WHO OWNS WHAT
Advance Publications Corporate Timeline

1890s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000-present

Advance Publications is an anomaly when compared to its well known competitors. The newspaper and magazine publishing giant shuns corporate fanfare as it remains under the private control of the Newhouse family. While other media conglomerates must answer to shareholders and Wall Street analysts, Advance keeps a relatively covert corporate identity. The roots of the company date back over 90 years when the late Samuel Newhouse landed his first newspaper job in Bayonne, New Jersey. Even though the company controls such noteworthy properties as Conde Nast and The Newark Star-Ledger, Advance's top two executives Si Jr. and his brother Donald still manage to uphold the same low profile as their father once did.

1890s

1895 - Solomon Neuhaus born in New York City. Later changes name to Samuel Irving Newhouse (Si).

1910s

1911 - Newhouse works his way up from office boy to managing the Bayonne Times

1920s

1920 - Newhouse purchases a stake in the Fitchburg Daily News. Newhouse owns the paper for less than a year. After struggling with circulation and revenue, Newhouse makes a deal with the other newspaper in town, The Sentinel, to be bought out. The owner of the Sentinel pays $15,000 to have the Daily News go out of business to ensure that there is only one newspaper remaining.

1922 - Newhouse purchases stake in the Staten Island Advance

1923 - Newhouse takes over the position of publisher of Staten Island Advance

1930s

1932 - Newhouse purchases a 51% stake in the Long Island Press from the Ridder brothers for $600,000

1934 - Newhouse purchases a 51% stake in the Newark Ledger for $310,000

1939 - Newhouse purchases two Syracuse, NY newspapers, the Herald and Journal (from William Randolph Hearst). Both newspapers are combined to form The Syracuse Herald-Journal

1939 - Newhouse purchases the Newark Star-Eagle. Combines both newspapers in Newark to form The Star-Ledger

1940s

1942 - Newhouse purchases Syracuse Post-Standard. Announcement of purchase is delayed until 1944 to avoid criticism from employees that the Syracuse papers would be merged and jobs cut

1945 - Newhouse purchases stake in the Jersey Journal

1947 - Newhouse associate Edwin Russell purchases the Harrisburg Patriot and Evening News

1948 - Newhouse purchases the Harrisburg Telegraph. Less than two months later the newspaper goes out of business

1950s

1950 - Newhouse purchases The Oregonian for $5.6 million, at the time the largest newspaper sale ever

1955 - Newhouse purchases St. Louis Globe-Democrat for $6.5 million, another record

1955 - Newhouse purchases Birmingham News and Huntsville Times for a combined $18.7 million, another record

1959 - Newhouse acquires Street & Smith magazine group

1959 - Newhouse acquires Conde Nast magazine group

1960s

1961 - Newhouse acquires the Oregon Journal for $8 Million

1962 - Newhouse purchases New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper group (includes the Times-Picayune and States-Item) for $42 million, another record

1962 - Samuel Newhouse appears on the July 27 cover of Time magazine

1964 - Syracuse dedicates its new School of Communications Center in the name of Samuel Newhouse, the largest gift to Syracuse by a living donor

1966 - Newhouse acquires three Springfield (Mass) newspapers News, Republican, and Union

1966 - Newhouse acquires Mobile Register, Mobile Press and Mississippi Press-Register

1967 - Newhouse purchases the Cleveland Plain-Dealer for $54.2 million, another record

1970s

1976 - Newhouse gains total ownership of the eight Booth newspapers and Parade Magazine for $305 million

1977 - Long Island Press ceases operations

1979 - Samuel Sr. dies from complications of a stroke. Si Jr. controls the magazine operations while Donald Newhouse oversees the newspapers.

1980s

1980 - Advance Publications purchases Random House book publishers from RCA for $70 million

1980 - Advance sells five television stations to the Times Mirror Publishing Company for $82 million. Part of the funds from the sale helps Advance purchase cable television systems

1980 - New Orleans Times-Picayune merges with the Statesman

1981 - Advance has over 500,000 cable television subscribers

1982 - Advance purchases Fawcett Books from CBS

1982 - Portland Oregon Journal merges with the Oregonian

1982 - Cleveland Press ceases operations. Advance's Cleveland Plain-Dealer becomes the city's only daily newspaper. Allegations are made against Si. Jr. and Donald that they paid The Press' owner Joseph Cole to go out of business

1983 - Advance re-launches Vanity Fair as a glossy celebrity magazine

1984 - Advance sells the St. Louis Globe-Democrat

1985 - A grand jury begins an anti-trust investigation centering on Advance's role in the demise of the Cleveland Press. Charges are never filed

1986 - Random House acquires Fodor's Travel Guides

1988 - Random House buys Crown Publishing Group

1990s

1995 - Newhouse and Time Warner Cable combine cable systems to create large clusters

1998 - Advance Publications sells the Random House-Alfred A. Knopf-Crown Publishing group to Bertelsmann

1999 - Disney sells Fairchild Publications (W, Jane and Women's Wear Daily) to Advance

2000 - Present

2000 - Advance acquires a group of newspapers in New Jersey and Easton, PA from MediaNews. Titles include: Gloucester County Times, Today's Sunbeam (Salem), Bridgeton Evening News, and Express-Times (Easton).

2001 - Syracuse Herald-Journal closes

2001 - Conde Nast Publications closes fashion magazine Mademoiselle

2002 - Advance purchases Modern Bride magazine group from Primedia for $52 million

2002 - Advance and AOL Time Warner disband their cable partnership. Advance changes the name of its cable operations to Bright House cable.

2003 - Forbes magazine estimates the combined worth of Si. Jr. and Donald Newhouse at $15 billion