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| Formerly | Fisher Companies Inc. (1971-2001) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: FSCI | |
| Industry | Broadcasting,Television,Radio |
| Predecessor | Fisher Flouring Mills Co. |
| Founded | 1910; 115 years ago (1910) (as Fisher Flouring Mills Co.) 1971; 54 years ago (1971) (as Fisher Companies) |
| Defunct | August 8, 2013 (2013-08-08) |
| Fate | Acquired bySinclair |
| Successor | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Headquarters | Seattle,Washington, United States |
Key people | Colleen Brown (president &CEO) Michael D. Wortsman (chair) Robert I. (Rob) Dunlop (EVP & Ops)[1] |
| Revenue | $164.0M ( 6.8%) 2011[1] |
| $36.4M ( 273.8%) 2011[1] | |
Number of employees | 784 (5.3%) 2011[1] |
Fisher Communications, Inc. was a media company in theUnited States. Based inSeattle, Washington, the company primarily owned a number of radio and television stations in theWestern United States. It was the last company in the Seattle area to own a local TV station before being acquired bySinclair Broadcast Group in 2013. Prior to 2001, it was a conglomerate with businesses in broadcasting, flour milling and real estate.
Fisher Companies, Inc.'s Fisher Communications by 1998 owned 25 radio stations and 2 TV stations. Fisher Companies also owned a flour milling and food distribution company and real estate development subsidiary.[2]
In 1999Retlaw Enterprises (a company owned by the relatives ofWalt Disney) sold its remaining 11 television stations to Fisher Communications, including all of the related assets to those properties[3] for $215 million in cash.[2] Its broadcasting unit, until the 2000s, was Fisher Broadcasting. Also that year, Fisher is launching its own entertainment division, Fisher Entertainment, to be headed by Alan Winters, a syndication executive.[4]
Fisher began to sell many of its properties in the mid-2000s, including real estate, its longtime flour milling operation, and its stake inSafeco.[5][6] By 2011, Fisher Communications was down to 10 radio stations.[1] On April 11, 2013, Fisher (which by then owned 20 television stations and only three radio stations) announced that it would be acquired by theSinclair Broadcast Group.[5] However, the deal was subject to financial scrutiny; the law firm Levi & Korsinsky notified Fisher shareholders with accusations that Fisher's board of directors were breachingfiduciary duties by "failing to adequately shop the Company before agreeing to enter into the transaction", and Sinclair was underpaying for Fisher's stock.[7] Shortly after the announcement, a lawsuit was filed by a Fisher shareholder;[8] the suit was settled in July 2013,[9] on August 6 Fisher's shareholders approved the merger.[10] The FCC granted its approval of the sale of August 7.[11] On August 8, Sinclair announced that the sale was completed.[12]
On December 17, 2008, Fisher Communications' contract expired withDish Network. As a result of this contract dispute, stations owned by Fisher Communications were no longer available to Dish Network subscribers. Dish Network claimed that Fisher is asking for over an 80% increase.[13]The Fisher stations that returned to Dish Network are: KOMO and KUNS in Seattle.; KATU and KUNP in Portland.; KIMA in Yakima, Washington.; KVAL in Eugene, Oregon.; KBCI (now KBOI) in Boise, Idaho; KIDK in Idaho Falls, Idaho; and KBAK and KBFX in Bakersfield, California. Dish Network restored the service to their customers at 10:25 p.m.PST on June 10.[14]
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** Owned by third parties and operated by Sinclair through various operating agreements. *** Owned by Sinclair and operated byMarquee Broadcasting. JV Joint venture. | ||||||||||||||||||