South Central Communications, d.b.a. South Central Incorporated, is a privately owned company based in Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by the Engelbrecht family, which includes John D. Engelbrecht (President and CEO), JP Engelbrecht (VP & COO), and Bettie G. Engelbrecht (Director Emeritus).[citation needed]
It was announced on May 28, 2014, that Midwest Communications was to purchase nine of the ten stations owned by South Central Communications. With this purchase, Midwest Communications expanded its portfolio of stations to Evansville, Knoxville and Nashville. WEJK (Which was owned by Boonville Broadcasting & operated by South Central Communications) was not involved in the sale as it would not fit under the ownership cap for Midwest. It was grandfathered in for South Central under previous ownership rules. It was stated at the time that it was likely that Boonville Broadcasting would take back operations of WEJK before or after the sale of South Central Communications other stations were finalized.[1] It was then announced on August 18, 2014 that South Central Communications will be turning the operations of WEJK over to The Original Company, as Boonville Broadcasting will continue to own the station. Once approved by the FCC, The Original Company will take over the operations of WEJK and would operate the station via a time brokerage agreement. The changeover was completed on September 1.[2] The sale of the nine former South Central Communications radio stations to Midwest Communications were also finalized on September 1.[3]
Current station
edit| City of license / Market | Station | Owned since | Network affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville, KY | WBNM-LD | 50 (50) | [a] | Buzzr |
Former stations
editRadio
edit| AM Station | FM Station |
|---|
| City of license/Market | Station | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evansville, IN | WEOA 1400 | –2009 | Owned by BLS Entertainment Inc. |
| WLFW 93.5 | –2014 | WLYD, owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WSTO 96.1 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WIKY-FM 104.1 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WEJK 107.1 | –2014 | WJPS, owned by The Original Company, Inc. | |
| WABX 107.5 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| Knoxville, TN | WNFZ 94.3 | –2014[4] | Owned by Midwest Communications |
| WDKW 95.7 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WJXB-FM 97.5 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WIMZ-FM 103.5 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications | |
| WLYT 106.7 | –2012 | WFGW, owned by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association[5] | |
| Nashville, TN | WJXA 92.9 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications |
| WCJK 96.3 | –2014 | Owned by Midwest Communications |
Television
edit| City of license / Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville, TN | WMAK-TV | 7 | 2004–2009 | Independent WKNX-TV, owned by Lockwood Broadcasting |
| WTVK-TV | 26 | 1954–1988 | Defunct, license surrendered and supplanted by WKXT-TV | |
| WKXT-TV | 8 | 1988–1992 | CBS affiliate WVLT-TV, owned by Gray Television | |
| Madisonville, KY–Evansville, IN | WIKY-LP | 5 | 1998–2006 | Defunct, ceased operations in 2013 |
| WJPS-LP | 4 | 1998–2006 | Defunct, ceased operations in 2013 | |
| WWAZ-TV/ WAZE-TV |
19 | 1997–2006 | Defunct, ceased operations in 2011 | |
| WWAZ-LP/ WAZE-LP |
17 | 1998–2006 | Defunct, ceased operations in 2013 | |
| Nashville, TN | WJDE-LD | 31 | 1986–2012 | Ace TV affiliate owned by Evangel World Prayer Center of Kentucky |
| WGAP-LP | 26 | 1998–2006 | Daystar owned-and-operated (O&O) WNTU-LD | |
| WRMX-LP | 12 | 1988–2013 | Defunct, ceased operations in 2013 |
Other
edit- South Central owned a full-service digital advertising and marketing agency headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and operated throughout the U.S. under the South Central Digital Banner until 2016, when South Central sold it and the agency was renamed 16DIGITAL.
Notes
edit- ^ Owned by Evangel World Prayer Center of Kentucky and operated by South Central.
References
edit- ^ Midwest Communications Acquires South Central Communications
- ^ The Original Company to take over Operations of WEJK
- ^ "South Central Radio Group". Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 3, 2013). "WNFZ Flips To News/Talk". Radio Insight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Knoxville's 'Jack' simulcast ends, with a sale to the Billy Graham organization". radio-info.com. 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2012-02-14.[permanent dead link]