Spelling Television
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| Spelling Television, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged into CBS Paramount Network Television |
| Founded | Los Angeles, California, USA (1969) |
| Defunct | Since 2007 |
| Location | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Products | Television Production |
| Key people | Leslie Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp |
| Former Parent | Viacom (1999-2005) CBS Corporation (2006-07) |
Founded by television producer Aaron Spelling in 1969, Spelling Television, Inc. (also known as Spelling Entertainment and Spelling Entertainment Group) was a television production company that has produced popular shows such as Charmed, Beverly Hills 90210, 7th Heaven, Dynasty and Melrose Place.
The company was first known as Aaron Spelling Productions in 1969; it was renamed to Spelling Entertainment Group in 1989 and again as Spelling Television in 1992. In 1988, Aaron Spelling Productions acquired Laurel Entertainment. A share in the company was acquired by Blockbuster Entertainment (which was being sold to Viacom) in 1994. The remainder of Spelling Entertainment was then acquired by Viacom in 1999, but the deal closed in 2000.
Before the merger with Viacom, most of Spelling's shows were distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (which would eventually become part of Spelling's empire), with older Spelling shows distributed by several others including Warner Bros. Television, 20th Century Fox Television and Sony Pictures Television). After the merger Worldvision was integrated into Republic Pictures thus, dismantling Worldvision as a production company, although its distribution functions continued for a short time until after the Viacom merger, when Paramount Television assumed such functions (Viacom had bought Paramount Pictures in 1994).
The company can be credited with helping several networks with successful shows. In the 1980's it was ABC when at one point Spelling-produced shows outweighed other production companies by a large margin. In the early 1990's Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place helped propel Fox even higher. In the 1990's the WB was launched and their longest running, highest rated and most successful show during their time in operation was 7th Heaven for ten seasons. By 2006, another new network, the CW, used 7th Heaven in their first season in operation as the newest network.
The company's first home was a series of offices on the old Warners lot in Hollywood. Newer digs followed when the company was an original anchor tenant of the now-famed Wilshire Courtyard building in LA's revitalized Miracle Mile district. The company briefly moved to Santa Monica in 2006.
By 2000, Aaron Spelling remained active and involved as CEO until his passing in 2006. Company president Jonathan Levin handled day to day operations and longtime Spelling producing partner, E. Duke Vincent helped guide the successful production company.
Spelling Television became a unit of CBS Paramount Television, which is itself a division of CBS Corporation after the split of Viacom at the end of 2005. Currently, all programs produced by Spelling Television are distributed by CBS Television Distribution.
7th Heaven was the last series produced by Spelling Television. The Spelling Television company logo and series were seen on broadcast television for the last time during the rerun of the 7th Heaven series finale on September 16, 2007.
Spelling's logo continues to appear on the covers of DVD releases of the Spelling library (except for those shows owned by Sony Pictures Television).
[edit] Spelling Entertainment Group
Aaron Spelling took the company public in 1986 as Spelling Entertainment.
Before the full acquisition by Viacom, where only Spelling Television would be left standing as a separate operating unit after the acquisition, Spelling Entertainment Group's holdings consisted of the following:
- Spelling Entertainment Group:
- Spelling Television and most of the libraries of ancestor companies (excluding Spelling-Goldberg Productions properties which were sold off to Columbia Pictures Television now Sony Pictures Television)
- Laurel Entertainment, Inc.
- Spelling Films
- Big Ticket Television launched in 1994
- Republic Pictures including:
- much of its own library of films and in-house TV series
- The inherited holdings of National Telefilm Associates (NTA), which itself includes:
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Most of Paramount's own classic animated library
- Some early United Artists material (including High Noon)
- Pre-1973 NBC shows, such as Get Smart and Bonanza
- Worldvision Enterprises acquired in 1991:
- Majority of the Quinn Martin library.
- Pre-1973 ABC shows, as well as US television rights to NBC's Little House on the Prairie (premiered in 1974)
- The television rights to most of the Carolco Pictures library
After the late 2005 corporate split between Viacom and CBS Corporation, some of the above have gone to each company. Films mostly went to Viacom's Paramount Pictures unit and television with CBS Corporation's CBS Television Distribution unit.
[edit] See also
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