Paramount Media Networks

History

Pre-launch: Warner Communications joint venture (1977–1984)

Warner Cable Communications was founded on December 1, 1977, by Warner Cable, itself a division of Warner Communications (predecessor to Warner Bros. Discovery (which was at the time WarnerMedia, Time Warner, and AOL Time Warner)), to launch QUBE, an interactive cable television system that mainly served in the Midwest state. Seeing the potential in the creation of new cable networks, Warner Cable divested QUBE's biggest brands: Star Channel (film), Pinwheel (youths) and Sight on Sound (music), into nationwide outlets. Star Channel began by satellite in January 1979 and was renamed as The Movie Channel by the end of the year. The original channel "C-3", by then known as Pinwheel, became Nickelodeon in April 1979. As a result of these actions, Warner Cable Communications would then be rebranded as Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, becoming a joint venture between Warner Cable and American Express.

In 1980, Warner-Amex formed a joint venture with the now-defunct Cablevision's Rainbow Media (now as AMC Networks) division to launch Bravo, a cable network dedicated to arts and films, on December 1, 1980. Because of the full control of the channel, however, was sold to Rainbow Media in 1984; NBC would acquire Bravo in 2003, and the channel is now currently owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal.

On August 1, 1981, all-video channel MTV first introduced. In 1983, concerned by the strategic and financial failure of its pay-TV venture The Movie Channel (began to reap the benefits when Time Inc. was having with HBO and Cinemax), WASEC established a joint venture with Viacom, merging TMC with their premium movie network Showtime to form Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc.; WASEC, however, had no operational involvement in the joint venture.

Launch as MTV Networks, Viacom gets full ownership (1984–2011)

On June 25, 1984, Warner Communications made the decision to divest its assets to Warner-Amex Cable Entertainment and rebrand it as "MTV Networks". A year later, Warner would acquire the 50% stake from American Express.

On August 27, 1985, Warner sold 31% of MTV Networks to Viacom, with Warner also selling 19% of its Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. joint to Viacom as well.

In November 1985, Viacom announced that it had plans to buy the remaining 69% of MTV Networks from Warner for $326 million, and the acquisition was completed on May 20, 1986.

In 1988, the company partnered with fellow Viacom subsidiary Viacom Enterprises to handle advertising sales of Superboy, a syndicated television series. The division was later evolved into One World Entertainment in the early 1990s, who partnered to launch a VH1-syndicated series. In 2003, MTV Networks assumed full ownership of Comedy Central from AOL Time Warner.

On December 31, 2005, the remnants of MTV Networks and Showtime Networks were separated following Viacom's split into two entities: CBS Corporation, which retained CBS, UPN, Simon & Schuster and Showtime Networks (Showtime, The Movie Channel, and Flix), and a spun-off company under the Viacom name, which took ownership of Paramount Pictures, BET Networks and MTV Networks (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and VH1).

Expansion (2011–2019)

MTV Networks was renamed Viacom Media Networks in 2011. In Fall 2012, media analysts began to report that ratings among some of Viacom's leading brands in the U.S. were experiencing declines in viewership. MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon were of most concern to investors as the three account for roughly 50% of Viacom's operating profit, estimated David Bank of RBC Capital Markets.

In 2017, Viacom announced a five-point restructuring plan, in which the company would pour most of its resources behind six "flagship brands". These were MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. Channel, BET, and film studio Paramount Pictures. In February 2017, cable channels CMT and TV Land were moved from the Kids and Family Group to the Global Entertainment Group under Kevin Kay, joining up with Spike TV. During the same month, it was announced that Spike would be relaunched as Paramount Network in 2018, aligning with the namesake film studio and being positioned as Viacom's main general entertainment outlet. BET Networks launched BET+ in September 2017.

In October 2018, Kevin Kay was announced to be leaving his position as head of the Entertainment Group. CMT was transferred from the Entertainment Group to the Music Group under president Chris McCarthy, with his exit. Executive Kent Alterman would take charge of Paramount Network and TV Land to go with his current leadership of Comedy Central and Bellator MMA.

In 2019, after acquiring the free streaming service Pluto TV, Viacom would launch several channels on the service branded after its Media Networks and company–owned IP.

Reintroduction and re-merger with CBS (2019–2024)

In August 2019, Viacom announced that it would merge with CBS Corporation, reuniting the two entities under the ViacomCBS name. The merger closed on December 4, 2019. Announced on November 11, 2019, as part of the re–merger, the Media Networks division was renamed ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, and re-organized.

MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo were re-organized into the "Entertainment & Youth Group", with the addition of Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, and TV Land. BET Networks was merged with Showtime Networks under CEO David Nevins, who also temporarily gained oversight of Pop TV (formerly co-owned with Lionsgate); Pop TV was transferred to the Entertainment & Youth Group on January 15, 2020.

On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS was renamed as Paramount Global, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks was renamed Paramount Media Networks. In 2022, MTV Entertainment Group partnered with Second Chance Studios to help formerly incarcerated individuals launch media careers. On May 9, 2023, Paramount restructured its U.S. domestic network business.

Near the end of 2023, Paramount announced that the mobile apps for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, and Showtime would cease operations at on January 31, 2024. The reason was to encourage users to sign up for Paramount+. The Nickelodeon Group shut down Noggin on July 2 of that same year for the same reason.

Paramount/Skydance merger (2024–present)

Main article: Merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global

On April 29, 2024, President and CEO Bob Bakish was replaced by Brian Robbins, George Cheeks, and Chris McCarthy. This action was the result of Bakish's reported opposition of the Skydance deal. McCarthy was legally designated the company's "interim principal executive officer" in order to comply with SEC regulations stipulating that one person must conduct "the normal course of business".

By July 2, 2024, Skydance renegotiated the deal and reached a preliminary agreement to acquire National Amusements and merge with Paramount. The deal was referred by National Amusements to Paramount's special committee. Also, Paramount reportedly entered talks for a sale of the BET Media Group to buyers led by BET CEO Scott Mills for $1.6-$1.7 billion.

On August 13, 2025, it was confirmed that BET Media Group is no longer up for sale and it was transferred from CBS Entertainment Group back to Paramount Media Networks.

Channels list

Current channels

Former channels

• Bravo; sold to Rainbow Media in 1984.
• Nick GAS (1999–2007/09 on Dish because of problematic unknown factors)
• VH1 Uno (2000–08); became MTVU, focusing on music videos aimed at college-aged students.
• Noggin (1999–2009); rebranded as Nick Jr. Channel in 2009.
• TEENick (Nickelodeon block, 2001–09) and The N (Noggin block, 2002–07/09 on Dish); merged to form 24/7 TeenNick.
• Showtime Beyond (1999–2020), became SHO×BET in 2020.
• MTVX; became MTV Jams in 2002, focusing on hip-hop music, and rebranded as BET Jams in October 2015.
• VH1 MegaHits; now as Logo TV, but aimed at LGBTQ+ audiences.
• AwesomenessTV; folded into Paramount Television Studios

Units

MTV Entertainment Group

• MTV
• CMT
• Comedy Central
• Logo TV
• Paramount Network
• Pop
• Smithsonian Channel
• TV Land
• VH1

MTV Entertainment Group serves as the holdings company for Paramount's mature-oriented, general entertainment brands; such as its namesake flagship MTV, Comedy Central, and Paramount Network. It operates two divisions: MTV Branded Television (MTV-related channels) & General Entertainment Content (non-MTV-related channels).

MTV Branded Television

• MTV
  • MTV2
  • MTV Classic
  • MTV Tres
  • MTVU
  • MTV Live

General Entertainment Content

• Comedy Central
  • South Park Digital Studios (joint venture with Trey Parker & Matt Stone's Park County)
• CMT
  • CMT Canada (10% with Corus Entertainment)
  • CMT Music
• Logo TV
• Paramount Network
• Pop
• TV Land
• VH1
• Smithsonian Channel
  • Canada (6.67% minority stake; joint venture with Blue Ant Media)

Showtime Networks

Showtime Networks oversees the company's premium networks, which include its flagship service, The Movie Channel, and Flix.

• Showtime
  • Showtime 2
  • Showtime Showcase
  • SHO×BET
  • Showtime Extreme
  • Showtime Family Zone
  • Showtime Next
  • Showtime Women
• The Movie Channel
  • The Movie Channel Xtra
• Flix

Nickelodeon Group

The Nickelodeon Group (also known as "Nickelodeon Networks Inc."; and as its family distribution name "Paramount Kids and Family Group") is an American entertainment company that oversees Paramount's children's entertainment assets, including its namesake cable network and Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

• Nickelodeon
  • Nick at Nite
  • Nick Jr.
• Nick Jr. Channel
• Nicktoons
• TeenNick
• NickMusic

BET Media Group

BET Media Group owns networks aimed at African Americans, including BET and their related sister channels.

• BET
• BET Her
• BET Gospel
• BET Jams
• BET Soul

Former assets

The company has owned many other internet properties including virtual pets website Neopets; Flash game websites AddictingGames.com and Shockwave.com; online content production company Atom Entertainment; along with RateMyProfessors.com, GameTrailers, and iFilm, all of which have been shut down or sold off during 2000s and 2010s.

During the first quarter of 2008, iFilm was merged into Spike with its website re–branded and re–purposed as Spike.com.

In 2014, Viacom purchased a stake in multi-channel network Defy Media, while offloading GameTrailers, Addicting Games, and Shockwave to Defy.

Harmonix and gaming

Main article: Harmonix

In 2006, Viacom acquired Harmonix, a video game studio oriented towards music video games and the original developer of the Guitar Hero franchise, for $175 million. The two subsequently collaborated on the creation of Rock Band. That year, Viacom also acquired the gaming–oriented communications platform Xfire.

In 2010, Harmonix was divested to an investment firm to become an independent studio, and Xfire was sold.

In 2011, Viacom established a short–lived, in–house development studio known as 345 Games, which was dedicated primarily to developing games based on Comedy Central, MTV and Spike properties.

Viacom International

Viacom International Inc. was established in 1971, just a year after Viacom spun out from the CBS TV network and became Viacom's parent company. The company is responsible for copyrights and trademarks associated with Paramount Media Networks. The division also licenses the product rights for their various properties and the dissemination of visual and textual television programs on a subscription/fee basis. The company jointly owns Comedy Partners with Viacom Hearty Ha! Ha! LLC, who owned the Ha! network as well as a stake in Comedy Central prior to HBO's departure.

Viacom International also served as the licensee name and division for its group of television stations for FCC purposes before the 1995 Westinghouse/CBS merger. Former Viacom station WVIT in New Britain, Connecticut (serving Hartford and New Haven), which it owned from 1978 until 1997, took its call letters from the initials of Viacom International, and retains them to the present day under NBC ownership.

In 2006, Viacom International was renamed to CBS Operations, Inc. by CBS Corporation, and its copyrights related to Viacom's cable networks were transferred to a subsidiary of the new Viacom also named Viacom International Inc. The new subsidiary remains in name-only unit active after the Paramount Skydance merger. Viacom International, Inc. folded into Viacom Media Networks in 2019. ViacomCBS International Inc. was used as an alternate trade name for the company during the 2020–21 television season, when the company was under ViacomCBS.

References

category:Broadcasting companies of the United States

References

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