The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000.
History
It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', originally the ''Los Angeles Daily Times'', which was first published in 1881 and printed by the company. The two operations were purchased and combined in 1884 to form the Times Mirror Company.
In 1960, Times Mirror acquired the
New American Library
The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publi ...
(NAL) and later sold it in 1983 to Odyssey Partners, a private investing group, and Ira J. Hechler, a private investor.
Times Mirror acquired the
World Publishing Company in 1962.
["Ben Zevin Dies at 88; Leader Of World Publishing Company,"]
''New York Times'' (December 29, 1984). via UPI. By this time, World Publishing was producing 12 million books a year,
["WORLD PUBLISHING CO."]
''The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''. Accessed March 3, 2017. one of only three American publishers to produce that much volume. In 1974, Times Mirror sold World Publishing to the U.K.-based
Collins Publishers.
In 1967, the Times Mirror entered magazine publishing by acquiring ''
Popular Science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
'', ''
Outdoor Life'', ''
Golf Magazine
''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. One of the first "special interest" magazines of its kind, it was started in April 1959 by Arnold Abramson and Robert Abramson, the owners of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation, who sol ...
'', and ''Ski Magazine''.
Times Mirror owned the ''
Sporting News
''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
'' from 1977
["The Times Mirror Company History,"]
Funding Universe. Accessed November 20, 2017. until 2000, when it was sold to
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...
's
Vulcan Inc. In 1987, Times Mirror acquired ''
Field & Stream'', ''
Yachting
Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...
'', ''
Home Mechanix'', and
''Skiing''.
In 1983, Times Mirror owned not only the ''Los Angeles Times'' but also ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
'',
''
The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'',
''The Dallas Times Herald'', and the ''
Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...
''.
In 1986, Times Mirror bought A.S. Abell Company, owners of ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'', and as part of the sale, Gillett Communications bought out the broadcasting unit. That same year, Times Mirror acquired Broadcasting Publications Inc., parent company of broadcast trade magazine ''
Broadcasting Magazine''.
Times Mirror acquired Richard D. Irwin Inc. from
Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (also known simply as Dow Jones) is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp, and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Barron's'', '' MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'' ...
in 1988 to enter the textbook field. Times Mirror acquired
Wm. C. Brown Co. in 1992. Times Mirror sold its textbook operations to
McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...
in 1996.
Times Mirror also owned
C.V. Mosby Company from 1967–1998, which published medical college textbooks and reference books;
Harry N. Abrams — a publisher of art and photography books
— from 1966–1997; legal publisher Matthew Bender (from 1963 until 1998); and air navigation publisher
Jeppesen
Jeppesen (also known as Jeppesen Sanderson) is an American company offering navigational information, operations planning tools, flight planning products and software. Jeppesen's aeronautical navigation Aeronautical charts, charts are often call ...
(from 1961 until Times Mirror was acquired by the Tribune Company). Subsequent acquisitions, like ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' in 1986, expanded the company's portfolio.
Times Mirror Co. was acquired by the
Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
in 2000.
[Jones, Tim]
"Tribune Co. To Merge With Times Mirror,"
''Chicago Tribune'' (March 13, 2000). After the acquisition, Tribune sold Jeppesen to
Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
and the former Times Mirror magazines to
Time Inc.
Former newspapers
Broadcasting
The Times-Mirror Company was a founding owner of television station
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned a ...
in Los Angeles, which opened in January 1949. It became that station's sole owner in 1951, after re-acquiring the minority shares it had sold to
CBS in 1948. Times-Mirror also purchased a former motion picture studio,
Nassour Studios, in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
in 1950, which was then used to consolidate KTTV's operations. Later to be known as
Metromedia Square (then the Fox Television Center), the studio was sold along with KTTV to
Metromedia
Metromedia, Inc. (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio station, radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in ...
in 1963.
After a seven-year hiatus from the medium, the firm reactivated Times-Mirror Broadcasting Company with its 1970 purchase of the ''
Dallas Times Herald'' and its radio and television stations,
KRLD-AM-
FM-TV in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. The
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
granted an exemption of its
cross-ownership policy and allowed Times-Mirror to retain the newspaper and the television outlet, which was renamed
KDFW-TV.
Times-Mirror Broadcasting later acquired
KTBC-TV
KTBC (channel 7) is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, and maintains studios o ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
in 1973; and in 1980 purchased a group of stations owned by
Newhouse Newspapers: WAPI-TV (now
WVTM-TV) in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
;
KTVI in
St. Louis; WSYR-TV (now
WSTM-TV
WSTM-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Syracuse, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to CBS affiliate WTVH (channel 5) through a local marke ...
) in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...
and its satellite station WSYE-TV (now
WETM-TV) in
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...
; and WTPA-TV (now
WHTM-TV) in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
. The company also entered the field of cable television, servicing the
Phoenix and
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
areas, amongst others. They were originally titled Times-Mirror Cable, and were later renamed to Dimension Cable Television. Similarly, they also attempted to enter the pay-TV market, with the
Spotlight movie network; it wasn't successful and was quickly shut down. The cable systems were sold in the mid-1990s to
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...
.
Times-Mirror also pared its station group down, selling off the Syracuse, Elmira and Harrisburg properties in 1986, to Smith Broadcasting. Times-Mirror briefly held
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( Maryland Route 45) in Towson north o ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
and
WRLH-TV in
Richmond, which were acquired alongside the ''Baltimore Sun'', but had to sell off those stations to
Gillett Communications to appease FCC's cross-ownership rules.
The remaining four outlets were packaged to a new upstart holding company, Argyle Television, in 1993.
"Times Mirror set to sell four TV'."
''Broadcasting & Cable'', March 22, 1993, pg. 7. These stations were acquired by New World Communications shortly thereafter and became key components in a sweeping shift of network-station affiliations which occurred between 1994–1995.
Former stations
References
{{Authority control
Defunct newspaper companies of the United States
Defunct television broadcasting companies of the United States
Mass media companies disestablished in 2000
2000 mergers and acquisitions
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange