Joe L. Allbritton, 87, whose company owns eight ABC-affiliated stations including WJLA Washington, and a...

Joe L. Allbritton, 87, whose company owns eight ABC-affiliated stations including WJLA Washington, and a D.C.-area cable news channel that was among the first of its kind and which he helped start in 1991, died Wednesday in Houston. After making his mark, and money, in banking, in 1974 Allbritton bought The Washington Star and sold it four years later to comply with FCC cross-ownership rules. He’s survived by wife Barbara, son Robert who is CEO of Allbritton Communications, and two grandchildren.