Diversified Communications (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Diversified) is a multimedia company, headquartered in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. The company provides market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital products and publications.

History

Diversified was founded as Hildreth Broadcasting in 1949 when

Horace Hildreth Horace Augustus Hildreth (December 2, 1902 – June 2, 1988) was an American diplomat, businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He served as the Governor of Maine for two two-year terms, and served as United States ...

, the former

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

, president of

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...

, and future U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, purchased Community Broadcasting Service, owner of Maine's oldest radio station, WABI in Bangor. In 1953, he launched Maine's first TV station,

WABI-TV WABI-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Media, the station has studios on Hildreth Street in West Bangor, and its transmitter is atop Peaked Mountain in D ...

in Bangor. In 1970, Hildreth Broadcasting entered the publishing and trade show business by merger with Journal Publications, the owner of National Fisherman and FISH EXPO Boston. The merged company became Diversified Communications. In 1972, it formed New England Cablevision which it sold in 2000. The company was also the original owner of

Home Theater Network Home Theater Network (HTN) was an American premium cable television network that was owned by Group W Satellite Communications. Targeted at a family audience, the channel focused primarily on theatrically released motion pictures, along with ...

, until

Westinghouse Broadcasting The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndi ...

bought out a majority stake in the company in 1980. Throughout the 1980s, Diversified Communications expanded its publishing and trade show business with products in the commercial marine and seafood industries. In 1993, it expanded internationally with the European Seafood Exposition. Diversified continued its international growth with the acquisition of Australia Exhibition Services in 2000, the formation of DBC Canada and the acquisition of UK-based Full Moon Communications in 2002. In 2004 it began to co-produce Kosherfest, a two-day trade show for the kosher-certified until it was discontinued after its last show in 2022. In 2009, Diversified Communications expanded into Hong Kong with the acquisition of Asia Business Events and established a presence in India with the acquisition of Infocast. On July 15, 2014, the contracts that Diversified Communications had with

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

expired. Among the issues Diversified cited included financial terms, customer service issues between the station and Dish Network, and, in Bangor, viewership changes on Dish's part in several counties to another CBS station on account of DMA location (including WGME in the Portland area). After a breakdown on contract talks, which picked up slowly, an agreement was reached on October 8, 2014, allowing both stations to return to Dish Network later that day. On February 16, 2017, it was announced that WABI-TV and sister station WCJB-TV in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

would be sold to

Gray Television Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...

for $85 million, pending FCC approval. It will make WCJB a sister station to WCTV (Gray Television's then-

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

station) in Tallahassee and WJHG-TV and WECP-LD in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

, while reuniting WABI-TV with WAGM-TV (which Gray acquired two years prior) in

Presque Isle, Maine Presque Isle ( ) is the commercial center and largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,797 at the 2020 Census. The city is home to the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Northern Maine Community College, ...

. The sale was completed on May 1, 2017. In 2024, Diversified Communications updated its branding to operate under the name "Diversified" as its official

name, introducing a new logo and visual identity. This rebranding coincided with the company's 75th anniversary, celebrating its legacy while positioning the organization for future growth and innovation.

Properties

Today, Diversified operates

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

s on four continents, produces trade publications, and owns several digital businesses. SPAR Point Group, which focuses on the 3D imaging technologies sector, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Diversified.

Former stations

* Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

. * Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station built and signed on by Community Broadcasting Service or Diversified Communications.

References

External links

Diversified Communications
{{Gray TV Mass media companies established in 1949 1949 establishments in Maine 2002 mergers and acquisitions 2009 mergers and acquisitions 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Portland, Maine Mass media in Portland, Maine Gray Media