Worldvision's globe design endcap from 1988 to 1991, with World Vision disclaimer. |
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| Former type | Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television syndication Home video distributor |
| Fate | Merger with Viacom, incorporation into Republic Pictures |
| Successor | Paramount Domestic Television (1999-2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006-2007) CBS Television Distribution (2007-present) |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner(s) | ABC (1953–1973) Independent (1973–1979) Taft Broadcasting/Great American (1979-1988) Spelling Entertainment Group (1988-1999) |
Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was a television program distributor established in July 1953 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed programs from independent producers, rather than producing their own content.
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The company was created in 1953 by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as ABC Films.
In 1971, as a result of the fin-syn rules, the FCC barred the participation of networks in the syndication of their own programs. ABC Films was spun off and renamed Worldvision on March 30, 1973.
Their home video division released numerous Hanna-Barbera titles and Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way instructional video series.[1] They were also responsible for the television distribution of a majority of the Carolco Pictures feature film library (inherited from Orbis Communications, which was a division of Carolco before the studio went bankrupt).
Worldvision has been owned by many companies over the years. The growth of its home video division was primarily under the ownership of Taft Broadcasting, which acquired the company in 1979 (and coincidentally had a good relationship with ABC, as most of Taft's VHF TV stations were affiliated with that network). In 1988, Great American Broadcasting, the successor to Taft, sold much of the Taft Entertainment Company, including Worldvision, to Aaron Spelling Productions and became part of Spelling, Inc. - the rights to most of the Taft Entertainment library were included.
In later years, Aaron Spelling consolidated his companies, and Worldvision as a wholly functioning unit ceased to exist and became folded into Republic Pictures (which Spelling bought in 1994), although Worldvision as a distribution unit continued for many years after until Spelling/Republic merged with Viacom (which also started as a syndication arm of a television network, in this case CBS) in 1999, the same year Viacom announced its acquisition of former parent CBS (completed in 2000). These mergers allowed Viacom to become the second-largest media conglomerate in the world. Viacom later renamed itself to CBS Corporation and spun off its basic cable and motion picture interests into a "new" Viacom (for its impact on the former Worldvision library, see below).
FremantleMedia acquired some of Worldvision's program catalog for certain territories outside the U.S.
Some television shows that were among the hundreds distributed by Worldvision over the years are:
Four Quinn Martin shows were not distributed by Worldvision. The F.B.I. and Banyon are controlled by the Martin Trust and Warner Bros. Television, the latter of which co-produced the first season of The Streets of San Francisco. Also, Twelve O'Clock High is owned by its co-producer, 20th Century Fox Television. And Cannon was co-produced by CBS, and thus distributed by rival syndicator, Viacom Enterprises.
Certain Aaron Spelling shows, such as Charlie's Angels, S.W.A.T., and Starsky & Hutch were distributed by Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television). Some of these programs were previously distributed outside the United States by Metromedia Producers Corporation, with Sony Pictures Television now owning worldwide rights.
Certain Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears shows co-produced by other companies were also not distributed by Worldvision.
Today, ownership of Worldvision's library is in the hands of different companies. The Hanna-Barbera library and most Ruby-Spears material are now owned by Time Warner, and syndicated by Warner Bros. Television Distribution (previously Telepictures). Time Warner had inherited the rights to these libraries after purchasing Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. TBS, in turn, had purchased Hanna-Barbera and most of the Ruby-Spears library in 1991. These libraries were used (along with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and pre-August 1948[2] Warner Bros. animated libraries, as well as the Fleischer/Famous Popeye cartoons, which were also owned by Turner at the time) to launch Cartoon Network (most classic cartoons are now on sister channel Boomerang).
The rights to the Casper (and other Harveytoons) cartoons once distributed by Worldvision are now owned by Classic Media, including TV and DVD distribution. Universal Studios had previously acquired home video rights in the 1990s in preparation for the release of the 1995 Casper feature film.
Distribution rights to The Addams Family have reverted to MGM Television (successor-in-interest to Filmways). The Program Exchange syndicates the series to TV on MGM's behalf, while MGM has licensed DVD distribution of their library to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Coincidentally, Hanna-Barbera has also produced two animated TV series based on The Addams Family, one of which came after H-B was sold to Turner (and was produced in the aftermath of the successful 1991 film), while the other was produced in the early 1970s, and thus was once distributed by Worldvision.
In 1993, Worldvision released to home video Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about a woman's will to battle cancer and have a baby, starring Anne Archer and Sam Neill.
Ownership of the rest of the television library is held by CBS Television Studios (who now owns most ancillary rights to Republic's TV library, while sharing the copyrights with Republic), with the company's syndication arm handling distribution. As of 2009, the theatrical output, which Worldvision had distributed, is now handled for television by Trifecta Entertainment & Media (under license from Paramount Pictures)--this includes Republic's theatrical properties.
Most of the Worldvision library has also been released on DVD via different companies, depending on the content and individual underlying rights. For example:
As for Worldvision itself, it is known to exist only in-name, as a copyright holder for many classic shows the company once distributed, such as One Step Beyond.
The company's logo, as it appeared at the end of the programs it distributed, carried the following disclaimer: "Not affiliated with World Vision International, a religious and charitable organization." This was due to that fact that, in the mid-1970s, the charity sued the syndicator for its use of the "Worldvision" name. They eventually settled, with Worldvision allowed to continue using the name for the syndication company, provided that a disclaimer was included to distance themselves from World Vision International, which has been implemented since 1974.
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