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Selected Articles
/1
Warner Bros. Television is the television division of Warner Bros. Pictures, founded on March 21, 1955 by studio vice president Jack L. Warner and headed by TV producer and actor William T. Orr (credited as "Wm. T. Orr"). The studio made its small screen debut with Warner Bros. Presents on September 20, 1955. Around circa 1960, WBTV formed Warner Bros. Television Distribution. Then, in 1989, WBTVD formed the current syndication arm of WBTV, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, after acquiring Lorimar-Telepictures.
/2
FremantleMedia (doing business as
Fremantle) is a British-based media conglomerate company founded in 2000 as a merger of Pearson Television and CLT-UFA; the companies merged to become "RTL Group" and by renaming the production arm to FremantleMedia, who currently owns the All American, Mark Goodson, and Reg Grundy libraries, among other formats. In 2003, FremantleMedia acquired Australian production company Crackerjack Productions, who merged with Grundy Television to form "FremantleMedia Australia". On September 7, 2018, the company changed its onscreen name to simply "Fremantle," though FremantleMedia remains its legal name.
/3
On September 16, 2002, Sony Corporation decided to retire the Columbia TriStar Television name and logo from its television division, renaming it "
Sony Pictures Television". For the first time since 1974, the Torch Lady or anything resembling Columbia's symbol is nowhere to be seen; instead, the corporate logo for Sony Pictures was introduced to television viewers for the first time. In late 2019, SPT announced a new in-production name called "Sony Pictures Television Studios", in order to further make use of production in the SPT library and rolls out for current and future titles throughout the rest of the year and 2020.
/4
20th Television (spelled as "Twentieth Television") started out as the television syndication arm of
20th Century Fox Television. Previously under
Fox Television Stations, it was launched in 1989 originally as an in-name-only brand of TCFTV (and structurally officialized in 1995). 20th Television also produced their own programs and distributed them worldwide. Sometime in 2020, a year after
The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of
21st Century Fox, the original 20th Television was merged into
Disney Media Distribution, and TCFTV was rebranded to the name of the former on August 10, 2020 as part of a corporate restructuring.
/5
Universal Television has its roots going back to 1947 when they entered the television market via United World Films. But after very little success, they shifted into producing TV commercials under Universal-International Television, with the United World Name being renamed Universal Television by 1956.
/6
NBC Universal was first formed on May 11, 2004 by the merger of the General Electric Company's
NBC and the entertainment division of Vivendi
Universal Entertainment. The day after its founding, the television production and distribution arms of Universal Television (
Universal Network Television,
Universal Domestic Television, and
USA Cable Entertainment) and
NBC Studios and the distributor
NBC Enterprises were merged, forming
NBC Universal Television Studio and
NBC Universal Television Distribution.
/7
Desilu Productions was a production company founded in 1950 by then-husband-and-wife comedy duo,
Desi Arnaz and
Lucille Ball (hence the name of the company), producing TV shows and films between the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960, Desi Arnaz sold the pre-1960 shows to CBS since Ball and Arnaz couldn't work with each other anymore. They later divorced the same year. In 1962, Arnaz sold his holdings of Desilu to Ball. In 1967, she sold Desilu to Gulf+Western Industries, which merged Desilu with
Paramount Pictures. Desilu became the television arm of Paramount in July, renaming it to "
Paramount Television" (now "
CBS Studios") months later, while Lucille Ball formed her company "
Lucille Ball Productions, Inc." and Desi Arnaz formed his own company named "Desi Arnaz Productions".
/8
MTM Enterprises, Inc. (also known as "MTM Productions, Inc.") was an independent production company established in 1969 by actress
Mary
Tyler
Moore (hence the initials of the company) and her then-husband Grant Tinker. The company was formed as a result of an agreement with Moore and the CBS network to produce 22 episodes of a new sitcom, which would become
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In 1986, MTM launched "MTM Television Distribution". MTM titles had previously been distributed by
Viacom Enterprises (now "
CBS Media Ventures"), and then
Victory Television. MTM was sold to TVS Entertainment (the then-parent company of now-defunct
ITV franchise holder
TVS Television) in July 1988. In 1992, after TVS lost its ITV franchise to
Meridian Broadcasting, it was sold to International Family Entertainment, Inc., owners of The Family Channel, which in turn was sold and merged into Fox Family Worldwide (now "ABC Family Worldwide") in 1997. MTM ceased operations the following year, and its library assets were folded into
20th Century Fox Television (now "
20th Television").
/9
CBS Productions was the production arm of the CBS Television Network, formed in 1952 to produce shows in-house, instead of relying solely on outside productions. Its first production was
CBS Television Workshop, a drama anthology series that featured an early appearance of Audrey Hepburn. On January 17, 2006, it was merged with Paramount Television to form "
CBS Paramount Television", whose main production division, CBS Paramount Network Television, continued to produce the former CBS Productions shows that were still running. On September 2, 2008, CBS Productions was revived as an in-name-only unit of CBS Paramount Network Television (later known as "CBS Television Studios") by producing non-CBS network produced programs such as
90210 for The CW. On October 8, 2020, as part of a brand unification of all of the CBS divisions, CBS Productions was folded into the then-newly renamed
CBS Studios.
/10
King World Productions, Inc. was a television company established in 1964 by Charles
King when they gained the distribution rights to the
Our Gang (later re-titled
The Little Rascals) shorts. Years later, after King's death, the company was ran by his children, Roger, Michael, Robert, Diana, Richard, and Karen King. In 1982, King World joined forces with
Merv Griffin Enterprises to handle all of Griffin's nightly syndicated programming. King World later formed an ad-sales barter division "
Camelot Entertainment Sales", which would become "King World Media Sales" (and later "CBS Television Distribution Media Sales") in 1997. In 1987, King World and Camelot entered into an ad-sales barter partnership with
Buena Vista Television. In 2000, King World was acquired by CBS and was made part of "
CBS Enterprises" under Viacom, Inc. (now "Paramount Global"). On September 26, 2006, King World merged with
CBS Paramount Domestic Television,
CBS Paramount International Television (later "
CBS Studios International" and "
ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group", now "
Paramount Global Content Distribution"), and
CBS Home Entertainment to form
CBS Television Distribution.
/11
On March 1, 1976, Avco sold their
broadcasting division to media company Multimedia, Inc., who renamed it to
Multimedia Entertainment (initially as "Multimedia Program Productions, Inc."). Multimedia, Inc. was sold to
Gannett in 1995, who then sold Multimedia Entertainment a year later to
Universal Pictures. Multimedia Entertainment was folded into
Universal Television Enterprises (now "
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios") in 1997.
/12
Columbia TriStar Television was a merger of
Columbia Pictures Television and
TriStar Television (after the re-branding of
Columbia TriStar Home Video). It was founded on February 21, 1994 and the same day, SPE renamed Columbia Pictures Television Distribution to
Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. With
Columbia TriStar International Television (formerly "Columbia Pictures International Television", now
Sony Pictures Television International) already in operation since the early 1990s, all three became part of Sony Television Entertainment umbrella (which was later renamed to the
Columbia TriStar Television Group in July 1995).
/13
19 Entertainment is the production company behind the
Idol franchise, as well as
So You Think You Can Dance, founded in 1985 by Simon Fuller. 19 Entertainment (with the rights to the shows mentioned above) was sold to CKX, Inc. in 2005 (later renamed to CORE Media Group in 2012, then Industrial Media in 2018) for $210 million. Five years later, the company moved its headquarters from London to Los Angeles. In March 2022,
Sony Pictures Television purchased Industrial Media for $350 million, with 19 Entertainment becoming a subsidiary of its nonfiction division.
/14
In 1992, Aaron
Spelling's
Spelling Entertainment was again renamed to
Spelling Television. In 1993, Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation acquired a 67% stake in Spelling Entertainment Group and established "
Big Ticket Television" (a.k.a. "Big Ticket Entertainment" and "Big Ticket Pictures") in 1994. In 1994, Blockbuster merged with
Viacom, Inc. (later renamed "CBS Corporation" in 2006, and later "
ViacomCBS" in 2019 and "
Paramount Global" in 2022). In 1999, Viacom acquired the rest of the Spelling Entertainment Group, making it a division of the
Paramount Television Group, but Spelling continued producing shows until his death on June 23, 2006, at the age of 83. Today, most of the Spelling Television library is owned by Paramount Global through
CBS Media Ventures, while the company still survives as an in-name-only unit of
CBS Studios (formerly "
CBS Paramount Network Television" and "CBS Television Studios").
/15
Big Ticket Television (also known as "Big Ticket Entertainment" and "Big Ticket Pictures, Inc.") was created by the
Spelling Entertainment Group in 1994 as a low-budget unit that produced half-hour sitcoms and reality shows. Founder Larry Lyttle wanted to name the company Blockbuster Television after Blockbuster, who at the time owned the Spelling group and was owned by
Viacom; however, Viacom vetoed the idea, so Lyttle went with "Big Ticket" instead, after Blockbuster's logo. They produced
Moesha and its spin-off
The Parkers for UPN (now The CW) as well as the daily syndicated court shows
Judge Judy,
Judge Joe Brown and
Hot Bench. When Viacom acquired Spelling in 1999, Big Ticket Television became a label of the
Paramount Television Group. Today, Big Ticket Television is an in-name-only unit of
Paramount Global's
CBS Studios.
/16
Dick Clark Productions was an entertainment production company established in 1957 by entertainer
Dick Clark, producing television shows, television specials, and television movies. In 2007, it was sold to Daniel Snyder, owner of American football team Washington Redskins and former chairman of amusement park company Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, for $175 million. Around September 2016, Chinese family-owned conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group (which owns a controlling interest in
AMC Theatres and fully owns
Legendary Entertainment) was in talks of acquiring the company for $1 billion. The transaction was confirmed on November 4th; however, the Wanda Group called off the deal in March 2017. On February 1, 2018, the company merged with
Media Rights Capital and Billboard-Hollywood Media Reporter Group to form Valence Media.
/17
Searchlight Television is the television division of
Searchlight Pictures, launched in April 2018 to broaden the variety of projects produced under the company's banner. It will produce original content; as well as some based on other productions. The division didn't have an official logo until 2021.
/18
When Universal Television, USA Network, and the Sci-Fi Channel were sold to Barry Diller's HSN Inc. from The Seagram Company in 1998 (though they kept a 45% interest in Diller's operations), the company was renamed to
Studios USA Television LLC. However in 1998, Universal Studios acquired
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and then folded PolyGram into Universal, forming Universal Studios Network Programming when the acquisition was completed in 1999. In 2001, USA Networks' entertainment assets were purchased by Vivendi Universal, reuniting Studios USA with Universal Studios, and renaming Studios USA to "
Universal Network Television" and Studios USA Television Distribution to "
Universal Domestic Television". In September 2002, the Universal Network Television and Universal Domestic Television logos replaced the Studios USA logo.
/19
Foxstar Productions was the documentary television production arm of
20th Century Fox Television, Inc. that was originally formed in 1993 as a TV movie and mini-series unit under Steve Bell, the former TCFTV network president. The first series was the
Alien Nation TV movie series. In 1998, Foxstar was made a unit of
Fox Television Studios. Although
20th Century Fox has produced documentaries since 1987, a standard logo wasn't used until 1994.
/20
After
Lorimar-Telepictures was folded into
Warner Bros. Television Distribution and became Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution on January 12, 1989,
Telepictures Productions became a producer of syndicated programming that Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution would distribute starting in 1990 after a two-year hiatus. It is also involved in online areas, including operating the TMZ celebrity blog (until 2021), amongst others.
/21
Wolf Entertainment is the production company of Dick
Wolf, best known as the creator of the
Law & Order franchise. In addition to
L&O, the company is responsible for the
Chicago (a.k.a.
One Chicago) and
FBI (a.k.a.
The FBIs) franchises, among other shows created by Wolf. The company was founded in 1988. Until 2019, it was known as "
Wolf Films".
/22
Originally formed in 1981,
Amblin Entertainment did not enter TV production until 1985, when the sci-fi show
Amazing Stories premiered on NBC.
/23
In early 2019,
Universal Cable Productions has been renamed to
Universal Content Productions to move to the streaming area. In October 2019, Universal Content Productions and
Universal Television was moved to NBCUniversal Content Studios. A month later, the company had set up
UCP Audio as a podcast division to produce scripted and unscripted content.
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