Equity Media Holdings

Equity Media Holdings Corporation
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: EMDAQ
IndustryBroadcasting
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Founders
  • Gregory W. Fess
  • Larry E. Morton
Defunct2009 (2009)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy
Headquarters,
U.S.
Key people
  • John E. Oxendine (president, CEO)
  • Gregory W. Fess (COO, SVP)
  • Neal Ardman (VP TVOps)
ServicesTV Stations
Subsidiaries
  • CASH
  • Equity Broadcasting
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20100330123237/http://www.emdaholdings.com (Defunct)

Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name later used for its broadcast station subsidiary. The company had a focus on Hispanic and Asian American communities in large markets while owning a combination of English-language network affiliates in medium and small markets.

Equity was known for its use of broadcast automation to control dozens of small, local VHF and UHF television broadcasting stations from one central Little Rock location; the feeds were readily visible on free-to-air satellite television through much of North America, despite the very small terrestrial footprint of the individual stations over the air. Most commonly, Equity stations were low-power television affiliates of Univision, Fox, The WB/UPN or carried music videos and classic television reruns.

In late 2005, Equity launched the Retro Television Network (RTN for short), a programming service with a lineup of "classic" shows from the 1950s through the 1980s which currently airs in part or full in numerous markets (controversially replacing UPN in one[citation needed]). Equity sold RTN to Luken Communications in June 2008.

Equity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 8, 2008[1] and auctioned the individual stations on April 16, 2009.[2] Many stations were sold to broadcast companies such as Daystar Television Network.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference bloomberg-equitybankrupt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Malone, Michael (April 10, 2009). "Equity Media Sets Auction For Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 25, 2017.