 Final logo, used from 1992 to 2001 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production Television syndication |
| Predecessors | Screen Gems |
| Founded | May 6, 1974; 51 years ago (1974-05-06)Burbank, California, United States |
| Defunct | January 1, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-01-01) |
| Fate | Folded intoColumbia TriStar Television |
| Successors | Columbia TriStar Television |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Parent | Columbia Pictures (1974–1982) The Coca-Cola Company (1982–1987) Sony Pictures Entertainment (1987–2001) |
Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated asCPT) was launched on May 6, 1974 byColumbia Pictures as an Americantelevision production anddistribution company. It is the second name of Columbia Pictures's television divisionScreen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. The company was active untilNew Year's Day 2001, when it was folded intoColumbia TriStar Television (which is currently known asSony Pictures Television), a merger between Columbia Pictures Television andTriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist in-name as "CPT Holdings" (the initials obviously standing for Columbia Pictures Television) to hold the copyright for the television seriesThe Young and the Restless, as well as older properties from the company's library such asWhat's Happening!!.
Screen Gems was a television production company that was owned byColumbia Pictures from November 1948 to May 6, 1974, best known for shows likeBewitched,The Flying Nun,The Partridge Family,I Dream of Jeannie andThe Monkees It was one of the largest television producers in history, and it was around that time, one of the few television subsidiaries of a major movie studio that didn't carry the film studio's name. It was highly profitable until 1974, when its name was changed to Columbia Pictures Television.[1]
The studio changed its name fromScreen Gems to Columbia Pictures Television on May 6, 1974. This reincorporation was suggested byDavid Gerber, who was executive vice president of the studio, displacing Art Frankel when he was at Screen Gems. He announced plans to launch a separate unit to concentrate on movie-of-the-week titles. John H. Mitchell, who had been president of the studio since 1958 when the studio was Screen Gems, said that they would take the division more closely to the parent company and to help achieve an interrelationship among all of its divisions.[1]
As the successor in interest to Screen Gems, it assumed productions of the daytime soap operasDays of Our Lives andThe Young and the Restless, as well as the NBC police showPolice Story. The first series produced under the CPT name was the sitcomThat's My Mama, which was slated to be a Screen Gems production.[1] Other new series that were slated to be Screen Gems productions wereNakia,Born Free andPolice Woman.[2]
On May 27, 1974, Columbia Pictures Television planned to syndicate ten one-hour musical specials that were set to be taped in Las Vegas nightclubs, and the programs were simulcasted on FM Radio to be set up by Yuri Zabran to premiere as early as 1975.[3] In September 1974, Columbia had signedAbby Mann to develop long-form television projects, and the first project to came out of the deal wasMedical Story.[4]
In 1975,Carl Reiner joined Columbia Pictures Television to serve as executive producer and host of the showGood Heavens, which was for the ABC television network.[5] Also, on July 1, 1975, formerNBC vice president Larry White had set up his own production company Larry White Productions with a deal at Columbia Pictures Television.[6] On May 10, 1976, White then joined the studio to displace Gerber as his program chief, who subsequently restarted plans to launch its own CPT-based production company.[7]
In early June 1977, CPT acquired worldwide distribution rights toBarney Miller andFish fromDanny Arnold,Barnaby Jones fromQuinn Martin, andSoap fromWitt/Thomas Productions.[8] In mid-June, CPT acquired domestic distribution rights to four series fromSpelling-Goldberg Productions such asS.W.A.T.,Starsky & Hutch,Charlie's Angels, andFamily.[9] Later on in 1977, formerMGM Television president Harris Katleman andUniversal Television producerHarve Bennett joined forces to form Bennett/Katleman Productions with a deal at the studio.[10] Also in 1978, Larry White was promoted to president of the studio.[11]
From 1978 to 1986, CPT co-produced series with Spelling-Goldberg includingFantasy Island,Hart to Hart, andT. J. Hooker. In mid-February 1979, CPT acquired TOY Productions, whose output includedWhat's Happening!! andCarter Country.[12] In 1981, Richard Dawson has signed a joint development contract with Rastar Television and Columbia Pictures Television to produce television shows.[13] On August 13, 1981, CPT acquired the television assets ofTime Life.[14] A year later, Columbia partnered withHBO andCBS to formTriStar Pictures.
On May 7, 1982, Columbia Pictures acquiredSpelling-Goldberg Productions for more than $40 million.[15][16] Around the same year, former ABC executiveBarbara Corday started a new Columbia-affiliated production company, Can't Sing Can't Dance Productions.[17]
The 1980s brought significant changes to CPT. In mid-June 1982, beverage companyThe Coca-Cola Company boughtColumbia Pictures for $750 million.[18] By mid-November 1982, CPT agreed to license domestic distribution rights to Spelling-Goldberg'sFamily toLexington Broadcast Services Company.[19][20]
In 1983, Coca-Cola formed CPT Holdings. By 1984, the company demerged CPT from Columbia Pictures Industries, shifting it to CPT Holdings. In mid-February 1983, producerRoy Huggins signed a deal with the studio.[21] In mid-May, Columbia Pictures Television entered into an agreement with producer Centerpoint to co-produce miniseries such asSadat andThe Last Days of Pompeii.[22] By early September, actress Suzanne Somers (via Hamel/Somers Productions) signed a deal with the studio.[23]
By late January 1984, CPT and LBS formed a joint venture for barter syndication, calledColex Enterprises, which would distribute several properties from CPT's library such asFather Knows Best andThe Monkees,[24] while throughout the 1980s and 1990s, other shows such asBewitched,I Dream of Jeannie, andThe Partridge Family were licensed toThe Program Exchange. The same year, CPT acquired distribution rights toBenson. In late 1984,Barbara Corday took over as president of the studio.[25] Another high-profile deal at CPT arrived in August 1984 when two of the high-profile independent producers North Ave. Productions (backed by Michael S. Baser andKim Weiskopf) signed with CPT after leaving 20th Century Fox Television (now20th Television),[26] whileGeorge Schenck and Frank Cardea (via Schenck/Cardea Productions) reupped their contract with CPT.[27]
By mid-June 1985,Norman Lear andJerry Perenchio sold their company, Embassy Communications, Inc. (whose divisions consisted ofEmbassy Pictures,Embassy Television,Tandem Productions, and Embassy Home Entertainment) to Coca-Cola, resulting in Coca-Cola gaining the rights to such shows asAll in the Family,Sanford and Son,The Jeffersons,Good Times,Maude,Diff'rent Strokes,Archie Bunker's Place,The Facts of Life,One Day at a Time,Who's the Boss?, andSilver Spoons, among others.AITF, however, was still distributed byViacom Enterprises at the time. Coke also made plans to spin off Embassy Pictures and Embassy Home Entertainment.[28] Under Coca-Cola's ownership, Embassy saw success with227 andMarried... with Children. The same year, CPT and LBS launchedWhat's Happening Now!! infirst-run syndication. The show was a sequel to the 1970sABC sitcomWhat's Happening!!. Also that year,Barney Rosenzweig (via The Rosenzweig Company) had signed a three-year distribution deal with the studio to distribute their own projects.[29] During that year, CPT revived the previous Screen Gems brand name to market classic television shows for syndication.[30]
By mid-September 1985, CPT acquired domestic distribution rights to three series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, such asHardcastle and McCormick,Riptide andThe Rousters. At the time the acquisition was announced, the latter of the three series was cancelled but no plans were made yet to put it in syndication, hence it not being mentioned. The former was subsequently put in syndication by the above mentioned Colex Enterprises.[31]
Major changes took place in 1986. By early May, Coke acquiredMerv Griffin Enterprises, producer of the popular series,Dance Fever,The Merv Griffin Show, and the two game shows,Jeopardy! andWheel of Fortune; (the nighttime versions were distributed byKing World and later,CBS Media Ventures).[32] However,Sony Pictures Television holds off-net syndication rights to these shows, mainly broadcasting them onGame Show Network, while sister companySony Pictures Home Entertainment holds home video rights. By mid-May 1986, Joe Indelli, president of Columbia Pictures Television Distribution, resigned in order to launch a new company that was owned byMTM Enterprises to syndicate its own programs and Robert King, who was partner of The Television Program Source, would replace him.[33]
Also in 1986, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Tandem Productions were all merged into Embassy Communications; the Tandem unit ceased production to be used after the cancellation ofDiff'rent Strokes but remained in-name-only, while the Columbia and Embassy units continued to exist separately. Also on the same year on August 28, CPT acquired Danny Arnold's Four D Productions, Inc. for $50 million.[34][35][36] On November 4, 1986, Coca-Cola regrouped CPT, Embassy Communications, and Merv Griffin Enterprises, forming a new subsidiary, Coca-Cola Television[37] and a first-run syndication unit,Coca-Cola Telecommunications, from a merger between two units of CPT: its first-run syndication branch and The Television Program Source (a joint venture with Alan Bennett and former King World president Robert King that was created on October 15, 1984, which Coca-Cola had a small investment in originally, and notably distributed the 1985–1986 nighttime syndicated version ofThe Price Is Right and was slated to distribute a new version ofMatch Game for syndication beginning in 1987).[38] It was headed by Gary Rosenthal, who was leading Embassy Telecommunications, and also inserted was a new subsidiary Coca-Cola Television Operations.[39] On September 9, 1986, Columbia Pictures Television's European division expanded its branch, producing programming for ITV franchisee holders, such asHTV, and added new co-productions from other ITV franchisees such asAnglia Television andYorkshire Television.[40]
Distribution of some programs, such asWhat's Happening Now!!,The Real Ghostbusters,Punky Brewster andDinosaucers, was also shifted to Coca-Cola Telecommunications. The former two were previously distributed by CPT, while the latter two were slated to be distributed by CPT. CPT acquired the rights toPunky, a formerNBC in-house production, becauseFinancial Interest and Syndication Rules prevented the network from producing more episodes for syndication after they cancelled it. During the fall of 1986, the sitcomDesigning Women began a successful seven-year run on CBS. The same year,Tri-Star Pictures formedTri-Star Television, which produced the short-lived seriesDowntown. More series from Tri-Star Television debuted in 1987, such asTake Five,Nothing in Common,My Two Dads,Werewolf, andBuck James. Also that same year,Clyde Phillips joined the studio as an independent television producer.[41]
In 1987, a major reorganization shook up at Columbia/Embassy Television, whereas Embassy employee Glenn Patrick resigned to start his own film and television production company, andBarbara Corday was appointed as president at the studio. The Columbia name would now be used for dramatic shows, while the Embassy name would be used for comedic output.[42] Owing to the association withCastle Rock Entertainment, CPT signed on to handle international distribution and off-net syndication of Castle Rock's properties, because Columbia had a 40% interest in the studio.[43]
On December 18, 1987, Coca-Cola spun off its entertainment holdings, selling them to Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. (which it partially owned) for $3.1 billion.[44] The merger resulted in the formation of Columbia Pictures Entertainment[45] after the filmIshtar turned out to be a notorious failure both critically and financially. As a result, Columbia/Embassy Television and Tri-Star Television were merged to become a new Columbia Pictures Television, CPT Holdings became a standalone division from CPT, and Embassy Communications was reduced as an in-name-only unit, renamed to ELP Communications as the copyright holder for shows produced by Embassy. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Telecommunications and the remaining distribution arms of Columbia/Embassy Television were merged to become a new Columbia Pictures Television Distribution.
Many of the staff, includingBarbara Corday, who had been as president of the studio since 1984, as well as former presidents Herman Rush and Peter Seale, were laid off and replaced mostly by Tri-Star alumnus, such asScott Siegler, who was president of the studio, and former Columbia/Embassy Television executives were assigned to the new unit, namely Gary Lieberthal and Barry Thurston.[46][47] Other executives retained by CPE included Arnold Mesnser, who was previously president of Tri-Star Telecommunications, took over the responsibilities of Rush and Seale and still had an unspecified corporate operation at CPE's headquarters for the New York area. Herman Rush and Peter Seale had plans to set up a new syndication company to handle the former CCT product.[48] On February 2, 1988, Barry Thurston, vice-president of Columbia/Embassy Television, became president of Columbia Pictures Television Distribution.[49] On December 26, 1988, writerPamela Pettler signed a deal with the studio.[50]
On February 2, 1989, Columbia Pictures Television formed a joint venture with Norman Lear'sAct III Communications, called Act III Television to produce television series and not manage.[51][52]
On November 8, 1989,Sony bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion, and the next day, Sony acquired The Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (formerly game show production companyBarris Industries with the library of game shows includingThe Newlywed Game,The Dating Game, andThe Gong Show) for $200 million after hiring film producersPeter Guber andJon Peters to run the company. On November 5, 1990, CPE folded its first-run syndication unit Guber-Peters Television into Columbia Pictures Television Distribution.[53] On August 7, 1991, CPE changed its name to Sony Pictures Entertainment[54] and TriStar Television was relaunched on October 10. That year, the company signed a deal withBrillstein-Grey Entertainment to distribute its programming.[55]
Throughout the 1990s, the studio launched such successful shows for Columbia such asBeakman's World onTLC andCBS in 1992,Ricki Lake in syndication which lasted 11 years,Party of Five onFox,NewsRadio on NBC, and the short-livedcult following animated seriesThe Critic on ABC and Fox in 1994, and for TriStar such asMad About You on NBC in 1992,Forever Knight on CBS, first-run syndication, and USA in 1992,The Nanny on CBS in 1993,Malcolm & Eddie onUPN in 1996, andEarly Edition on CBS in 1996. One of the most successful by far wasSeinfeld, aCastle Rock Entertainment production which Columbia distributed in off-net syndication years later.
On August 21, 1992, Columbia's subsidiary CAT Holdings, Inc. (Columbia Act III Television) andFranklin/Waterman Entertainment created a joint venture called Franklin/Waterman 2.[56] On December 7, 1992, SPE acquired the game show library ofBarry & Enright Productions. In 1992, CPT had the potential to sell the off-net syndication rights to the library to a company backed by a joint venture betweenRHI Entertainment and Trilogy Entertainment Group.[57] Later that year, directorJonathan Lynn had signed a deal with the studio to develop their own television projects, including an NBC series commitment.[58]
On May 10, 1993, CPT andMCA TV formed their barter divisions. CPT's barter division was called Columbia Pictures Television Advertising Sales (a.k.a. "Columbia Television Advertising Sales"). This division handled series by TriStar Television and Merv Griffin Enterprises, as well as off-net series byCastle Rock Entertainment,HBO Independent Productions, andBrillstein-Grey Entertainment. CPT used other companies such asGroup W Productions forBeakman's World,MTV's One World Entertainment forMarried... with Children, andTribune Entertainment forDesigning Women.[59] From 1994 until March 1996, the company distributed programming made by the CapCities/ABC-Brillstein-Grey joint venture Brillstein-Grey Communications until MCA purchased an investment made by the parent company.[60][61]
On February 21, 1994, after takeover bySony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television merged under the leadership ofJon Feltheimer and the two combined studios becameColumbia TriStar Television. After the merger, Columbia Pictures Television Distribution was renamed as Columbia TriStar Television Distribution.[62][63]
During that year, SPE acquired a vast back catalog of independently produced game shows with the acquisition ofStewart Television. Along with the Merv Griffin, Chuck Barris, Barry & Enright, and CPT game shows they had already owned, these were part of the basis of the Game Show Network, launched on December 1, 1994. In 1997, most new shows, as well as some existing CPT shows likeParty of Five, began to put the CTT logo in lieu of the CPT one. That January, Sony Television Entertainment became Columbia TriStar Television Group.[64]
On July 1, 2000, Barry Thurston stepped down as president of Columbia TriStar Television Distribution after 17 years and was succeeded by then-current president, Steve Mosko.[65] On January 1, 2001, Columbia Pictures Television officially dropped its separate logo and it was replaced by that of Columbia TriStar Television, withDays of Our Lives being the last known show to feature the separate CPT logo, just in time whenNBC started using split-screen credits. On October 25, 2001, CTT and CTTD merged to form Columbia TriStar Domestic Television.[66]
On September 16, 2002, Sony Pictures changed the name of its television division toSony Pictures Television.[67]
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