# Cowles Media Company

Cowles Media Company (/koʊlz/ KOHLZ) (1935–1998) was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing, and Cowles Enthusiast Media units.
Owners of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune from 1935 to 1998, other newspapers owned at one time by Cowles Media and its affiliates included the Des Moines Register, the Buffalo Courier-Express, the Scottsdale Progress and the Rapid City Journal. The company also owned the Register and Tribune Syndicate (established in 1922).

## History

The Cowles Media Company was formed in 1935 when the Cowles family purchased the Minneapolis Star — the family and its patriarch Gardner Cowles Sr. previously owned the Des Moines Register. At that point, Gardner Cowles Sr. handed control of the family's media business to his sons John Cowles Sr. and Gardner "Mike" Cowles Jr. In 1939, the company purchased the Star' main competitor, the Minneapolis Evening Journal, merging them into the Star-Journal. The following year, the company bought the Minneapolis Tribune, giving it ownership of the major newspapers on the western side of the Twin Cities. The Tribune became Minneapolis' morning newspaper, the Star-Journal (shortened to the Star in 1947) was the evening newspaper, and they published a joint Sunday edition. A separate evening newspaper (the Times) was spun off and published until 1948.
They published Harper's Magazine from 1965 to 1980.
In 1955, Cowles entered television as the majority owner of what is now KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa. Cowles became the station's sole owner shortly after its launch. Over the years, Cowles acquired several television stations in medium-sized markets. These stations were sold off by the mid-1980s.
In 1986, Cowles sold the Register and Tribune Syndicate to Hearst for $4.3 million.
The McClatchy Company purchased Cowles Media in 1998. McClatchy kept the Star Tribune newspaper, which by then was the primary asset in the $1.4 billion deal, and sold the other business units to Primedia and to a management team.
As of September 1971 Cowles Media's leader was John Cowles Jr. It previously traded as Cowles Magazines (1946–1965), and Cowles Communications, Inc. (1965–1971), run by Gardner Cowles Jr., John Jr.'s uncle. From 1969 to 1971 Cowles Communications sold Family Circle and other publications, retaining five broadcasting stations, a travel magazine, and a marketing service. Look magazine (1937-1971) was published by an unrelated company known as Look, Inc. (1937–1945).

## Newspapers owned by the Cowles Media Company

| Name | City | Years owned | Fate |
| Des Moines Register | Des Moines, Iowa | 1903–1985 | Acquired by the Gannett Company |
| Des Moines Tribune | Des Moines, Iowa | 1908–September 25, 1982 | Subsumed into the Des Moines Register |
| Star-Tribune | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1935–1998 | Acquired by The McClatchy Company |
| Buffalo Courier-Express | Buffalo, New York | August 1979–September 19, 1982 | Ceased publication, sale to News Corporation rejected by union |
| Scottsdale Progress | Scottsdale, Arizona | 1987–1993 | Acquired by Cox Newspapers |
| Rapid City Journal | Rapid City, South Dakota | TK–1989 | Acquired by Lee Enterprises |
| Great Falls Tribune | Great Falls, Montana | | Acquired by Gannett Company |
| South Idaho Press | Burley, Idaho | | Merged with the Times-News |

## List of specialty magazines
### Healthy lifestyles

* Climbing magazine
* Country Journal
* Low-Fat & Fast
* Natural Remedies
* Vegetarian Times

### Collectibles

* Doll Reader
* Figurines & Collectibles
* Nautical World (formerly Nautical Collector)
* Teddy Bear and Friends

### History magazines

Eight of the history magazines subsequently published by Weider History Group starting around 2006.
* America's Civil War
* American History
* Aviation History
* British Heritage
* Civil War Times Illustrated
* Columbiad
* Early American Homes (formerly Early American Life)
* Historic Traveler
* MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History
* Military History
* Vietnam Magazine
* Wild West
* Women's History (annual)
* World War II

### Hunting

* Bowhunter
* Fly Fisherman

### Recreation

* Dressage & CT
* Horse & Rider
* KITPLANES
* Practical Horseman
* Southwest Art

## Former television stations

| City of License / Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
| Daytona Beach–Orlando, FL | WESH-TV | 2 | 1965–1985 | NBC affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Honolulu, HI | KHON-TV $^1$ | 2 | 1979–1985 | Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Moline–Rock Island, IL–Davenport, IA | WQAD-TV | 8 | 1978–1985 | ABC affiliate owned by Tegna Inc. |
| Louisville, KY | WDRB | 41 | 1977–1983 | Fox affiliate owned by Block Communications |
| Des Moines, IA | KRNT-TV/KCCI | 8 | 1955–1985 $^2$ | CBS affiliate owned by Hearst Television |
| Sioux City, IA | KVTV | 9 | 1953–1957 | ABC affiliate KCAU-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Wichita–Hutchinson, KS | KTVH | 12 | 1955–1983 | CBS affiliate KWCH-DT, owned by Gray Media |
| Memphis, TN | WREC-TV | 3 | 1962–1971 | CBS affiliate WREG-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Huntington–Charleston, WV | WHTN-TV | 13 | 1956–1960 | CBS affiliate WOWK-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group |
Notes:
* $^1$ Cowles also owned KHON-TV's satellite in Wailuku, KAII-TV. Another KHON-TV satellite, KHAW-TV in Hilo, was owned by a third party but leased to Cowles. The Hawaii stations were NBC affiliates under Cowles.
* $^2$ Cowles owned a majority share of this station when it first signed on and became its sole owner shortly thereafter.

### Gallery

* John Cowles Sr.
* Mike Cowles