The Outlet Company

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The Outlet Company

The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....
, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a U.S. state in the New England region of the United States....
which owned holdings in both retail and broadcasting. The centerpieces of the group was its flagship Providence store (The Outlet) and WJAR

WJAR

WJAR is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to Providence, Rhode Island....
radio and television, also in Providence.

Outlet Company was formed in 1891 when opened brothers Joseph and Leon Samuels opened a department store at 176 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence.

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The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....
, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

WJAR

Retail

The Outlet Company was formed in 1891 when opened brothers Joseph and Leon Samuels opened a department store at 176 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. Known as The Outlet, it quickly became a Providence landmark to the point of occupying an entire city block and attracting shoppers from all over southern New England

New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
. For decades, the store remained strong with its sole flagship location and dominated the field of retail in not only Providence, but Rhode Island

Rhode Island

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a U.S. state in the New England region of the United States....
as a whole.

With the changing field of retail in the mid-20th Century, the company diversified with opening suburban locations as well as buying some existing stores such as Philadelphia-based Phillipsborn and Bedya, the midwestern Hughes & Hatcher chain, and the Edw. Malley Co. department store chain in New Haven, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The state borders New York to the west and south , Massachusetts to the north, and Rhode Island to the east....
. However, the allure of building a broadcasting empire led Outlet to leave the retail business in November 1980. In 1981, the Outlet Company sold the original downtown retail store (and other stores) to United Department Stores and the flagship Outlet location was shuttered in 1982. The building was destroyed by fire on October 16, 1986.

Broadcasting

As with many northeastern department stores in the 1920s, Outlet entered radio as a means of promoting their products to a wide audience. In 1922, Outlet entered broadcasting with the sign on of WJAR

WHJJ

WHJJ is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. The station was previously assigned the call letters WJAR, adopting its current call letters in 1980 in radio when previous owner Outlet Communications sold the station....
, which in 1923 became the first affiliated station of the NBC "Red" network. In 1949, Outlet entered television broadcasting with the launch of WJAR-TV

WJAR

WJAR is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to Providence, Rhode Island....
on channel 11, moving to channel 10 in 1953.

Along with retail, Outlet saw a mass expansion into broadcasting in the 1960s and beyond. After the sale of the retail divisions, the company went into a failed merger attempt with Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an United States film production company and distribution company. It was one of the so-called studio system among the eight major film studios of Hollywood Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood....
before it was sold in 1983 to members of the Rockefeller family

Rockefeller family

The Rockefeller family, the renowned Cleveland, Ohio family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an United States industry, banking, and political family of German American origin that made the world's largest private fortune in the History of the petroleum industry in North America during the late 19th and early...
. Three years later, the company was sold again to a combination of Outlet executives and venture capitalists that renamed the company to Outlet Communications and began a complete withdrawal from radio followed by a slimming down of their TV stations. In early 1996, Outlet and its three stations (plus control of two others) were sold to NBC; the name lived on as a licence name of their former stations for a while afterward.

After ten years, all three stations were put up for sale by NBC on January 9, 2006, with Media General

Media General

Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV....
buying the stations on April 6, 2006 (the sale was finalized on June 26 2006). This virtually undid the NBC-Outlet merger of a decade earlier.

Radio stations owned

Station	Frequency	City	Owned	Current Owners	Notes
KIQQ KKBT KSWD is a Bonneville International-owned radio station city of license to Los Angeles, California, USA, with an adult album alternative format adopted in April, 2008....	100.3 MHz	Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....	1977-86	Radio One	Now KKBT KKBT KSWD is a Bonneville International-owned radio station city of license to Los Angeles, California, USA, with an adult album alternative format adopted in April, 2008....
WDBO WDBO WDBO is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Orlando, Florida, USA, it serves the Orlando area. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio, Inc.... (AM)	580 kHz	Orlando, Florida Orlando, Florida Orlando is a major city in Central Florida, United States and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Florida. It is also the principal city of Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area....	1963-82	Cox Radio Cox Radio Cox Radio Incorporated is a publicly traded company that holds a number of radio stations. Private company Cox Broadcasting, Inc., a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises owns all of the company's supervoting Class B common stock, and thus controls the company....
WDBO-FM WWKA WWKA is the callsign of K92FM, a country music radio station in Orlando, Florida. The station is owned by Cox Radio, and has had a country format since 1982....	92.3 MHz	Orlando, Florida Orlando, Florida Orlando is a major city in Central Florida, United States and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Florida. It is also the principal city of Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area....	1963-82	Cox Radio Cox Radio Cox Radio Incorporated is a publicly traded company that holds a number of radio stations. Private company Cox Broadcasting, Inc., a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises owns all of the company's supervoting Class B common stock, and thus controls the company....	Now WWKA WWKA WWKA is the callsign of K92FM, a country music radio station in Orlando, Florida. The station is owned by Cox Radio, and has had a country format since 1982....
WJAR WHJJ WHJJ is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. The station was previously assigned the call letters WJAR, adopting its current call letters in 1980 in radio when previous owner Outlet Communications sold the station.... (AM)	920 kHz	Providence, Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....	1922-80	Clear Channel Clear channel A clear-channel station, in the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, is an AM band radio station which is given extraordinary protection from interference to its nighttime signal....	Original station, now WHJJ WHJJ WHJJ is a radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. The station was previously assigned the call letters WJAR, adopting its current call letters in 1980 in radio when previous owner Outlet Communications sold the station....
WJAR-FM WBRU WBRU is a commercial radio station in Providence, Rhode Island that broadcasts on 95.5 FM. It was the first student-owned-and-operated college radio station in the United States when it started as the Brown Network at Brown University in 1936....	95.5 MHz	Providence, Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....	1950s	Brown University Brown University Brown University is a private university university located in , United States and is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and Colonial Colleges in the United States....	Donated to Brown, now WBRU WBRU WBRU is a commercial radio station in Providence, Rhode Island that broadcasts on 95.5 FM. It was the first student-owned-and-operated college radio station in the United States when it started as the Brown Network at Brown University in 1936....
WSNE WSNE WSNE-FM is a southern New England Hot Adult Contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Taunton, Massachusetts & has its offices & studios in Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island, United States....	93.3 MHz	Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area.... (Providence)	1970s-86	Clear Channel Clear channel A clear-channel station, in the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, is an AM band radio station which is given extraordinary protection from interference to its nighttime signal....
WIOQ WIOQ WIOQ, known as "Q102", is a Contemporary hit radio/Pop music radio station which is broadcast in the Philadelphia area. The station appeals to a generally young demographic....	102.1 MHz	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population city in the United States. It is the fifth-largest metropolitan area and fourth-largest urban area by population in the United States, the nation's fourth-largest consumer media market as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research, and the 49th-most...	1979-89	Clear Channel Clear channel A clear-channel station, in the Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, is an AM band radio station which is given extraordinary protection from interference to its nighttime signal....
WQRS	105.1 MHz	Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....	1960s-86	Greater Media Greater Media Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an United States media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Massachusetts, Detroit, Michigan, Philadelphia, Charlotte, North Carolina, and the state of New Jersey....	Now WMGC-FM
WTOP WTOP WTOP is an all-news radio formatted Broadcasting radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Bonneville Holding Company and operated by Bonneville International, a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.... (AM)	1500 kHz	Washington, DC	1978-86	Bonneville International Bonneville International Bonneville International Corporation, managed by Deseret Management Corporation, is a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....	Original WTOP format moved to 103.5 FM (formerly WGMS WGMS (FM) WGMS was a radio station in Washington, D.C. that maintained a classical music format from 1946 in radio to 2007 in radio. Last owned by Bonneville International, it was known on air as Classical 104.1.... ) in 2006; 1500 became WTWP, then became WWWT in 2007 and WFED in 2008.
WMMJ WMMJ WMMJ is a top rated station Urban Adult Contemporary radio station owned by Radio One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is licensed to Bethesda, Maryland, but its transmitter is located in Tenleytown....	102.3 MHz	Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1850, which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda.... (Washington)	1983-86	Radio One	Was home to the original WHFS WHFS WHFS is a radio station broadcasting a Talk radio format. Licensed to the suburb of Morningside, Maryland, Maryland, it serves the Washington, D.C....

Television stations owned

Station	Channel	City	Owned	Affiliation	Current Owners	Notes
WCMH	4	Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....	1976-96	NBC	Media General Media General Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV....	Owned by Crosley Broadcasting Corporation Crosley Broadcasting Corporation The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation was a radio and television broadcaster founded by radio manufacturing pioneer Powel Crosley, Jr.. The company was an early operator of radio stations in the United States.... (Avco Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems and Lycoming Engines.The Embry-Riddle Company created the Aviation Corporation in 1928 as a holding company tasked with acquiring small airlines.... ) from 1949-1976; Was an NBC O&O 1996-2006
WDBO-TV/WCPX WKMG-TV WKMG-TV, channel 6, is the CBS network affiliate for Central Florida . WKMG is licensed to Orlando and is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company....	6	Orlando, Florida Orlando, Florida Orlando is a major city in Central Florida, United States and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Florida. It is also the principal city of Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area....	1963-87	CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....	Post-Newsweek Washington Post Company The Washington Post Company is an American education and media company, best known for owning the newspaper it is named after, The Washington Post....	Calls changed in 1982 with failed merger; now WKMG-TV WKMG-TV WKMG-TV, channel 6, is the CBS network affiliate for Central Florida . WKMG is licensed to Orlando and is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company....
WNYS/WIXT WSYR-TV WSYR-TV is a television station located in Syracuse, New York; broadcasting on analog channel 9 / digital channel 17 and affiliated with the American Broadcasting Company television network....	9	Syracuse, New York Syracuse, New York Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State, United States. According to the United States Census 2000, the city population was 147,306, and its Syracuse metropolitan area had a population of 732,117....	1962-78	ABC	Newport Television Newport Television Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications....	Now WSYR-TV
WJAR WJAR WJAR is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to Providence, Rhode Island....	10	Providence, Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States....	1948-96	NBC; ABC (secondary)	Media General Media General Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV....	Flagship station, was an NBC O&O 1996-2006
KSAT-TV KSAT-TV KSAT-TV, channel 12, is the local American Broadcasting Company affiliate in the greater San Antonio, Texas area. Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas....	12	San Antonio, Texas San Antonio, Texas San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....	1974-86	ABC	Post-Newsweek Stations Post-Newsweek Stations Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company....
KOVR KOVR KOVR, channel 13, is a CBS owned and operated station television station licensed to Stockton, California, and serving the Sacramento, California-Stockton television market....	13	Sacramento, California Sacramento, California Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....	1978-86	ABC	CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name.... O&O	Swapped affiliations with KXTV KXTV KXTV, channel 10, is an American Broadcasting Company affiliate in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. Its transmitter tower is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown Sacramento.... in 1995
WNCN-TV	17	Goldsboro Goldsboro, North Carolina Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. The population was 39,043 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 38,023 in 2006.... /Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh is the Capital of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats of Wake County, North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the ?City of Oaks? for its many oaks.... /Durham, North Carolina Durham, North Carolina Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina and also extends into Wake County, North Carolina county....	1993-96	Independent, WB, NBC	Media General Media General Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV....	Was WYED-TV until 1995; was an NBC O&O 1996-2006
WATL	36	Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the Capital and most populous city in Georgia , as well as the 33rd largest city in the United States of America with a population of 519,145....	1985-89	Independent, then Fox Fox A fox is an animal belonging to any one of about 27 species of small to medium-sized Canidae, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or brush.... , WB now MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV is a television network in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation. It is the lowest-rated of the six major US English-language commercial broadcast networks....	Gannett Gannett Company Gannett Company, Inc. is a Public company media holding company based in the United States. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation....
WXIN	59	Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis is the Capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, Indianapolis , Indiana the Unigov, at 795,458 in 2006....	1984-89	Independent, then Fox Fox A fox is an animal belonging to any one of about 27 species of small to medium-sized Canidae, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or brush....	Tribune Tribune Company The Tribune Company is a large United States multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, responsible for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the The Morning Call, among others....	Was WPDS-TV for first few months of Outlet ownership

Fant Broadcasting

In 1994, Outlet bought a minority share into the startup company Fant Broadcasting, which in 1995 signed on two stations in Outlet markets which Outlet operated by local marketing agreement

Local marketing agreement

In United States and Canada broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one corporation agrees to operate a radio station or TV station owned by another licensee....
s. Both of these stations were joint WB/UPN

UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States and that was in production for over eleven years....
affiliates (primarily the former) under Outlet control.

Station	Channel	City	Corresponding Outlet Station	Current Owners
WLWC WLWC WLWC is the The CW Television Network-affiliated television station for Providence, Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts....	28	New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, located about 51 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts, 28 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island, and about 12 miles east of Fall River, Massachusetts....	WJAR	Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg....
WWHO WWHO WWHO is the Columbus, Ohio television affiliate for The CW Television Network television network. The station is licensed to Chillicothe, Ohio, though it operates out of a facility in Columbus with its transmitter located in Williamsport, Ohio, halfway between Columbus and Chillicothe....	53	Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio. The municipality is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River....	WCMH-TV	LIN Television

NBC kept involvement with the Fant stations until they orchestrated a three way deal in which Fant sold itself to Paramount

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
Stations Group and, in return, NBC acquired Paramount's WVIT

WVIT

WVIT, channel 30, is the NBC owned-and-operated station for the state of Connecticut, licensed to New Britain, Connecticut. WVIT has its offices and studios located in West Hartford, Connecticut, and transmitter based in Farmington, Connecticut....
in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the Capital of the Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County, Connecticut on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts....
in 1997. Both stations later changed their primary affiliation to UPN, retaining the WB network as a secondary affiliation. WLWC and WWHO both became affiliates of The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006-07 United States network television schedule....
(the merger of UPN and The WB) in the Fall of 2006.

The Outlet Company

Retail

Broadcasting

Radio stations owned

Television stations owned

Fant Broadcasting

External links