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Viacom began life as the television syndication division of CBS, CBS Films. In 1971, the division was renamed Viacom International, and in 1973 it was spun off, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies.
Viacom made large amounts of money during the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends and 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends distributing old CBS classics to syndication, including such landmark shows as I Love LucyI Love Lucy is a classic American sitcom from the 1950s, starring the famous comedienne Lucille Ball, her husband Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series ran from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957 (180 episodes, including the "lost" Christm, The Andy Griffith ShowGriffith as Andy Taylor and Howard as Opie Knotts as Barney Fife and Griffith as Andy Taylor The Andy Griffith Show was an American television series that aired from 1960 to 1968. The series was an immediate hit with its audience, and still enjoys success and All in the FamilyAll In The Family was a popular and acclaimed American situation comedy which ran on the CBS network from January 12, 1971 until 1979. In the fall of 1979, the show was retooled and given a new name, Archie Bunker's Place''. It would run another four year. They also syndicated shows for others, the biggest examples being The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show was an American Situation comedy which first aired in 1984 starring Bill Cosby. The show ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network. The show was centered around the Huxtable family, an upper-middle-class family living in Brooklyn, and RoseanneRoseanne was an American sitcom in the late 1980s and 1990s starring Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert among others. The show portrayed a lower middle-class family living in fictional Lanford, Illinois and struggling to get by o.
In 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor, Viacom bought Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment , which owned MTV and Nickelodeon, renaming the company MTV Networks. In 1986, Viacom was bought by movie theater owner National Amusements, which brought Sumner Redstone to the company. Redstone made a string of large acquisitions in the early 1990s, announcing plans to buy Paramount Pictures in 1993, and buying the Blockbuster Video chain in 1994.
The Blockbuster acquisition gave Viacom access to large television holdings controlled by Aaron Spelling's company, Spelling Entertainment; along with his own productions (such as The Love Boat and Beverly Hills 90210), Spelling controlled the pre-1973 ABC and NBC back catalogs by way of Worldvision Enterprises and Republic Pictures. After these acquisitions, Viacom owned many movie and television production and syndication units, which were slowly integrated into Paramount; many TV shows previously distributed by Viacom, Republic or Worldvision have since gained Paramount closing logos.
In 1999, Viacom made what has been its biggest acquisition so far, by announcing plans to buy its former parent CBS. The merger was approved in 2000, bringing cable channels TNN (now Spike TV) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's wing, as well as CBS's production units and TV syndicators Eyemark (formerly Group W) and King World. As of this writing, CBS's production unit and King World (which has since absorbed Eyemark) are operating under their own names, as parts of CBS, and no attempt has been made thus far to move them around in Viacom's corporate structure; however, TNN and CMT were merged into MTV Networks almost immediately.
In 2001, Viacom completed its purchase of Black Entertainment Television (BET). As with TNN and CMT, it was immediately integrated into MTV Networks, causing some outcry among BET workers in the Washington, DC area (where BET was based before the merger). As a result, BET was de-integrated from MTV Networks.
Although a majority economic interest in Viacom is held by independent shareholders, the Redstone family maintains 71% voting control of the company through National Amusements' holdings of Viacom's class A stock.
In June 2004, Viacom bought the German VIVA Media AG , the German equivalent to MTV. Therefore, Viacom is now the only music television distributor in Germany. The same month, plans were announced to dispose of Viacom's interest in Blockbuster later that year by means of an exchange offer with exact terms to be announced.