View source for Midco

{{short description|American telecommunications company}}
{{third-party|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Midco
| logo = Midcontinent logo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| former_name = Midcontinent Communications
| type = [[Joint venture]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1931}}, in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
| location = [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]
| key_people = Pat McAdaragh {{small|([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])}}
| num_employees = 
| owners = {{Plainlist|
* Midcontinent Media {{small|(51%)}}
* [[Comcast]] {{small|(49%)}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.google.com/finance/?cid=15452986&ei=EOSqVIF9zpWoAf2ngCg | title=Finance - Google Search}}</ref>
}}
| area_served = [[Minnesota]]<br>[[North Dakota]]<br>[[South Dakota]]<br>[[Wisconsin]]<br>[[Kansas|Northeast Kansas]]
| industry = [[Telecommunication]]s
| revenue = 
| products = {{Flatlist|
* [[Cable television]]
* [[cable internet access|internet]]
* [[cable telephony|telephone]]
* [[fiber-optic communication|fiber-optic]]
}}
| homepage = {{Official URL|https://midco.com/}}
}}

'''Midco''' (known as '''Midcontinent Communications''' until 2016) is a regional cable provider, providing a [[Triple play (telecommunications)|triple play]] service of [[cable television]], [[Cable Internet access|Internet]] and [[Cable telephony|telephone]] service for both [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]], along with much of [[Minnesota]], and several communities in [[Kansas]] and [[Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Midcontinent Communications Overview and Coverage|url=http://broadbandnow.com/Midcontinent-Communications|publisher=broadbandnow.com|access-date=2015-06-01}}</ref> The company's business-class service also provides direct [[fiber-optic communication]]s services via leased data circuits for larger companies.

Headquartered in [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] and operated as a [[joint venture]] between Midcontinent Media and [[Comcast]], Midco provides service to 200 communities both urban and rural, serving an area that covers over 1.2 million people.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Midcontinent Communications|url=http://www.broadbandmap.gov/about-provider/midcontinent-communications/nationwide/|publisher=broadbandmap.gov|access-date=2015-06-02}}</ref>

==History==
Midcontinent Media was founded in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]] in 1931 as the Welworth Theater Company, an operator of movie theaters. The company remained in that business until the 1990s, when it sold its theaters to various chains, including [[Carmike Cinemas|Carmike]].  In 1952, it bought the Midcontinent Broadcasting Company, owner of [[KELO (AM)|KELO-AM]]-[[KELO-FM|FM]] in Sioux Falls; the company name changed to Midcontinent Media.  The company also bought the construction permit for South Dakota's first television station, [[KELO-TV]], which took to the air in 1953.  Midcontinent purchased several other radio and television stations, but began exiting broadcasting in the 1990s (with KELO-TV and its satellites sold off to [[Young Broadcasting]], currently owned by [[Nexstar Media Group|Nexstar]]), selling off the last of their radio holdings in 2004.

Midco diversified and extended its reach into other areas of the [[Upper Midwest]], providing telephone and cable TV in rural parts of its service area, starting in the 1960s. In 1999, Midcontinent Media and [[AT&T Broadband]] (formerly known as [[Tele-Communications Inc.|TCI]]) merged their cable operations in the Dakotas, [[Minnesota]] and [[Nebraska]] into Midcontinent Communications, a joint venture between both companies. The partnership continued after Comcast's purchase of AT&T Broadband.

In the fall of 2008, [[Charter Communications]] announced their filing for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] protection and the sale of some assets in non-critical areas. On October 14, 2008, an article appeared in the [[Fairmont, Minnesota]] ''Sentinel'',<ref>{{Cite web|title = New cable firm seeks support - FairmontSentinel.com {{!}} News, Sports, Jobs, Community Info. - Fairmont Sentinel|url = http://fairmontsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/502139.html|website = fairmontsentinel.com|access-date = 2016-01-19}}</ref> reporting that [[Charter]] was selling parts of their system to Midcontinent Communications, including its [[Bemidji, Minnesota|Bemidji]] and [[International Falls, Minnesota|International Falls]] headends. Starting February 1, 2009 Midcontinent Communications took over some Charter's cable systems in Minnesota including [[Balaton, Minnesota|Balaton]], [[Bemidji, Minnesota|Bemidji]], [[Canby, Minnesota|Canby]], [[Ely, Minnesota|Ely]], [[Fairmont, Minnesota|Fairmont]], [[International Falls, Minnesota|International Falls]], [[Littlefork, Minnesota|Littlefork]], [[Sherburn, Minnesota|Sherburn]], and surrounding communities. Other areas in Minnesota were sold off to [[Comcast]].<ref>[http://www.midcocomm.com/pressroom/NewsDetail202.cfm?Id=0,13]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414040612/http://www.midcocomm.com/pressroom/NewsDetail202.cfm?Id=0%2C13|date=April 14, 2009}}</ref>

In June 2011, Midcontinent Communications acquired 33,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin subscribers from [[US Cable]].

Midco previously provided [[paging (telecommunications)|paging]] service, starting in 1985, but sold its paging services to another South Dakota company, Vantek Communications, in 2004. The former paging service was renamed Midco Connections.

On January 12, 2016, the company officially adopted the shortened Midco name across all of their operations, rendering it in all-caps as "MIDCO", with the new tagline of "Let's Go".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/business-journal/2016/01/12/midcontinent-rebrands-midco/78634564/|title=Midcontinent rebrands as Midco|last=Schwan|first=Jodi|date=12 January 2015|work=[[Argus Leader]]|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=New Look for Region's Largest Communications Company|publisher=MIDCO|date=12 January 2016|url=https://www.midco.com/PressRoom/2016/new-look-for-regions-largest-communications-company/|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref>

In October 2016, Midco acquired the assets of the cable system serving [[Lawrence, Kansas]] from [[Wide Open West]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2016/oct/21/wow-and-6-news-annouce-sale/|title=WOW announces sale of Lawrence cable TV, internet operations; change may lead to gigabit service / LJWorld.com|last=Valverde|first=Rochelle|date=21 October 2016|work=[[Lawrence Journal-World]]|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref>

==Midco Sports==
Midco offers a [[regional sports network]] called Midco Sports (formerly MC23 and Midco Sports Network (MidcoSN)) which carries coverage of NCAA Division I athletics in the [[Summit League]], [[Missouri Valley Football Conference]], and [[Central Collegiate Hockey Association]] with a specific focus on member schools South Dakota, South Dakota State University, North Dakota, and Augustana University. Additionally, Midco Sports is the primary broadcast partner for the NCAA Division II [[Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference]] providing coverage of conference tournament basketball events.

Midco Sports's signature coverage comes each February and March with full coverage of the NSIC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments from the [[Sanford Pentagon]] in Sioux Falls. The network broadcasts each game from the quarterfinals on to the championships in its entirety. That's followed by coverage of the Summit League Men's and Women's tournament quarterfinals and semifinals from the [[Denny Sanford Premier Center]]. The network does not carry the championship games for those tournaments, as those rights are held by CBS Sports.

Midco Sports and its overflow channel, Midco Sports 2, are available on to all MIDCO cable customers along with other cable systems in the region through distribution deals.<ref>{{cite web| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/Z6qk4o4fV-k| archive-date = 2021-12-05| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6qk4o4fV-k| title = The Making of MidcoSN {{!}} 8/27/2020 | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 28 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Midco Sports employs over 30 full-time on-air talent and behind-the-scenes staffers.

On Friday, April 21, 2023, a Minnesota Twins game aired on the network due to a conflict on [[Bally Sports North]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Where to watch upcoming, Twins, Wild and Wolves games from April 19-23|url=https://www.ballysports.com/north/news/minnesota-twins-wild-timberwolves-playoffs-tv-schedule-bally-sports-north|website=Bally Sports|date=April 19, 2023|access-date=April 20, 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://midco.com/}}
* [http://www.midcoconnections.com/ Midco Connections website]
* [https://www.midcosn.com/ Midco Sports Network website]

{{Internet service providers of the United States}}
{{CATV USA}}
{{Comcast}}

[[Category:American companies established in 1931]]
[[Category:1931 establishments in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Cable television companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Communications in South Dakota]]
[[Category:Companies based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Economy of the Midwestern United States]]
[[Category:Joint ventures]]
[[Category:Internet service providers of the United States]]
[[Category:Streaming television in the United States]]
[[Category:Comcast subsidiaries]]