Forum Communications Company

Forum Communications Company
Company type
Private
IndustryTelevision, Advertising, Broadcasting, Newspaper, Internet services
Founded1878
Headquarters101 5th Street North,
Fargo, North Dakota 58102
,
United States
Key people
Bill Marcil, Sr., Chairman
Bill Marcil, Jr., President, CEO and Publisher
Number of employees
800+
Websitewww.forumcomm.com

Forum Communications Company is an American multimedia and technology company headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. Forum owns multiple print, online, and broadcast brands throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, in addition to various niche media brands covering specialty interests.

Forum has multiple newspaper and multimedia journalism brands across four states in the upper Midwest along with several commercial printing facilities, TV broadcasting and business services.[1] The company also owns four television stations in North Dakota, all affiliated with ABC and an NBC affiliate in South Dakota. Additional offerings are commercial printing services and business services.

Leadership

William "Bill" Marcil, Sr. is the current chairman of the board for Forum Communications Company, who is married to the great-granddaughter of the founder, Norman B. Black.[2][1]

Daily operations are overseen by William "Bill" Marcil, Jr. as the president and chief executive officer of Forum Communications Company as well as the publisher of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.[1]

History

Forum Communications Company began publishing its flagship newspaper The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead in 1878 and is currently owned and operated by the Marcil-Black family.[2][1]

In 1913, The Forum Publishing Co. was incorporated with J.P. Dotson as president.[3] In 1972, the company purchased KSOO-TV of Sioux Falls and KCOO-TV of Aberdeen. At that time a subsidiary called Forum Communications, Inc. was created to manage its radio and television stations;[4] the FCC approved the sale a year later.[5] In 1984, William "Bill" Marcil, Sr. acquired majority ownership.[6] In 1992, he renamed the parent company to Forum Communications Co.[7]

In July 1995, Forum purchased three daily papers from Thomson Newspapers. The sale included The Dickinson Press, Mitchell Daily Republic and Worthington Daily Globe.[8] In December 2010, Marcil, Sr. retired and was succeeded as publisher and CEO by his son, Bill Marcil, Jr.[9]

In January 2021, Forum sold subsidiary RiverTown Multimedia to O’Rourke Media Group. The sale included the Red Wing Republican Eagle and Hudson Star-Observer. RiverTown previously published six other papers, but closed or merged them.[10]

In November 2022, Forum purchased YTA TV affiliate KWSD and sister station KCWS-LD from Jim Simpson, for $1.4 million;[11] the sale was completed on February 21, 2023.[12] Forum intended to create a third television news operation in the Sioux Falls market.[13] On February 24, 2023, KWSD changed its call sign to KSFL-TV; several weeks later, it switched its affiliation to Ion Television and upgraded to high-definition operations for the first time since its 2012 departure from The CW. On January 1, 2024, KSFL-TV dropped Ion and became an independent station.

On August 14, 2024, it was announced that NBC/MyNetworkTV affiliates KNBN and KWBH-LD, both of Rapid City, South Dakota, would be sold by Jim Simpson (Rapid Broadcasting Company) to Forum, bringing those stations and KSFL-TV back under common ownership.[14]

On January 14, 2026, the company announced it had acquired seven newspapers from Wick Communications. The deal included The Daily Journal in Minnesota; Wahpeton Daily News, Hankinson News Monitor and Williston Herald in North Dakota; Capital Journal and Madison Daily Leader in South Dakota; and Sidney Herald in Montana.[15] That April, the McKenzie County Farmer was acquired.[16]

Commercial

  • Click Content Studios offers marketing services through branded content for traditional and new media platforms.
  • Forum Communications operates four printing plants in three states: Brainerd and Detroit Lakes, Minnesota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and a commercial plant at 4601 16th Ave. N. in Fargo, North Dakota. Commercial printing capabilities include: printing, mailing, fulfillment and various marketing services.
  • JobsHQ is an online recruitment and digital advertising company focusing on employers and recruitment in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The following print and digital newspapers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota are part of the Forum Communications news network:

Title Location Year Acquired Notes Sources
Alexandria Echo Press Alexandria, Minnesota 1990 [1][17][18][19]
The Bemidji Pioneer Bemidji, Minnesota 1997 [1][17][18][20]
Brainerd Dispatch Brainerd, Minnesota 2010 [1][17][18][21]
Detroit Lakes Tribune Detroit Lakes, Minnesota 1985 [1][17][18][22]
The Dickinson Press Dickinson, North Dakota 1995 [1][17][23]
Duluth News Tribune Duluth, Minnesota 2006 [1][17][18][24]
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead Fargo, North Dakota [1][2][17][25]
The Globe Worthington, Minnesota 1995 [1][17][18][26]
Grand Forks Herald Grand Forks, North Dakota 2006 [1][17][27]
The Jamestown Sun Jamestown, North Dakota 2000 [1][17][28]
The Mitchell Republic Mitchell, South Dakota 1995 [1][17][29]
Park Rapids Enterprise Park Rapids, Minnesota 1985 [1][17][18][30]
Perham Focus Perham, Minnesota 2000 [1][17][18][31]
Pine Journal Cloquet, Minnesota 2006 [1][17][18][32]
Pine and Lakes Echo Journal Pequot Lakes, Minnesota 2014 [1][17][18][33]
Post-Bulletin Rochester, Minnesota 2019 [1][17][18][34]
St. Cloud Live St. Cloud, Minnesota 2022 Founded by Forum, with former reporters from the St. Cloud Times being hired as a part of the website launch [35]
Sioux Falls Live Sioux Falls, South Dakota 2022 Launched by Forum, along with the acquisition of KWSD and KCWS-LD from JF Broadcasting LLC [35][36]
Superior Telegram Superior, Wisconsin 2006 [1][17][37]
Wadena Pioneer Journal Wadena, Minnesota 1990 [1][17][18][38]
West Central Tribune Willmar, Minnesota 1980 [1][16][17][39]

Other media

Television stations

State City Call sign Channel Network
PSIP RF DT-1 DT-2 DT-3 DT-4 DT-5 DT-6
North Dakota Fargo WDAY-TV 6 21 ABC True Crime Network Independent Ion Television Ion Plus Grit
Grand Forks WDAZ-TV 8 8 ABC True Crime Network Independent Ion Television Ion Plus Grit
Bismarck KBMY 17 17 ABC True Crime Network MyNetworkTV Ion Television Ion Plus Court TV
Minot KMCY 14 14 ABC True Crime Network MyNetworkTV Ion Television Ion Plus Court TV
South Dakota Sioux Falls KSFL-TV 36 36 Ion Television YTA TV Jewelry Television – – –
Rapid City KNBN 21 21 NBC MyNetworkTV/

YTA TV

- - - -

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Zaleski, Jack (2018). Forum Communications Company: A Narrative History 1980 - 2018. Forum Publishing Company.
  2. ^ a b c Moline, Melva (1978). The Forum: The First Hundred Years. Forum Publishing Company.
  3. ^ "Forum Publishing Co. Has Been Incorpated". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. May 19, 1913. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Forum Publishing Purchasing Two S.D. TV Stations". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. November 16, 1972. p. 1.
  5. ^ "FCC OKs Sale of 2 Stations To Forum Communications". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. November 15, 1973. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Legal dispute over control of Forum settled". The Bismarck Tribune. Associated Press. December 18, 1984. p. 21.
  7. ^ "Forum changes corporate name". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. November 14, 1992. p. 13.
  8. ^ "Forum Communications buys Dickinson Press, more". The Dickinson Press. July 6, 1995. p. 1.
  9. ^ Nowatzki, Mike (September 15, 2010). "Marcil Jr. to become publisher; Case expands role to CEO". Fargo, North Dakota.
  10. ^ Hunter, Julia (January 3, 2021). "O'Rourke Media Group buys RiverTown newspapers". Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  11. ^ "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  12. ^ "Notification of Consummation". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  13. ^ Ellis, Jon (November 23, 2022). "Forum to Buy Independent TV Station in Sioux Falls, Launch News". Northpine.com. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  14. ^ "Assignments". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  15. ^ "Forum Communications purchases 7 newspapers, including one in MN". West Central Tribune. January 14, 2026. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  16. ^ a b "Forum Communications agrees to purchase McKenzie County newspaper". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. April 22, 2026. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Forum Communications Company". ForumComm.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "2022 Minnesota Newspaper Association Directory" (PDF). Minnesota Newspaper Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "Alexandria Echo Press". EchoPress.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  20. ^ "The Bemidji Pioneer". BemidjiPioneer.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  21. ^ "Brainerd Dispatch". BrainerdDispatch.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "Detroit Lakes Tribune". DLOnline.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "The Dickinson Press". DickinsonPress.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "Duluth News Tribune". DuluthNewsTribune.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  25. ^ "InForum". InForum.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  26. ^ "The Globe". DGlobe.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  27. ^ "Grand Forks Herald". GrandForksHerald.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  28. ^ "The Jamestown Sun". JamestownSun.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  29. ^ "The Mitchell Republic". MitchellRepublic.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  30. ^ "Park Rapids Enterprise". ParkRapidsEnterprise.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  31. ^ "Perham Focus". PerhamFocus.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  32. ^ "Pine Journal". PineJournal.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  33. ^ "Pine and Lakes Echo Journal". PineAndLakes.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  34. ^ "Post Bulletin". PostBulletin.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Forum Communications launching new St. Cloud news operation". Sioux Falls Live. January 24, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  36. ^ "Forum Communications expanding to Sioux Falls with TV station acquisition". Sioux Falls Live. November 23, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  37. ^ "Superior Telegram". SuperiorTelegram.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  38. ^ "Wadena Pioneer Journal". WadenaPJ.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  39. ^ "West Central Tribune". WCTrib.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
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