So there were a coupla other big names involved with Viacom-besides sumner Redstone (is this a real name?)- this is tongue planted firmly in cheek..for the easily riled! Tisch, Paley, Zukor, Simon, Schuster- a rich history of many BIG men..

Date:   12/26/2005 10:30:50 AM ( 19 y ago)

WHO OWNS WHAT
Viacom Corporate Timeline
1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000-present

1910s
1912 - Adolph Zukor founds the Famous Players Film Corp

1916 - Famous Players becomes Paramount Pictures becomes Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1916 - Westinghouse engineer Dr. Frank Conrad begins experimental radio broadcasts from his home in Pittsburgh

1920s
1920 (November 2) - Westinghouse's KDKA in Pittsburgh begins scheduled radio programming with the Harding-Cox Presidential election returns

1924 - Richard L. (Dick) Simon and M. Lincoln (Max) Schuster form Simon & Schuster. First publication is a cross word puzzle book.

1928- William S. Paley purchases the Columbia Broadcasting System for $400,000. Paley first became interested in the radio business after purchasing advertising time for his La Palina Cigar company.

1930s
1935 - Famous Players-Lasky Corp. becomes Paramount Pictures after bankruptcy and reorganization.

1937 - Edward R. Murrow and William L. Shirer do a radio news program which eventually becomes The CBS World News Roundup

1938 - CBS buys American Record Company, owner of the Columbia Phonograph label. CBS renames the division Columbia Record Corp.

1940s
1941 - CBS launches the first commercial black & white television broadcast

1949 - Department of Justice announces the Paramount decree which forces the film studios to sell off their movie theaters

1950s
1954 - Sumner Redstone takes control of National Amusements Inc. (NAI), a chain of movie theaters

1960s
1961 - Murrow resigns from CBS

1964 - CBS purchases the New York Yankees

1966 - Diversified conglomerate, Gulf + Western, buys Paramount Pictures. Gulf + Western is owned by Charles Bluhdorn

1968 - CBS teams up with a Japanese company to form CBS-Sony Records

1970s
1970 - FCC's Fin-Syn ruling limits the financial interest television networks can have in syndicated programming. As a result, Viacom is formed after CBS spins off its television programming arm

1973 - CBS sells Yankees to George Steinbrenner

1980s
1981 - Dan Rather replaces Walter Cronkite as anchor on the CBS Evening News

1981 (August 1) - MTV is launched

1985 - Ted Turner makes a takeover attempt on CBS. Loew's president, Laurence Tisch, buys a 25% share in CBS to block Turner's takeover. Loews is a multi-national conglomerate with interests ranging from tobacco to insurance. Jesse Helms and Ivan Boesky also make unsuccessful bids for CBS.

1985 - First Blockbuster Video store opens in Dallas

1986 - Tisch becomes CEO of CBS

1987 - Redstone becomes Chairman of the Board of Viacom after NAI buys a majority interest in it

1987 - CBS sells its entire book publishing division for $500 million

1987 - Wayne Huizenga, who made his money in the waste business, buys Blockbuster

1989 - Gulf + Western changes its name to Paramount Communications

1990s
1990 - Paley dies of a heart attack at age 89

1994 - Viacom acquires Paramount Communications for $10 billion. Viacom was in a bidding war for Paramount with USA Networks.

1994 - Viacom acquires Blockbuster Video from Huizenga for $8.4 billion

1995 - Viacom sells Madison Square Garden and its related properties to Cablevision, and ITT for $1 billion

1995 - Viacom sells its cable systems to John Malone's TCI

1995 - (November) - CBS is sold to the Westinghouse Corporation for $5.4 billion

1995 (January 16) - UPN network hits the television airwaves

1996 - Redstone becomes Viacom's CEO

1996 - Westinghouse/CBS buys Infinity radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising group for $4.7 billion. This deal is mainly a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which heavily deregulated the media industry and allowed a company to significantly increase the amount of radio stations it could own.

1997 - CBS buys American Radio Systems chain

1997 - Viacom deals its educational, professional and reference publishing businesses to Pearson for 4.6 billion. Viacom retains Simon & Schuster.

1997 - Westinghouse changes name to CBS and sells its hardware and manufacturing operations

1999 - CBS buys King World Productions, leading television program syndicator, for $2.5 billion

1999 - Infinity buys Outdoor Systems billboard group for $8.3 billion.

1999 (September, 7) - Viacom and CBS announce merger. The $50 billion deal, the largest media merger of the time, comes one month after the FCC gives approval to duopolies. The new Viacom has 33 television stations which eclipse the FCC's 35 % ownership cap. The cap is based on the amount of stations one company owns that reach 35% or more of the nation's television households.

2000 - Present
2001 - United States Court of Appeals, DC Circuit gives Viacom temporary approval to exceed the 35% ownership cap

2001 - Viacom completes $3 billion deal for BET Inc.

2002 - Viacom completes acquisition of KCAL-TV (Los Angeles) from Young Broadcasting Inc. for $650 million. The deal forms a Viacom duopoly in Los Angeles raising the number of markets where it owns two broadcast stations to eight.

2003 - Infinity Broadcasting owns and operates 185 radio stations, second in size to only Clear Channel Communications. Viacom Outdoor is the largest outdoor advertising entity in North America. Viacom Television Stations Group owns and operates 39 TV stations.


2004 - After years of internal battles with Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, Mel Karmazin, resigns as the company's chief operating officer. Karmazin was formely the president and CEO of CBS




 

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