Storer Broadcasting

Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the Northeastern United States. It was incorporated in Ohio in 1927, and sold its broadcasting properties in 1983.

In 1927, George B. Storer and brother-in-law J. Harold Ryan were building service stations for Speedene brand gasoline in the Toledo, Ohio area. Speedene sales were booming, thanks to a cost-cutting device implemented by the partners. They bypassed the cost of trucking gasoline to service stations by building the stations beside railroad sidings and sold their product at two or three cents a gallon under the going retail rate by filling their tanks directly from railroad tank cars. Storer decided to buy some radio spots on WTAL in Toledo to advertise his gas stations. The spots were effective, and Storer decided to use his wealth to buy the radio station. Storer Broadcasting was born, and WTAL became WSPD, "Speedy AM," symbolic of the gasoline brand.

The company was primarily in the broadcast radio business. Although the company had success in the Top 40 rock and roll format with WJBK in Detroit and WIBG "Wibbage" in Philadelphia, most of its radio stations, including WJW and WSPD, featured more conservative music formats, typically middle-of-the-road (MOR) or beautiful music.

In the 1950s as television usage began growing, Storer entered the television market starting WSPD-TV in Toledo and purchasing several television stations in other markets. The company focused primarily on the radio and television businesses through much of its history. However, it did venture into the cable television business in the early 1960s. It also purchased Northeast Airlines in 1965 and held it until 1972, when it was sold to Delta Air Lines. George Storer was company president until his 1973 retirement; he remained company chairman until his death in 1975. Due to his position as a director of CBS, he was able to obtain lucrative CBS network affiliations for Storer-owned television stations, such as WXEL and WJBK which had been DuMont affiliates. By 1961 Storer was the nation's sixth-largest television broadcaster—exceeded in size only by the three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC), Metropolitan Broadcasting (later Metromedia) and the Group W division of Westinghouse. George's son, Peter Storer, became president when George retired in 1973.

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