Some Facts About Media Ownership in Oregon

Newspapers

Advance Publications (privately held by the Newhouse family) owns the Oregonian (Portland, but widely distributed). Advance owns the 3rd largest newspaper chain in the US and is ranked 16^th among 23 dominant media corporations (Bagdikian 1997, 21-22). It also owns numerous magazines, such as Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, the book publisher Random House, and a major stake in the Discovery Channel (Crispin Miller 1997).

The Register-Guard (Eugene and Springfield) is privately held by the local Baker family. It is now in the third generation of family ownership.

Disney/Cap Cities owns the Albany Democrat Herald, Ashland Daily Tidings, Cottage Grove Sentinel, and the Springfield News. Disney is ranked 2^nd among the media giants (Bagdikian 1997, 21).

Gannett owns the Salem Statesman-Journal. It also owns the largest newspaper chain in the U.S. with 88 papers, including USA Today, and is ranked 7^th among dominant media corporations (Bagdikian 1997, 21-22).

Television Stations

KMTR-TV (the NBC affiliate) and its sister stations in Roseburg and Coos Bay are owned by Wickes Broadcast Group, a small chain which is in the process of selling all its stations. The new owners will almost certainly be a larger group, because the reason for the sale is the formidable cost of upgrading to digital television. The FCC requires that all stations convert to digital by the year 2004. This, plus the 1996 Telecommunications Act--which loosened the limits on how may broadcast properties companies could own--is spurring "rapid consolidation in the TV and radio business" (DeSilver 1998).

KVAL-TV (the CBS affiliate) is owned by another small chain, Retlaw Enterprises, which is also looking to sell (DeSilver 1998).

KEZI-TV (the ABC affiliate) is owned by Chambers Communications.

KLSR-TV (the Fox affiliate) and KEVU-TV (the Paramount affiliate) are both owned by the California-Oregon Company, which also owns stations in Medford and Klamath Falls. The company is privately held by Patricia Smullin and her sister Carole Anne Brown, who intend to retain ownership through the conversion to digital broadcast.

References

Bagdikian, Ben. 1997. The Media Monopoly. 5^th ed. Boston: Beacon Press.

DeSilver, Drew. 1998. Broadcast Firm Puts Stations Up for Sale. Eugene Register-Guard. 10 September 1998. 1B, 2B.