Buckley Broadcasting (or Buckley Radio) was an American broadcasting company that previously held radio stations in the states of New York, Rhode Island, California and Connecticut.
History
Buckley Broadcasting Radio was founded in 1954 as Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting. Richard D. Buckley Sr and John Jaeger were the original founding partners. It began as an independently owned radio broadcasting company.
WNEW in New York City was the station's first acquisition, but the company resold that station to
Metromedia
Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMon ...
in 1955. In 1957, the station bought its first long-term asset,
WHIM
Whim may refer to:
* Whim, U.S. Virgin Islands, a settlement
* Whim (mining), a capstan or drum with a vertical axle used in mining
* Whim (carriage), a type of carriage
* ''Whim'', a reissue of ''Adventures of Wim'', a book by George Cockroft as ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. In 1959, it bought
WDRC in
Hartford, Connecticut, and soon after launched its flagship station
WDRC-FM
WDRC-FM (102.9 FM) is a radio station with a classic rock format licensed to Hartford, Connecticut. The station began broadcasting in 1959 and was the first commercial FM station in the Hartford radio market. The station is owned by John Fuller ...
.
Following the death of his father in 1972, Richard D. Buckley Jr. became the president and chairman of the company, a position he held until his death in 2011. Buckley acquired
WOR 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 ...
in 1989. Buckley began divesting its stations shortly before Buckley Jr.'s death.
WSEN &
WSEN-FM and
WFBL
WFBL (1390 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York and owned by Wolf Radio, Inc. It serves Syracuse and its suburbs, with studios and offices located on Smokey Hollow Road in Baldwinsville. Since September 2017 the stat ...
in
Syracuse, New York were divested to local owners in 2008, eventually landing in the hands of
Craig L. Fox
Craig L. Fox is a broadcasting station owner in New York state in the United States. , he controls five companies which, between them, own 4 AM radio stations, 4 FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulat ...
. WOR was sold to
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
in 2012.
WDRC &
WDRC-FM
WDRC-FM (102.9 FM) is a radio station with a classic rock format licensed to Hartford, Connecticut. The station began broadcasting in 1959 and was the first commercial FM station in the Hartford radio market. The station is owned by John Fuller ...
were sold in early 2014 to
Connoisseur Media
Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in Westport, Connecticut and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the U.S. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, H ...
of Bloomfield. Stations
KSEQ in Fresno and
KWAV in Monterey were then sold soon after that year, and its stations in
Bakersfield, California (
KLLY,
KKBB and
KNZR) and
Merced, California
Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April ...
(
KUBB
Kubb (pronounced in Swedish and Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks () by throwing wooden batons () at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a sm ...
/
KHTN) were sold to
Alpha Media
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
in October 2014.
People
Richard D. Buckley: President, 1972-2011
Richard D. Buckley was born in Bronxville, New York. After the death of his father in 1972, Richard D. Buckley became the president of the company. He began his broadcasting career as a page in 1960 at the National Broadcasting Company. He has served in the broadcasting company for over 50 years, until his death in August 2011. During his time as chairman of the company, he refused to sell his independent and family owned business. In early 2011 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the New York State Broadcasters’ Association. Buckley was the past chairman of the Board of Radio Advertising Bureau and of the Board of the Southern California Broadcasters’ Association. Richard D. Buckley died on July 31, 2011.
Joe Bilotta: President & Chief Operating Officer, 2011-2014
Joe Bilotta has served Buckley Radio for over 40 years prior to his appointment of President following the death of Richard D. Buckley.
Lynne Berke, et al. v. Buckley Broadcasting Corporation WOR Radio
On April 30, 2003, the Superior Court of New Jersey decided the case Lynne Berke, et al. v. Buckley Broadcasting Corporation WOR Radio. The plaintiffs, Lynne Berke et al. were around 300 investors in a cable television security that was advertised on WOR Radio, owned by Buckley Broadcasting. Talk show host, Harry I. “Sonny” Bloch advertised this cable television security on WOR Radio. The plaintiffs commenced action in Federal Court against Bloch, who died during the pendency of the action. However, since the advertising ceased in 1994 and the appeal was made 2001, the court dismissed the appeal as untimely under the statute of limitations.
References
{{Reflist
Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States
American companies established in 1954
Defunct companies based in Connecticut
Companies based in Greenwich, Connecticut
2014 mergers and acquisitions
1954 establishments in New York City
2014 disestablishments in Connecticut