Information about Viacom (1971 2005)

This page is about the original Viacom (founded 1971) and its successor form (founded 1986) which is now known as CBS Corporation. For information on the new post-2005 Viacom, see Viacom.

Viacom (pronounced with a long i as in "eye") began life as CBS Films, the television syndication division of CBS. In 1971, the division was renamed VIACOM (VIdeo & Audio COMmunications), and in 1973 it was spun off, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies (the rules were later repealed).

Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation. The present firm known as Viacom was also established at that date and is a new spin-off company created during the CBS-Viacom split.

Viacom was highly profitable during the 1970s and 1980s distributing old CBS classics to syndication, including such landmark shows as I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show and All in the Family (which was later owned by Embassy/Columbia Pictures Television, now called Sony Pictures Television).

They also syndicated shows for others, the biggest examples being The Cosby Show and Roseanne (which were produced by Carsey-Werner Productions. Carsey-Werner eventually got big enough to distribute their own shows, mainly because of the success of these two).

String of acquisitions

Viacom's first non-programming acquisition came in 1978 when the company purchased the Sonderling Broadcasting chain, giving it radio stations in New York City, Washington, D.C., Houston, and San Francisco, and one television station, WAST (now WNYT) in Albany, New York.

Later that year, Viacom added WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut, changing its call letters to WVIT. The early 1980s saw Viacom sorting through the Sonderling stations with several being donated, swapped, or being the nucleus for new corporations -- for example, WOL in Washington launched the Radio One group, which today is the largest African-American-owned broadcasting corporation.

In 1983, Viacom purchased KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York in separate transactions, followed in 1986 with (ironically) CBS-owned KMOX-TV in St. Louis; with the purchase that station's call letters were changed to KMOV.

In 1985, Viacom bought Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, which owned MTV and Nickelodeon, renaming the company MTV Networks. Viacom also received Warner-Amex's share of Viacom/WASEC joint venture Showtime Networks, Inc, which included Showtime and The Movie Channel.

In 1986, Viacom was bought by movie theater owner National Amusements, which brought Sumner Redstone to the company. Redstone retained the Viacom name and made a string of large acquisitions in the early 1990s, announcing plans to buy Paramount Communications, parent of Paramount Pictures, in 1993, and buying the Blockbuster Video chain in 1994.

The Blockbuster acquisition gave Viacom access to large television holdings controlled by Aaron Spelling's company, Spelling Entertainment; along with his own productions (such as The Love Boat and Beverly Hills 90210), Spelling controlled the pre-1973 ABC and NBC back catalogs by way of Worldvision Enterprises and Republic Pictures.

After these acquisitions, Viacom owned many movie and television production and syndication units, which were slowly integrated into Paramount; many TV shows previously distributed by Viacom, Republic or Worldvision later gained Paramount closing logos until the 2006 Viacom split, which resulted in these programs now being under distribution by CBS Paramount Television.

In 1999, Viacom made its biggest acquisition to date by announcing plans to buy its former parent CBS Corporation. The merger was approved in 2000, bringing cable channels TNN (now Spike TV) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's wing, as well as CBS's production units and TV syndicators Eyemark (formerly Group W) and King World. CBS's production unit and King World (which has since absorbed Eyemark) operated under their own names; however, TNN and CMT were merged into MTV Networks almost immediately.

In 2001, Viacom completed its purchase of Black Entertainment Television (BET). As with TNN/Spike TV and CMT, it was immediately integrated into MTV Networks, causing some outcry among BET workers in the Washington area (where BET was based before the merger). As a result, BET was eventually de-integrated from MTV Networks.

Although a majority economic interest in Viacom was held by independent shareholders, the Redstone family maintained 71-percent voting control of the company through National Amusements' holdings of Viacom's stock.

In 2002, Viacom bought independently-run music channel TMF, which at the time was broadcasting in Belgium and the Netherlands. In June 2004, Viacom bought VIVA Media AG, the German equivalent to MTV. The same month, plans were announced to dispose of Viacom's interest in Blockbuster later that year by means of an exchange offer.

Viacom/CBS split

In March 2005, Viacom announced plans of looking into splitting the company into two publicly traded companies. The company was not only dealing with a stagnating stock price, but also the rivalry between Les Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of CBS and MTV Networks respectively. After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, decided to split the offices of President and Chief Operating Officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him.

The split was approved by Viacom's board June 14, 2005, took effect December 31, 2005, and effectively undid the Viacom/CBS merger of 1999. The existing Viacom was renamed CBS Corporation and was headed by Moonves. It now includes Viacom's "slow growth businesses", namely CBS, The CW (formerly UPN), CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, CBS Outdoor (formerly Viacom Outdoor), Showtime, and most television production assets. These, according to some analysts, were suffocating the growth of the MTV Networks cable businesses. The split effectively made CBS an independent company again.

In addition, CBS Corporation was given Paramount Parks, which they sold to amusement park operator Cedar Fair, L.P. on June 30, 2006.

Additionally, a new spin-off company was created called Viacom, which was headed by Freston. It comprises MTV Networks, BET Networks, Paramount's movie studio, and Paramount Pictures' home entertainment operations. These businesses are categorized as the high-growth businesses (MTV Networks and BET Networks in particular), and if they were split into a separate company, it could infuse new funds/capital to allow for future acquisitions and expansion.

Sumner Redstone still controls 71 percent of the voting stock of both companies and is the chairman of both companies. In September of 2006, Redstone fired Freston and named Philippe Dauman as the new head of Viacom.

Identification and sounder

Viacom had a number of distinctive and interesting production logos during its over 30-year history. The first, aired in 1973, featured the company's name zooming in, a group of letters at a time ("VI-A-COM"), from the right-hand side of the screen, and "bumping" into each other. With each bump, a pinball-style sound was heard, and the background changed color from red to green to blue. When the letters had finished grouping together, the camera zoomed out to reveal the words "A VIACOM PRESENTATION," and the soundtrack rounded out with a futuristic-style whoosh sound while an assortment of mechanical pinball sounds were heard in the background.

This remained until 1976, when a new logo (oddly enough with the exact same soundtrack) debuted. Over a light-colored background, the words "A Viacom Presentation" zoomed into the camera and eventually stopped. Almost immediately afterwards, a small "V" with a unique design began to zoom into the camera, and continued to zoom in slowly behind the words. When it eventually got to the point where the screen was nearly engulfed by it, the screen quickly faded to black, with the "V" still zooming in. In 1977, the soundtrack was discarded in favor of a new short symphony consisting of five notes from an ARP Odyssey synthesizer and a military-style beat from a timpani drum. What would later give the closing logo its unique characteristic was the fact that the drum could still be heard even after the logo had faded. This logo, known unofficially by fans as the "V of Doom," is Viacom's most recognizable logo, and can still be seen on occasion. Originally in black and white, the ID was eventually colorized in a variety of colors; the final one, debuting in 1983, consisting of a light blue background with the white letters and the giant "V" colored dark blue. Variations included a "warp-speed" version of the logo, with a re-recorded faster version of the soundtrack and the logo itself sped-up x2. In 1979, a "network television" version debuted; this consisted of the "V" and the word Viacom situated right under it, and the two zoomed into the camera from a distance, eventually stopping when the logo filled up the screen. The recognizable music was not present.

In 1983, what is unofficially known as the "V of Happiness" debuted; this featured a static light-blue "V" and Viacom logo (as seen on the 1979 ID) situated on a black background, eventually fading out. This remained until the corporation's reincorporation in 1986, when a CGI-style logo debuted. Over a dark background illuminated by a single bright light (much like the background of Columbia Pictures' logo), the unique "V" would rotate from the bottom of the screen, while the word "Viacom", hidden off-camera, would zoom in from the top left-hand corner. The two would join in the past style of the "V of Happiness" and the 1979 IDs, with the "V" on top and "Viacom" on the bottom. Throughout, a futuristic soundtrack, consisting of a "whoosh" sound, was heard. This is known unofficially as the "V of Steel", considering the metallic texture of the logos. It remained until 1990, when the "V" was discarded and a new logo replaced it; this logo featured a simple blue background with the word "Viacom" (in the style of the logo seen at the top of this page) forming out of a zig-zagged line led by a small white light; when finished, it zoomed out to reveal the word "VIACOM." The unique "wigga wigga" sound made when the line was being drawn would later give the ident its unofficial nickname. A guitar riff was heard, and when the logo was seen in full, a narrator's voice saying the word "Viacom" was heard. (For the newly-formed Viacom International, the visual logo remained the same, with a different soundtrack; a jingle on a flute was heard instead. The narrator still said the word "Viacom," however.) This remained for the majority of the 1990s, until 1999 when a new CGI logo, with the letters of "Viacom" grouping together from the center of the screen and a computerized voice saying the word "Viacom," debuted. It remained until 2005.

See also

• CBS Corporation, the renamed 1986 Viacom
• New Viacom, post CBS-split

Footnote

^  Viacom was initially founded in 1971, but was reincorporated in 1985. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation. The present firm known as Viacom was also established at that date and is a new spin-off company created during the CBS-Viacom split.