One of Landmark Communications's holdings was
TeleCable Corporation
, a cable television service that began in a small Virginia town in the late 1950s. Landmark obtained franchise licenses to operate in about two dozen cities throughout the eastern half of the U.S., including
Overland Park, Kansas
;
Plano
&
Arlington
,
Texas
;
Bloomington, Illinois
;
Racine, Wisconsin
;
Springfield, Missouri
;
Wytheville
&
Princeton, Virginia
;
Selma, Alabama
, and other cities. TeleCable was a progressive company that inspired HBO 2, Disney 2, and Showtime 2 in
Overland Park, Kansas
. Prior to the 1980s, technology enabled subscribers to receive only 12 channels on a CATV system. TeleCable built two CATV systems in one when the franchise was granted in Overland Park in the late 1960s. Customers had A/B switches at their TVs so they could select either set of channels. This gave TeleCable of Overland Park twice as many channels (24) as other CATV companies. With advances in technology, TeleCable of Overland Park was able to double the number offered to 48 channels. In the early 1980s, there were very few satellite channels, and the pay cable channels typically signed off the air before midnight on weeknights (later on the weekends). Customers complained to TeleCable of Overland Park that they missed the 7 p.m. movie start due to late working hours, dinner, or children's activities. TeleCable management contacted
HBO
,
Showtime
, and
The Disney Channel
to ask to receive the
Eastern Time Zone
satellite feed of their programs for its Central Time Zone operation. TeleCable officials planned to charge customers who requested this expanded service an extra 50 cents per month. The movie channels dismissed the idea, believing no one would pay for that option. After several months, management had the full attention of the networks, as thousands were signing up. The sole benefit for customers was a one-hour earlier start for movies and other programs. But HBO and Showtime soon decided to create separate services for those channels. Disney followed suit a few years later.
Landmark's predecessor, Norfolk Newspapers, entered broadcasting in 1930, when it bought Virginia's oldest radio station,
WTAR
. It later added Virginia's second television station (and
Hampton Roads
' first), WTAR-TV (now
WTKR
) and an FM station (now
WVKL
). It acquired
WFMY-TV
in Greensboro as part of its purchase of the
Greensboro, North Carolina newspapers
in 1965. However,
U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) cross-ownership rules forced Landmark to sell off WFMY in 1976 and WTAR-TV in 1981. Under the rules then, a company could not own both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
Landmark was an owner of
KNTV
in
San Jose, California
from 1978 to 1990. During its 12-year ownership of the station, KNTV (then affiliated with
ABC
and serving the
Monterey
/
Salinas
media market) was its only station that was not an affiliate of the
CBS
network. Landmark briefly owned
WDBJ-TV
in
Roanoke, Virginia
, but was forced to sell it immediately due to FCC restrictions. Landmark owned
The Travel Channel
from 1992 to 1996, when it was sold to
Paxson Communications
.
The company owned
Chicago
magazine from 1990 to 1995, when it was sold to
Primedia
. At one time, Landmark owned a minority share of the
Washingtonian
magazine, until its rights were traded to Eleanor Merrill, widow of its publisher
Philip Merrill
, in exchange for full ownership of the
Annapolis Capital
and five other
Maryland
newspapers.
[4]
Landmark owned the hobby publisher
Antique Trader Publications
until its sale to
Krause Publications
in 1999.
[5]
In December 2001, Landmark announced it would close its subsidiary
Church Impressions
, based in
Greenville, North Carolina
, which published church directories, portraits, and other print and web media products.
Landmark once owned four
career training
schools that focus on health-related career education:
Glendale Career College
,
Certified Careers Institute
,
Nevada Career Institute
and
Virginia Career Institute
.
On September 19, 2007, it was announced that Continental Broadband (CB), a Landmark Communications (Landmark Media Enterprises) company, sold its South Florida business unit, WebUnited, to Host.net, the leading provider of data center (colocation) and managed network services in Florida.
[6]
On May 15, 2009, CB sold its Chicago business unit, ANET, to
Cogent Communications
, a global Internet service provider. On January 23, 2010, CB divested its Richmond Business Unit, NET Telcos, to
Cavalier Telephone
, a full-service provider of telecommunications solutions.
In early 2008, the Landmark confirmed that it was exploring the sale of the entire company.
[7]
Two separate
investment banks
,
JPMorgan Chase
and
Lehman Brothers
, were hired to help with the sale of
The Weather Channel
and the newspapers.
Landmark's best-known media outlet was the Weather Channel, based in
Atlanta, Georgia
. As part of its divestiture, the company announced in July 2008 the $3.5 billion sale of its Weather Channel properties, which included its share of
The Weather Network
and weather.com, plus
Weather Services International
and
MeteoMedia
, to a consortium comprising
NBCUniversal
and the
private equity
firms
Blackstone Group
and
Bain Capital
. Landmark and NBC Universal completed the sale on September 12, 2008.
[8]
On July 14 of that year, it was announced that
WTVF
in
Nashville, Tennessee
would be sold to
Bonten Media Group
,
[9]
but that sale did not close. Landmark eventually sold the station to
Journal Communications
in 2012.
[10]
[11]
In October 2008, the company suspended further sales of its properties, citing the ongoing credit crisis, with the exception of
The Virginian-Pilot
newspaper.
[12]
Landmark sold the
News & Record
newspaper in
Greensboro, North Carolina
to
Berkshire Hathaway
on January 31, 2013. In May 2013, Landmark sold the
Roanoke Times
, the metropolitan newspaper serving
Roanoke, Virginia
, also to Berkshire Hathaway.
[13]
Landmark sold its Maryland newspapers to
The Baltimore Sun
Media Group on May 1, 2014.
[14]
CBS
affiliate
KLAS-TV
, based in
Las Vegas, Nevada
, was acquired by Landmark in 1978 from a trust left by
Howard Hughes
upon his death. On November 21, 2014,
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
announced that it planned to purchase KLAS for $145 million.
[15]
The sale closed on February 13, 2015.
In 2016,
Dominion Enterprises
sold Dominion Marine Media (BoatTrader.com, YachtWorld.com, Boats.com) to funds advised by Apax Partners. The company is now
Boats Group
.
In 2017, Dominion Enterprises sold Dominion Web Solutions (CycleTrader.com, RVTrader.com, CommercialTruckTrader.com, EquipmentTrader.com) to
Eurazeo
and West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division. The company is now called Trader Interactive.
On Sept. 12, 2017,
CoStar Group
agreed to purchase the ForRent apartment advertising division of Dominion Enterprises.
In May 2018, Landmark sold
The Virginian-Pilot
and its associated publications and websites to
Tribune Publishing
.
In October 2019, Landmark sold Expedient Data Centers to
AMP Capital
.
In November 2020, Landmark sold its seven+ remaining Colorado newspapers -- Brighton Standard Blade, Fort Lupton Press, Commerce City Sentinel Express, Metro Advertiser, Canyon Courier, Clear Creek Courant and 285 Hustler to Colorado Community Media.
[16]
[17]
In April 2021, Landmark announced the sale of Homes.com, a unit of its Dominion Enterprises subsidiary, to CoStar Group Inc. for $156 million.
[18]
Landmark formerly owned more than 50 community newspapers and special-interest publications in 11 states. That includes seven publications that cover college sports at
Florida State University
,
University of Florida
,
Indiana University
,
University of Iowa
(
Voice of The Hawkeyes
),
University of Nebraska
,
University of Kentucky
and
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
; and two daily newspapers:
Citrus County Chronicle
of
Crystal River, Florida
and
The News-Enterprise
of
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
.
Landmark Community Newspapers properties
[19]
Name
|
U.S. state
|
Type
|
Anderson News
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Brunswick Beacon
|
North Carolina
|
Newspaper
|
Carolina Blue
|
North Carolina
|
Sports Publication
|
Carolina Gateway
|
South Carolina
|
Newspaper
|
Carrollton News-Democrat
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Casey County News
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Cedar Key Beacon
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Central Kentucky Homes
|
Kentucky
|
Real Estate Magazine
|
Central Kentucky News-Journal
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Chester News And Reporter
|
South Carolina
|
Newspaper
|
Chiefland Citizen
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Citrus County Chronicle
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Cynthiana Democrat
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Declaration
|
Virginia
|
Newspaper
|
Gadsden County Times
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Gator Bait
|
Florida
|
Sports Publication
|
Grant County News and Express
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Henry County Local
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Huskers Illustrated
|
Nebraska
|
Sports Publication
|
Inside Indiana
|
Indiana
|
Sports Publication
|
Lafollette Press
|
Tennessee
|
Newspaper
|
Las Vegas Optic
|
New Mexico
|
Newspaper
|
Lebanon Enterprise
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Los Alamos Monitor
|
New Mexico
|
Newspaper
|
Morgan County News
|
Tennessee
|
Newspaper
|
Mt. Vernon Democrat
|
Indiana
|
Newspaper
|
Oldham Era
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Opinion-Tribune
|
Iowa
|
Newspaper
|
Owenton News-Herald
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Pageland Progressive-Journal
|
South Carolina
|
Newspaper
|
Perry County News
|
Indiana
|
Newspaper
|
Pioneer News
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
PLG-TV
|
Kentucky
|
Television station
|
Red Oak Express
|
Iowa
|
Newspaper
|
Riverland News
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Roane County News
|
Tennessee
|
Newspaper
|
Sentinel-News
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
South Marion Citizen
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Spencer County Journal-Democrat
|
Indiana
|
Newspaper
|
Spencer Magnet
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Springfield Sun
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Standard Publishing Company
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Sumter County Times
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
The Bedford Bulletin
|
Virginia
|
Newspaper
|
The Cats' Pause
|
Kentucky
|
Sports Publication
|
The Gazette
|
Virginia
|
Newspaper
|
The Kentucky Standard
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
The Lancaster News
|
South Carolina
|
Newspaper
|
The Larue County Herald-News
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
The News-Enterprise
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
The Osceola
|
Florida
|
Sports Publication
|
The Record
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
The Wakulla News
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Trimble Banner
|
Kentucky
|
Newspaper
|
Vandalia Leader-Union
|
Illinois
|
Newspaper
|
West Marion Messenger
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
Williston Pioneer Sun News
|
Florida
|
Newspaper
|
In May 2021, Landmark Community Newspapers was sold to
Paxton Media Group
.
[20]