Viacom (1952–2005)

The first incarnation of Viacom Inc. (derived from "Video & Audio Communications") was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City. It began as CBS Television Film Sales, the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network on March 16, 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company came under Sumner Redstone's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements.

At the time of its split, Viacom's assets included the CBS and UPN broadcast networks, the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, local radio station operator CBS Radio, cable channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, and Showtime, outdoor media operator Viacom Outdoor, television production and distribution firm King World Productions, and book publisher Simon & Schuster. It also owned its IP holding subsidiary Viacom International and brand licensor Westinghouse Licensing Corporation.

In 2000, Viacom acquired the parent company of CBS, the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had been renamed CBS Corporation in 1997. Viacom was split into the second incarnations of CBS Corporation and Viacom on December 31, 2005, which both being controlled by National Amusements; the split was structured with the second CBS Corporation being the original Viacom's legal successor, and the second Viacom being an entirely new company. The two companies eventually re-merged in 2019, leading to the formation of ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount Global. In August 2025, Paramount and National Amusements merged with Skydance Media to form Paramount Skydance Corporation.

Viacom originated on March 16, 1952 — when CBS founded its broadcast syndication division, CBS Television Film Sales. It renamed as CBS Films in October 1958. On December 1, 1967, it again renamed as CBS Enterprises Inc.. On July 6, 1970, it announced that CBS Enterprises would be spun out from its parent company, and the same month the division was incorporated as Viacom, and spun off on January 1, 1971, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies (the rules were later repealed).

Viacom expanded its activities throughout the decade with a launch of a production unit, and later acquired the rights to various features from various studios.

In addition to CBS television series syndication rights, Viacom also held cable systems with 90,000 cable subscribers, at that time the largest in the United States. In 1976, Viacom launched Showtime, a pay movie channel, with Warner-Amex taking a half-share ownership. The company went into original programming production starting in the late 1970s until the early 1980s with middling results. The company expanded in 1977 to launch a unit for program acquisitions and prime-time network programming.

Viacom's first broadcast station acquisition came in 1978 when the company purchased WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut, changing its call letters to WVIT. Two years later Viacom added 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.

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