Ziff Davis
Encyclopedia
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago
by William B. Ziff, Sr.
and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars, photography, and electronics. However, since 1980, Ziff Davis has primarily published computer and technology related magazines, and its growing number of websites, spun off from its magazines, have established Ziff Davis as an Internet Information company.
Ziff Davis had several broadcasting properties, first in the mid-1970s, and later with its own technology network ZDTV, later renamed to TechTV
, that was sold to Vulcan Ventures
in 2001. Ziff Davis' magazine publishing and Internet operations offices are based in New York City, San Francisco and Woburn (Massachusetts).
The company (Ziff Davis Media) announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
on March 5, 2008 and emerged, following a court supervised corporate restructuring in July 2009.
On January 6, 2009, the company sold 1up.com
to UGO Entertainment, a division of Hearst Corporation
and announced the January 2009 issue of the long-running EGM
magazine as the final one.
Former Time Inc.
executive Vivek Shah, with financial backing from Boston private equity firm Great Hill Partners, announced on June 4, 2010 the acquisition of Ziff Davis Inc. as the "first step in building a new digital media company that specializes in producing and distributing content for consumers making important buying decisions."
The William B. Ziff Company, founded in 1920, was a successful Chicago advertising agency that secured advertising from national firms such as Procter & Gamble
for virtually all African American
weekly newspapers. In 1923, Ziff acquired E. C. Auld Company, a Chicago publishing house. Ziff's first venture in magazine publishing was Ziff's Magazine, which featured short stories, one-act plays, humorous verse, and jokes. The title was changed to America's Humor in April 1926.
Bernard George Davis was the student editor of the University of Pittsburgh
's humor magazine, the Pitt Panther, and was active in the Association of College Comics of the East. In his senior year he attended the association's convention and met William B. Ziff. When Davis graduated in 1927 he joined Ziff as the editor of America's Humor.
Ziff, who had been an aviator in World War I, created a new magazine, Popular Aviation, in August 1927 that was published by Popular Aviation Publishing Company of Chicago, Illinois. Under Editor Harley W. Mitchell it became the largest aviation magazine, with a circulation of 100,000 in 1929. The magazine's title became Aeronautics in June 1929 and the publishing company's name became Aeronautical Publications, Inc. The title was changed back to Popular Aviation in July 1930. The magazine became Flying
in 1942 and is still published today by the Bonnier Corporation
. The magazine celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2007.
The company histories normally give the founding date as 1927. This is when B.G. Davis joined and Popular Aviation magazine started. It was not until 1936 that the company became the "Ziff-Davis Publishing Company". (Popular Aviation, April 1936, was the first issue by Ziff-Davis Publishing.) Davis was given a substantial minority equity position in the company and was appointed a vice-president and director. He was later named president in 1946. Davis was a photography enthusiast and the editor of the Popular Photography magazine started in May 1937.
and Amazing Stories
magazines. These were founded by Hugo Gernsback
but sold in the Experimenter Publishing bankruptcy
in 1929. Both magazines had declined since the bankruptcy but the resources of Ziff-Davis rejuvenated them starting with the April 1938 issues. Radio News was published until 1972 and in 1955 spun off Popular Electronics
which was published until 1985. Amazing Stories was a leading science fiction
magazine and Ziff Davis soon added a new companion, Fantastic Adventures (FA). In 1954 FA was folded by merger into the newer Fantastic
, founded in 1952 to great initial success. ZD published a number of other pulp magazines and, later, digest-sized fiction magazines in the 1940s and 1950s, and continued to publish Amazing and Fantastic until 1965.
Ziff-Davis published comic books in the early 1950s, operating under their own name and also the imprint Approved Comics. Eschewing superheroes, they published horror
, crime
, sports, romance
, and Western comics
, though most titles didn't last more than a few issues. Superman
co-creator Jerry Siegel
was the art director of the comics line; other notable creators who worked for Ziff-Davis Comics included John Buscema
, Sid Greene
, Sam Kweskin
, Rudy Lapick
, Richard Lazarus
, Mort Leav
, Paul S. Newman
, Mike Sekowsky
, Ernie Schroeder
, and Ogden Whitney
. In 1953, the company mostly gave up on comics, selling its most popular titles — the romance comics Cinderella Love and Romantic Love, the Western title Kid Cowboy, and the jungle adventure title Wild Boy of the Congo— to St. John Publications
. Ziff-Davis continued to published one title, G.I. Joe
, until 1957, a total of 51 issues.
William B. Ziff, Sr., died in 1953 and son William B. Ziff, Jr.
returned from Germany
to assume his role in the company. In 1958 Bernard G. Davis sold his share of Ziff Davis to found Davis Publications. Under the younger Ziff's direction, the company soon became a successful publisher of enthusiast magazines. Ziff Davis purchased titles like Car and Driver
and by gearing content towards enthusiasts and readers who made purchasing decisions for their companies ("brand specifiers"), the company was able to attract advertising money that other, general-interest publications were losing.
In 1958, Ziff-Davis began publishing a magazine, HiFi and Music Review, for those who were interested in the growing hobby of high fidelity
equipment. Ultimately, the magazine evolved into Stereo Review
.
Ziff Davis sold the majority of its magazines to CBS
in 1984, keeping its tech magazines.
In the 1970s and 1980s the company's success grew with this approach, and a rapidly expanding interest in electronics and computing. With titles such as PC Magazine
, Popular Electronics
, and Computer Shopper
, Ziff Davis rose to the top of the technology magazine business.
affiliates WROC-TV
in Rochester, New York
and WRCB-TV
in Chattanooga, Tennessee
, CBS
affiliates WEYI-TV
in Saginaw, Michigan
, WRDW-TV
in Augusta, Georgia
and WSTV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio
(which changed its calls to WTOV-TV and its network affiliation to NBC after Ziff Davis assumed control of the station), and ABC
affiliate WJKS-TV
in Jacksonville, Florida
(which would also switch to NBC shortly after its acquisition was finalized). These stations would be sold off to other owners (mainly "Television Station Partners") by the mid-1980s.
and, more briefly, Electronics World. This led more or less directly to its interest in home-computer magazines. From that time forward, Ziff Davis became a major player in the field of computer and Internet-related publishing. It acquired PC Magazine
in 1982, and the trade journal
MacWEEK
in 1988. In 1989, the company launched the ZDNet
site. In 1991 ZDNet on CompuServe
and on the fledgling Internet were augmented by the purchase of Public Brand Software, the leading shareware disk provider. In 1995 it launched the magazine Yahoo! Internet Life
, initially as ZD Internet Life. The magazine was meant to accompany and complement the site Yahoo!
.
In 1998, Ziff Davis started ZDTV, a technology-themed television network. ZDTV was sold to Paul Allen
's Vulcan Inc.
in 2000, and was renamed to TechTV
.
In 2001 Ziff Davis Media Inc. reached an agreement with CNET
Networks Inc. and ZDNet to regain the URLs lost in the 2000 sale of Ziff Davis Inc, to SoftBank
. The Ziff Davis Media Inc. partnership of Willis Stein & Partners
and James Dunning (former Ziff Davis CEO, chairman, and president) gained the online content licensing rights to 11 publications, including PC Magazine, CIO Insight, and eWEEK
, home to industry insider Spencer Katt.
Since 2004, Ziff Davis has annually hosted a trade show in New York City known as DigitalLife. DigitalLife showcases the newest technology in consumer electronics, gaming and entertainment. Unlike E3 or the Worldwide Developers Conference
, DigitalLife is open to the public.
In November 2006, Ziff Davis announced the cancellation of Official Playstation
Magazine. They cited a lack of interest in the magazine (and its demo disk) due to digital distribution. OPM had run since 1997.
In July 2007, Ziff Davis Media announced the sale of their enterprise division to Insight Venture Partners
. The sale included all B2B publications which include eWeek, Baseline, and CIOinsight, and all related online properties. The enterprise division is now a stand alone company called Ziff Davis Enterprise Group. Ziff Davis is now currently owned by Jason Young.
According to BtoBonline, Ziff Davis Media has reached an agreement with an ad hoc group of noteholders, who will provide $24.5 million to fund the firm’s operations and help plan the restructure.
Current properties
Discontinued magazines and websites
Further reading
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
by William B. Ziff, Sr.
William B. Ziff, Sr.
William Bernard Ziff, Sr. was an American publishing executive. He and Bernard G. Davis founded Ziff Davis Inc. in 1927. Following his death his son, William Bernard Ziff, Jr. succeeded him at Ziff Davis.-References:...
and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars, photography, and electronics. However, since 1980, Ziff Davis has primarily published computer and technology related magazines, and its growing number of websites, spun off from its magazines, have established Ziff Davis as an Internet Information company.
Ziff Davis had several broadcasting properties, first in the mid-1970s, and later with its own technology network ZDTV, later renamed to TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
, that was sold to Vulcan Ventures
Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan Inc. is an investment and project management company founded in 1986 by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, to manage his investments...
in 2001. Ziff Davis' magazine publishing and Internet operations offices are based in New York City, San Francisco and Woburn (Massachusetts).
The company (Ziff Davis Media) announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
on March 5, 2008 and emerged, following a court supervised corporate restructuring in July 2009.
On January 6, 2009, the company sold 1up.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
to UGO Entertainment, a division of Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
and announced the January 2009 issue of the long-running EGM
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
magazine as the final one.
Former Time Inc.
Time Inc.
Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications. It publishes 130 magazines, most notably its namesake, Time...
executive Vivek Shah, with financial backing from Boston private equity firm Great Hill Partners, announced on June 4, 2010 the acquisition of Ziff Davis Inc. as the "first step in building a new digital media company that specializes in producing and distributing content for consumers making important buying decisions."
Popular Aviation
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
for virtually all African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
weekly newspapers. In 1923, Ziff acquired E. C. Auld Company, a Chicago publishing house. Ziff's first venture in magazine publishing was Ziff's Magazine, which featured short stories, one-act plays, humorous verse, and jokes. The title was changed to America's Humor in April 1926.
Bernard George Davis was the student editor of the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
's humor magazine, the Pitt Panther, and was active in the Association of College Comics of the East. In his senior year he attended the association's convention and met William B. Ziff. When Davis graduated in 1927 he joined Ziff as the editor of America's Humor.
Ziff, who had been an aviator in World War I, created a new magazine, Popular Aviation, in August 1927 that was published by Popular Aviation Publishing Company of Chicago, Illinois. Under Editor Harley W. Mitchell it became the largest aviation magazine, with a circulation of 100,000 in 1929. The magazine's title became Aeronautics in June 1929 and the publishing company's name became Aeronautical Publications, Inc. The title was changed back to Popular Aviation in July 1930. The magazine became Flying
Flying (magazine)
Flying is an aviation magazine published since 1927 . It is read by pilots, aircraft owners, and aviation-oriented executives in business and general aviation markets worldwide....
in 1942 and is still published today by the Bonnier Corporation
Bonnier Corporation
Bonnier Corporation is an American magazine publisher owned by the Swedish Bonnier Group. It was formed in March 2007 by the merger of World Publications, Time4 Media, and The Parenting Group, and publishes more than 40 special-interest magazines. It is based in Winter Park, Florida.With over 1,100...
. The magazine celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2007.
The company histories normally give the founding date as 1927. This is when B.G. Davis joined and Popular Aviation magazine started. It was not until 1936 that the company became the "Ziff-Davis Publishing Company". (Popular Aviation, April 1936, was the first issue by Ziff-Davis Publishing.) Davis was given a substantial minority equity position in the company and was appointed a vice-president and director. He was later named president in 1946. Davis was a photography enthusiast and the editor of the Popular Photography magazine started in May 1937.
Fiction and hobbyist magazines
In early 1938, Ziff-Davis acquired Radio NewsRadio News
Radio News was an American monthly technology magazine published from 1919 to 1971. The magazine was started by Hugo Gernsback as a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts, but it evolved to cover all the technical aspects to radio and electronics. In 1929 a bankruptcy forced the sale of Gernsback's...
and Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
magazines. These were founded by Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
but sold in the Experimenter Publishing bankruptcy
Experimenter Publishing bankruptcy
Experimenter Publishing was an American media company founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1915. The first magazine was The Electrical Experimenter and the most notable magazines were Radio News and Amazing Stories . Their radio station, WRNY, began broadcasting experimental television in 1928...
in 1929. Both magazines had declined since the bankruptcy but the resources of Ziff-Davis rejuvenated them starting with the April 1938 issues. Radio News was published until 1972 and in 1955 spun off Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
which was published until 1985. Amazing Stories was a leading science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
magazine and Ziff Davis soon added a new companion, Fantastic Adventures (FA). In 1954 FA was folded by merger into the newer Fantastic
Fantastic (magazine)
Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease...
, founded in 1952 to great initial success. ZD published a number of other pulp magazines and, later, digest-sized fiction magazines in the 1940s and 1950s, and continued to publish Amazing and Fantastic until 1965.
Ziff-Davis published comic books in the early 1950s, operating under their own name and also the imprint Approved Comics. Eschewing superheroes, they published horror
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
, crime
Crime comics
Crime comics is a genre of American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the 1940s and 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence and criminal activity. Crime comics began in 1942 with the publication of Crime Does...
, sports, romance
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
, and Western comics
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
, though most titles didn't last more than a few issues. Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
co-creator Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
was the art director of the comics line; other notable creators who worked for Ziff-Davis Comics included John Buscema
John Buscema
John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...
, Sid Greene
Sid Greene
Sidney "Sid" Greene was an American comic book artist known for his work for a host of publishers from the 1940s to 1970s, most prominently DC Comics, where as an inker on series including Batman, Green Lantern, Justice League of America and The Atom he helped to define the company's house style...
, Sam Kweskin
Sam Kweskin
Irving Sam Kweskin , who sometimes worked under the name Irv Wesley, was an American advertising and comic book artist.-Early life and career:...
, Rudy Lapick
Rudy Lapick
Rudolph E. "Rudy" Lapick was an American comic book artist who worked as an inker for Archie Comics for many years. He was nominated for a Shazam Award in 1974 for Best Inker .-Biography:...
, Richard Lazarus
Richard Lazarus
Richard S. Lazarus was a psychologist who began rising to prominence in the 1960s, when behaviorists like B. F. Skinner held sway over psychology and explanations for human behavior were often pared down to rudimentary motives like reward and punishment...
, Mort Leav
Mort Leav
Mortimer Leav is an American artist best known as co-creator of the influential comic-book character the Heap, and for his advertising art, which included some of the earliest TV commercial storyboards — among them, for Procter & Gamble's venerable Charmin bathroom-tissue character, the...
, Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s...
, Mike Sekowsky
Mike Sekowsky
Michael Sekowsky was a Jewish American comic book artist best known as the exclusive penciler for DC Comics' Justice League of America during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on Wonder Woman during the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Early life and career:Mike Sekowsky began...
, Ernie Schroeder
Ernie Schroeder
Ernest C. "Ernie" Schroeder was an American comic book artist and a commercial illustrator and sculptor, best known for drawing and co-writing Hillman Periodicals' influential muck-monster the Heap from 1949 to 1953....
, and Ogden Whitney
Ogden Whitney
Ogden Whitney was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of the aviator hero the Skyman and of the superpowered novelty character Herbie Popnecker and his alter ego, the satiric...
. In 1953, the company mostly gave up on comics, selling its most popular titles — the romance comics Cinderella Love and Romantic Love, the Western title Kid Cowboy, and the jungle adventure title Wild Boy of the Congo— to St. John Publications
St. John Publications
St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...
. Ziff-Davis continued to published one title, G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe (comics)
G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year . As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I...
, until 1957, a total of 51 issues.
William B. Ziff, Sr., died in 1953 and son William B. Ziff, Jr.
William B. Ziff, Jr.
William Bernard Ziff, Jr. was an American publishing executive. His father, William B. Ziff, Sr., was the co-founder of Ziff Davis Inc. and when the elder Ziff died in 1953, Ziff took over the management of the company. After buying out partner Bernard G...
returned from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to assume his role in the company. In 1958 Bernard G. Davis sold his share of Ziff Davis to found Davis Publications. Under the younger Ziff's direction, the company soon became a successful publisher of enthusiast magazines. Ziff Davis purchased titles like Car and Driver
Car and Driver
Car and Driver is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. Its total circulation is 1.31 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011...
and by gearing content towards enthusiasts and readers who made purchasing decisions for their companies ("brand specifiers"), the company was able to attract advertising money that other, general-interest publications were losing.
In 1958, Ziff-Davis began publishing a magazine, HiFi and Music Review, for those who were interested in the growing hobby of high fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity—or hi-fi—reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound or images, to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment...
equipment. Ultimately, the magazine evolved into Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
.
Ziff Davis sold the majority of its magazines to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1984, keeping its tech magazines.
In the 1970s and 1980s the company's success grew with this approach, and a rapidly expanding interest in electronics and computing. With titles such as PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
, Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
, and Computer Shopper
Computer Shopper
Computer Shopper could refer to the following publications:* Computer Shopper - a home computer magazine published in the United Kingdom* Computer Shopper - a home computer magazine published in the United States...
, Ziff Davis rose to the top of the technology magazine business.
Television stations
In 1979, Ziff Davis expanded into broadcasting, following an acquisition of television stations originally owned by greeting card company Rust Craft. Ziff Davis's stations included NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliates WROC-TV
WROC-TV
WROC-TV, virtual channel 8, is a CBS affiliate based in Rochester, New York, USA, owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. WROC-TV operates Fox affiliate WUHF through a shared services agreement. The two share studios on Humboldt Street in Rochester...
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and WRCB-TV
WRCB-TV
WRCB is an NBC affiliate television station based in Chattanooga, serving southeastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, northeastern Alabama, Southwestern North Carolina, and three Upstate South Carolina counties of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens...
in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliates WEYI-TV
WEYI-TV
WEYI-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Saginaw. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a 193 kilowatt, high transmitter at its studios on West Willard Road in Vienna Township along the Genesee and...
in Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, WRDW-TV
WRDW-TV
WRDW-TV, channel 12, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Augusta, Georgia, USA. WRDW-TV is owned by Atlanta-based Gray Television, and also provides digital subchannels for MyNetworkTV on channel 12.2 and The Country Network on channel 12.3...
in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
and WSTV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...
(which changed its calls to WTOV-TV and its network affiliation to NBC after Ziff Davis assumed control of the station), and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WJKS-TV
WCWJ
WCWJ is the CW-affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida and Brunswick, Georgia. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.. Its transmitter is located in Jacksonville.-History:...
in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
(which would also switch to NBC shortly after its acquisition was finalized). These stations would be sold off to other owners (mainly "Television Station Partners") by the mid-1980s.
| Current DMA Media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content... # |
Market | Station | Years Owned | Current Affiliation/Owner |
| 47. | Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968... |
WJKS-TV 17 (now WCWJ WCWJ WCWJ is the CW-affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida and Brunswick, Georgia. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.. Its transmitter is located in Jacksonville.-History:... ) |
1979-82 | The CW The CW Television Network The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB... affiliate owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group Nexstar Broadcasting Group Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at... |
| 66. | Saginaw Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan... - Flint, Michigan Flint, Michigan Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the... |
WEYI-TV WEYI-TV WEYI-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Saginaw. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a 193 kilowatt, high transmitter at its studios on West Willard Road in Vienna Township along the Genesee and... 25 |
1979-83 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... affiliate owned by Barrington Broadcasting Barrington Broadcasting Barrington Broadcasting Company, LLC , headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois is an entity wholly focused on broadcast television. The company's assets mainly consist of television stations in middle and small sized markets... |
| 80. | Rochester, New York Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City... |
WROC-TV WROC-TV WROC-TV, virtual channel 8, is a CBS affiliate based in Rochester, New York, USA, owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. WROC-TV operates Fox affiliate WUHF through a shared services agreement. The two share studios on Humboldt Street in Rochester... 8 |
1979-83 | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... affiliate owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group |
| 86. | Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County... |
WRCB-TV WRCB-TV WRCB is an NBC affiliate television station based in Chattanooga, serving southeastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, northeastern Alabama, Southwestern North Carolina, and three Upstate South Carolina counties of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens... 3 |
1979-82 | NBC affiliate owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. |
| 115. | Augusta, Georgia Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County... |
WRDW-TV WRDW-TV WRDW-TV, channel 12, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Augusta, Georgia, USA. WRDW-TV is owned by Atlanta-based Gray Television, and also provides digital subchannels for MyNetworkTV on channel 12.2 and The Country Network on channel 12.3... 12 |
1979-83 (?) | CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H... |
| 159. | Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area... - Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area... |
WSTV-TV/ WTOV-TV WTOV-TV WTOV-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Ohio Valley that is licensed to Steubenville & Wheeling. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter in Mingo Junction, Ohio. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in Steubenville. Syndicated... 9 |
1979-83 | NBC affiliate owned by Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920... |
Technology magazines and web properties
Ziff Davis first started technology-themed publications in 1954, with Popular ElectronicsPopular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
and, more briefly, Electronics World. This led more or less directly to its interest in home-computer magazines. From that time forward, Ziff Davis became a major player in the field of computer and Internet-related publishing. It acquired PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
in 1982, and the trade journal
Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press....
MacWEEK
MacWEEK
MacWEEK was a controlled-circulation weekly Apple Macintosh trade journal based in San Francisco founded by Michael Tchong, John Anderson , Glenn Patch, Dick Govatski and Michael F. Billings. It featured a back-page rumor column penned by the pseudonymous Mac the Knife.Founded in 1987, it was...
in 1988. In 1989, the company launched the ZDNet
ZDNet
ZDNet is a business technology news website published by CBS Interactive, along with TechRepublic and SmartPlanet. The brand was founded on April 1, 1991 as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication owned by CNET...
site. In 1991 ZDNet on CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
and on the fledgling Internet were augmented by the purchase of Public Brand Software, the leading shareware disk provider. In 1995 it launched the magazine Yahoo! Internet Life
Yahoo! Internet Life
Yahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, the well-known web portal and search engine website. It was created and launched by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of Playboy and TV Guide.It dealt with the emerging Internet and...
, initially as ZD Internet Life. The magazine was meant to accompany and complement the site Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
.
In 1998, Ziff Davis started ZDTV, a technology-themed television network. ZDTV was sold to Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
's Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan Inc. is an investment and project management company founded in 1986 by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, to manage his investments...
in 2000, and was renamed to TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
.
In 2001 Ziff Davis Media Inc. reached an agreement with CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
Networks Inc. and ZDNet to regain the URLs lost in the 2000 sale of Ziff Davis Inc, to SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
. The Ziff Davis Media Inc. partnership of Willis Stein & Partners
Willis Stein & Partners
Willis Stein & Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions for middle-market companies.The firm's most notable investments have included Ziff Davis, Roundy's, Jays Foods, Lincoln Snacks Company and Petersen Publishing Company .The firm is headquartered in Chicago and...
and James Dunning (former Ziff Davis CEO, chairman, and president) gained the online content licensing rights to 11 publications, including PC Magazine, CIO Insight, and eWEEK
EWeek
eWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
, home to industry insider Spencer Katt.
Since 2004, Ziff Davis has annually hosted a trade show in New York City known as DigitalLife. DigitalLife showcases the newest technology in consumer electronics, gaming and entertainment. Unlike E3 or the Worldwide Developers Conference
Worldwide Developers Conference
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
, DigitalLife is open to the public.
In November 2006, Ziff Davis announced the cancellation of Official Playstation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
Magazine. They cited a lack of interest in the magazine (and its demo disk) due to digital distribution. OPM had run since 1997.
In July 2007, Ziff Davis Media announced the sale of their enterprise division to Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a New York-based private equity and venture capital firm founded in 1995 by Jeff Horing and Jerry Murdock. The firm focuses exclusively on software and Internet-enabled businesses and currently has a capital base of approximately $5 billion.The firm’s Executive Advisory...
. The sale included all B2B publications which include eWeek, Baseline, and CIOinsight, and all related online properties. The enterprise division is now a stand alone company called Ziff Davis Enterprise Group. Ziff Davis is now currently owned by Jason Young.
Bankruptcy protection
In March 2008, Ziff Davis Media Inc announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its debt and operations. This was after selling their B2B (business-to-business) division, Ziff Davis Enterprise to Insight Partners. In conjunction with this announcement they also stated that they are discontinuing their print copy of PC Magazine.According to BtoBonline, Ziff Davis Media has reached an agreement with an ad hoc group of noteholders, who will provide $24.5 million to fund the firm’s operations and help plan the restructure.
Current properties
- AppScout.com
- Channel Insider
- DL.TV
- CrankyGeeksCrankyGeeksCranky Geeks was a technology-related Internet show produced by Ziff Davis Media centered on discussion of technology topics of the week. It was hosted by industry pundit John C. Dvorak...
- eSeminars
- ExtremeDAP.com (Formerly ExtremeiPod, the name was changed following pressure from Apple over the use of iPod.)
- ExtremeTechExtremeTechExtremeTech is a technology weblog about hardware, computer software, science, and other state of the art technologies which launched in June 2001...
- Gazerk
- Gearlog.com
- GoodCleanTech.com
- LinuxDevices.com
- Linux Watch
- Microsoft Watch
- PC Magazine
- PDF Zone
- Publish
Discontinued magazines and websites
- A+ Magazine
- Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
- Creative ComputingCreative ComputingCreative Computing was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from 1974 until December 1985, Creative Computing covered the whole spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically-oriented BYTE. The magazine...
- GameNOW (a.k.a EGM2 and Expert Gamer)GameNOWGameNOW was a United States-based video game magazine that was published by Ziff-Davis from November 2001 to January 2004. There are 27 issues of GameNOW in total. In addition to video game consoles like PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance, GameNOW also covered games for...
- Games for Windows: The Official MagazineGames for Windows: The Official MagazineGames for Windows: The Official Magazine was a monthly computer game magazine published by Ziff Davis Media, licensing the Games for Windows brand from Microsoft Corporation. It was the successor to Computer Gaming World. The first issue was released in November 2006...
- GMRGMR (magazine)GMR was a monthly magazine on video games that was published by Ziff-Davis — the publisher of such magazines as PC Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Computer Gaming World . GMR was launched in February 2003, being sold in only the Electronics Boutique chain of video game stores...
- MacUserMacUserMacUser is a biweekly computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK.In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, licensed the name and “mouse-rating” symbol for MacUser to Ziff-Davis Publishing for use in the rest of the world....
(US market, 1985-1997) - Official US PlayStation Magazine
- Patch Management
- PC MagazinePC MagazinePC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
— continues online - PC/ComputingPC/ComputingPC/Computing was a monthly Ziff Davis publication that for most of its run focused on publishing reviews of IBM-compatible hardware and software and tips and reference information for users of such software and hardware.Established under the guidance of founding publisher and columnist Michael...
(a.k.a. Ziff-Davis Smart Business) - Small Business Center
- Sm@rt Partner
- Windows SourcesWindows SourcesWindows Sources was a magazine by ZDNet. It lasted from c. 1993 – c. 2001.-Staff:Patrick Norton ran the hardware reviews section. Carlos Carrillo was the Assistant Editor and ran the Shareware reviews section....
- Yahoo! Internet LifeYahoo! Internet LifeYahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, the well-known web portal and search engine website. It was created and launched by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of Playboy and TV Guide.It dealt with the emerging Internet and...
- Xbox Nation
Further reading
- Thorsen, Tor. "RIP OPM." GameSpot. CNET Networks. 20 Nov 2006 http://www.gamespot.com/news/6161694.html.
- "Ziff Davis Media: Press Release." Ziff Davis Reports Fourth Quarter 2005 Results. Ziff Davis Publishing Inc.. 8 Oct 2006 http://www.ziffdavis.com/press/releases/060320.0.html.