CBS Paramount Television
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CBS Paramount Television (formerly Desilu Productions, Paramount Television, among other companies) is an American television production/distribution company that was formed on January 17, 2006 by CBS Corporation merging Paramount Television and CBS Productions.
[edit] Background
What is now CBS Paramount Television was first known as Desilu Productions in 1951, formed by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. In 1967, Desilu was acquired by Gulf + Western (which also owned Paramount Pictures) and later became Paramount Television.
In 1989, Gulf + Western was reincorporated as Paramount Communications. After Viacom's merger with Paramount Communications in 1994, Viacom Enterprises was renamed to Paramount Domestic Television (which was also called Paramount/Viacom) in 1995, and the name Paramount Network Television was also used for the first time ever, and Viacom Productions would become a division of Paramount Network Television since it's formation in 1974. Also in 1995, Viacom launched the United Paramount Network (UPN) with Chris-Craft Industries.
In 1999, the company acquired 80% of Spelling Entertainment Group and Rysher Entertainment's TV holdings. In 2000, after Viacom's merger with its creator CBS, Paramount TV acquired CBS Enterprises, which included King World Productions at that time. In 2004, Viacom merged the international television banners of CBS Broadcast International and Paramount International Television to form CBS Paramount International Television. That same year, Viacom Productions was folded into Paramount Television by ceasing its television operations.
Among Paramount Television's holdings are libraries from its own studio including those acquired from Desilu (but not its pre-1950 films, which are owned by EMKA, Ltd., a name-only division of Universal Studios), Bing Crosby Productions, some of the Rysher Entertainment programs, Viacom (the CBS catalog, which includes The Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy [which CBS bought back from Desilu]; the Terrytoons library; the television rights to most of Cannon Films' and Carolco Pictures' libraries; and Viacom's in-house productions, including Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Matlock and Diagnosis Murder), and Republic Pictures (including High Noon, It's a Wonderful Life, and the inherited holdings of National Telefilm Associates [which includes Paramount's own classic animated library and some early United Artists material], and Worldvision Enterprises [which itself includes the Aaron Spelling library]). In the U.S., however, King World distributes its product independently from CBS Paramount Television, while internationally CBS Paramount Television handles distribution and sales.
When the CBS/Viacom split took effect in 2006, CBS inherited Paramount's TV program library, with Viacom keeping Paramount's films; on January 17, 2006 CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves announced that the company would be renamed 'CBS Paramount Television' as of that day, after merging with CBS Productions, with both the CBS 'eyemark' and Paramount's mountain united in the new logo.
According to the CBS Corporation website, CBS Paramount Television is comprised of three divisions: CBS Paramount Network Television, which is the division's production arm; CBS Paramount Domestic Television, which distributes the division's television holdings within the United States; and CBS Paramount International Television, which distributes programming outside the United States.
Around that same time of CPT's formation, Viacom completed its acquisition of DreamWorks SKG, so CBS Paramount Television will now distribute DreamWorks' library of films (such as Shrek and Gladiator) in co-operation with Tribune Entertainment, while being solely responsible for Dreamworks' TV series (such as Spin City, which Paramount TV had already syndicated since 2000, and Father of the Pride).
The studio has an output deal with Australia's Channel Ten, which means that Ten usually gets first airing rights to the studio's productions.
