PolyGram Television (1997-1999): Difference between revisions

In 1995, [[PolyGram Filmed Entertainment]] (the second incarnation of PolyGram's film division) entered the television business by acquiring [[ITC Entertainment Group]]. In 1997, ITC was folded into a new incarnation of '''PolyGram Television''', which retained most of ITC's staff and produced series mainly for the U.S. syndication market as well as continuing ITC's focus at the time on made for TV movies, in addition to operating a visual programming division for live musical videos and children's series. However, this incarnation had an extremely short lifespan, as with the first incarnation, due to PolyGram's acquisition by Seagram and its merger with [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]]. PolyGram TV was folded into Universal Television in 1999, as the unit was renamed to [[Universal Network Television|Universal Studios Network Programming]]. In 2002, Vivendi, by that time the corporate parent of Universal, re-acquired the entertainment assets of USA Networks, resulting in [[Universal Worldwide Television]] (the renamed PolyGram TV) being folded into [[Studios USA Television]] and being renamed under the Universal name, effectively shutting down the former ITC for good. [[NBCUniversal Syndication Studios]] is the current distributor of the PolyGram Television library. However, the ITC library was bought by [[Carlton Television|Carlton International Media]] on January 19, 1999 and is currently owned by [[ITV Studios Global Distribution|ITV Studios Global Entertainment]], a subsidiary of [[ITV1|ITV plc]].