ACME Communications

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ACME Communications, Inc. was a U.S. television broadcasting and production company that operated from the late 1990s through the early 2010s. Founded in 1997 and based in Santa Ana, California, the company dissolved in two stages: station operations ended in December 2012, and the company was officially dissolved on December 31, 2016. It had about 141 employees.

ACME was co-founded by Jamie Kellner, a former Fox executive and the founding CEO of The WB Television Network. The name ACME was a playful nod to the Acme Corporation from Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes cartoons.

In 2000, ACME partnered with Paramount Stations Group in a joint venture. ACME stations aired three hours of UPN programming in three markets that lacked a UPN affiliate (St. Louis, Knoxville, and Champaign, Illinois). WB programs remained on Paramount stations in Columbus, Ohio, and Providence, Rhode Island, and were added to a UPN station in West Palm Beach as UPN expanded.

ACME owned stations mainly in medium-sized markets, most of which were acquired through purchases. Many of its WB-affiliated stations joined The CW when WB and UPN merged in 2006. At its peak, ACME owned 11 stations. The company also produced programs and launched The Daily Buzz in 2002, a syndicated morning news show that reached up to 180 markets.

In the early 2010s, ACME undertook cost-cutting and signaled an exit from the television business.