Viacom (1952–2005)

Viacom Inc.

Company type	Public
Industry	Media
Predecessor	CBS Enterprises Inc.
Founded	March 16, 1952 (1952-03-16) in New York City, United States
Founder	Ralph Baruch
Defunct	December 31, 2005 (2005-12-31)
Fate	Split into CBS Corporation and a new Viacom
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Sumner Redstone (CEO), Ralph Baruch (founder)
Products	Television networks, film and television studios, radio, cable channels, outdoor advertising, production and distribution companies, publishing houses
Owner	National Amusements

The original version of Viacom Inc. (pronounced either VEE-ə-kom or VY-ə-kom, reflecting changes under founder Ralph Baruch and later CEO Sumner Redstone) was a prominent American media corporation based at One Astor Plaza in New York City. Established in 1952 as CBS Television Film Sales, the company underwent several rebrandings, including CBS Films and CBS Enterprises, before becoming Viacom as an independent entity in 1971. Initially focused on distributing CBS television content and syndicated shows, Viacom experienced substantial growth following its acquisition by National Amusements, led by Redstone, in 1987.

By the time of its 2005 division, Viacom's assets comprised key broadcast networks (CBS, UPN), film and television studios (Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television), radio operations (CBS Radio), cable channels (MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Showtime), outdoor advertising (Viacom Outdoor), production and distribution companies (King World Productions), and publishing houses (Simon & Schuster). Additionally, it maintained subsidiaries responsible for intellectual property management (Viacom International) and licensing of brands (Westinghouse Licensing Corporation).

In 2000, Viacom acquired CBS Corporation (previously Westinghouse Electric Corporation). The 2005 split resulted in two entities—CBS Corporation (the original Viacom’s legal successor) and a newly formed Viacom—both remaining under National Amusements' control. These companies reunited in 2019 to create ViacomCBS, which has since been renamed Paramount Global. As of 2025, Paramount along with National Amusements are engaged in negotiations for a proposed tripartite merger involving Skydance Media.

History

Viacom’s origins trace back to March 16, 1952, when CBS launched its broadcast syndication division named CBS Television Film Sales. This division was rebranded as CBS Films in 1958 and later as CBS Enterprises Inc. in 1967. Due to new Federal Communications Commission regulations preventing networks from owning syndication companies (regulations that were eventually repealed), CBS announced on July 6, 1970, that it would spin off this division. The spin-off was incorporated as Viacom on January 1, 1971.

During the 1970s, Viacom grew by establishing a production division and acquiring rights to various studio films. It also operated cable systems serving approximately 90,000 subscribers, making it the largest such operator in the United States at the time. In 1976, Viacom co-founded the premium movie channel Showtime alongside Warner-Amex, which held a fifty percent stake. The company began producing original programming in the late 1970s and early 1980s with moderate success. In 1977, Viacom created a unit dedicated to acquiring programs and developing prime-time network content aimed at broadening its business scope and diversifying its programming offerings.

Growth via acquisitions

Viacom’s first venture into broadcast station ownership occurred in 1978 with the purchase of WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut, which was renamed WVIT. Two years later, it expanded further by acquiring Sonderling Broadcasting, thereby adding radio stations located in New York City, Washington, D.C., Houston, San Francisco, along with TV station WAST (currently WNYT) in Albany, New York.

Throughout the 1980s, Viacom continued to increase its television station portfolio by acquiring KSLA in Shreveport and WHEC-TV in Rochester in 1983. This was followed by the purchase of KMOX-TV in St. Louis (renamed KMOV) from CBS in 1986. That same year marked Viacom’s reacquisition of premium channel Showtime and its merger with Warner-Amex’s The Movie Channel to form Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. During this era, Viacom also syndicated hit programs such as The Cosby Show and Roseanne.

By gaining full ownership of Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. and MTV Networks—which included MTV, VH-1, and Nickelodeon—by 1986, Viacom transformed from a distribution-focused company into a comprehensive media conglomerate.

In 1987, under Ronald C. Bernard’s leadership, Viacom established Viacom Network Enterprises to explore new business opportunities beyond cable television. These included ventures into pay-per-view services and merchandising connected to Showtime and MTV Networks. By 1989, Viacom had founded Viacom Pictures to produce feature films primarily for Showtime’s audience.

Sumner Redstone secured controlling interest in Viacom through National Amusements in 1987. Throughout the early 1990s, Redstone orchestrated significant acquisitions: merging with Paramount Communications (owner of Paramount Pictures) in 1994 and purchasing Blockbuster Video that same year. The Paramount acquisition notably broadened Viacom’s entertainment assets as well as its television station group by integrating a substantial programming library alongside seven stations that merged with existing holdings.

Leveraging these resources, Viacom launched the United Paramount Network (UPN) in 1995 via a partnership with Chris-Craft Industries. Subsequently, Viacom divested stations not affiliated with UPN and temporarily exited the broadcast radio market by selling most radio properties to Chancellor Media in 1997.

In 1999, Viacom announced a $35.9 billion deal to acquire CBS Corporation—reuniting the former parent company under one corporate umbrella. Completed in 2000, this merger incorporated CBS’s cable channels TNN (now Paramount Network) and Country Music Television (CMT) into MTV Networks while folding CBS’s production units Eyemark Entertainment and King World into Viacom’s core divisions. The combined broadcast group was consolidated under CBS’s owned-stations division.

In 2001, Viacom acquired BET Holdings and integrated Black Entertainment Television into MTV Networks before eventually spinning off BET Networks as an independent division to address organizational concerns.

Although independent shareholders held most of the economic interest in Viacom shares during this period, National Amusements maintained dominant voting control at approximately seventy-one percent through the Redstone family.

Viacom pursued global expansion with MTV Networks International acquiring Dutch music channel TMF in 2002 followed by German music channel VIVA Media AG in 2004. That year also saw Blockbuster spun off through an exchange offer.

Returning to radio broadcasting after its earlier exit, Viacom gained full ownership of Infinity Broadcasting in 2002. In addition, it completed acquisition of Comedy Central from AOL Time Warner in 2003 and incorporated it within MTV Networks’ portfolio.

Viacom Cable

Prior to 1995, Viacom managed multiple cable television systems across metropolitan regions including Dayton, San Francisco, Nashville, and Seattle. Many of these systems were originally independent operations that CBS acquired during the 1960s. Initially branded as Viacom Cablevision until the early 1990s, the division was later renamed Viacom Cable and had a subscriber base nearing 1.1 million by 1995. That same year, Viacom divested this segment to Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI); these assets have since been integrated into Comcast.

Corporate spin-off

In March 2005, Viacom revealed plans to strategically divide into two separate entities to differentiate its "slow-growth" from "high-growth" holdings, aiming to counteract sluggish stock performance. This move was influenced by internal competition between CBS chairman Les Moonves and MTV Networks CEO Tom Freston, alongside public controversies such as the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show incident. After Mel Karmazin stepped down in 2004, Shari Redstone, then serving as chairman and CEO, allocated executive responsibilities between Moonves and Freston in anticipation of her retirement.

The original Viacom transformed into the second CBS Corporation under Moonves's leadership, maintaining ownership of CBS, Simon & Schuster, and Paramount Network Television (now known as CBS Studios). Concurrently, MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Paramount Pictures were spun off under Freston's direction as the newly formed Viacom entity. The board sanctioned this division on June 14, 2005; it became effective on December 31, with both companies commencing independent trading on January 3, 2006.

On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom declared a $28 billion merger to reunite as ViacomCBS, appointing Bob Bakish as president and CEO and Shari Redstone as chairwoman. The merger was finalized on December 4, 2019.

Although rebranded as Paramount Global on February 16, 2022, the corporation retired the Viacom name after over fifty years of use.

Former Viacom-owned stations

Stations are organized alphabetically by state and community of license.

Radio stations

Notes:

• Stations acquired from Sonderling Broadcasting in 1980 are indicated by two bold asterisks (**) following their call signs; this marked Viacom's initial entry into radio ownership;
• This compilation excludes stations owned by CBS Radio and its predecessors Westinghouse Broadcasting and Infinity Broadcasting, which were acquired through the 2000 Viacom-CBS merger.

AM Stations	FM Stations

City of license/Market	Station	Years owned	Current status
Los Angeles, CA	KJOI/KXEZ/KYSR 98.7	1990–1997	currently owned by iHeartMedia
	KQLZ/KXEZ/KIBB 100.3	1993–1997	now KKLQ, owned by Educational Media Foundation
San Francisco, CA	KDIA 1310 **	1980–1983	presently KMKY, under Akai Broadcasting Corporation ownership
	KDBK/KSRY-FM–98.9	1990–1994	currently KSOL, owned by Univision Radio
	KDBQ/KYLZ/KSRI 99.1	1990–1994	now KSQL, held by Univision Radio
Denver, CO	KHOW 630	1990–1993	presently owned by iHeartMedia
	KHOW-FM/KSYY 95.7	1990–1993	now KDHT, under iHeartMedia ownership
Washington, DC–Arlington, VA	WMZQ/WZHF 1390	1984–1997	currently owned by Multicultural Broadcasting
	WCPT 730	1993–1997	now WTNT, owned by Metro Radio
	WMZQ-FM 98.7 **	1980–1997	presently held by iHeartMedia
	WCXR-FM 105.9	1993–1997	now WMAL-FM, owned by Cumulus Media
Chicago, IL	WLAK/WLIT-FM 93.9	1982–1997	currently owned by iHeartMedia
Detroit, MI	WLTI/WDRQ 93.1	1988–1997	now WUFL, operated by Family Life Radio
New York City, NY	WWRL 1600 **	1980–1982	presently owned by iHeartMedia
	WKHK/WLTW 106.7 **	1980–1997	currently held by iHeartMedia
	WAXQ 104.3	1996–1997	now owned by iHeartMedia
Memphis, TN	WDIA 1070 **	1980–1983	currently held by iHeartMedia
	WRVR 680	1985–1988	now WMFS, operated by Audacy, Inc.
	WRVR-FM 104.5	1981–1988	presently owned by Audacy, Inc.
Houston, TX	KIKK 650 **	1980–1993	currently held by Audacy, Inc.
	KIKK-FM 95.7 **	1980–1993	now KKHH, under Audacy ownership
Seattle–Tacoma, WA	KBSG 1210	1989–1996	presently KMIA, owned by Bustos Media Holdings LLC
	KBSG-FM 97.3	1987–1996	now KIRO-FM, held by Bonneville International

Television stations

Stations acquired through Viacom’s 1994 purchase of Paramount Pictures and those obtained prior to the 2000 CBS merger by Paramount Stations Group are not included in this compilation.

City of license / market	Station	Channel	Ownership period	Present affiliation
New Britain–Hartford–New Haven, CT	WVIT	30	1978–1997	Owned-and-operated by NBC (O&O)
	WTXX 1	20	1993–1997	Currently a The CW affiliate (WCCT) under ownership of Tegna Inc.
Shreveport, LA–Texarkana, TX	KSLA-TV	12	1983–1995	Affiliated with CBS, owned by Gray Television
St. Louis, MO	KMOV	4	1986–1997	CBS affiliate operated by Gray Television
Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY	WAST/WNYT	13	1980–1996	NBC affiliate under Hubbard Broadcasting ownership
Rochester, NY	WHEC-TV	10	1983–1996	NBC affiliate owned by Hubbard Broadcasting

• ¹ WTXX was owned by Counterpoint Communications but operated partially by Viacom through a local marketing agreement.

Viacom International

Established in 1971 as a result of Viacom’s separation from the CBS television network, Viacom International Inc. was responsible for managing copyrights and trademarks related to corporate websites, applications, and cable networks within its Media Networks division. This division also handled licensing of product rights and the distribution of television programming on a subscription basis.

Prior to the 1995 Westinghouse/CBS merger, Viacom International acted as the FCC licensee for its television stations. A notable example is station WVIT in Connecticut, owned from 1978 until 1997; its call letters originated from Viacom International and have been retained under current NBC ownership.

In 2006, Viacom International was renamed CBS Operations, Inc., with cable network copyrights transferred to a newly formed Viacom International entity. This entity was dissolved following the 2019 merger between Viacom and CBS that created ViacomCBS, which rebranded as Paramount Global in 2022. During the 2020–21 television season, the alternate trade name ViacomCBS International Inc. was utilized to represent its worldwide operations.