Dick Clark Productions

Dick Clark Productions, Inc.
Private
Industry Television Production
Founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (1957)
Founder Dick Clark
Headquarters Santa Monica, California, USA
Key people
 Allen Shapiro (CEO)
Peter Guber (Chairman)
Michael Mahan (President)
Owner Guggenheim Partners
Mandalay Entertainment
Mosaic Media Investment Partners
Website dickclark.com

Dick Clark Productions, Inc. (stylized as dick clark productions by the company, and often abbreviated dcp) is an entertainment production company founded by entertainer Dick Clark. Since its inception in 1957, the company has produced a number of television shows, television specials, and movies.

Contemporary TV specials produced by dcp include American Music Awards (dcp's first awards show), American Country Countdown Awards, Golden Globes, Hollywood Film Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Miss Universe, Miss USA, NFL Honors and the Streamy Awards. The company previously had a longstanding relationship with the Academy of Country Music Awards; with the company producing the American Country Countdown Awards beginning in 2014,[1] it is unclear if dcp's relationship with the ACM will continue. However, it is confirmed that dcp will be producing the 50th ACM Awards in 2015.[2]

Current TV series produced by dcp include So You Think You Can Dance, Rising Star, Jim Rome on Showtime, Leadoff and Rome.

History

The Dick Clark radio show began syndication in the late 1950s as part of MARS Broadcasting.[3]

Past Dick Clark Productions programming includes American Bandstand, the T.A.M.I. Show, Where the Action Is, The Dick Clark Show, TV Bloopers & Practical Jokes, Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday, The Challengers, Camp Midnite, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, the serialized teen drama American Dreams (which included classic footage from American Bandstand), The Weird Al Show, Shaq Vs., Deadly Sins and Greed.

Dick Clark Productions went public on NASDAQ in 1986.[4] It was taken private in 2002 by an investment group that included Mosaic Media Group and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.[5] Mandalay Entertainment bought CDP's stake in 2004.[6]

On June 19, 2007, Dick Clark Productions was sold to Daniel Snyder, Washington Redskins owner and former chairman of Six Flags, for $175 Million.[7] After founder Dick Clark's death on April 18, 2012,[8] Snyder commented that he was proud when he purchased Dick Clark Productions, adding that Clark was "in every sense of the word, a giant."

Until 2012, Dick Clark Productions was majority owned by Red Zone Capital Management, a Daniel Snyder-controlled private equity firm, with a 40 percent stake held by Six Flags.[9] The week of June 13, 2012, Red Zone confirmed a possible sale of D.C.P., and that investment bank Raine Group had been tapped by D.C.P. to determine possible suitors for the company.[10] Rumored suitors include CORE Media Group, whose 19 Entertainment produces So You Think You Can Dance with D.C.P., and Ryan Seacrest Productions, whose namesake founder worked with and was mentored by Dick Clark.[9][11]

On September 4, 2012, Red Zone Capital Management reached an agreement to sell Dick Clark Productions to a group partnership headed by Guggenheim Partners, Mandalay Entertainment, and Mosaic Media Investment Partners for approximately $350 million.[12] In December 2012, reports by several baseball insiders indicated that the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team (also owned by Guggenheim Partners) were in talks with Dick Clark Productions to potentially form a regional sports network for the team once its contract with Fox Sports West concluded.[13] The Dodgers instead partnered with Time Warner Cable.[14]

The origins of the name and its styling

The name and lower-case stylization of Dick Clark Productions dates back to, at latest, 1964, when Dick Clark's public relations manager, Henry Rogers of Rogers & Cowan, suggested naming his production company after himself, so he can be more visible following American Bandstand's move to Hollywood. Later, Clark rented a building on the Sunset Strip, in an area among visible, legendary clubs and landmarks. As Clark recounted in his 1976 book, Rock, Roll and Remember: "I hung up a very modest sign in lowercase print — dick clark productions — and started producing."[15]

References

  1. ↑ Cumulus, Fox, Dick Clark Productions To Debut ‘American Country Countdown Awards’
  2. ↑ ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC CELEBRATES ACM AWARDS UPCOMING 50th ANNIVERSARY WITH THIS IS COUNTRY: A BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS
  3. ↑ Billboard - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  4. ↑ "Dick Clark Productions Is Going Public : Company Hopes to Raise $14.5 Million With Stock Offering". LA Times. 1986-11-06. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  5. ↑ Meg James (2000-12-12). "Group Completes Purchase of Dick Clark Productions". LA Times. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  6. ↑ "Mandalay Teams With Mosaic to Revamp Dick Clark Unit". LA Times. 2004-08-10. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  7. ↑ Lieberman, David (June 19, 2007). "Dan Snyder buys Dick Clark's TV, music company". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  8. ↑ "Dick Clark, Entertainment Icon Nicknames 'America's Oldest Teenager,' Dies at 82". ABC News. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Six Flags is motivating possible sale of Dick Clark Productions," from Los Angeles Times, 6/15/2012
  10. ↑ "Dick Clark Productions exploring possible sale," from Los Angeles Times, 6/13/2012
  11. ↑ "Seacrest looking at Dick Clark Productions: sources," from Reuters via Yahoo!, 6/15/2012
  12. ↑ Guggenheim Partners-Led Group Reaches Agreement To Buy Dick Clark Prods., Deadline.com, September 4, 2012.
  13. ↑ Ozanian, Mark. "Dodgers Exploring TV Deal With Dick Clark Productions". Forbes. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  14. ↑ Flint, Joe (July 17, 2014). "Standoff over Dodgers games could be defining moment in sports TV". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ↑ Clark, Dick; Robinson, Richard (1976). Rock, Roll and Remember. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. p. 253.

External links