Heritage Media
| Public | |
| Traded as | NYSE: HTG |
| Industry | Television, Radio, Marketing |
| Predecessor | Heritage Communications |
| Successor |
News Corporation Sinclair Broadcast Group |
| Founded | August 1987 |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | August 20, 1997 |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, United States |
|
Area served
|
United States (Nationwide) |
| Revenue |
 $10 billion USD (1996) |
Heritage Media Corporation (: HTG) was a media company which owned television and radio stations across the United States, as well as in-store and direct marketing companies. It was based in Dallas, Texas from 1987 to 1997.
Heritage Media was founded in August 1987 by a group of Heritage Communications executives to acquire the company's television and radio stations. The sale coincided with Heritage Communications' merger with Tele-Communications Inc.; at the time, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations did not allow a company to own both a television station and a cable system in a market. Heritage Communications had acquired the stations through the 1985 purchase of Dakota Broadcasting and the 1986 acquisitions of Rollins Communications and six LIN Broadcasting radio stations. Heritage Media's president and chief executive officer, James M. Hoak, Jr., held the same positions with Heritage Communications; the company's headquarters were located in Des Moines, Iowa (where Heritage Communications was based) until later in 1987, when it relocated to Dallas, Texas.
Heritage Media managed its television stations with more of an emphasis on cash flow than ratings, and focused its radio group on stations that it felt needed a turnaround (for instance, it had acquired KKSN AM-FM in Portland, Oregon out of bankruptcy). To implement this strategy, the company's stations operated with large sales staffs but were otherwise staffed sparingly. Heritage Media went public in September 1988, trading on the . By then, it had invested in POP Radio, an in-store radio company, and Du-Kross Media, which sold advertisements on shopping carts. In 1989, Heritage Media purchased Actmedia, a in-store marketing company. In 1996, the company merged with DIMAC Corporation, a direct marketing services company. On July 15, 1996, Heritage Media moved its stock listing to the .
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