In 1945, The State bought its rival, the Columbia Record, with the parent company becoming The State-Record Company. The paper's owners diversified in 1971 by founding "State Telecasting Company". State Telecasting purchased two television stations in New Mexico and Texas, along with a station in South Carolina. KCBD in Lubbock, Texas, and its full-time satellite KSWS in Roswell, New Mexico, were acquired in 1971 for $6 million from the Joe Bryant estate. WUSN-TV in nearby Charleston, South Carolina, was acquired and the call letters changed to WCBD-TV to conform with those of KCBD. The paper remained in the hands of the Gonzales family until 1986, when Knight Ridder purchased the State-Record Company and six subsidiaries (including the Sun Herald and The Sun News) for $311 million. In 2006, Knight Ridder was purchased by McClatchy.
In 2020, McClatchy filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by hedge fund, Chatham Asset Management for $312 million.[1]
On April 22, 2024 The State started printing Sunday, Wednesday and Friday only and delivering through the mail.[8]
According to the newspaper's Web site, it has 440 full-time employees and another 31 who work part-time, not including an on-premises "McClatchy Customer Care Center for subscriber assistance." The State has a 260,000-square-foot (24,000 m2) building completed in 1988, three miles (4.8 km) south of downtown.[7]
In 2017, the McClatchy Company listed the State's Columbia headquarters building for sale for $17,000,000.[10]