| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Television |
| Founded | 1968; 57 years ago (1968) |
| Defunct | February 1997; 28 years ago (1997-02) |
| Fate | Folded intoUniversal Television |
| Successor | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
| Services | |
| Parent |
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| Divisions |
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Multimedia Entertainment, Inc. (formerlyAvco Broadcasting Corporation Syndicated Division,Avco Program Sales,Multimedia Program Sales andMultimedia Program Productions) was an American television production/distribution company originally formed in 1968.
The firm was launched, first as Avco Broadcasting Corporation Syndicated Division, and later in 1972 as Avco Program Sales in 1968 as a television production/distribution company owned by theCincinnati-basedAvco Corporation. Another company called Avco Embassy Television (which was sold toNorman Lear andJerry Perenchio in 1982 and folded intoEmbassy Telecommunications) was originally responsible for television distribution of theEmbassy Pictures film library. In addition, Avco Program Sales concentrated on its own in-house productions. One of its first programs wasThe Phil Donahue Show, which was launched nationally in 1970. Avco Embassy is the original syndicator of thePhil Donahue Show, before the formation of Avco Program Sales in 1972.[1]
In 1971, Avco Broadcasting Corporation's syndicated unit teamed up with cartoon producerHanna-Barbera Productions to launch two holiday specials for Thanksgiving and Christmas by 1972.[2] The following year, by 1973, Avco Broadcasting andMeredith Corporation teamed up to produce nine family-oriented television specials for syndication (including the Meredith and Avco stations) by way of its Avco Program Sales division.[3] Also in 1973 Avco attempted a national expansion ofThe Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based variety program which aired on Avco's television station group; that effort lasted less than a year.
In 1976,Multimedia, Inc., aGreenville, South Carolina-based newspaper publisher and broadcaster, purchased the production and syndication rights toThe Phil Donahue Show and the regionally distributedBob Braun 50-50 Club from Avco, which was breaking up its media interests. Multimedia also acquiredWLWT in Cincinnati, Avco's flagship station, and initially based its syndication division there. The division was first named as Multimedia Program Sales,[4] then as Multimedia Program Productions in 1977,[5] before landing on its Multimedia Entertainment name in 1983.[6] For the next two decades Multimedia Entertainment specialized inaudience-participation daytime talk shows withDonahue as its flagship program.
In 1981, Multimedia acquired Show Biz Inc., syndicator of country music television programs such asPop! Goes the Country.[7] Multimedia also received an agreement with Jim Owens Productions to distribute country-based programs.[8] The company later used Multimedia'sSt. Louis stationKSDK as launching pad forThe Sally Jessy Raphael Show in 1983, and WLWT as the original base forThe Jerry Springer Show in 1991. Multimedia Entertainment also created TV vehicles for conservative talk radio hostsRush Limbaugh andDennis Prager. During this periodBob Turner, a veteran media executive who would later serve as aU.S. congressional representative from New York, served as the company's CEO.
On September 17, 1991, Multimedia acquiredCarolco's television operations. Included were distribution unit Orbis Communications (which itself included first-run syndication rights toThe Joker's Wild andJohn Davidson's hosted version ofThe $100,000 Pyramid) and TV movie production.[9] The Carolco Television Productions unit became Multimedia Television Productions, which was later known as Multimedia Motion Pictures, andRobert Turner has joined the studio as president.[10] Neil Russell was then served as president of the studio several months later.[11] The TV rights to Carolco's film library were not included in the acquisition and were instead eventually licensed toSpelling Entertainment'sWorldvision Enterprises in 1992.
Multimedia Entertainment was included in the sale of Multimedia to theGannett Company in 1995. Gannett then sold its production/syndication arm toMCA in 1996 and a year later it was folded intoUniversal Television Enterprises in February.[12] In 1998, Universal Television including the USA Networks were sold toBarry Diller and became part ofStudios USA.
The rights to the Multimedia Entertainment name were retained by Gannett, and were transferred toTegna after Gannett split into two companies in 2015; it is now used for the Tegna subsidiary that holds the license forWGRZ in Buffalo, New York (which Gannett had acquired in a swap for WLWT in 1997, shortly after the Multimedia acquisition), whileKARE,KPNX,KUSA,KTVD,WTLV, andWJXX operate as Multimedia Holdings Corporation.[citation needed]
Tegna, Multimedia's successor, re-entered the syndication business in 2017 with the seriesDaily Blast Live andSister Circle.
This is a listing of programs which were either produced or distributed by Multimedia Entertainment:
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