Block Communications Inc. (also known as Blade Communications) is an American privately held

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

of various assets, mainly in the print and broadcast media, based in Toledo, Ohio. The company was founded in 1900 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

when Paul Block, a German-Jewish immigrant who came to the United States fifteen years prior, formed an ad representation firm for newspapers. The Block empire grew to encompass many newspapers on the east coast of the US, however with the Great Depression in the 1930s came the loss of all but three properties: the ad representation firm, the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'', and the Toledo '' Blade'' (where Block eventually settled the company upon its purchase in 1927). After Block's death in 1941, his children took over the company. They eventually passed it on to their grandchildren, who continue to operate it to this day.

Company holdings

Newspapers

*''

'' (

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

) *'' The Blade'' ( Toledo, Ohio)

Television

Broadcast

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

* WDRB (

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

/ Antenna TV; operated by Block property Independence Television along with WBKI) * WBKI (

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

/ Cozi TV MyNetworkTV/ Movies!)

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

/ Findlay, Ohio * WLIO (NBC/Fox) * WOHL-CD ( ABC/ CBS) - the first single operator in a market to have all four major networks under one roof. * WPNM-LD Leipsic, Ohio* * WAMS-LD Minster, Ohio* (*) - Serve as translators for WOHL to expand its coverage across the West Ohio TV market Other markets * WAND

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in ...

( NBC) *

WFND-LD WFND-LD (channel 19) is a low-power television station in Findlay, Ohio, United States, serving the Toledo area as a Buckeye Cable Sports Network affiliate owned by Block Communications. Its licensee is West Central Ohio Broadcasting, Inc., a ...

Toledo, Ohio ( Youtoo America/ Daystar)

Cable

Buckeye CableSystem Buckeye Broadband (formerly known as the Buckeye CableSystem from August 1996 until May 2016, and as The CableSystem prior to August 1996) is a cable and telecommunications company located in Toledo, Ohio, owned by Block Communications (which al ...

, Inc. (systems in Toledo, Ohio and Sandusky, Ohio, latter officially known as Erie County Cablevision) *Buckeye Express (High Speed Internet) * Buckeye Cable Sports Network *HomeFinder Channel 100 cable; (Operated by Block property Buckeye Cablevision)

Online

*Buckeye Access (Dial up Internet) *MaxxSouth Broadband *TeleSystem (formerly Buckeye Telesystem) *Line Systems (Acquired July 2014 and now a division of Telesystem)

Non-Media

*Metro Fiber & Cable Construction Company (a Toledo-based contractor of fiber optic installation)

Former properties

* Pittsburgh Press *

Newark Daily Advertiser Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-t ...

(Now The Star Ledger),

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

(owned from 1915 to 1939) * WIIC-TV,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

(founded by the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''; now Cox-owned WPXI) * WWSW radio, Pittsburgh (also founded by the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''; now iHeartMedia-owned WBGG) * WLFI-TV, West Lafayette, Indiana (sold to LIN TV Corporation; now owned by Heartland Media) * Corporate Protection Services (Sold to Guardian Alarm Co. of Toledo
which later was sold to Asset Protection Services, Toledo, Ohio) * '' The Monterey County Herald'', traded to Scripps in exchange for the '' Pittsburgh Press''; now owned by Digital First Media * Toledo 5, Toledo, Ohio (operated as a cable-only

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...

/ CW affiliate by

; affiliation, channel slot and programming sold to

SJL Broadcasting Sir John Lawes School (also known as SJL) is a mixed state secondary school with academy status in Harpenden, United Kingdom. The school has close links to two other local secondary schools, Roundwood Park School and St George's School, an ...

on September 1, 2013 and moved over-the-air to WTVG-DT2) * KTRV Nampa-

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

(Sold to Ion Media) * WBKI-TV

Campbellsville Campbellsville is a city in central Kentucky founded in 1817 by Andrew Campbell. It is known for Campbellsville University, Taylor Regional Hospital health care system, its historic downtown, and the proximity to Green River Lake State Park. C ...

( CW; owned by L.M. Communications, but operated by Block through WDRB/WMYO through a shared services agreement where WMYO duplicated its channels for the main portion of the Louisville market. Station was sold in spectrum auction and went off-air on October 25, 2017; rights to programming and CW affiliation were sold to Block, which retains WBKI's programming and call sign over WMYO's channel spectrum.)

References

External links

Company homepage
{{Toledo Mass media companies of the United States Television broadcasting companies of the United States Newspaper companies of the United States Privately held companies of the United States Companies based in Toledo, Ohio Mass media companies established in 1900 1900 establishments in New York City Family-owned companies of the United States