Paramount Stations Group, Inc. (PSG) was a company that controlled a group of American broadcast television stations. The company existed from 1991 until 2001.
History Paramount Communications, the then-parent company of Paramount Pictures, formed the Paramount Stations Group in 1991 after buying out the remaining stake in TVX Broadcast Group that it did not already own. At the time of the transition in 1991, the group consisted of six outlets: Fox affiliates KRRT (now KMYS) in the San Antonio area, WLFL-TV in Raleigh, and WTXF-TV in Philadelphia; and independent stations KTXA in Fort Worth, KTXH in Houston, and WDCA in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, the group began its expansion with its purchase of then-Fox affiliate WKBD-TV in Detroit from Cox Enterprises in 1993.
The original incarnation of Viacom purchased Paramount in 1993, with the deal closing in March 1994; Viacom's existing group of CBS- and NBC-affiliated stations continued to be run separately from the Paramount stations until December 1995, when they were folded into PSG. Viacom also included its part-time LMA with WVIT, that of WTXX. Shortly afterward, Viacom entered into a joint venture with Chris-Craft Industries, which owned several television stations as part of its United Television subsidiary, to launch the United Paramount Network (UPN). Four of PSG's original six stations, along with several acquisitions such as WSBK-TV in Boston, and WTXX in Waterbury, which Viacom operated through a LMA with WVIT, became charter affiliates of the network when UPN launched in January 1995.
PSG sold off three of its original six stations as well; WLFL, KRRT, and WTXF were sold to other companies, with the latter becoming a Fox-owned station. To make up for the loss of its Philadelphia-owned station, PSG acquired Philadelphia independent station WGBS-TV and its call letters were changed to WPSG-TV, and the UPN affiliation was moved there. The company eventually divested itself of the CBS and NBC stations it held and purchased more UPN affiliates as the 1990s continued.
Airing since 1992 in Sweden and other European countries, 4 of the group's independent stations began in late December 1993 testing Video Games Challenge, interactive via the phone game show produced by Invisible Cities of Los Angeles and Big Band Productions of Sweden. In February 2000, Paramount Stations Group and ACME Communications reached an agreement.
In 2000, PSG acquired Chris-Craft's stake in UPN, shortly thereafter, Chris-Craft exited broadcasting and sold most of its stations to News Corporation's Fox Television Stations unit.
PSG was folded the next year after Viacom completed its merger with CBS. The remaining PSG stations were merged with the CBS owned-and-operated stations to form the Viacom Television Stations Group. Today, that group is called CBS News and Stations.
Former stations Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
+ Stations owned by Paramount Stations Group Media market State/District Station Purchased Sold Notes Sacramento California KMAX-TV 1998 2000 Hartford–New Haven Connecticut WVIT1994 1997 WTXX Washington, D.C. District of Columbia WDCA 1991 2001 Miami–Fort Lauderdale Florida WBFS-TV 1995 2000 St. Petersburg–Tampa WTOG 1996 West Palm Beach WTVX 1997 2001 Atlanta Georgia WUPA 1995 2000 Indianapolis Indiana WNDY-TV 1998 Hutchinson–Wichita Kansas KSCC 2001 2001 New Orleans Louisiana WUPL 1997 2000 Shreveport KSLA-TV 1994 1996 Boston Massachusetts WSBK-TV 1995 2000 Detroit Michigan WKBD-TV 1993 St. Louis Missouri KMOV1994 1997 Albany–Schenectady New York WNYT1996 Rochester WHEC-TV Raleigh–Durham North Carolina WLFL-TV 1991 1994 Columbus Ohio WWHO 1997 2000 Oklahoma City Oklahoma KAUT-TV1998 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania WNPA-TV Philadelphia WTXF-TV 1991 1995 WPSG 1995 2000 Providence Rhode Island WLWC 1997 2001 Fort Worth–Dallas Texas KTXA1991 2000 Houston KTXH 2001 San Antonio KRRT 1995 Norfolk–Newport News Virginia WGNT1997 2000 Tacoma–Seattle, WA Washington KSTW 2000 KIRO-TV 1997
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