Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation

Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation dates from July 1930, with the establishment of WIS radio in Columbia, South Carolina by George T. Barnes. Barnes and several investors formed South Carolina Broadcasting Company in November 1930 as the parent company of WIS. The enterprise was sold within a year to W. Frank Hipp and The Liberty Life Insurance Company. Hipp reorganized the affairs of WIS and its parent company was re-chartered in 1932 as The South Carolina Broadcasting Company and placed under the direction of G. Richard Shafto. For the next 37 years Shafto guided all Hipp radio (and later, television) operations. Radio interests were put under the corporate umbrella of Surety Life Insurance Company in 1942, and subsidiary Surety Broadcasting Company was formed in 1946 to administer these operations. In 1950, a separate broadcasting entity was created with the name of The Broadcasting Company of the South. This company successfully branched into television with the advent of WIS-TV in 1953. WSFA-TV was acquired in 1959, and the company grew to national stature in 1965 with the purchase of WTOL-TV. As a result of this expansion, the company changed its name to Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation. The 1960s brought the arrival of cable television, and Cosmos pioneered the new industry when it formed Cosmos Cablevision and Cox-Cosmos Incorporated. The acquisition of WSDU-TV in 1972 and Orion Broadcasting (including WAVE-TV, WFIE-TV and two radio stations) in 1981 further enhanced Cosmos' standing in the broadcasting industry. In 1986, Cosmos sold its radio operations and acquired two additional television stations, KPLC-TV and KAIT-TV.