Chronicle Publishing Company
Encyclopedia
The Chronicle Publishing Company was a print and broadcast media corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California that was in operation from 1865 until 2000. Owned for the whole of its existence by the de Young family, it was most notable for owning the namesake San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

newspaper and KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...

, the longtime NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate in the market.

The Chronicle

What would become Chronicle Publishing was formed on January 16, 1865 when teenage brothers Charles and Michael de Young published the first edition of the Daily Dramatic Chronicle, a venture funded by a borrowed $20 gold piece. The paper began with a circulation of 2000 readers daily, tripling within six months as the paper gained readership in the wake of breaking the news of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 to San Francisco. In September 1868, the paper would change its name to the Morning Chronicle.

Over the coming decades, the Chronicle would see massive growth alongside that of San Francisco, weathering the 1880 assassination of Charles de Young in the Chronicle offices In 1890, the company built a 10-story building at Kearny and Market streets which was the tallest building in the western United States at the time as well as the first to use steel framing. This building would be superseded by the final company headquarters (still used by the Chronicle), built in 1924 at Fifth and Mission Streets.

With the diversification of interests in the 1960s, the corporation owning the Chronicle was spun off into its own unit as Chronicle Publishing to signify a diversifcation of its interests outside of San Francisco. The second century of the company began with the Chronicle entering a Joint Operating Agreement with the rival San Francisco Examiner in which the Chronicle would publish mornings while the Examiner published afternoons.

Broadcasting

With the growth of television in the 1940s, the Chronicle decided to diversify into that medium by applying for a construction permit for a station that would be operated alongside the Chronicle. On November 5, 1949, the Chronicle would sign on KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...

 on VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...

 channel 4 which became the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate for the market. This was much to the chagrin of NBC itself, which was a runner-up for the station and would pine for KRON for the next half-century. In the 1950s, KRON would add an FM station (KRON-FM, now KOIT-FM
KOIT-FM
KOIT-FM is an Lite Rock-formatted radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. Its slogan is "Lite Rock, Less Talk". The station's programming was also simulcast for many years on 1260 AM...

) at 96.5 MHz.

Further diversification into broadcasting came in 1975 when the sale of KRON-FM to Bonneville International
Bonneville International
Bonneville International Corporation is a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation...

 allowed them to purchase the Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...

's WOWT-TV
WOWT-TV
WOWT-TV, digital channel 22, virtual channel 6 via PSIP and Cox Communications cable channel 8, is the NBC affiliate television station in Omaha, Nebraska. WOWT also serves the state capital, Lincoln, 52 miles away, with broadcast and cable coverage...

 in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

. This was followed in 1979 with the purchase of KAKE-TV
KAKE-TV
KAKE, channel 10, is an ABC-affiliated television station based in Wichita, Kansas. The station is owned by Atlanta, Georgia-based Gray Television...

 in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 and in 1987 when independently owned KLBY in Colby, Kansas
Colby, Kansas
Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,387.-History:...

 was purchased to increase KAKE's reach.

Outside the broadcast realm, Chronicle owned cable systems in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 for several years under their Western Communications unit before those systems were sold to Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. or TCI was a cable television provider in the United States, for much of its history controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone....

 in 1995. In the early 1990s, Chronicle launched the Bay TV cable network which was operated in conjunction with KRON and was seen on most cable systems in the Bay Area.

Publishing

In 1968, the Chronicle established their own book imprint in Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.The company was established in 1968 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of...

, which would eventually become a successful publishing firm. The profits from Chronicle Books and the other new ventures of the company allowed the company to add to their print holdings as they purchased two newspapers, The Pantagraph of Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

 in 1980 and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The Telegram & Gazette is Worcester, Massachusetts's only daily newspaper. The paper, known locally as the Telegram or the T & G is owned by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The New York Times Company .It offers coverage of all of...

in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

 in 1986. In 1990, Chronicle would make its final purchase in buying Motor Books, a renowned imprint dealing with automotive books; Chronicle would soon change their name to MBI Publishing.

Demise

With the growing consolidation of print and broadcast media in the 1990s, the heirs of the de Young family decided to sell the aspects of Chronicle Publishing in 1999 when the consolidation of media in the United States was at its peak. Over the latter half of 1999 into 2000, the units of the company were sold separately to different entities:
  • San Francisco Chronicle
    San Francisco Chronicle
    thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

    : Hearst Corporation
    Hearst Corporation
    The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

     (longtime owners the Examiner which was divested upon the purchase of the Chronicle amid protests that San Francisco would be left with one newspaper.)
  • Worcester Telegram & Gazette
    Worcester Telegram & Gazette
    The Telegram & Gazette is Worcester, Massachusetts's only daily newspaper. The paper, known locally as the Telegram or the T & G is owned by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The New York Times Company .It offers coverage of all of...

    : New York Times Company
    The New York Times Company
    The New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....

     (owners of the nearby Boston Globe)
  • The Pantagraph (Bloomington): Lee Enterprises
    Lee Enterprises
    Lee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....

  • KRON-TV
    KRON-TV
    KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...

    : Young Broadcasting
    Young Broadcasting
    New Young Broadcasting Holding Co, Inc. is an owner of 14 television stations in 11 United States media markets. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation/invest firm Adam Young, Inc. which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young and is...

     (which paid a record $820 million for the station, then disaffiliated it from NBC in the wake of a conflict with the network)
    • Partner network BayTV went to Young with the sale and was folded in August 2001.
  • WOWT and KAKE
    Kake
    Kake may refer to:* Kake, Alaska* Kake, Ethiopia* Kake, Hiroshima* Kake, a character created by Tom of Finland* Kake , the actual execution of a technique* KAKE-TV, channel 10 serving Wichita, Kansas...

    : LIN TV
    LIN TV
    LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...

    , which swapped the stations to Benedek Broadcasting
    Benedek Broadcasting
    Benedek Broadcasting is a former television broadcaster, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A...

     for cash and that company's WWLP
    WWLP
    WWLP is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam. The station can also be seen...

     in Springfield, Massachusetts
    Springfield, Massachusetts
    Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

    )
  • Chronicle Books: Purchased by a consortium of investors and employees
  • MBI Publishing: Purchased by New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     investment firm Flagship Partners, Inc.


With the exception of the Pantagraph and the book imprints, all of the former Chronicle assets have met some degree of criticism, misfortune, or both. Concerns about the Telegram & Gazette being pared down into a "(Boston) Globe West" arose in Worcester while Hearst's purchase of the Chronicle led to the Examiner having to reinvent itself under its new local ownership as it struggled. The television properties became a strain on their new owners as the Chronicle/LIN/Benedek deal pushed Benedek Broadcasting into bankruptcy with most of the company (including the former Chronicle) stations being purchased in 2002 by Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...

. Young Broadcasting has struggled since purchasing KRON-TV, having sold four stations and pare down operations at KRON to keep afloat due to the heavy debt incurred by the massive purchase of the station. KRON itself also suffered due to the loss of its NBC affiliation to KNTV
KNTV
KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...

, later followed by its decision to affiliate with low-rated My Network TV.

External links

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