Raycom
 |
|
| employee-owned | |
| Industry |
Broadcast Television Television Production |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
|
Area served
|
United States (Nationwide) |
|
Key people
|
Pat LaPlatney (President & CEO) |
|
Number of employees
|
4,200 |
| Parent | Retirement Systems of Alabama |
| Divisions |
Raycom Sports Broadview Media |
| Website |
raycommedia raycomsports |
Raycom Media, Inc. is an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. It is owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, an agency of the Alabama state government, and its employees.
Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications, which eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations.
In 1994, Ellis bought Raycom Sports, a 15-year-old sports marketing firm. Two years later, Ellis sold Raycom to a media group funded by Retirement Systems of Alabama, who had bought Aflac's broadcast division and Federal Broadcasting's TV Group a few months earlier. The three groups merged to form Raycom Media. In 1998, Raycom merged with Malrite Communications, owner of five stations in the South and Midwest.
In August 2005 it acquired the Liberty Corporation and in the process sold a dozen of its stations to Barrington Broadcasting. The merger closed at the start of 2006.
On November 12, 2007, Raycom announced its intention to acquire the television broadcasting properties of Lincoln National Corporation's Lincoln Financial Media—three television stations (see table below), plus Lincoln Financial Sports—for $583 million. As of January 1, 2008, Lincoln Financial Sports was officially merged into Raycom Sports.
On November 20, 2013, Raycom and WVUE announced that a Shared Services Agreement would take effect, allowing Raycom to manage the operations of the New Orleans Fox network affiliate, which is owned by Tom Benson's Louisiana Media Company.
On August 10, 2015, Raycom announced that it would purchase stations owned by Drewry Communications for $160 million. The sale was completed on December 1.
Raycom Media has been involved in a torrent of controversies. These issues have ranged from discrimination, nationally televised blackouts to poor working conditions.
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Wikipedia