America Online came into existence in 1985; Time Inc. and Warner Bros. --
the precursors to Time Warner -- were both created more than six decades
earlier, in 1922. The January 2001 $106-billion merger between America Online
and Time Warner was the largest media merger in history, combining hundreds of
powerful media assets under one roof.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Tickets/Reservations | |
Video | |
Merchandise |
Warner Brothers Studios
Castle Rock Entertainment
New Line Cinema
Fine Line Features
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AOL MovieFone
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Warner Home Video
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Warner Bros. Consumer Products/
Warner Bros. Licensing
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At one time, MGM was the darling of Hollywood, home to legends such as Louis
B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. In the past few decades, however, it has seen
several owners come and go. Still, it holds 4,100 titles in its film library, and there have
been reports that an MGM renaissance is under way.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Video | |
Merchandise |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Orion Pictures
United Artists Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distribution
|
MGM Home Entertainment
|
MGM Interactive
MGM Consumer Products
MGM Music
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Rupert Murdoch's global empire began in 1952,
when he inherited two Australian newspapers from his father. Now his company
owns diverse properties such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and HarperCollins
Publishers. News Corporation bought Twentieth Century Fox in 1985.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Video | |
Merchandise |
Twentieth Century Fox
Fox 2000 Pictures
Blue Sky Studios
Fox Searchlight Pictures
New Regency Productions (partial ownership)
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Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment International
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Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising
|
Japan-based Sony Corporation started in 1946 as Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering, with three employees. Now, it boasts more than 180,000 employees
worldwide and over $58 billion in sales for 2001. It has more than 1,000
subsidiaries worldwide, many of them key media properties.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Theater Operations | |
Video | |
Merchandise |
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Columbia Pictures
Sony Pictures Classics
Screen Gems
TriStar Pictures
Columbia TriStar Films (U.K.)
Columbia TriStar Film Distributors
Sony Pictures Imageworks (animation)
Sony Pictures Studios
|
Loews Theatres (partial ownership)
Star Theatres (partial ownership)
Cineplex Odeon (partial ownership)
Plitt Theatres (partial ownership)
RKO Century Warner Theatres (partial ownership)
Walter Reade Theatres (partial ownership)
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Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Columbia House Video & Disc Club (joint venture with AOL Time Warner)
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Sony Pictures Consumer Products
|
Sumner Redstone's Viacom is the third largest media conglomerate, behind AOL
Time Warner and Disney. Not only does Viacom house a major studio, it also owns
movie theaters (1,700 of them in 13 countries) and has an 82-percent stake in
Blockbuster, the No. 1 video-rental chain.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Theater Operations | |
Video Distribution/Stores | |
Merchandise |
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Classics
Films Paramount S.A. (France)
Paramount Pictures International
|
United Cinemas International (joint venture with Vivendi Universal)
United International Pictures (partial ownership)
Paramount Theaters
Famous Players (Canada)
National Amusements (owned by Chairman Sumner Redstone's family)
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Paramount Home Entertainment
Blockbuster Video
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Famous Music Publishing (soundtracks)
|
In 2000, Vivendi acquired Canada's Seagram, which owned Universal Studios,
to form Vivendi Universal. Last year, U.S. box-office revenues for Universal
topped $1 billion for the first time. (It was second to Disney, whose pictures
earned only $12 million more than Universal's at the box office.) Through its
42-percent ownership of USA Networks, Vivendi also has interests in October
Films and TicketMaster.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Tickets/Reservations | |
Video | |
Merchandise |
Universal Studios
October Films (partial owner)
Gramercy Pictures (partial owner)
United International Pictures (partial owner)
Cinema International BV (partial owner)
Universal Studios Distributing
Cinema International Corp.
|
Ticketmaster, TicketWeb
(through partial ownership of USA Networks, which owns Ticketmaster)
|
Paramount Home Entertainment
Universal Video & Music Distribution
Universal Studios Home Video
|
MCA/Universal Merchandising
Merchandising Corp. of America
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Disney Brothers Studio produced its first animated feature film, "Snow White
and the Seven Dwarves," in 1937. Today, the Walt Disney Company is the second
largest media conglomerate in the world behind AOL Time Warner. And for the
last three years (1998-2000), Disney's pictures have brought in the most
revenues at the domestic box office; last year alone, Disney's studios
generated more than $1.1 billion in ticket sales.
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| Production/Distribution | |
Video | |
Merchandise | |
Online |
Walt Disney Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Caravan Pictures
Miramax Films
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Buena Vista International
Walt Disney Feature Animation
|
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
|
Walt Disney Consumer Products
|
movies.com
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