National Amusements
National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts.[1] It is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global.
| Formerly | Northeast Theater Corporation (1936–1959) |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1936 in Dedham, Massachusetts |
| Founder | Michael Redstone |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Shari Redstone (President) |
| Products | Movie theaters |
| Owner | Shari Redstone |
Number of employees | 23,900 (2017) |
| Divisions | Showcase Cinemas |
| Subsidiaries | Paramount Global (79.4% voting) |
History
| 1912 | Famous Players Film Company is founded by Adolph Zukor |
|---|---|
| 1913 | Lasky Feature Play Company is founded by Jesse Lasky |
| 1914 | Paramount Pictures is founded as a film distributor by W. W. Hodkinson |
| 1916 | Famous Players & Lasky merge as Famous Players-Lasky and acquire Paramount. |
| 1920 | Group W forms with the launch of KDKA-AM |
| 1927 | CBS is founded; Famous Players–Lasky assumes Paramount name |
| 1929 | Paramount buys 49% of CBS |
| 1932 | Paramount sells back shares of CBS. |
| 1950 | Desilu is founded & CBS distributes its television programs |
| 1952 | CBS creates the CBS Television Film Sales division |
| 1958 | CBS Television Film Sales renamed to CBS Films |
| 1966 | Gulf+Western buys Paramount |
| 1968 | Gulf+Western acquires Desilu and renames it Paramount Television; CBS Films becomes CBS Enterprises |
| 1970 | CBS Enterprises renamed to Viacom |
| 1971 | Viacom is spun off from CBS as a separate company |
| 1985 | Viacom buys full ownership of Showtime & MTV Networks |
| 1986 | National Amusements buys Viacom |
| 1989 | Gulf+Western renamed to Paramount Communications |
| 1994 | Viacom acquires Paramount Communications |
| 1995 | Westinghouse buys CBS |
| 1997 | Westinghouse renamed to CBS Corporation |
| 2000 | Viacom buys CBS Corporation |
| 2001 | Viacom buys BET Networks |
| 2005 | Viacom splits into second CBS Corporation and Viacom |
| 2019 | CBS Corporation and Viacom re-merge to form ViacomCBS |
| 2022 | ViacomCBS changes its name to Paramount Global |
The company was founded by Michael Redstone in 1936 in the Boston suburb of Dedham as Northeast Theater Corporation, operating a chain of movie theaters in the region. In 1959, when the founder's son Sumner Redstone joined the company, it was renamed National Amusements.
In 1986, the company acquired the original incarnation of Viacom, a former CBS subsidiary syndicating television programs to stations around the United States. NA retained the Viacom name and made a string of large acquisitions from the early 1990s to the early 2000s, announcing plans to merge with Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western), parent of Paramount Pictures, in 1993 (which closed in 1994), buying the Blockbuster Video chain in 1994, merging with the original CBS Corporation in 2000[2], and acquiring BET Holdings (which became BET Networks) in 2001[3].
In March 2005, National Amusements announced that it would split Viacom into two companies due to Viacom's declining stock price.[4] The split was approved by Viacom's board on June 14 of the same year, and closed December 31. The original Viacom became the second incarnation of CBS Corporation, while it simultaneously created a spin-off company under the Viacom name. The second CBS Corporation kept Viacom's "old media" assets, which included CBS, CBS Radio (which was sold to Entercom in 2017)[5], UPN (later replaced by The CW in September 2006), Simon & Schuster[6], Paramount Television (now the separate CBS Studios, CBS Media Ventures, and Paramount Global Content Distribution divisions of Paramount Global for television production, domestic distribution, and international distribution, respectively), Paramount Parks (sold to Cedar Fair on June 30, 2006), and Viacom Outdoor (renamed CBS Outdoor before being spun-off as the present-day Outfront Media)[7]. The second incarnation of Viacom took ownership of the original Viacom's "new media" assets, which consisted of MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Paramount Pictures. The second iterations of Viacom and CBS Corporation began trading on January 3, 2006; National Amusements retained control of both companies.[8]
At the end of 2008, due to financial troubles, owners Sumner Redstone and Shari Redstone sold $400 million of nonvoting shares in National Amusements.[9][10] In October 2009, the company sold almost $1 billion of its interest in the stock of CBS and Viacom[11] and sold 35 theaters to Rave Motion Pictures. Today these theatres are owned by Cinemark, AMC, Alamo, or have closed. National Amusements now almost exclusively operates theaters in the Northeastern United States (with the exception of one location in Ohio).[12] The following year, National Amusements planned to sell $390 million of notes to refinance a large part of the company's bank owed debt.[13]
In 2019, it was announced that the multinational media conglomerates controlled by National Amusements (Viacom and CBS Corporation), would re-merge to form a new company named ViacomCBS.[14] Viacom and CBS announced that the merger would close on December 4;[15][16] following the official close,[17] the company began trading on NASDAQ the following day. In 2022, the company was renamed Paramount Global.[18]
Current operations
The company operates more than 1,500 movie screens across the Northeastern United States, the United Kingdom, and Latin America under its Showcase Cinemas, Showcase Cinema de Lux, Multiplex Cinemas, and Cinema de Lux. In Canada, National Amusements also owned Famous Players theatres through Viacom which today are now owned by Cineplex Entertainment and Landmark Cinemas. In 2004, National Amusements acquired the Brazilian operations to cinema chain UCI, and revamping it to be more in line with Showcase. They also share some of the corporate identities of Showcase and have XPlus & De Lux rooms in selected cinemas, as well as fully reclining seats.
National Amusements owns a 10.2% equity stake and 79.4% voting power in Paramount Global. The company may hold an unspecified stake in Audacy, Inc., as part of the reverse Morris trust that spun CBS's radio assets off to that company; CBS Corporation shareholders overall held a 72% stake in the then-named Entercom as of the spin-off.[19]
Recent Chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone died on August 11, 2020.[20][21][22]
References
- ^ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2018-03-26). "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR".
- ^ "CBS And Viacom Complete Merger". www.cbsnews.com. April 26, 2000. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ "Viacom buys BET for $2.3B in stock - Nov. 3, 2000". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
- ^ Friedman, Wayne (June 15, 2005). "Viacom, CBS Set To Split--Again". MediaPost. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ "Entercom Sets Friday Morning Close For CBS Radio Merger". Inside Radio. November 16, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ "Bertelsmann buys Simon & Schuster for $2.2 billion in U.S. publishing play". Reuters. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
- ^ "CBS Outdoor to Become Outfront Media". investor.outfrontmedia.com. October 20, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ Alfano, Sean (January 3, 2006). . CBS News. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ James, Meg (October 11, 2008). "Redstone hit by credit troubles". LA Times. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ "Report: Shari Redstone Rejected $1 Billion Buyout Offer of Her Stake in Family Empire". Variety. 21 December 2015.
- ^ Edward B. Colby (2009-10-14). . The Daily News Transcript. Archived from the original on 2010-04-24.
- ^ Nikki Finke (2009-12-07). "Rave To Acquire 35 Of Redstone's National Amusements Theater Complexes". Archived from the original on 2013-02-15.
- ^ Korby, Boris; Maheshwari, Sapna (November 23, 2010). "National Amusements Plans to Sell $390 Million of Notes to Refinance Debt". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ "Media giants to merge in latest mega-deal". 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "CBS Corporation and Viacom Inc. Announce Expected Closing Date of Merger". Business Wire. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "CBS and Viacom Reveal December Merger Date – Mark Your Calendars". November 25, 2019.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (December 4, 2019). "Bob Bakish's Memo to ViacomCBS Staff: Merger "A Historic Moment"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ Mullin, Benjamin; Chin, Kimberly. "ViacomCBS Renames Itself Paramount". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2020-08-12). "Sumner Redstone, Towering Media Mogul Who Helped Shape Modern Entertainment Industry, Dies at 97". Variety.
- ^ James, Meg (2020-08-12). "Media mogul Sumner Redstone, whose empire included Viacom and CBS, dies at 97". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Kandell, Jonathan (2020-08-12). "Sumner Redstone Dies at 97; Built Media Empire and Long Reigned Over It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
Further reading
- Stewart, James B.; Rachel Abrams (2023). Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 9781984879424. OCLC 1365390478.
External links
- Showcase Cinemas website
- Yahoo! – National Amusements Inc. Company Profile