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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadband, cloud services provider |
| Founded | 1872 |
| Founder | Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett |
| Successor | Gray Media (television assets only) Gannett (newspaper assets only) |
| Headquarters | Mishawaka, Indiana |
Key people | John Reardon (President and CEO)[1] |
| Website | www |
Schurz Communications, Inc. is an Americanbroadband media group and cloud services provider based inSouth Bend, Indiana. It previously owned newspapers and television stations.
The company was founded in 1872 by Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett with the creation of theSouth 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.[2]
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, toGray Television for $442.5 million.[3][4][5] 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 withMeTV andThis TV;[6][7][8] a month later, on November 2, Gray announced thatHomeSlice Media Group would acquire the Rushmore Media Company radio stations for $2.2 million, reuniting them withKBHB andKKLS, which Schurz had sold to HomeSlice in 2014 as part of its acquisition of KOTA-TV.[9][10][11] 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;[7] it will also retain KOTA-TV satellite stations KDUH-TV and KSGW-TV and convert them to satellites ofKNOP-TV inNorth Platte, Nebraska andKCWY-DT inCasper, Wyoming (bothNBC affiliates), respectively.[12]
In March 2015, the company sold theImperial Valley Press newspaper based inEl Centro, California.[13]
In September 2016, The American News and Farm Forum, owned by Schurz, acquiredThe Public Opinion newspaper inWatertown, South Dakota fromUnited Communications.[14]
In February 2018, the company acquired theAnn Arbor, Michigan-basedOnline 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.[15] 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.[16]
In January 2019, Schurz sold its publishing division and all its newspapers toGateHouse Media for $30 million. This included 20 regional papers and several special publications inIndiana,Maryland,Michigan,Pennsylvania and South Dakota. GateHouse later bought theGannett newspaper chain, and the expanded network of newspapers adopted the Gannett name.[17][18]
In March 2019 Schurz Communications bought the city-owned local broadband companyBurlington Telecom ofBurlington, Vermont for a total of $30.8 million.[19]
Rushmore Media Company, Inc. was a small radio broadcasting subsidiary, which owned and operated four radio stations and one television station in theBlack Hills region of westernSouth 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:
| Media market | State | Station | Purchased | Sold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | Alaska | KTUU-TV | 2008 | 2016 | |
| Augusta | Georgia | WAGT | 1980 | 2016 | [a] |
| Lafayette | Indiana | WASK | 1991 | 2016 | |
| WASK-FM | 1995 | 2016 | |||
| WKHY | 2005 | 2016 | |||
| WKOA | 1991 | 2016 | |||
| WXXB | 2005 | 2016 | |||
| South Bend | WNSN | 1962 | 2016 | ||
| WSBT | 1922 | 2016 | |||
| WSBT-TV ** | 1952 | 2016 | |||
| WZOC | 2012 | 2016 | [b] | ||
| Ensign | Kansas | KBSD-DT | 2006 | 2016 | [A] |
| Goodland | KBSL-DT | 2006 | 2016 | [A] | |
| Hays | KBSH-DT | 2006 | 2016 | [A] | |
| Hutchinson–Wichita | KDCU-DT | 2008 | 2016 | [a] | |
| KSCW-DT | 2007 | 2016 | |||
| KWCH-DT | 2006 | 2016 | |||
| Benton Harbor | Michigan | WHFB-FM | 2012 | 2016 | [b] |
| Springfield | Missouri | K15CZ-D | 2002 | 2016 | |
| KSPR | 2007 | 2017 | [a][c] | ||
| KYTV | 1987 | 2016 | |||
| Scottsbluff | Nebraska | KDUH-TV | 2014 | 2016 | [B] |
| Lead | South Dakota | KHSD-TV | 2014 | 2016 | [B] |
| Rapid City | KFXS | 2006 | 2016 | ||
| KKLS | 2006 | 2014 | |||
| KKMK | 2006 | 2016 | |||
| KOTA-TV | 2014 | 2016 | |||
| KOUT | 2006 | 2016 | |||
| Sturgis | KBHB | 2006 | 2014 | ||
| KRCS | 2006 | 2016 | |||
| Sheridan | Wyoming | KSGW-TV | 2014 | 2016 | [B] |
| Roanoke–Lynchburg | Virginia | WDBJ | 1969 | 2016 |
