History
Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations.
In 1994, Ellis bought Raycom Sports, a 15-year old sports marketing firm. Two years later, Ellis sold Raycom to a media group funded by Retirement Systems of Alabama, who had bought Aflac's broadcast division and Federal Broadcasting's TV Group a few months earlier. The three groups merged to form Raycom Media. In 1998, Raycom merged with Malrite Communications, owner of five stations in the South and Midwest.
In August 2005 it acquired The Liberty Corporation and in the process sold a dozen of its stations to Barrington Broadcasting. The merger closed at the start of 2006.
On November 12, 2007, Raycom announced its intention to acquire the television broadcasting properties of Lincoln National Corporation's Lincoln Financial Media -- three television stations (see table below), plus Lincoln Financial Sports—for $583 million. As of January 1, 2008, Lincoln Financial Sports was officially merged into Raycom Sports.
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