Virginia Morris, CEO of Hubbard Broadcasting

Hubbard spent $85.5 million in 2013 to expand Hubbard Broadcasting's empire to Phoenix and Seattle and prove radio has a strong future in the Internet era.

What happened: In November 2014, Morris struck again, paying $8 million for 16 radio stations owned by Bemidji's Omni Broadcasting in northern Minnesota communities. Morris, granddaughter of the founder of the privately held Hubbard Broadcasting empire, said radio "continues to be a vibrant business." She added: "We're at or above last year's revenue in the Twin Cities, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, St. Louis, Phoenix and Seattle. … A majority of our business still relates to that [transmission] tower, although people access that signal on their [iPhone] and the Internet on their computers."

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