Lilly Broadcasting, LLC is a privately owned by Brian and Kevin Lilly. The company was founded in September 1999 with the purchase of WENY-TV (ABC) and WENY-FM & AM radio. In 2002, Kevin Lilly purchased WSEE-TV (CBS) in Erie, Pennsylvania and have since added the CBS and The CW affiliates in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and ABC in the Virgin Islands.
Brian and Kevin Lilly are the sons of George Lilly, whose SJL Broadcast Management (also previously known as the Montecito Broadcast Group) was founded in 1984 and based in Montecito, California. SJL owns WICU-TV in Erie and the two Companies purchased three TV stations from Gateway Communications in 2000, and four stations from Emmis Communications in 2005.
Lilly Broadcasting most recently with Sankaty Advisors purchased KITV (ABC) in Hawaii. Lilly sold the station to Byron Allen's Allen Media Broadcasting in 2021.
History
WJRT-TV was sold to SJL Broadcast Management in 1989. In 1991, a SJL affiliated partnership,Report No. MM 95-60 Media Communications Partners Limited Partnership, purchased WTVG.WTVG TV Channel 13 Toledo, OH . Michigan Television Dial Guide. Michiguide.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.
SJL announced the sale of WJRT-TV and WTVG to Capital Cities/ABC for $155 million in October 1994 after CBS signed a long-term deal with Meredith Corporation, owner of Flint's NBC affiliate, WNEM-TV. NBC was rumored to be courting WJRT-TV as a possible replacement for WNEM, prompting Capital Cities/ABC to buy the stations outright. The deal resulted in WTVG converting from an NBC affiliate to ABC.
In 2000, it purchased the Gateway Communications stations for $96 million. In 2002, SJL sold off WOWK-TV to West Virginia Media Holdings for $40.5 million. In April 2006, SJL sold off WBNG-TV to Granite Broadcasting for $45 million, this was followed on July 26, 2006 by selling WTAJ-TV and the licensee assets of WLYH-TV to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $56 million, completely undoing the Gateway/SJL deal.
On July 24, 2007, Montecito announced the sale of all of its remaining stations except WICU (KHON-TV, KOIN, KSNW and KSNT) to New Vision Television, ending the partnership between SJL and The Blackstone Group.New Vision Buys Montecito Stations Broadcasting & Cable July 24, 2007 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval of this sale in late-October of that year, and ownership was officially transferred on November 1.
On March 1, 2009, the last station formally owned by SJL, WICU, transferred its copyrights to Lilly Broadcasting when it merged its news operations with crosstown sister station WSEE-TV. Though SJL still technically exists (and still ostensibly owns WICU), its visible operations have now been subsumed by Lilly Broadcasting.
On November 3, 2010, Broadcasting & Cable magazine announced that SJL Broadcasting made an agreement with Disney to buy back WJRT-TV and WTVG, the two smallest stations in ABC's O&O portfolio. The sale was completed on April 1, 2011 with both stations general manager exiting their positions at change of ownership.Exclusive: New GMs For Former ABC O&Os in Flint, Toledo Broadcasting & Cable. March 31, 2011. Lilly announced on July 24, 2014, that it would sell both WJRT and WTVG to Gray Television in a $128 million transaction."Gray Buys Stations in Flint, Toledo for $128M," from TVNewsCheck, 7/24/2014 In 2016, Gray announced that it would operate its bureau in Washington, DC, in cooperation with Lilly.
On May 13, 2015, Hearst Television announced that it would sell KITV in Honolulu, Hawaii, and its satellites (KHVO in Hilo and KMAU in Wailuku) to SJL; the deal marks the return of the company to Hawaii, following its prior ownership of KHON-TV. The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on July 10, 2015 and completed on September 1, 2015.
Lilly Broadcasting re-entered radio in 2019 by purchasing the three-station cluster in Warren, Pennsylvania, that had previously been owned by Frank Iorio's Radio Partners; Iorio sold off his only other broadcast asset, Pittsburgh's WJAS, to another buyer in 2020. Lilly had previously owned and operated radio stations in Elmira before selling those off a few years after acquiring that cluster.
On June 1 and September 2023, Lilly obtained the ABC and Fox affiliations for Guam respectively, as two cable-only channels after local KTGM and KEQI-LD were forced off the air as result of the damage produced by Typhoon Mawar in may 2023 on its transmitting facilities and studios. The company would latter make an offer to buy the two licenses from Sorensen Media Group and reconstruct their transmitting facilities in 2025. After both KEQI-LD and KTGM resumed operations on October 29 and 31 respectively, the FCC approved the sale on January 6, 2026 and it was completed on February 27.
In April 2025, Lilly acquired WVXF, WVGN-LD in U.S. Virgin Islands and WSJP-LD in Puerto Rico from Caribbean Broadcasting. In December 2025, the company announced the establishment of the Glenora Radio Network, as its radio division merges with MediaOne Radio Group (the company holding a monopoly on radio in Jamestown, New York and also owning stations in Ashtabula, Ohio) under Lilly ownership.
Stations Current stations Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
+ Stations currently owned by Lilly Broadcasting Media market State/Terr. Station Purchased Notes Tamuning Guam KTGM 2026 KEQI-LD 2026 Marquette Michigan WZMQ 2017 Elmira New York WENY-TV 2000 Ithaca W34FR-D 2018 Jamestown WHUG 2026 WJTN 2026 WKSN 2026 WKZA 2026 WQFX-FM 2026 WWSE 2026 Ashtabula Ohio WFUN 2026 WFXJ-FM 2026 WREO-FM 2026 WYBL 2026 WZOO-FM 2026 Erie Pennsylvania WICU-FM 2019 WICU-TV 1996 WSEE-TV 2002 WEPA-LD 2025 WXTM-LD 2025 Warren WICU 2019 WNAE 2019 WRRN 2019 Aguadilla Puerto Rico WSJP-LD 2025 Charlotte Amalie U.S. Virgin Islands WVXF 2025 WVGN-LD 2025 Christiansted WCVI-TV 2019
Non-broadcast One Caribbean Television CBS Puerto Rico CW IN TV
Former stations + Stations formerly owned by Lilly Broadcasting Media market State Station Purchased Sold Notes San Luis Obispo California KSBY 1996 2002 Hilo Hawaii KHAW-TV 2006 2007 KHVO 2015 2021 Honolulu KHON-TV 2006 2007 KITV 2015 2021 Kauai K55DZ 2006 2007 Maui–Wailuku KAII-TV 2006 2007 KMAU 2015 2021 Garden City–Dodge City Kansas KSNG 1988 1995 2006 2007 Great Bend–Hays–Salina KSNC 1988 1995 2006 2007 Topeka KSNT 1988 1995 2006 2007 Wichita–Hutchinson KSNW 1988 1995 2006 2007 McCook Nebraska KSNK 1988 1995 2006 2007 Flint Michigan WJRT-TV 1989 1995 2011 2014 Joplin Missouri KOAM-TV 1991 1995 Billings Montana KTVQ 1984 1994 Butte KXLF-TV 1984 1986 Great Falls KRTV 1984 1986 Missoula KPAX-TV 1984 1986 Binghamton New York WBNG-TV 2000 2006 Buffalo WGRZ-TV 1986 1988 Syracuse WSTM-TV 1986 1992 Toledo Ohio WTVG 1991 1995 2011 2014 Portland Oregon KOIN 2006 2007 Altoona Pennsylvania WTAJ-TV 2000 2006 Harrisburg WLYH-TV 2000 2006 Huntington–Charleston West Virginia WOWK-TV 2000 2002
Notes
References
External links Lilly Broadcasting Corporate Website