Marquee Broadcasting Inc Finalizes Purchase of WHIZ Media Group 

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Thursday, July 14th, 2022, Zanesville, Ohio’s WHIZ Media Group finalized its sale to Marquee Broadcasting Inc. The transition and sale were first announced in April 2022 and have now received final approval from the FCC to complete the sale. 

Gene Steinberg, the current Chief Operating Officer of Marquee Broadcasting Inc. and the new General Manager of the WHIZ Media Group, spoke about the importance of keeping local stories at the forefront of the news, maintaining the community involvement started by the Littick family.

“Well in all of our stations – I was just talking to someone the other day and it’s funny you know, we broadcast 24 hours a day but when we talk about things – the only thing we talk about is our local news.”

With their slogan ‘Because Local Matters,’ Marquee prides itself on providing local news content. The media group is involved in five different markets and currently holds ownership of ABC, CBS, and NBC stations.

Steinberg is arriving in Zanesville with six months of experience with Marquee. Steinberg has extensive experience in the broadcast world in stations all around the US and is excited to start this venture in Zanesville.

The sale marks the end of a privatized ownership era for WHIZ, and Hank Littick will step back from his day-to-day position as General Manager.

The Littick family plans to still remain active community members in Zanesville, with Littick signing on as a consultant at WHIZ to help ease the transition.

Marquee Broadcasting Inc. was created in 2013 when Brian and Patricia Lane purchased a station in Salisbury, Maryland. The group states on their website their goal that they “are seeking to expand, because we believe smaller markets are underserved and that local engagement matters all the more. We want our focus to be on the communities where we call home.” Steinberg emphasized his hope to foster communication between Marquee’s other local stations and WHIZ in order to help each station to continue to grow.

“In the future I think it is important to continue the commitment to the community – to make sure that we are being a good steward of our license and a good steward of the community. And to help the community grow in not just Zanesville, but in our area of influence – which is every county around us – that’s important to us.”

WHIZ Media Group looks forward to the new partnership with Marquee Broadcast Inc. and is grateful for the guidance and continued support from the Littick Family.