CBS Studios

CBS Studios, Inc.
Company type	Division
Industry	Television production
Predecessor	Paramount Television, CBS Productions
Founded	January 17, 2006; 20 years ago
Founder	CBS Corporation
Headquarters	Los Angeles, United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Les Moonves (CEO at founding)
Products	Television programs
Owner	Paramount Global (via CBS Entertainment Group and Paramount Skydance Corporation)
Parent	CBS Entertainment Group

CBS Studios, Inc. is a U.S.-based television production company operating as a division within the CBS Entertainment Group, which itself is part of the Paramount Skydance Corporation. The company was founded on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation under the name CBS Paramount Television, emerging from the rebranding and consolidation of the original Paramount Television studio and CBS Productions.

Serving as the production branch for the CBS network, it took over responsibilities formerly managed by CBS Productions until 2004. In addition to this, it collaborates with Warner Bros. Television Studios and CW Studios to produce programming for The CW, where Paramount holds a 12.5% ownership interest.

CBS’s initial production and distribution divisions

CBS initiated its internal production division, CBS Productions, in 1952, alongside establishing facilities at Television City located in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. The company also launched CBS Television Film Sales (later renamed CBS Films) to handle domestic and international syndication of television content.

In 1963, CBS opened the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Los Angeles. By 1970, CBS Films had evolved into Viacom Enterprises and was spun off in 1971. The production arm adopted an additional designation as CBS Entertainment Productions in 1978.

Westinghouse Electric purchased CBS in 1994, followed by a merger between Viacom and CBS in 2000, uniting their media portfolios.

Paramount Pictures’ early TV operations

Paramount Pictures began experimental television broadcasts in 1939 with stations W6XYZ in Los Angeles and W9XBK in Chicago through a partnership with Balaban and Katz. Commercial broadcasts started in 1943 via WBKB in Chicago (now WBBM-TV) and later in 1947 through KTLA in Los Angeles. In 1949, Paramount innovated program syndication by launching the Paramount Television Network, primarily sourced from KTLA. Paramount exited the broadcasting business in 1964 by selling KTLA to Gene Autry.

Desilu Productions and its evolution into Paramount Network Television

Desilu Productions, established in 1950 by entrepreneurs Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, expanded its operations by acquiring the former RKO Pictures studio lot in 1957. Syndication was managed through Desilu Sales Inc., created in 1962. When Gulf and Western Industries purchased Desilu in 1967, it became part of Paramount Pictures Corporation’s television division while briefly retaining the Desilu brand. Desilu Sales merged with Paramount’s syndication division to become Paramount Television Sales.

Gulf+Western acquired Paramount Pictures between 1966 and 1967. In 1968, Paramount Television was formed from the former Desilu unit as the studio’s dedicated television production entity. The company introduced Paramount Television Service in 1977 and expanded further with Paramount Television Group and Paramount Domestic Television and Video Programming by 1982. Gulf+Western rebranded as Paramount Communications in 1989. Viacom purchased Paramount Communications in 1994 and subsequently launched the United Paramount Network (UPN) alongside Chris-Craft Industries in 1995.

In 2004, Viacom unified its international TV operations by merging CBS Broadcast International with Paramount International Television to create CBS Studios International. That same year, Viacom combined CBS Productions with Paramount Network Television to establish the CBS Paramount Television Entertainment Group.

Following the separation of CBS and Viacom on December 31, 2005, CBS retained ownership of Paramount’s television program library, whereas the newly independent Viacom kept control over Paramount’s film properties along with MTV Networks and BET Networks.

Formation

On January 17, 2006, Les Moonves, CEO of CBS Corporation, declared the renaming of Paramount Television to CBS Paramount Television. Concurrently, the network division adopted the name CBS Paramount Network Television, while the domestic distribution segment became CBS Paramount Domestic Television.

Later that year, on September 26, 2006, CBS Corporation merged its television distribution entities—King World Productions, CBS Paramount International Television, and CBS Paramount Domestic Television—into a single unit known as CBS Television Distribution. Around this time, CBS Home Entertainment was created as a dedicated subsidiary.

By May 17, 2009, after a licensing agreement lasting three and a half years with sister company Viacom expired, the company removed the Paramount branding and transitioned to the name CBS Television Studios.

Control of both CBS and the restructured Viacom remained largely with National Amusements. During this phase, many Paramount theatrical releases were handled domestically by CBS Television Distribution. Simultaneously, home video releases of CBS programs continued under the CBS DVD label through Paramount Home Entertainment.

From 2009 through 2011, all productions were broadcast exclusively on either CBS or The CW. Historically, Paramount Television had developed content for various networks but maintained a particularly strong affiliation with ABC. The final show airing outside of CBS or The CW during this timeframe was The Cleaner, which aired on A&E until September 2009. Subsequently, BET premiered new episodes of The Game in 2011, and USA Network aired Common Law in 2012.

CBS Television Studios does not create programming for the premium cable channel Showtime; that responsibility lies with its sister company Showtime Entertainment. Nevertheless, syndication rights for Showtime's series are managed by CBS Television Distribution and CBS Studios International when relevant.

On October 25, 2018, CBS Television Studios inaugurated an animation division named CBS Eye Animation Productions, simultaneously unveiling the animated Star Trek series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

ViacomCBS re-merger; rebranding as CBS Studios

On August 13, 2019, CBS Corporation announced its merger with Viacom to form a unified media entity called ViacomCBS (currently known as Paramount Global). This $30 billion deal finalized on December 4 and brought together Paramount Pictures, CBS's production arm, and Paramount Television Studios under one corporate umbrella. This consolidation strengthened the company's market presence and expanded its global media operations.

Subsequently, on October 8, 2020, CBS Television Studios was renamed CBS Studios to better represent a contemporary business model emphasizing content creation across multiple platforms beyond traditional television.

External links