Universal Television
 | |
| Division | |
| Industry | Television production company |
| Founded | 1951[1] as Revue Studios & MCA TV |
| Headquarters | Universal City, California, United States |
Key people |
Bela Bajaria (President) |
| Owner |
NBCUniversal Television Group (NBCUniversal) |
| Parent | Comcast |
| Website | nbcuni.com/universal television/ |
Universal Television is the television production subsidiary of the NBCUniversal Television Group and, by extension, the production arm of the NBC television network (since a majority of the company's shows air on NBC, and accounts for most of that network's prime time programming). It was formerly known as Revue Studios, MCA/Universal, NBC Studios, NBC Universal Television Studio, and Universal Media Studios. Both NBC Studios and Universal Network Television are predecessors of Universal Media Studios.
Predecessors
Revue Studios
Revue Productions (also known as Revue Studios) was founded in 1943 by MCA to produce live radio shows and also produced "Stage Door Canteen" live events for the USO during World War II. Revue was re-launched as MCA's television production subsidiary in 1950. 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. MCA bought the Universal Studios lot in 1958 and was renamed Revue Studios. Following the acquisition of Decca Records, the then-parent of Universal Pictures, the studio backlot name was changed back to Universal. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios to merge the Motion Picture and Television arms of both Universal Pictures and Revue Productions, and Revue was officially renamed Universal Television in 1966.
During the early years of television, Revue was responsible for producing and/or distributing many television classics. The most noteworthy 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 Alan Hale, Jr.'s Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1952–1953) and 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 Bachelor Father (1957–1962), for "Bachelor Productions", 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 1955–1956. Also McHale's Navy was produced by Revue from 1962 to 1966.
In December 1958 MCA/Revue purchased Universal Studios's 367 acre backlot to produce television series, then leased it back to Universal for a million dollars a year for a decade.[2]
Revue also produced later seasons of The Jack Benny Program for CBS and NBC and in co-operation with Jack Benny's J and M productions Checkmate, General Electric Theater and Alfred Hitchcock Presents for CBS, Studio 57 for DuMont, and westerns such as Tales of Wells Fargo, The Restless Gun 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 feature film 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.
Universal Television
The first incarnation of Universal Television was reincorporated from Revue Productions in 1966, 4 years after MCA bought Universal Pictures and its then-current parent Decca Records. Among their many contributions to television programming included production of the first motion picture made exclusively for television (See How They Run from 1964), the first series with revolving stars (Name of the Game from 1968), the first rotating series with an umbrella title (1969's The Bold Ones) and the first two-part television movie (Vanished from 1971). Uni TV (also commonly known as MCA/Universal) also co-produced many shows with Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited such as Adam-12 and a revival of the 1951 series Dragnet. During the 1970s and 1980s, Uni TV produced shows such as The Rockford Files, Murder, She Wrote, Battlestar Galactica, and Knight Rider, which received critical acclaim and several TV movie spin-offs after their cancellations.
In 1990, MCA/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, After the breakup of the United International Pictures TV arm. the company formed Universal Worldwide Television. In 1998, Universal sold off its USA Networks and Universal Television to Barry Diller and renamed it Studios USA.
In 1999, Seagram bought PolyGram, 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 August 2, 2004, GE formed NBC Universal Television.[1]
NBC Productions
NBC Productions 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.[1]
MCA Television
MCA TV (also known as MCA Television Enterprises) was founded in 1951, several years before parent MCA's purchase of the US branch of Decca Records (in 1959) and Universal Pictures (in 1962). For more than four decades, it was one of the most active syndicators of television programming. During the 1980s, it distributed both off-network reruns of shows like Kate & Allie and Gimme a Break!, as well as original syndication product like the animated action series Bionic Six (co-produced with TMS Entertainment), The Morton Downey Jr. Show (taped at then-MCA owned WWOR-TV in Secaucus, NJ), The Munsters Today (a revival of the classic Universal sitcom), and Pictionary, based on the popular board game.
In 1996 MCA TV was renamed to Universal Television Enterprises; at this time they also assumed production and distribution of several daytime talk shows previously produced by Multimedia Entertainment (which Universal had acquired), including The Jerry Springer Show.
MCA Television Entertainment (commonly known as MTE) was formed in 1987. It primarily dealt with made-for-TV movies and series like Dream On that were made for cable networks like HBO. Like MCA TV, in 1996 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 the company's television unit, Universal Television.
Studios USA
Studios USA was 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. It also produced shows formerly from Universal Television. 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.
History
NBC Universal Television Studio was formed in 2004 from NBC Studios and Universal Network Television after NBC and Universal merged.[1] On June 14, 2007, NBC Universal Television Studio was renamed Universal Media Studios (UMS) as the unit would be also developing entertainment for the web.[3]
On July 21, 2009, Universal Cable Productions was split off from UMS and placed into NBCUniversal's NBCU Cable Entertainment division.[4] On September 12, 2011, Universal Media Studios was renamed to Universal Television.[5]
Currently produced
| Title | Network | Original running | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | NBC | 1999–present | with Wolf Films |
| Last Call with Carson Daly | 2002–present | with Carson Daly Productions | |
| Last Comic Standing | 2003–2010, 2014–present | with Push It Productions | |
| Grimm | 2011–present | with GK Productions and Hazy Mills Productions | |
| Chicago Fire | 2012–present | with Wolf Films | |
| Hollywood Game Night | 2013-present | with Hazy Mills Productions and Mission Control Media | |
| The Blacklist | 2013–present | with Davis Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television | |
| Chicago PD | 2014–present | with Wolf Films | |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | 2014-present | with Broadway Video | |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers | 2014-present | with Broadway Video | |
| Food Fighters | 2014-present | with Electus | |
| I Can Do That | 2015-present | with Armoza Formats ans Live Animals Productions | |
| The Carmichael Show | 2015-present | with Morningside Entertainment, A24 Films, Stoller Global Solutions, Lunch Bag Snail Productions and 20th Century Fox Television | |
| Chicago Med | 2015-present | with Wolf Films | |
| Superstore | 2015-present | with Spitzer Holding Company and The District | |
| Telenovela | 2015-present | with Tall and Short Productions and UnbeliEVAble Entertainment | |
| Shades of Blue | 2016-present | with Nuyorican Productions, EGTV Productions, Ryan Seacrest Productions, Jack Orman Productions and Adi TV Studios | |
| Crowded | 2016-present | with Hazy Mills Productions and SamJen Productions | |
| Heartbeat | 2016-present | with P.D. Oliver, Inc., Molly Bloom Productions and Reveal Entertainment | |
| Game of Silence | 2016-present | with David Hudgins Productions, Carol Mendelsohn Productions and Sony Pictures Television | |
| Bates Motel | A&E | 2013–present | with American Genre and Kerry Ehrin Productions |
| Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Fox | 2013–present | with Dr. Goor Productions, Fremulon, and 3 Arts Entertainment |
| Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Netflix | 2015–present | with Little Stranger, Inc., Bevel Gears and 3 Arts Entertainment |
| Master of None | 2015–present | with Alan Yang Pictures, Oh Brudder Productions, Fremulon and 3 Arts Entertainment | |
| The Mindy Project | Hulu | 2015–present | with Kaling International, Inc. and 3 Arts Entertainment (originally aired on Fox 2012–2015) |
| The Path | 2016–present | with True Jack Productions and Refuge, Inc. |
Future productions
Formerly produced
References
- 1 2 3 4 "NBCU unit trades 'television' for 'media'". The Online Reporter. June 25, 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ↑ pp. 16–17 Green, Paul & Price, Frank, A History of Television's the Virginian, 1962–1971. McFarland, 30/05/2010
- ↑ "NBC's TV unit gets new name". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ↑ Lafayette, Jon (July 20, 2008). "NBC Taps Cable-Studio Bosses". TV Week.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (September 12, 2011). "Universal Media Studios Gets New Heads Of Drama, Comedy & Casting And New Name". Deadline. PMC Network. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
External links
- Universal TV at nbcuni.com
- Universal TV at NBCU Media Village