.svg){kind=logo} Final logo, used from 1998 to 2007 | |
| Company type | In-name only unit ofCBS Media Ventures |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: KWP (until 1999) | |
| Industry | |
| Predecessor | Eyemark Entertainment |
| Founded | 1964; 61 years ago (1964) |
| Founder | Charles King |
| Defunct | August 20, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-08-20) |
| Fate | Merged withCBS Paramount Domestic Television, currently exists as an in-name only unit ofCBS Media Ventures, operating as KWP Studios. |
| Successor | CBS Media Ventures |
| Headquarters | |
| Parent |
|
| Divisions | Camelot Entertainment Sales |
| Website | www |
King World Productions, Inc. (also known asKing World Entertainment,King World Enterprises, or simplyKing World) was aproduction company andsyndicator oftelevision programming in theUnited States founded by Charles King (1912–72) that was active from 1964 to August 20, 2007.
Following his death, it was run by his sonRoger until it was acquired byCBS in 1999, and in September 26, 2006, merged with CBS Paramount Domestic Television to form CBS Television Distribution (nowCBS Media Ventures). Following Roger King's death, the company and its subsidiaryKWP Studios Inc. continue to exist on paper as intellectual property holders who maintain the copyrights for programs likeThe Little Rascals,Rachael Ray, and theHollywood Squares format.
The division was started in 1964 by Charles King (1912–1972). It was a company that expressly handled television distribution of theHal Roach-producedOur Gang short comedy films from the 1930s. When Roach lost the rights to the nameOur Gang (it was retained by theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, who bought the series from Roach in 1938), the shorts were retitled asThe Little Rascals.
It was through this acquisition that the comedy shorts made from 1929 through 1938 have been made available to audiences for the past fifty years. King World later co-produced an animated television special with Muller-Rosen Productions andMurakami-Wolf-Swenson in 1979 calledThe Little Rascals Christmas Special and later co-produced a 1982–1984 animatedThe Little Rascals television series withHanna-Barbera. King died in 1972 and the company was taken over by King's children:Roger M. King (1944–2007), Michael (1948–2015),[1] Robert (1940–2020),[2] Diana (1949–2019),[3] Richard (1941–2020),[4] and Karen.[citation needed]
In 1983, the company acquired the syndication rights toNBC'sdaytime game showWheel of Fortune.Merv Griffin, the show's creator and producer, had shopped the program to various other studios prior to reaching a deal with King World. King World also would acquire the rights to distributeGriffin's own long-running talk/variety program fromMetromedia's syndication division.[citation needed] A year later, Griffin announced plans to revive another of his game show creations,Jeopardy!, and King World agreed to distribute that program as well.
In 1984 King World formed an ad-sales barter division calledCamelot Entertainment Sales. Later that year president Robert King left the company to formThe Television Program Source; a television syndication company that was founded as a joint venture between King, Alan Bennett, andColumbia Pictures Television.[5] King World also purchased television and film distributor Leo A. Gutman, Inc. whose titles included the theatricalsJoan of Arc,Anna Karenina and theSherlock Holmes andEast Side Kids series; and two 1960s television westerns,Branded andThe Guns of Will Sonnett.[6]
In 1986, King World signedOprah Winfrey to a syndication deal and agreed to distribute herChicago-based daytime talk program nationally, resulting in the premiere ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show in September of that year. The acquisitions paid off, andOprah,Jeopardy! andWheel of Fortune became three of the most popular shows in the history of television syndication, drawing high ratings consistently well into the 21st century. In particular, the success ofOprah eventually led to the creation of the spin-off seriesDr. Phil,Rachael Ray, andThe Dr. Oz Show.
On February 11, 1985, King World formed the King World Enterprises division to develop joint-venture programs with advertisers and station groups and to handle international distribution for King World and Camelot.[7] In 1987, King World's Camelot Entertainment Sales entered into an agreement withBuena Vista Television, whereas Camelot would sell all national spots for all programming produced by Buena Vista Television, which includedSiskel & Ebert,DuckTales,Disney Magic I andWin, Lose or Draw, and Camelot was willing to accept the lower figure becauseDuckTales represented King World's first foray into the animated strip business, andDisney Magic I marked King World to the barter movie operation business for the first time.[8]
In 1988, the company made its only foray onto television stations when it bought outWIVB-TV inBuffalo for $100 million.[9] King World ended up selling the station toLIN TV Corporation in 1995.[10]
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state andcity of license.
| City of license /Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Years owned | Current ownership status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo, New York | WIVB-TV | 4 (36) | 1988–1995 | CBS affiliate owned byNexstar Media Group |
In the 1990s, King World operated an "As Seen on TV" VHS service calledKing World Direct.
Stuart Hersch, a lawyer by trade, was the financial expert who helped to take the company public, making it one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street at the time.[citation needed] The company traded as "KWP". King World had virtually no debt and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues after going public.[citation needed]
Television stations that broadcast King World programming had first choice on any series King World offered to distribute.
On November 25, 1991, King World acquired theHollywood Squares format rights fromOrion Pictures after Orion closed down its television division.[11] In 1995, King World made a partner deal withColumbia TriStar Television to launch game shows.[12]
In 1996, King World began co-distributingGeraldo (laterThe Geraldo Rivera Show) withTribune Entertainment, and would continue co-distributing the show until its cancellation in 1998.
On September 28, 1998, King World acquired the worldwide leasing rights to the solo-developed game shows by Merrill Heatter Productions for a limited time.[13]
In April 1999, King World was acquired byCBS.[14][15] On January 19, 2000,Eyemark Entertainment, the successor toWestinghouse Broadcasting following the CBS/Westinghouse Electric Corporation merger, was folded into King World.[16][17] The sale was first discussed on March 28, 1999, for $3 billion.[18] After CBS purchased King World, CBS was bought byViacom outright in 2000;[19] such buyout wasreversed at the end of 2005, when King World became part of the post-splitCBS Corporation as well as all of Viacom's former television production and distribution operations.[20]
In its latter days, King World was considered the syndication branch of the CBS network (a role Viacom actually first served upon its creation), having succeeded Eyemark in that role. King World, however, distributed newer CBS shows such asEverybody Loves Raymond while the older shows were syndicated by corporate affiliateCBS Paramount Television, the successor to the original distributorViacom Enterprises. Additionally, from 2000 to 2006, King World distributed archive programs from Group W, such asThe Mike Douglas Show.
On September 26, 2006, CBS announced that King World and CBS Paramount Television's syndication operations would be combined to form the CBS Television Distribution Group (CTD). Roger King was announced as CEO of the new entity and retained that position until suffering a stroke on December 7, 2007, and dying the next day. Paul Franklin then served as President of CTD.[21]
For one year, the King World on-screen identity was kept for the programs it distributed at its closure. However, most of the programs handled by King World were distributed under CTD. On August 20, 2007, CBS Television Distribution introduced a newclosing logo to replace the old logos of King World, CBS Paramount Domestic Television, and its predecessors. CBS Television Distribution was renamedCBS Media Ventures in 2021.[22]
King World was responsible for the highest rated shows in syndication for over two decades.[citation needed] They also had the television rights to a large library of theatrical films. When it was acquired byWestinghouse Electric Corporation in 2000, it distributed a number ofCBS-produced series for syndication, such asEverybody Loves Raymond (ancillary rights to this series are owned byHBO),CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,CSI: NY, andCSI: Miami. King World turned part of its attention to producing in-house newsmagazines includingAmerican Journal andInside Edition.
CBS acquired King World Productions, Inc., the distributor of a number of shows, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show", on November 15, 1999.
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