Mark Thorsell

Cordillera Communications

Cordillera Communications sold all of its broadcast television stations on May 1, 2019, exiting the business. Formed in 1986 as a subsidiary of Evening Post Industries, privately-owned Cordillera was based in St. Paul, Minn. Cordillera owned and operated television stations in 11 geographically diverse small- and medium-sized markets, serving at its peak more than 2.3 million U.S. households. Cordillera's stations were market leaders, consistently ranking first or second in total viewership. The portfolio consisted of seven NBC affiliates, seven CBS affiliates, and one ABC affiliate. All of the stations also broadcast on their secondary digital channels, nine of which were CW affiliates.