Universal Media Studios
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Universal City, CA, U.S. |
| Key people | Ben Silverman, Co-chairman Marc Graboff, Co-chairman/CEO |
| Industry | Television Production |
| Owner(s) | General Electric Co. (80%) Vivendi SA (20%) |
| Parent | NBC Universal Television Group (NBC Universal, Inc.) |
| Website | www.nbcuni.com |
Universal Media Studios (UMS, formerly NBC Universal Television Studio) is the TV production arm of the NBC Universal Television Group. It was previously known as Revue Studios, NBC Studios, and Universal Network Television. Both NBC Studios and Universal Network Television are predecessors of Universal Media Studios.
The name was changed in 2004 to reflect the NBC Universal brand. However, on Thursday, June 14, 2007, NBC Universal Television Studio, in immediate effect, was renamed Universal Media Studios. The parent company, NBC Universal, explained that the reason for the name change of the production arm was because "the new name fully describes the company's mission to be the premier content provider for television and digital platforms, spanning all television dayparts and creative genres."[1]
The first series ordered under the new name was supposed to be the upcoming Without Breasts There Is No Paradise.[2] However, the new logo debuted after the November 5, 2007 episode of Heroes. The logo took over all of the old NBC Universal logos on other non-syndicated fare such as House, M.D., Bionic Woman, The Office, and Friday Night Lights.
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[edit] History
[edit] Revue Studios
Revue Studios (first known as Revue Productions) was founded in 1943 by MCA to produce live radio shows. The partnership of NBC and Revue extends as far back as September 6, 1950, with the television broadcast of Armour Theatre, based on radio's Stars Over Hollywood. The company was renamed Revue Studios after MCA brought the Universal Studios lot in 1958. Four years later in 1962, following the acquisition of Universal Pictures, they dropped the Revue Studios logo in favor of zoomed Universal Globe fanfare. In 1966, Revue Productions was officially renamed as Universal Television.
During the early years of television, Revue was responsible for producing and/or distributing many television classics. The most noteworthy of such, included Leave It to Beaver, which ran for only one season on CBS before going to ABC from 1958 until 1963. In addition, Revue also made all three of Rod Cameron's syndicated series, City Detective (1953-1955), State Trooper (1956-1959), and COronado 9 (1960-1961) and the Bill Williams western series, The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951-1955). It produced Edmond O'Brien's syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight, based on a fictitious New York City actor-turned-private detective. Another of its offerings was the 52-episode Crusader, the first Brian Keith series, which ran on CBS from 1955-1956.
Revue also produced The Jack Benny Program for CBS and NBC, Alfred Hitchcock Presents for CBS, and westerns such as Tales of Wells Fargo and Laramie for NBC, as well as Wagon Train for NBC and ABC, and the first two seasons of NBC's The Virginian, based on a film released originally by Paramount Pictures, whose pre-1950 theatrical sound library was sold to MCA in 1957. Wagon Train was the only Revue-produced TV show ever to finish an American television season in first place.
[edit] Universal Television
Universal Television was an American television production/distribution company that was reincorporated from Revue Studios in 1966, four years after MCA bought Universal Pictures (though the Revue name had been phased out, little by little, during the previous three years starting in 1963). Uni TV co-produced many shows with Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited such as Adam-12 and a revival of the 1951 series Dragnet.
In 1990, Uni TV began the Law & Order franchise. In 1996, MCA was reincorporated as Universal Studios. The same time around, Universal was acquired by Joseph A. Seagram and Sons and later acquired the USA Networks and Multimedia Entertainment. In 1997, the company formed Universal Worldwide Television. In 1998, Universal sold off its USA Networks and Universal Television to Barry Diller and renamed it to Studios USA.
In 1999, Seagram bought PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which included PolyGram Television and the post-1996 film library (plus some of the pre-1996 films). The deal closed in 2000 and quickly adapted PolyGram to the Universal name. Vivendi Universal acquired Studios USA and made Diller as CEO of VU Entertainment fully reforming Universal Television.
On May 12, 2004, GE formed NBC Universal Television. However, the company decided to keep the NBC and Universal Television names in the end credit copyright notices from any series by NBC or Universal.
[edit] NBC Productions/Studios
NBC Productions was an American/television production/distribution company that was founded in 1947 by RCA (NBC's Former parent company). In 1996, the company was renamed NBC Studios. In 2004, NBC Studios was merged with Universal Network Television to form NBC Universal Television Studio.
[edit] MCA Television
MCA TV (also known as MCA TV, Ltd.), was an American television production/distribution company that was founded in 1951, several years before parent MCA's purchase of the U.S. branch of Decca Records (in 1959) and Universal Pictures (in 1962). For more than four decades, it was one of the most active producers of television programming. MCA TV's other television divisions included Universal Television and MCA Television Enterprises.
In 1997, MCA TV was renamed to Universal Television Enterprises.
- MCA Television Enterprises (also known as MCA Television Entertainment and MTE) was the specialty division of MCA Television Ltd., focusing on TV movies for cable and network television, as well as direct to video fare. It was formed in 1987. Like MCA TV, in 1997 it was renamed Universal Television Entertainment.
- EMKA, Ltd. is the holding company responsible for a majority of the pre-1950 Paramount Pictures sound library. As an official part of the Universal Pictures library, they are part of Universal Media Studios' television unit.
[edit] Studios USA
Studios USA was a American film and television production/distribution company formed by Barry Diller when he bought Universal Television and the USA Networks from Seagram's Universal Studios in 1998. It produced and distributed talk shows, including Sally Jessy Raphael, The Jerry Springer Show, and Maury. It also produced shows formerly from Universal Television, including the Law & Order franchise. The company also formed USA Films and USA Home Entertainment. In 2002, Vivendi Universal acquired Studios USA and the rest of USA's non-shopping (film and TV) assets, and reverted the remaining series produced and/or distributed by Studios USA to Universal Television.
[edit] Currently produced
- 30 Rock (NBC)
- Parks and Recreation (NBC)
- Battlestar Galactica (SCI FI)
- Eureka (SCI FI)
- Friday Night Lights (NBC/The 101 on DirecTV)
- In Plain Sight (USA)
- Heroes (NBC)
- House (Fox)
- Inventor Bill and the Crazyvision (CV) (CBBC, UK, with Novel Entertainment)
- Knight Rider (NBC)
- Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC)
- Law & Order (NBC)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
- Life (NBC)
- Lipstick Jungle (NBC)
- Monk (USA, co-production with ABC Studios)
- Psych (USA)
- The Starter Wife (USA)
- The Apprentice (NBC)
[edit] Future productions
- Without Breasts There Is No Paradise (NBC)
- Junk Sale (NBC) (co-production with DreamWorks Television and Bill Oakley/Josh Weinstein Productions)
