King World Productions
The company's logo from 1984 to 1999
|
|
| Industry | Television syndication |
|---|---|
| Fate | merged with CBS Paramount Domestic Television to form CBS Television Distribution |
| Successor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Defunct | August 20, 2007 (functions only in-name as King World Productions, Inc. and KWP Studios) |
| Headquarters |
New York City Los Angeles, California Atlanta, Georgia |
| Owner | Independent (1964-2000) CBS Corporation (2000) National Amusements (2000-2007) |
| Parent | Independent (1964-2000) CBS Corporation (2000, 2006-2007) Viacom (2000-2005) |
King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and a syndicator of television programming in the United States until its eventual 2007 incorporation into CBS Television Distribution. The company continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker KWP Studios (the initials standing for King World Productions) to hold the copyright for the TV show Rachael Ray.
The division was started in 1964 by Charles King. It was a company that expressly handled television distribution of the classic Hal Roach Our Gang shorts. When Roach lost the rights to the name Our Gang (it was retained by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who bought the series from Roach in 1938), the shorts were retitled as The Little Rascals.
It was through this acquisition that the comedy shorts from 1929 through 1938 have been made available to audiences for the past fifty years. King World later co-produced an animated version of the shorts with Hanna-Barbera. King died in 1973 and the company was taken over by King's children: Roger King (who died in December 2007), Michael (who died in 2015), Robert, Diana, Richard, and Karen.
In 1982, King World formed an ad-sales barter division called Camelot Entertainment Sales. A year later, company chairmen, brothers Roger, Michael, and Robert acquired the syndication rights to Merv Griffin's game show, Wheel of Fortune when no other studio would step in. The acquisition paid off, and Wheel became the most popular show in the history of syndication, and has continued to be for over a quarter of a century. At one point, the program was generating a 21% national rating. The same year, the company acquired the syndication rights of The Merv Griffin Show from Metromedia Producers Corporation.
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