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1 USA Network Timeline

• 1977: Originally organized as the Madison Square Garden Network (not to be confused with the New York CitySkyline, with Statue of Liberty New York, New York" redirects here. For alternate meanings, see New York, New York (disambiguation). New York — officially named City of New York and often called New York City to distinguish it from the state of New York, regional sports network), the channel became one of the first national television channels when it chose to use satelliteA communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications using radio at microwave frequencies. Most communications satellites use geosynchronous orbits or near- geosta delivery as opposed to traditional televisionSee TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. The term has come to refer to all the aspects of television p broadcasting.
• 1980: The channel changed its name to USA Network after the ownership structure was reorganized under a joint operating agreement by the UA-Columbia Cablevision cable system (now known as Cablevision Systems Corporation) and MCA Inc.The Music Corporation of America commonly known as MCA is a United States based corporation in the music business. MCA publishes music, books music acts, and runs a record label. MCA was founded as a music booking agency based in Chicago in 1924 by Jules (currently a part of VivendiVivendi was the name of a French company, which merged in 2000 with Canal+ television networks and the Canadian company Seagram, the owner of Universal Studios film company, to become Vivendi Universal. See this entry for post-merger company details. Universal).
• 1981: Time Inc. (now Time WarnerTime Warner Inc. is the world's largest media company with major Internet, publishing, film, telecommunications and television divisions. The company is headquartered in New York City, New York, United States. History Time Warner was created through the m) and Paramount Pictures Corp. (now a part of ViacomViacom is an international media conglomerate. The companies owned by Viacom touch virtually every major segment of the media industry. Sumner Redstone is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mel Karmazin resigned as President and Chief Oper) took minority ownership stakes in the USA.
• 1987: Ownership consolidates under Paramount and MCA, each with 50 percent ownership.
• 1992: USA launches a sister network, the Sci Fi Channel
• 1994: ViacomViacom is an international media conglomerate. The companies owned by Viacom touch virtually every major segment of the media industry. Sumner Redstone is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mel Karmazin resigned as President and Chief Oper buys Paramount.
• 1995: The Seagram Company buys MCA Inc.
• 1997: Seagram buys out Viacom's interest and gains complete ownership of USA and Sci Fi and sells both channels to Barry Diller's Home Shopping Network, which renames itself USA Networks, Inc.
• 1999: From bankrupt Polygram, USA Buys October Films and Gramercy Pictures, renaming them USA Films , and PolyGram Video, renaming it USA Home Video.
• 2000: USA Networks buys Canada's North American Television, Inc. (a joint partnership between the CBC and Power Corporation), owner of cable TV channels Trio and News World International. (The CBC continued to program NWI)
• 2001: USA Networks sells its non-shopping TV and film assets (including the USA Network, the Sci Fi Channel, the Trio channel, USA Films (which is rechristened as Focus Features) and Studios USA ) to Vivendi Universal. USA and the other channels are folded into Vivendi's Univeral Television Group.
• 2003: General Electric's NBC agrees to buy Universal Television Group as part of an entertainment asset purchase from Vivendi.
• 2004: NBC Universal officially takes over as owner of USA and its sibling cable channels except for News World International, which is bought by an investment group led by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt.