Meredith Corporation

Meredith Corporation

Type	Public (NYSE: MDP)
Industry	Media
Founded	1902
Headquarters	Des Moines, Iowa
Key people	Steve Lacy, Chairman and CEO Joseph H. Ceryanec, CFO John S. Zieser CDO
Products	Newspapers Magazines Books Television Educational Services Websites
Revenue	$1.597 billion USD (2006)
Employees	3,160 (2006)
Website	www.meredith.com

The Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.

History

Edwin Thomas Meredith founded the company in 1902 when he began publishing Successful Farming magazine. In 1922, Meredith began publishing Fruit, Garden and Home magazine, a home and family service publication. Two years later, this magazine was retitled Better Homes and Gardens,^[1][2] and the first issue cost a dime on the newsstand. In 1930, they published the first edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

Since then, Meredith has introduced numerous other female-oriented consumer brands and has strategically expanded its reach, through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, to become the leading media and marketing company serving the adult female audience in the United States. In addition, the Company has extended its media and marketing platform around the Globe, through acquisitions and strategic licensing relationships.

Magazines

Former logo from 1960s to 2009

Meredith magazines include the following brands:

• Better Homes and Gardens
• Family Circle
• Ladies' Home Journal
• Traditional Home
• Midwest Living
• Parents
• American Baby
• More
• Fitness
• ReadyMade
• Renovation Style
• Siempre Mujer - Siempre Mujer - Spanish Page
• Ser Padres
• Wood
• Successful Farming
• EatingWell
• Everyday with Rachael Ray^[3]

Broadcast holdings

The broadcasting division owns 14 television stations and one radio station. Meredith's broadcasting division also produces Better, which was originally conceived as a brand extension of BH&G. Since its inception in 2007 the show has placed an increasing emphasis on celebrity interviews and music performances. There are also cooking demonstrations and regular features on health, beauty, fitness and fashion. The program currently airs on 80 stations nationwide.^[4]

Television stations

DMA#	City of license/Market	Station	Channel TV / DT	Owned Since	Affiliation
8.	Atlanta[5]	WGCL-TV	46 / 19	1998	CBS
12.	Phoenix	KPHO-TV	5 / 17	1952	CBS
22.	Portland, Oregon	KPTV	12 / 12	2002	Fox
	Vancouver, Washington	KPDX	49 / 30	1997	MyNetworkTV
29.	Nashville	WSMV	4 / 19	1996	NBC
30.	Hartford - New Haven	WFSB	3 / 33	1997	CBS
31	Kansas City, Missouri	KCMO-TV/KCTV	5 / 24	1953	CBS
		KSMO-TV	62 / 47	2005	MyNetworkTV
36.	Greenville - Spartanburg - Asheville	WHNS	21 / 21	1997	Fox
42.	Henderson - Las Vegas, NV	KVVU-TV	5 / 9	1985	Fox
69	Bay City - Flint - Saginaw, MI	WNEM-TV	5 / 22	1969	CBS MyNetworkTV
110.	Springfield, Massachusetts	WSHM-LP (semi-satellite of WFSB)	67 / 41	2004	CBS
189.	Bend, Oregon	KUBN-LP (semi-satellite of KPDX)	50	2006	MyNetworkTV

On January 18, 2011, Meredith announced that it had entered into an agreement with Time Warner subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System to operate independent station WPCH-TV (channel 17) in Atlanta through a local marketing agreement. Pending final approval from the Federal Communications Commission, the deal would give Meredith a de facto television duopoly in Atlanta, though Time Warner will continue to control WPCH-TV's license.^[5]

Radio station

AM Station

DMA#	Market	Station/ Frequency	Owned Since	Current Format
130.	Bridgeport - Saginaw - Bay City - Midland, MI	WNEM 1250	2004	News

Former Meredith-owned stations

Television stations

DMA#	City of license/Market	Station	Channel TV / DT	Years owned	Current Status
19.	Orlando - Daytona Beach	WOFL	35 / 22	1983–2002	Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
		WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV)	6 / 26	19971	CBS affiliate owned by Post-Newsweek Stations
24.	Pittsburgh	WPGH-TV	53 / 43	1978–1986	Fox affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
55.	Fresno, California	KSEE	24 / 38	1984–1993	NBC affiliate owned by Granite Broadcasting
76.	Omaha	WOW-TV (now WOWT)	6 / 22	1958–1975	NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
82.	Syracuse, New York	WHEN-TV/WTVH2	5 / 47	1948–1993	CBS affiliate owned by Granite Broadcasting (operated by Barrington Broadcasting)
86.	Cleveland - Chattanooga, TN	WFLI-TV	53 / 42	2004–2008	CW affiliate owned by MPS Media
160.	Ocala - Gainesville, FL	WOGX (semi-satellite of WOFL)	51 / 31	1996–2002	Fox owned-and-operated (O&O)
189.	Bend, Oregon	KFXO-LP	39 / 21.4	1997–2007	Fox affiliate owned by News-Press & Gazette Company

Notes:

• ¹: WCPX was acquired with the purchases of KPDX and WHNS but was swapped to its current owner Post-Newsweek Stations for WFSB a day later. Meredith never held control of the station.
• ²: WHEN-TV/WTVH was the only station that was built and signed-on by Meredith.

Radio stations

AM Stations

FM Stations

DMA#	Market	Station/ Frequency	Years owned	Current Status
15.	Phoenix	KPHO-910 (now KGME)	1952–1971	Owned by Clear Channel Communications
29.	Kansas City, Missouri	KCMO-710 (KCMO is now at 810 AM; 710 AM is now WHB)	1953–1983	Owned by Cumulus Media
		KCMO-FM-94.9	1953–1983	Owned by Cumulus Media
74.	Omaha, NE - Council Bluffs, IA	WOW-590 (now KXSP)	1958–1983	Owned by Journal Broadcast Group
		WOW-FM-92.3 (now KEZO-FM)	1958–1983	Owned by Journal Broadcast Group
80.	Syracuse, New York	WHEN-620	1954–1976	Owned by Clear Channel Communications

Business deals

Meredith Corporation has over recent years through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, transformed the Company into a "360 degree" media and marketing powerhouse serving the largest audience of female adults of any media company in the United States. John S. Zieser, Chief Development Officer of Meredith Corporation, has led the Company on these business activities, from the acquisition of the Parents, Family Circle and Fitness brands from European media conglomerate Bertelsmann Group in 2005, to the more recent acquisition of several digital and mobile companies which led to expansion of Meredith's high growth "business-to-business" Integrated Marketing division, to large strategic licensing relationships with Walmart and Realogy relating to the Better Homes and Gardens brand. John Zieser also led and manages the acceleration of Meredith's consumer brands overseas, through over 35 licensing partnerships with leading media partners around the globe.

See also

• New Media Strategies
• List of United States magazines

References

1. ^ "Miller Center of Public Affairs University of Virginia". American President Woodrow Wilson/Edwin T. Meredith Secretary of Agriculture. http://millercenter.org/president/wilson/essays/cabinet/471. Retrieved 2010-12-12. 
2. ^ "NNDB". Edwin T. Meredith. http://www.nndb.com/people/548/000168044/. Retrieved 2010-12-12. 
3. ^ Meredith to Acquire Every Day with Rachael Ray, PR Newswire, October 12, 2011
4. ^ Pursell, Chris (January 2008). "Meredith Speeds Up ‘Better’ Rollout". TV Week. http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/01/meredith_speeds_up_better_roll.php. Retrieved January 19, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Swartz, Kristi E. (January 18, 2011). "Parent of CBS Atlanta to take over operations of Peachtree TV". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/business/parent-of-cbs-atlanta-807725.html. Retrieved January 18, 2011. 

External links

• Meredith Corporation
• Agriculture.com Portal by Successful Farming
• Better Homes and Gardens main web site