media Group would acquire the Rushmore Media Company radio stations for $2.2 million, reuniting them with KBHB and KKLS, which Schurz had sold to HomeSlice in 2014 as part of its acquisition of KOTA-TV.[8][9][10] Following the completion of these sales, Gray will retain KOTA-TV's ABC affiliation and transfer it to its existing television station in Rapid City, KEVN-TV;[6] it will also retain KOTA-TV satellite stations KDUH-TV and KSGW-TV and convert them to satellites of KNOP-TV in North Platte, Nebraska and KCWY-DT in Casper, Wyoming (both NBC affiliates), respectively.[11]

In September 2016, The American News and Farm Forum, owned by Schurz, acquired The Public Opinion newspaper in Watertown, South Dakota from United Communications.[12]

In February 2018, the company acquired the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Online Tech. The compliant hybrid cloud provider serves nearly 500 clients across the Midwest with its network of seven data centers and full suite of hybrid cloud services.[13] In December of that year, Online Tech acquired the assets and products of IT provider Neverfail. The acquisition includes Neverfail’s five cloud nodes and assets in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.[14]

In January 2019, Schurz sold its publishing division and all its newspapers to GateHouse Media for $30 million. This included 20 regional papers and several special publications in Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. GateHouse later bought the Gannett newspaper chain, and the expanded network of newspapers adopted the Gannett name. [15][16]

In March 2019 Schurz Communications bought the city-owned local broadband company Burlington Telecom of Burlington, Vermont for a total of $30.8 million.[17]

Rushmore Media Company

Rushmore Media Company, Inc. was a small radio broadcasting subsidiary, which owned and operated four radio stations and one television station in the Black Hills region of western South Dakota. The main offices and stations' studios are located at 660 Flormann St., Rapid City, South Dakota 57701.

Rushmore Media Company's group consisted of:

  • KRCS FM 93.1 "Today's Hottest Music"
  • KKMK FM 93.9 "93.9 The Mix, The Black Hills Best Mix."
  • KOUT FM 98.7 "The Black Hills' Favorite Country"
  • KFXS FM 100.3 "Classic Rock 100.3 The Fox"
  • KHME channel 3 (ABC) (formerly KOTA-TV, "KOTA Territory")

Current properties

Schurz Communications' old logo

Broadband systems

Cloud Managed Services

Former properties

Newspapers

Radio

AM Station FM Station
City of license / Market Station Years owned Current ownership status
Lafayette, IN WASK 1450 1991–2016 Owned by Neuhoff Communications
WASK-FM 98.7 1995–2016 Owned by Neuhoff Communications
WKHY 93.5 2005–2016 Owned by Neuhoff Communications
WKOA 105.3 1991–2016 Owned by Neuhoff Communications
WXXB 102.9 2005–2016 Owned by Neuhoff Communications
South Bend, IN WSBT 960 1922–2016 Owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting
WNSN 101.5 1962–2016 Owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting
WZOC 94.3 2012–2016[lower-alpha 1] Owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting
Benton Harbor, MI WHFB-FM 99.9 2012–2016[lower-alpha 1] WQLQ, owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting
Rapid City, SD KKLS 920 2006–2014 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
KKMK 93.9 2006–2016 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
KOUT 98.7 2006–2016 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
KFXS 100.3 2006–2016 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
Sturgis, SD KBHB 810 2006–2014 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
KRCS 93.1 2006–2016 Owned by HomeSlice Media Group
  1. 1 2 Owned by Douglas Road Radio, Schurz held a minority interest in this company.

Television

  • (**) – Indicates that it was built and signed on by Schurz.
City of license / Market Station Channel Years owned Current ownership status
Anchorage, AK KTUU-TV 2 2008–2016 NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Augusta, GA WAGT 26 1980–2016[lower-alpha 1] Defunct, license cancelled in 2017[lower-alpha 2]
South Bend, IN WSBT-TV ** 22 1952–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Hutchinson–Wichita, KS KWCH-DT 12 2006–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
KSCW-DT 33 2007–2016 The CW affiliate owned by Gray Television
KDCU-DT 31 [lower-alpha 3] Univision affiliate owned by Entravision Communications
Ensign, KS KBSD-DT[upper-alpha 1] 6 2006–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Goodland, KS KBSL-DT[upper-alpha 1] 10 2006–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Hays, KS KBSH-DT[upper-alpha 1] 7 2006–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
Springfield, MO KYTV 3 1987–2016 NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
K15CZ-D 15[lower-alpha 4] 2002–2016 ABC affiliate KSPR-LD, owned by Gray Television
KSPR/KGHZ 33[lower-alpha 4] 2016–2017[lower-alpha 5] Defunct, license cancelled in 2017
Rapid City, SD KOTA-TV 3 2014–2016 MeTV affiliate, KHME, owned by Gray Television[lower-alpha 6]
Lead, SD KHSD-TV[upper-alpha 2] 11 2014–2016 MeTV affiliate, KQME, owned by Gray Television[lower-alpha 7]
Scottsbluff, NE KDUH-TV[upper-alpha 2] 4 2014–2016 NBC affiliate KNEP in Sidney, Nebraska, owned by Gray Television[upper-alpha 3]
Sheridan, WY KSGW-TV[upper-alpha 2] 12 2014–2016 ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television
Roanoke–Lynchburg, VA WDBJ 7 1969–2016 CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television
  1. 1 2 3 Satellite of KWCH-DT.
  2. 1 2 3 Satellite of KOTA-TV.
  3. ↑ Satellite of KNOP-TV.
  1. ↑ Owned by Schurz, WAGT was operated by Media General under a shared services agreement, with WJBF.
  2. ↑ Intellectual unit and NBC programming transferred to a Gray-owned license and renamed WAGT-CD.
  3. ↑ Owned by Entravision Communications, Schurz operated KDCU under a shared services agreement, with KWCH and KSCW.
  4. 1 2 From February to May 2017, KGHZ used virtual channel 15, while K15CZ-D (later KYCW-LD, now KSPR-LD) switched to virtual channel 33.
  5. ↑ Owned by Schurz, KGHZ was operated Gray Television operated KGHZ under a shared services agreement. From 2007 to 2016, KGHZ (as KSPR) was owned by Perkin Media, LLC. Schurz operated the station under a joint sales agreement.
  6. ↑ Intellectual unit and ABC programming transferred to a Gray-owned license and renamed KOTA-TV.
  7. ↑ Intellectual unit and ABC programming transferred to a Gray-owned license and renamed KHSD-TV.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About". Schurz Communications Inc. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  2. ↑ "Gray TV to Buy Schurz Communications". AdWeek. September 14, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Schurz Communications to sell WSBT and other TV, radio stations". South Bend Tribune. September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ Kuperberg, Jonathan (September 14, 2015). "Gray Acquiring TV, Radio Stations from Schurz for $442.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Gray Television Divesting Radio Stations From Schurz Acquisition". Broadcasting & Cable. November 2, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Gray Television Sells Some, Buys Some". TVNewsCheck. October 1, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Summary of Interrelated Transactions" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 8, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Gray Sells Radio Stations From Schurz Deal". TVNewsCheck. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 2, 2015). "Gray Television Divests Schurz Clusters To Three Buyers". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "HomeSlice Group purchases four Rapid City radio stations". Meade County Times-Tribune. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Comprehensive Exhibit" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. October 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ Perry, J. J. (2016-09-01). "SCI purchases Watertown, S.D., Public Opinion". Schurz Communications Inc. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  13. ↑ Admin (2018-02-05). "Schurz Communications Inc. Acquires Leading Hybrid Cloud Provider Online Tech". Schurz Communications Inc. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  14. ↑ Admin (2018-12-04). "Online Tech Acquires Neverfail's Global Cloud Infrastructure Business". Schurz Communications Inc. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  15. ↑ Admin (2019-01-28). "Schurz Communications Announces Sale of Publishing Division as Part of Global Technology Growth Strategy". Schurz Communications Inc. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  16. ↑ GateHouse Scoops Up 20 Local Newspapers In $30M Schurz Communications Deal, MediaPost, January 30, 2019, Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Schurz Communications' Subsidiary Champlain Broadband Closes on Transaction to Acquire Burlington Telecom in Vermont". 13 March 2019.
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