Freedom Communications

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File:Freedom Communications Logo.png
Freedom Communications logo

Freedom Communications, Inc. was an American media conglomerate that operated newspapers, magazines, television stations and websites across the United States. Raymond C. Hoiles organized the company in 1950 and headquartered it in Santa Ana, California, but later relocated to Irvine. It's flagship title was the Orange County Register. Under Holies and his two sons, the company embraced a Libritarian philosophy in its editorial content.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Holies died in 1970 and the company was then managed by his decedents. The Holies family lost control of Freedom Communications after it declared bankruptcy in 2009. Investment firms then sold off most assets, with the name and seven titles purchased by private equity firm 2100 Trust, established by investor Aaron Kushner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The company went bankrupt a second time in 2015 and its last two remaining newspapers were sold at auction to Digital First Media.

History

Origins and growth

In 1919, Ohio newsmen Raymond C. Hoiles and his brother Frank A. Holies, who owned The Alliance Review, purchased the Lorain Times-Herald.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1922, R.C. Holies and F.A. Holies purchased the Mansfield News.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1927, R.C. Holies acquired the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and at some point he sold his stake in the Review back to his elder brother.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also sold the Mansfield News and Lorain Times-Herald in 1930 to Brush-Moore Newspapers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 1935, R.C. Holies bought The Orange County Register and moved his base of operations to Santa Ana, California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> He then acquired the Clovis News-Journal in November 1935.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His brother F.A. Holies died in a car crash in December 1936.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> R.C. Holies bought The Gazette-Telegraph in January 1946,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Marysville Appeal Democrat in March 1946.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 1950, R.C. Hoiles merged his three publishing companies together to form Freedom Newspapers, Inc. The newly formed company published daily newspapers in California, Colorado and Ohio.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 1951, Freedom acquired three Texas newspapers: The Brownsville Herald, McAllen Valley Evening Monitor, Harlingen Morning Star. With the sale, the company owned 10 daily newspapers with a total circulation of 135,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1965, Freedom acquired the Turlock Journal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1969, Freedom acquired four Florida papers: Panama City News-Herald, Fort Pierce News-Tribune, Fort Walton Beach Playground Daily News, and the Marianna Floridan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1970, Holies died at age 90. At that time the Freedom Newspaper chain was one of the largest in the nation, with a total circulation over 500,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company acquired the Porterville Recorder in April 1974,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> New Bern Sun Journal in May 1974,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Victorville Daily Press in January 1978,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Burlington Times-News in July 1978.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Following the death of Holies, the company was owned by his three children, Clarence H. Hoiles, Harry H. Hoiles and Mary Jane Holies Hardie.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> A bitter feud ensued over the fate of the company, with H.H. Hoiles against his two siblings.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> Harry Hoiles was named company president following his father's death.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> He was rebuked in his attempt at becoming Chief executive officer and later claimed his siblings froze him out of company management and stopped him from selling his shares to a third-party.<ref name=":3" /> The eldest of the three, Clarence Hoiles, who was instrumental and establishing the company and worked with his father in upper management and eventually became board chairman, died in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As Freedom Newspapers softened it's stance on Libertarianism, Harry Hoiles became disenchanted and attempted to breakup the company. At that time, Freedom was the country's 15th largest chain. It was worth $640 million and owned 31 newspapers with a combined circulation of 800,000.<ref name=":2" /> The goal was to form his own company.<ref name=":3" /> After the breakup failed, Harry Hoiles attempted to buy the Freedom. One offer was $700,000 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Clarence Hoiles's three daughters sued their uncle for mismanaging the trust of their deceased brother.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The courts ruled against H.H. Holies in 1987 and he eventually resigned from the board of directors.<ref name=":4" /> Mary J. Hardie, who served on the company board for many years, died in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her brother Harry Holies died in 1998.<ref name=":4" />

Expansion into TV

Freedom Newspapers expanded into television in 1981 when it purchased KTVL-TV from Sierra Cascade Communication.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It then purchased WLNE-TV in 1982 from Pulitzer Broadcasting for $15.5 million,<ref name=":0" /> followed by KFDM-TV and WTVC-TV in 1983 from A.H. Belo Corp.for $49 million,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and WRGB-TV in 1985 from Universal Communications Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1992, Freedom acquired the Fullerton News Tribune.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1993, the company was renamed to Freedom Communications.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 1995, Freedom agreed to purchase WPEC-TV from Photo Electronics Corp.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The deal was completed about six months later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In February 1995, Freedom acquired The Tustin News.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 1995, Freedom traded the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum in Ohio and Dothan Progress in Alabama to Thomson Newspapers for the Desert Dispatch and Jacksonville Journal-Courier.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 1996, Freedom sold the Turlock Journal to Central Valley Publishing, a subsidiary of USMedia Group, Inc.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 1998, the company acquired WWMT-TV and WLAJ-TV from Granit Broadcasting Co. for $170 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2000, Freedom purchased all the newspapers in Arizona owned by Thomson Newspapers. The sale included the Ahwatukee Foothills News, East Valley Tribune and Yuma Sun.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sale to private equity

In March 2003, a majority of the Hoiles family voted to sell the company, which at that time included 25 newspapers and eight television stations. Freedom Communications was valued at $2 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That October, a majority interest in Freedom Communications was sold to a group of investors led by the Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners. Through a stock arrangement, the Hoiles family descendants retained control of the board. The private equity firms received a management fee off the company’s gross revenue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The family sold a 40% stake for $470 million, which allowed some members to cash out.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> As part of this transaction, Freedom had acquired substantial debt.<ref name=":5" />

In 2006, Freedom purchased WCWN from The Tribune Company for $17 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In spring of 2009, amid the Great Recession, Freedom Communications instituted furloughs for all employees nationwide, followed by a permanent 5% pay cut starting in July 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On September 1, 2009, Freedom Communications went into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.<ref name="wsj11">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company left bankruptcy on April 30, 2010, under the ownership of investment firms Alden Global Capital, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Luxor Capital Group. Lenders to the company also retained a stake in Freedom. Thus, the Holies family lost control of the business after sixty years of ownership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On November 2, 2011, Freedom sold its entire television division to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $385 million in a move to eliminate the company's debt. The sale was completed on April 2, 2012.<ref name="ocr-freedomsinclair">Template:Cite news</ref> Freedom began selling the majority of its newspaper portfolio in 2012. Four papers in the Midwest were sold to Ohio Community Media, an affiliate of the private equity firm Versa Capital Management, in May.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Clovis News Journal and other newspapers in New Mexico were sold to Stevenson Newspapers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Freedom papers in Texas were sold to AIM Media Texas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its Florida and North Carolina papers were sold to Halifax Media Group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2100 Trust

On July 25, 2012, The Orange County Register and six other papers were purchased by 2100 Trust LLC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The papers continued to operate under the Freedom Communications name.<ref name="FormerOC">Template:Cite web</ref> The principal company owner was Aaron Kushner, a former greeting-card executive with no prior media experience.<ref name="FormerOC" /> Kushner paid $50 million for the assets and agreed to assume the pension liabilities. He soon increased staff, added new sections at the Orange County Register and began a new daily, the Long Beach Register.<ref name="DozensLaid">Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2012, Freedom sold the Colorado Springs Gazette to Clarity Media, a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation.<ref name="denverbiz12">Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2013, Freedom sold the Yuma Sun and the Porterville Recorder to Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2013, Freedom sold the Appeal-Democrat to Vista California, a subsidiary of Horizon Publications.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2013, the former owners of Freedom Communications field a lawsuit against Aaron Kushner demanding his company pay more than $17 million remaining on the sale. Kushner claimed that the prior owners had given him an inaccurate valuation of the assets and he faced $62.3 million in unexpected financial liabilities as a result.<ref name="FormerOC" />

In November 2013, Freedom purchased the Riverside Press-Enterprise from A.H. Belo Corporation for $27 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2014, the company laid off 71 workers in Riverside and Santa Ana.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2014, Freedom sold the Daily Press and the Desert Dispatch to New Media Investment Group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2014, the Long Beach Register ceased.<ref name="LBRstops">Template:Cite news</ref>

On November 1, 2015, Freedom Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2016, Freedom closed several of its weekly papers in Orange County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On March 21, 2016 a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Freedom Communications and its two major newspapers, the Orange County Register and the Riverside Press-Enterprise, to Digital First Media, the parent of the Los Angeles News Group, which operated eleven daily newspapers in Southern California. After the sale, the subsidiary was renamed to Southern California News Group.<ref>Talking New Media blog: "Bankruptcy judge approves Digital First Media purchase of Freedom Communications assets", by D.B. Hebbard21 March 2016.</ref><ref>LA Observed blog: "Memo: LA News Group now So Cal News Group", by Kevin Roderick, 21 March 2016.</ref>

Leadership

Founder and chief executive officer R.C. Hoiles led Freedom until his death in 1970. He was succeeded as chief executive officer by his son, C.H. Hoiles, who served until 1981, and then by:

  • D.R. Segal (1981–1992)
  • James N. Rosse (1992–1999)
  • Samuel C. Wolgemuth (1999–2002)
  • Alan Bell (2002–2006)
  • Scott N. Flanders (2006–2009)
  • Burl Osborne (2009–2010)
  • Mitchell Stern (2010–2012)
  • Aaron Kushner (2012–2015)
  • Rich Mirman (2015−2016)

Newspapers

Template:Refimprove section Freedom's newspaper portfolio consists of:

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Los Angeles County

  • Beach
  • Peninsula People
  • Drop Zone

Riverside County

Regional

Template:Col-2 Orange County

Template:Col-end

Former stations

Stations owned by Freedom CommunicationsTemplate:R
Media market State Station Purchased Sold
West Palm Beach Florida WPEC 1996 2012
Kalamazoo–Grand Rapids Michigan WWMT 1998 2012
Lansing WLAJ 1998 2012
Albany–Schenectady New York WRGB 1986 2012
WCWN 2006 2012
Medford Oregon KTVL 1981 2012
Providence Rhode Island WLNE-TV 1982 2007
Chattanooga Tennessee WTVC 1983 2012
Beaumont Texas KFDM 1984 2012

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Freedom Communications Template:Digital First Media Template:SBGI Template:Coord

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