Paramount Media Networks facts for kids
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Formerly
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| Founded | June 25, 1984 |
| Founder | Robert Pittman |
| Headquarters | 1515 Broadway, , |
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Key people
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| Owner | National Amusements (89.6%) |
| Parent | Paramount Global |
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Paramount Media Networks (founded as MTV Networks in 1984 and known under this name until 2011) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of many of its television channels and online brands. Its related international division is Paramount International Networks.
The division's original namesake, MTV, is managed through a subsidiary called MTV Entertainment Group.
Contents
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, to launch QUBE, an interactive cable television network. Seeing the potential in the creation of new cable networks, Warner Cable divested QUBE's biggest brands, Star Channel, Pinwheel and Sight on Sound, into nationwide outlets. Star Channel began by satellite in January 1979 and was renamed 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 Cablevision's Rainbow Media division to launch Bravo, a cable network dedicated to arts and films, on December 1, 1980. 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, MTV debuted.
In 1983, concerned by the strategic and financial failure of its pay-TV venture The Movie Channel (started to reap the benefits 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 Nickelodeon, MTV, and VH-1 (launched in 1985; Warner acquired it from Turner) into a new public corporation called 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, The acquisition was completed on May 20, 1986.
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). MTV Networks was renamed Viacom Media Networks in 2011.
Expansion (2011–2019)
In the fall of 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 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.
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–present)
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 reorganized. MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo were reorganized 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. On May 9, 2023, Paramount announced that it would restructure its U.S. domestic network business.
Channels list
Current channels
| Category | Name | Notes | Launch |
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| MTV Entertainment Group | |||
| MTV Branded Networks | MTV | 1 | August 1, 1981 |
| MTV2 | August 1, 1996 | ||
| MTV Classic | 19 | August 1, 1998 | |
| MTV Live | 20 | January 16, 2006 | |
| MTV Tres | August 1, 1998 | ||
| MTVU | 22 | January 20, 2004 | |
| Entertainment & Youth Group | Comedy Central | 2 | June 1, 1991 |
| Logo TV | 4 | June 30, 2005 | |
| Paramount Network | 3, 5 | March 7, 1983 | |
| Pop | 15 | 1981 | |
| Smithsonian Channel | 13 | September 26, 2007 | |
| TV Land | 14 | April 29, 1996 | |
| Premium Networks Group (Showtime Networks) | |||
| Showtime Networks | Showtime
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12 | May 9, 1976 (Showtime) October 1, 1991 (Showtime 2) September 1999 (SHO×BET) 1996 (Showcase) March 10, 1998 (Showtime Extreme) March 2001 (Showtime Family Zone, Next and Women) |
The Movie Channel
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18 | December 1, 1979 October 1, 1997 |
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| Flix | 16 | August 1, 1992 | |
| Kids & Family Entertainment (Nickelodeon Group) | |||
| Nickelodeon Networks | Nickelodeon | 7 | April 1, 1979 |
| Nick Jr. | 8 | September 28, 2009 | |
| Nick at Nite | July 1, 1985 | ||
| NickMusic | 9 | May 1, 2002 | |
| Nicktoons | 10 | ||
| TeenNick | 11 | September 28, 2009 | |
Former channels and blocks
- BET Networks (moved under CBS Entertainment Group)
- Bravo (sold to Rainbow Media in 1984; later purchased by General Electric's NBC Entertainment division in 2003, and NBCUniversal a year after)
- C-3 (officially launched as Nickelodeon, in 1988, the "Pinwheel" block replaced with the "Nick Jr." block)
- Sight on Sound (officially launched as MTV in 1981)
- Nick GAS ((1999–2007), 2009 (on Dish Network)); replaced by the 24-hour The N on cable, DirecTV and more with Turner's Cartoon Network (West feed) on Dish Network)
- VH1 Uno (2000–2008); became MTVU, focusing on music videos aimed at college-aged students.
- NickMom (2012–2016), late-night block, focusing on mothers.
- Noggin (TV Channel) (1999–2009); replaced by the Nick Jr. Channel in 2009, but relaunched with the "Noggin" streaming app in March 2015
- TEENick (Nickelodeon block) (2001–2009)); merged brand with "The N" to form TeenNick
- The N (Noggin block) (2002–2007), channel (2007-2009); merged brand with "TEENick" to form TeenNick
- NickRewind (2011–2022), classic-oriented, late-night block on TeenNick
- SNICK (1992–2005)
- Nick on CBS/Nick Jr. on CBS (2000–2006)
- Showtime Beyond (1999–2020), became SHO×BET focusing on African-American actors in film.
- MTVX, became MTV Jams in 2002, focusing on hip-hop music, rebranding under the BET banner in October 2015.
- VH121 (moved under BET Networks)
- VH1 MegaHits, became Logo TV in 2005, focusing on cultural gay themes.
Other properties
Internet
Through its Networks division, Paramount also owns internet properties, such as MTV News and AwesomenessTV. The company ran a virtual world system, Virtual MTV, in the late 2000s.
The company has owned various 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.
Gaming
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.
Units
Paramount International Networks
Paramount International Networks is the sibling division of Paramount Media Networks. Its headquarters are in New York, London, Warsaw, and Buenos Aires, and manages the following brands: MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, Channel 5, Network 10, Telefe, Chilevisión, TIS Productions and Colors.
The division is split into three regional units:
- Paramount Networks UK & Australia
- Ten Network Holdings
- Paramount Networks EMEAA
- Paramount Networks Northern Europe
- Paramount Networks Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa
- Viacom 18 (49%)
- Paramount Networks Americas
Former brands include TMF and VIVA which, along with digital properties Nitrome Limited, Shockwave, Addicting Games, Atom Films and Xfire, have either since merged with other networks, were shut down, or were sold off.
MTV Entertainment Group
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| Subsidiary | |
| Founded | August 1, 1996 |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Key people
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Chris McCarthy (president and CEO) |
| Brands |
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| Owner | Paramount Global |
| Parent | Paramount Media Networks |
| Subsidiaries |
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MTV Entertainment Group is a subsidiary of Paramount Media Networks and serves as the holdings company for MTV, Pop TV, CMT, Spike, Paramount Network, Comedy Central, TV Land, Logo TV, Smithsonian Channel, and its Studios.
- MTV Entertainment Studios
- Comedy Partners
- MTV Animation
- MTV Documentary Films
- Smithsonian Networks Inc.
- Spike Cable Networks, Inc.
- Pop Media Group, LLC
- MTV
- MTV2
- MTV Classic
- MTV Live
- MTVU
- Tr3s
- Comedy Central
- CMT
- CMT Canada (10%)
- CMT Music
- Logo
- SnowGlobe Music Festival
- Paramount Network
- Pop TV
- Smithsonian Channel
- United Kingdom
- Canada (6.67% minority stake; joint venture with Blue Ant Media)
- TV Land
In 2022, MTV Entertainment Group partnered up with Second Chance Studios to launch Media careers.
Showtime Networks, Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. is a subsidiary of Paramount Media Networks that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime.
Nickelodeon Group
Nickelodeon Group (also known as Nickelodeon Networks Inc. and as its family distribution name called Paramount Kids and Family Group) is an American entertainment company that oversees Paramount's kids' cable television channels, including its flagship service Nickelodeon.
See also
In Spanish: Paramount Media Networks para niños
