Metromedia, Inc.

Company type	Public
Industry	Media
Predecessor	Allen B. DuMont Laboratories DuMont Broadcasting Corporation Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation
Founded	1931; 94 years ago (1931) (as Allen B. DuMont Labs)
Defunct	1997; 28 years ago (1997) (as a media company)
Fate	Sold off, corporate name continues as owner of MetroMedia Technologies[1]
Successor	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (content library) Fox Television Stations (broadcast stations)
Headquarters	New York City,New York, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John W. Kluge (founder/chairman/CEO) Stuart Subotnick (current president/CEO) William Ishida (president/CEO, Metromedia Technologies, Inc.)
Products	Television Radio Entertainment Advertising
Services	Advertising Media display
Subsidiaries	Orion Pictures The Samuel Goldwyn Company Motion Picture Corporation of America Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation

Metromedia, Inc. (also oftenMetroMedia) was an American media company that ownedradio andtelevision stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlledOrion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after theDuMont Television Network ceased operations and itsowned-and-operated stations were spun off into a separate company. Metromedia sold its television stations toNews Corporation in 1985 (which News Corp. then used to form the nucleus ofFox Television Stations), and spun off its radio stations into a separate company in 1986. Metromedia then acquired ownership stakes in various film studios, including controlling ownership in Orion. In 1997, Metromedia closed down and sold its media assets toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The company arose from the ashes of theDuMont Television Network, the world's first commercialtelevision network.^[2] DuMont had been in economic trouble throughout its existence, and was seriously undermined whenABC accepted a buyout offer fromUnited Paramount Theaters in 1953. The ABC-UPT deal gave ABC the resources to operate a national television service along the lines ofCBS andNBC. DuMont officials quickly realized the ABC-UPT deal put their network on life support, and agreed in principle to merge with ABC. However, it was forced to back out of the deal when minority ownerParamount Pictures raised antitrust concerns. UPT had only spun off from Paramount four years earlier, and there were still doubts about whether the two companies were really separate.^[3]

By 1955, DuMont realized it could not compete against the other three networks and decided to wind down its operations. Soon after DuMont formally shut down network service in 1956, the parent firmDuMont Laboratories spun off the network's two remainingowned and operated stations,WABD in New York City andWTTG in Washington, D.C., to shareholders as theDuMont Broadcasting Corporation.^[4][5] The company's headquarters were co-located with WABD in the former DuMont Tele-Centre (which was later renamed the Metromedia Telecenter) in New York.

In 1957, DuMont Broadcasting purchased two New York area radio stations, WNEW (nowWBBR)^[6] and WHFI (laterWNEW-FM and WWFS),^[7][8] and later that year changed its name to theMetropolitan Broadcasting Corporation to distance itself from its former parent company.^[9] The following year, Paramount sold its shares in Metropolitan Broadcasting to Washington-based investorJohn Kluge, enough to give Kluge controlling interest. Kluge installed himself as chairman, and later increased his holdings to 75 percent.^[10] WABD'scall letters were later changed to WNEW-TV to match its new radio sisters.^[11]

Metropolitan Broadcasting's first acquisitions includedWHK-AM-FM inCleveland (in 1958);^[12] the Foster & Kleiser outdoor advertising firm^[13] (in 1959); andKOVR inStockton, California,Benedict Gimbel Jr.-owned WIP-AM-FM inPhiladelphia, WTVH-TV (nowWHOI) inPeoria, Illinois, and WTVP television (nowWAND) inDecatur, Illinois (all in 1960).^[14][15] In 1961 Metropolitan purchased KMBC-AM-TV inKansas City, Missouri.^[16] Later that year the company's name was changed toMetromedia;^[17] the Metropolitan Broadcasting name was retained for its broadcasting division until 1967.^[18]

In separate 1963 deals the company expanded intoLos Angeles, buying firstKTTV^[19] and laterKLAC and the original KLAC-FM (nowKIIS-FM).^[20] The company would later engineer a swap of FM facilities; the second KLAC-FM (laterKMET and nowKTWV) was established in 1965.^[21] Metromedia also entered the realm of live entertainment by purchasing theIce Capades (in 1963)^[22] and theHarlem Globetrotters (in 1967).^[23] Later in the decade Metromedia opened a television production center in Los Angeles, known asMetromedia Square, which served as the studio facility for numerous network programs. Metromedia also owned a TV production and distribution company calledMetromedia Producers Corporation (MPC), established in 1968 fromWolper Productions. MPC produced and syndicated various programs and TV movies, most notably thegame showTruth or Consequences and the 1972-86 version ofThe Merv Griffin Show. Metromedia spent the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s increasing its television and radio station portfolio, and continued to expand its syndication business.^{[citation needed]} In 1976, it teamed up withMTM Enterprises to launch a first-run syndicated variety show.^[24]

Metromedia entered therecord business in 1969 with the launch of theMetromedia Records label, whose biggest-selling artist wasBobby Sherman. The label was also notable as having issued the first two studio albums ofPeter Allen,Peter Allen (1971) andTenterfield Saddler (1972).^[25] The label was closed in 1974. Allen'sTenterfield Saddler, the title song of which has become anAustralian standard, was acquired and reissued byA&M Records in 1978.^[26]

In 1976, similar to the more successfulSFM Holiday Network of syndicated stations launched two years later, Metromedia teamed up withOgilvy and Mather for a proposed linking of independent TV stations termedMetroNet. The proposed programming would consist of several Sunday night family dramas, on weeknights a half-hour serial and a gothic series similar toDark Shadows, and on Saturdays a variety program hosted byCharo. The plans for MetroNet failed when advertisers balked at Metromedia's advertising rate, which was only slightly lower than the Big Three's and low national coverage, leaving for another similar operation,Operation Prime Time.^[27] In 1979, Metromedia Producers Corporation had also reached a deal withBob Stewart Productions for an exclusive co-producing agreement.^[28]

In 1982, Metromedia made its biggest broadcasting purchase when it acquiredWCVB-TV inBoston for $220 million, which at the time was the largest amount ever spent on a single television station property.^[29] Two years later, John Kluge bought out Metromedia's shareholders and took the company private.^[30]

Also around this time, Metromedia attempted to bring to the air a national newscast for independent stations (much as the rivalTribune Company had createdIndependent Network News in 1980), planned for launch in the fall of 1983. UnlikeINN, the program was planned to be offered as a hybrid, hour-long local/national newscast, fed to affiliates by satellite as a headlines block and three other segments, which could be aired by local stations in whatever order the stations deemed alongside locally produced news content. Also as part of this plan, Metromedia established full news departments forKRIV in Houston and what was thenKRLD-TV in Dallas (another news department was planned forWFLD in Chicago, but that department ultimately didn't launch until 1987, after the Murdoch buyout). Metromedia attempted to hireCharles Kuralt away fromCBS News to serve as anchor. Kuralt chose to stay to with CBS;John Hart was also considered as an anchor, but ultimately the planned newscast never came to fruition.^{[31][32][33][34]}

In 1985, it made an attempt to revive the comedyOh, Madeline asThe Madeline Kahn Show for first-run syndication, but the deal never came to fruition.^[35]

On May 4, 1985, Kluge announced the sale of Metromedia's television stations, and Metromedia Producers Corp., toNews Corporation (owned by Australian newspaper publisherRupert Murdoch) and20th Century Fox Film Corporation (owned jointly by Murdoch andMarvin Davis) for $3.5 billion. With the exception of WCVB-TV (which was subsequently sold to theHearst Corporation), all of the former Metromedia stations formed the nucleus of theFox Broadcasting Company (which began operations on October 9, 1986), while MPC was folded into20th Century Fox Television. The transactions became official on March 6, 1986.^[36][37] Because of these transactions, and the fact that Metromedia was originally spun off from the DuMont Television Network, radio personalityClarke Ingram has suggested that the Fox network is a revival or at least a linear descendant of DuMont.^[38]

Kluge also sold Metromedia's outdoor advertising firm, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Ice Capades in 1985, its cellular phone and yellow pages divisions to theSouthwestern Bell Corporation (now known as the second incarnation of AT&T, due to SBC's acquisition ofAT&T Corporation in 2005) under the leadership of Zane Barnes, Robert G. Pope, and J.B. Ellis. They also spun off the radio stations into a separate company (which took on the Metropolitan Broadcasting name)^{[39][40][41][42][citation needed]} before they were sold to various other owners by the early 1990s.^[43]

In retaliation for a lawsuit brought byPaul Winchell, who sought the rights to his children's television programWinchell-Mahoney Time, which was produced at KTTV in Los Angeles during the mid-1960s, it is believed that KTTV managementdestroyed the program's video tapes. In 1989 Winchell was awarded nearly $18 million as compensation for Metromedia's capricious behavior.^[44][45]

In 1983,Christine Craft, a former evening news co-anchor at KMBC-TV in Kansas City, sued Metromedia on claims of fraud andsexual discrimination. After spending eight months at KMBC-TV in 1981, she was demoted to reporting assignment after afocus group study claimed Craft was "too old, too unattractive and not deferential to men" in the eyes of viewers. Craft declined the reassignment and subsequently resigned from the station. Craft initially won her case, though she lost on appeal at theU.S. Supreme Court.^{[46][47][48][49]}

On May 22, 1986, Metromedia acquired a 6.5% stake inOrion Pictures Corporation; a movie and television production studio.^[50] By December, the stake in Orion's ownership was increased from 9.3% to 12.6% and on April 12, 1988, to 44.1%^[51] On May 20, 1988, Metromedia acquiredSumner Redstone's share for $78 million, holding a majority stake in Orion Pictures worth nearly 67%. In 1995, Kluge merged Orion, MCEG Sterling Entertainment (producer of theLook Who's Talking series), the holding company Actava, and Metromedia into a new Metromedia International Group.^[52] In November 1995, Metromedia announced that it would acquireMotion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA) for $32 million, followed byThe Samuel Goldwyn Company for $115 million in February 1996.^[53][54] On April 11, 1997, Metromedia sold Orion/Goldwyn and MPCA toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $573 million and was closed on July 10 of the same year.^[55][56] In 1998, MPCA broke apart from MGM becoming independent again.

Following the sale of the film business to MGM, Metromedia still ownedMetromedia Restaurant Group (which it had renamed from S&A Restaurant Group, which was acquired fromGrand Metropolitan) in 1990^[57] as well as Metromedia Fiber Network. The latter went bankrupt a few years later and becameAboveNet, while the former went bankrupt in 2008. Metromedia International operated subscription television operators (Kosmos-TV,Alma TV, Ala TV,Kamalak TV) and private radio stations in Eastern Europe and CIS countries; by 2006 following the sale of most assets, it boughtMagticom inGeorgia to ease financial burden from filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.^[58] Most assets were joint-ventures with government-linked companies.^[59][60][61] ItsKazakh operations were put in a state of limbo in 2002 due to regulatory issues.^[62]

Beginning in 1967, Metromedia's television stations began utilizing a sans-serif typeface for their on-air logo. The typeface was a proprietary one calledMetromedia Television Alphabet,^[18] which was as distinctive as the typeface employed byGroup W unit ofWestinghouse Electric for its TV and radio stations beginning in 1963.Metromedia Television Alphabet was used for the channel numbers of its television stations until 1977, when another typeface modeled slightly after theFutura family was introduced.^{[citation needed]}

• Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state andcity of license.
• Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station built and signed on by either Metromedia or predecessor Dumont.

This is a list of television programs that were produced and/or syndicated by Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC):

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(June 2017)

https://github.com/microsoft/WindowsAppSDK/issues/3089#issue-1430110636

• John Kluge at theMuseum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television
• New York Times 1986 announcement of Metromedia liquidation
• Metromedia Radio, a Web based radio station holds the WNEW tape archive and trademark rights to the Metromedia name and Soundmark rights to the WNEW and Metromedia Radio jingles

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