| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting,Television |
| Founded | 1988; 37 years ago (1988) |
| Defunct | 1997; 28 years ago (1997) |
| Fate | Acquired byTribune Broadcasting |
| Successor | |
| Headquarters | Greenwich, Connecticut,United States |
Key people | Michael Finkelstein |
Renaissance Communications Corporation was an American owner of television stations. A venture of Michael Finkelstein andWarburg Pincus headquartered inGreenwich, Connecticut, it specialized in major- and mid-major marketindependent stations, primarily airingFox andWB affiliates. The company sold toTribune Broadcasting in a deal announced in 1996 and closed in 1997.
In 1981, Michael Finkelstein, a formerFederal Communications Commission attorney and communications lawyer, boughtWATR-TV inWaterbury, Connecticut. He retooled it from anNBC affiliate to anindependent station. In 1983, Finkelstein joined Odyssey Partners, a New York City–based investment practice, as CEO of its TV stations. The firm acquiredWDZL inMiami the next year.[1]
Finkelstein founded Renaissance Communications in 1988 with the backing ofWarburg Pincus. The firm acquiredKTXL inSacramento, California, andWPGH-TV in Pittsburgh for a total of $88 million.[1] Renaissance also acquired WDZL and WTXX from Odyssey;[2] in 1990, it boughtWPMT inYork, Pennsylvania, and the next year, it sold WPGH-TV.[3] Between 1991 and 1992, it attempted to become a publicly traded company twice but failed.[4]
Renaissance acquired four of the five stations owned by Chase Broadcasting in a deal announced in September 1992.[5] This broughtKDVR in Denver;WXIN in Indianapolis;WATL in Atlanta; andWTIC-TV inHartford, Connecticut, into the Renaissance fold.[5] Renaissance could not own both WTXX and WTIC-TV. To comply with prevailing FCC regulations, Renaissance sold WTXX to aRoman Catholic non-profit group, Counterpoint Communications; both deals were completed in March 1993.[6] Some syndicated programs from WTXX moved to WTIC-TV.[7] While Renaissance tried to negotiate alocal marketing agreement (LMA) with Counterpoint in which it would buy WTXX's entire broadcast day, Counterpoint wanted only a part-time arrangement, and negotiations fell through; eventually, WTXX entered into a part-time LMA with NBC affiliateWVIT (channel 30).[8]
Renaissance immediately sold WATL toFox Television Stations.[4] The next year, Renaissance did business with Fox Television Stations again when it agreed to trade KDVR to Fox forKDAF in Dallas. Fox was selling KDAF because it was moving its programming to the previousCBS affiliate,KDFW, as a result of aten-station affiliation deal withNew World Communications.[9][10] The FCC approved the transaction in July 1995.[11] At the same time, two new national networks,UPN andThe WB, launched. Renaissance initially committed WDZL to The WB only to switch to UPN, a move that surprised observers because Finkelstein had previously been a public supporter of The WB.[12] One reason was that it was rumored thatChris-Craft Industries would buyWBFS-TV, a competing Miami station. Renaissance later was forced to reverse course and switch back to The WB whenParamount Stations Group acquired WBFS instead.[13] Also in 1994, Renaissance went public.[14]
On June 30, 1995, Renaissance announced it had agreed to purchaseOutlet Communications, which owned two NBC affiliates (WCMH andWJAR) and a third station committed to switching to NBC (WNCN), in a $360 million merger.[15] NBC moved to outbid Renaissance with a $402 million offer and was sued by Renaissance, which claimed "unlawful interference". NBC claimed that Outlet's directors could still consider higher offers in the interest of shareholders;[16] a judge refused to block the NBC bid,[17] which Outlet then accepted. Renaissance received a breakup fee.[18] Renaissance also lost out in its proposal to merge withRiver City Broadcasting.[14]
Feeling that there were few valuable assets left to buy in a rapidly consolidating market,[14] Finkelstein agreed to sell Renaissance toTribune Broadcasting for $1.13 billion in a deal announced on July 1, 1996.[19][20][21][22][23] The FCC approved the transaction in March 1997 but, per newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership limits, ordered Tribune to sell one of WDZL or theSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel.[24] The deal closed that same month.[25]
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state andcity of license. Ownership of stations by Odyssey Partners is not included.
| Media market | State | Station | Purchased | Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | California | KTXL | 1987 | 1997 |
| Denver | Colorado | KDVR | 1993 | 1995 |
| Hartford | Connecticut | WTXX | 1988 | 1993 |
| WTIC-TV | 1993 | 1997 | ||
| Miami–Fort Lauderdale | Florida | WDZL | 1982 | 1997 |
| Atlanta | Georgia | WATL | 1993 | 1993 |
| Indianapolis | Indiana | WXIN | 1993 | 1997 |
| Harrisburg | Pennsylvania | WPMT | 1990 | 1997 |
| Pittsburgh | WPGH-TV | 1987 | 1991 | |
| Dallas–Fort Worth | Texas | KDAF | 1995 | 1997 |