Estrella Media


Estrella Media is an American media company based in Burbank, California that is owned by private equity firm HPS Investment Partners, LLC. Estrella Media primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community, owns television and radio stations in several of the top Hispanic markets, and is the parent company of the Estrella TV network.

History

José Liberman, and his son Lenard founded the company in 1987, as Liberman Broadcasting, Inc.. Between them, they had more than 55 years of operating experience in the broadcasting industry. The father/son pair co-founded radio and television clusters in Los Angeles and Houston, and in the late 1990s to early 2000s, expanded their assets to include broadcast properties in Dallas and San Diego. Although their television stations were considered part of the Liberman Television Network, they were still classified as independent stations and by 2006, the company had adopted a consistent branding for its three television stations under the brand "Estrella TV", mirroring the television system model in the Canadian television industry. Liberman expanded the Estrella TV format to other markets where it acquired television stations, featuring much of the same programs as those aired by the Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston outlets.
In 1999, Liberman formed a production division within its LBI Media unit to produce original programming content that would be distributed to the stations, focusing on a mix of variety series, sketch comedy, scripted drama and music programs, talk shows and game shows. One of its earliest programs, the reality game show Gana la Verde, caused controversy after several immigrant advocacy groups and California U.S. House Reps. Xavier Becerra, Hilda Solis and Linda Sánchez complained that the format – which debuted in July 2004, and featured illegal immigrants competing in extreme Fear Factor-style competitions for the opportunity to win one year of legal assistance from an immigration attorney to help them obtain a green card – put its participants in danger of deportation by immigration authorities aware of the show.
On August 4, 2006, Liberman Broadcasting reached an agreement with Entravision Communications to buy the company's five Dallas-area radio stations. On May 30, 2007, Liberman Broadcasting announced that it would expand into Utah through its purchase of KPNZ in Salt Lake City from Utah Communications, LLC for $10 million ; then on July 19, 2007, Liberman bought KWIE in the Los Angeles suburb of Riverside, California from Magic Broadcasting for $25 million. On August 18, 2008, the company purchased low-power station KVPA-LP in Phoenix, Arizona from Latin America Broadcasting, Inc. for $1.25 million.
On January 27, 2009, at the National Association of Television Program Executives Convention in Las Vegas, Liberman Broadcasting announced that it would turn the Estrella TV concept into a full-fledged national network that would launch at a then-yet-determined date later that year, which would be targeted at adults between the ages of 18 and 49 years old. Liberman had explored the possibility of developing a national network in 2007, when it raised $200 million in capital to acquire additional television stations and expand programming production. The network was originally scheduled to launch on July 1, though its debut was subsequently delayed to September 14, 2009.
On February 3, 2010, LeSea Broadcasting announced the sale of KWHD to Liberman for $5.75 million; the station became an Estrella TV owned-and-operated station following completion of the sale, under the callsign KETD, on June 1. On February 22, 2010, Liberman Broadcasting acquired W40BY Chicago from Trinity Broadcasting Network, intending to convert it to serve as the Estrella TV O&O for the market. The sale was closed on December 6. On January 23, 2012, Liberman Broadcasting announced the sale of KNTE-FM in the Houston suburb of El Campo, Texas to the KSBJ Educational Foundation for $2.1 million; the sale was completed that April. Subsequently, on May 2, Liberman pared back its Houston-area radio cluster further with the sale of KJOJ in Conroe to Aleluya Christian Broadcasting for $1 million. On February 11, 2013, Liberman Broadcasting announced the sale of Spanish CHR KTCY in the Dallas–Fort Worth suburb of Azle, Texas to the Educational Media Foundation for $6 million.
In September 2016, Liberman Broadcasting was involved in two sexual harassment lawsuits filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court involving two female newscasters. In the initial suit, former Estrella TV anchor/correspondent Adriana Ruggiero claimed sexual harassment, wrongful termination and breach of contract, accusing the network's Vice President of News at the time, Andres Angulo, informed her that Lenard Liberman was unconvinced about promoting Ruggiero—who was appointed as main anchor of the early-evening Noticiero Estrella TV newscast in 2015—to permanently replace the then-recently deceased Enrique Gratas as anchor of the prime time news program Cierre de Edicion because she did not look attractive enough, had asked her to showcase her cleavage more on-air, had repeatedly harassed another female employee, and threatened to replace her with fellow anchor Adriana Yañez if Ruggiero insisted on receiving a bonus stipulated in her contract. In retaliation for pursuing the bonus, Ruggiero claimed she was excluded from Cierre de Edicion editorial meetings and “intentionally caused members of the news team to lose respect” for her opinions and abilities.
A separate suit filed on June 23 by Karla Amezola—then anchor at Los Angeles flagship KRCA-TV—cited a history of “shameless and disgusting acts” of harassment by Angulo that “continued to escalate in levels of depravity”, stating that he bragged about his sexual experiences and showed her nude photographs of female co-workers he had slept with to Amezola and other Estrella/KRCA colleagues, had propositioned her for sex numerous times, had kissed her against her will and allegedly stroked his erect penis while asking her to "turn around" to peer at her buttocks while in Angulo's office. Amezola also claimed Angulo threatened her in 2015 against taking any legal action and warned her that human resources would not believe her allegations. After filing a complaint to Estrella/KRCA human resources, Angulo and Estrella TV management retaliated against employees who "contributed damaging information,” removing her as 5:00 p.m. anchor at KRCA without cause and undertaking measures against employees who came forward as witnesses to Amezola's claims.
On November 21, 2018, Liberman Broadcasting filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company—which claimed assets worth between $100 million and $500 million and liabilities worth between $500 million and $1 billion—sought to reduce its overall debt by more than $350 million and secured $38 million in debtor-in-possession financing. On April 17, 2019, Liberman obtained approval of its reorganization plan from the Delaware bankruptcy court, with the expectation that it would be able to clear its balance sheet within the following several months. As a result, Estrella TV suspended production of the talk show Noches con Platanito and cancelled its two morning news programs Primera Edición and Buenos Dias Familia. On October 15, 2019, Liberman Broadcasting completed its reorganization plan, turning over ownership of the company—which was formally renamed LBI Media, Inc.—to its first lien lender, private equity firm HPS Investment Partners, LLC, which sponsored the reorganization plan; the reorganization eliminated more than $350 million of debt from its balance sheet. As part of the corporate reorganization, co-founder/CEO Lenard Liberman divested his equity in LBI, and was replaced as the company's CEO by former Granite Broadcasting and Communications Corporation of America Chairman Peter Markham. On February 3, 2020, LBI Media rebranded as Estrella Media, borrowing its name from flagship Spanish-language network Estrella TV.

Estrella-owned stations

Stations are listed alphabetically by state and city of license.

Television stations

Note: All stations listed below are Estrella TV owned-and-operated stations.
City of license / MarketStationChannel
TV 		Sign-on yearOwned sinceYear of affiliation
Castle Rock–Denver, ColoradoKETD53 199020102009
Chicago, IllinoisWESV-LD40 198720102010
Decatur–Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasKMPX29 199320042009
Houston, TexasKZJL61 199520092009
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FloridaWGEN-TV8 199620182018
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FloridaWVFW-LD34 198320172017
Phoenix, ArizonaKVPA-LD42 199520082009
Port Jervis–New York City, New YorkWASA-LD24 197020092009
Riverside–Los Angeles, CaliforniaKRCA62 198819982009
San Diego, CaliforniaKSDX-LD29 199720092009

Radio stations

Note: All stations listed below are owned by Estrella through its radio broadcasting division, Estrella Radio.
Media marketCity of licenseStation/
Frequency		Owned sinceCurrent format
Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasKrum, TexasKNOR 93.72006Regional Mexican
Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasBridgeport, TexasKBOC 98.32006Spanish CHR
Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasPilot Point, TexasKZMP-FM 104.92007South Asian music
Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasUniversity Park, TexasKZMP 15402019Classic Regional Mexican
Dallas–Fort Worth, TexasMuenster, TexasKZZA 106.72006Regional Mexican
Houston, TexasHouston, TexasKEYH 8502003Regional Mexican
Houston, TexasFreeport, TexasKJOJ-FM 103.32001Regional Mexican
Houston, TexasBay City, TexasKNTE 101.72014Regional Mexican
Beaumont–Port Arthur, TexasBeaumont, TexasKQQK 107.92014Regional Mexican
Beaumont–Port Arthur, TexasPort Arthur, TexasKTJM 98.52001Regional Mexican
San Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Jacinto, CaliforniaKRQB 96.12007Regional Mexican
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLong Beach, CaliforniaKBUE 105.52003Regional Mexican
Los Angeles, CaliforniaSan Fernando, CaliforniaKBUA 94.32003Regional Mexican
Los Angeles, CaliforniaGarden Grove, CaliforniaKEBN 94.32003Regional Mexican
Los Angeles, CaliforniaSanta Ana, CaliforniaKVNR 14801997Vietnamese
Los Angeles, CaliforniaSanta Ana, CaliforniaKWIZ 96.71997Classic Regional Mexican

Former Estrella-owned stations

Radio stations

City of license/MarketStation/
Frequency		Years ownedCurrent programming and ownership
Dallas–Fort WorthKTCY 101.7 FM2006–2013KYDA, an Air1 affiliate owned by Educational Media Foundation
Greater HoustonKXBJ 96.9 FM2007–2012FM simulcast of Contemporary Christian KSBJ, owned by KSBJ Educational Foundation
Greater HoustonKJOJ 880 AM2001–2012KJOZ, a Progressive Talk station owned by Daij Media LLC

Programming

Television

The following television shows are produced by Liberman Broadcasting and are distributed exclusively to Liberman owned & operated TV stations:
La Ranchera, La Raza and Que Buena feature Regional Mexican music, whereas features Luna features Spanish adult contemporary music.