 | |
| Formerly | List
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Television distribution |
| Founded | 1962; 63 years ago (1962) |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Kevin MacLellan (president) |
| Products | |
| Parent | Paramount Television Group |
| Website | Official website |
Paramount Global Content Distribution is the internationaltelevision distribution arm of Americanmedia conglomerate,Paramount Skydance Corporation, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division ofDesilu Productions. With the sale of Desilu toGulf+Western, then-owners of film studioParamount Pictures, in 1968, the division evolved into Paramount's first foray into the international television industry in the 1970s.
The division handles the distribution oftelevision content from the libraries ofParamount Media Networks,Paramount Television Studios,CBS Studios,CBS Media Ventures,Showtime Networks andParamount+.
The division as well asParamount International Television was originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division ofDesilu Productions,Desilu International, which was managed byBruce Gordon.[1] The company co-producedThe Lost Islands with the Ten Network (nowNetwork 10) in 1975. Network 10 and this division have been in common ownership since 2019 after theViacomCBS re-merger. In 1983, it acquired distribution rights to the Australian miniseries,Return to Eden.[2]
In 1967, Desilu was sold toGulf+Western, the then-owners of the film studioParamount Pictures, adding international television to its well-known film operations. Gulf+Western rebranded the division asParamount Television International to handle international sales of Desilu/Paramount properties fromParamount Television. The following year, John Pearson, who had run Desilu/Paramount's international operations, was fired. He proceeded to form his own company, John Pearson International, whose purpose was continue distributing the sitcomHere's Lucy for the international market.[3]
In 1987, the company, along withMCA TV International, signed an agreement withChina Central Television (CCTV), to offer a total of 100 drama hours. The deal, the largest license ever granted to Chinese television in that era, made the two Hollywood studios the largest suppliers of foreign production for that country.[4] In 1990, it briefly considered an investment in Australia'sNine Network.[5]
In 1986, Paramount Television International formed a partnership that would exploit the rights to theMadison Square Garden properties.[6] In 1995, Paramount International Television launched a joint venture to be headed by Peter Press.[7] In 1998, James Dowaliby was tapped to be vice president of production and Christopher Ottinger was named vice president of business development at the division.[8] Later that year, Paramount announced plans to enter international co-production.[9]
In 2000, the division was touted to develop and co-produceJeremiah withLions Gate Television, but was replaced byMGM Television.[10]
In 1981, CBS launched its international division,CBS Broadcast International, to sell news, sports and entertainment programming produced in-house to foreign markets as well as non-broadcast and new technology markets in the United States. It eventually merged intoCBS Worldwide Enterprises and later incorporated into its marketing unitCBS Productions (unrelated tothe later company of the same name) withCBS Theatrical Films in August 1984.[11] In the summer of 1985, CBS Productions, CBS News and Columbia House partnered to produce a videocassetteThe Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite.[12]
Later that year, CBS shut down its theatrical production unit[13] and CBS Broadcast International spun-out from the production unit, restoring theCBS Broadcast International moniker in the process.[14] It planned to provide theCBS Evening News bulletins to UK-basedBritish Satellite Broadcasting in 1988.[15]
CBS Broadcast International produced syndicated episodes of the television series,The Twilight Zone in 1985. It then signed a partnership agreement withMGM/UA Telecommunications 2 years later to syndicate its episodes from all 2 seasons with 30 new first-run episodes to form a 90-episode syndication package.[16] On 28 October that same year,CBS Broadcast International announced its acquisition of television and ancillary market rights to four Academy Award/Oscar-winning films produced byArthur Cohn such asDangerous Moves,Black and White in Color,The Garden of the Finzi Continis andThe Sky Above, The Mud Below. It also announced plans to pick up the bulletins ofCBS Evening News with Dan Rather which would place it on a tape-delayed basis on international channelTele Monte Carlo.[17]
CBS Broadcast International launched a global programming alliance with Virgin Media Television in 1997.[18] That following year, Stephanie Pacheco was named the managing director of international sales of the division.[19]
CBS Broadcast International andParamount International Television merged on August 11, 2004 to createCBS Paramount International Television and would be headed by Armando Nuarez Jr.[20] The division was transferred toCBS Corporation when CBS spun off from Viacom on January 1, 2006, with television rights to the films from its sister company,Paramount Pictures, obtained byTrifecta Entertainment and Media. With the December 4, 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom, the television rights to Paramount's films were brought back to the now-combined Paramount Global. The company distributes television content from the libraries of CBS Studios, theKing World Productions and certainHBO shows internationally theRysher Entertainment library, the latter owned domestically by2929 Entertainment.
In May 2009, CPITV was renamed CBS Studios International. On 14 September that year, CBS Studios International struck a joint venture deal withChellomedia to launch six CBS-branded channels in the UK which would replaceZone Romantica,Zone Thriller, Zone Horror andZone Reality, plus timeshift services Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1.[21][22] The replacement channels launched on 16 November that year.[23] On 5 April 2010, Zone Horror and Zone Horror +1 were rebranded asHorror Channel and Horror Channel +1 respectively.[24]
CBS Studios International licensed rights for the top international formats. In 2010, CBS Studios International went into an equal joint venture with Reliance Broadcast Network Limited to formBig CBS Networks Pvt. Ltd. At the time, the network operated 3 main channels;Big CBS Prime, a general entertainment channel,Big CBS Spark, a youth-oriented channel andBig CBS Love, a women's and urban couple-oriented channel.
In January 2011, CBS Studios International partnered with Australian company,Ten Network Holdings, to launch digital free-to-air channel known asEleven and would hold a 33% stake in its joint-venture holding company, ElevenCo.[25] Ten Network Holdings entered voluntary administration in June 2017 which ultimately led to CBS acquiring the entirety of the company that November.[26]
On 1 August 2012, Chellomedia revealed that the European versions ofZone Romantica,Zone Reality andClub would be rebranded respectively asCBS Drama,CBS Reality andCBS Action.[27]
Following the December 4,2019 merger of CBS and Viacom to create ViacomCBS, CBS Studios International and Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution merged and rebranded toViacomCBS Global Distribution Group. On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS rebranded asParamount Global, rebranding the division likewise to its current name and restoring the "Paramount" name in television for the first time in 16 years.ViacomCBS International Studios was folded into the company later in 2022.
AsCBS Paramount International Television, the division distributed films/movies from the libraries ofParamount Pictures and theRepublic Pictures between 2006 and 2009, as well asDreamWorks Pictures from 2006 to 2008.
AsCBS Studios International, the division had 50% ownership of former Australian pay-TV channels,TV1 andSF Channel.[28] In 2013,RTL Group and CBS Studios International announced ajoint venture calledRTL CBS Asia Entertainment Network for Southeast Asia with the launch ofRTL CBS Entertainment in September that year, but would be acquired 5 years later in January by Blue Ant Media.
The division previously owned all CBS-branded European TV channels (until rebranded in 2025) in a joint venture withAMC Networks International and an Australian television company,Ten Network Holdings. Both have since been transferred to the primary international networks division of Paramount Global.