Formerly | Kinney National Services Inc. (1966–1971) Kinney Services Inc. (1971–1972) |
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Industry | Entertainment |
Predecessor | Kinney Service Corporation (1945–1966) National Cleaning Contractors Inc. (1886–1966) |
Founded | August 12, 1966 |
Founder | Steve Ross |
Defunct | February 10, 1972 |
Fate | Corporation's restructuring and reincorporated as Warner Communications Inc. in 1972 |
Successor | Warner Communications (1972–1990) Time Warner (1990–1992, 2001–2018) Time Warner Entertainment (1992–2001) AOL Time Warner (2001–2003) WarnerMedia (2018–2022) Warner Bros. Discovery (2022–present) |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Parking services Cleaning services Film Television Music Magazine |
Divisions |
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Subsidiaries | National Kinney Corporation |
Kinney Services Inc. was an American conglomerate company from 1966 to 1972. Its successors were Warner Communications and WarnerMedia and its current successor is Warner Bros. Discovery. Kinney National's predecessors were Kinney Service Corporation and National Cleaning Contractors Inc., whose merger began in January 1966 and was completed in August of the same year. National Cleaning Contractors was founded in 1886 [1] [2] by Louis Frankel [3] and Max Sweig [4] as National Window Cleaning & House Renovating Co., and was later known as National House Cleaning Contractors Inc.
The company was formed on August 12, 1966, [5] as Kinney National Services Inc., when the Kinney Parking Company and the National Cleaning Contractors Inc. were merged. [6] The new company was headed by Steve Ross. [7]
Kinney National Services (later, National was removed from the company title in February 1971 [8] ) was known for purchases and sales:
On June 10, 1971, Kinney sold Riverside Memorial Chapel to Service Corporation International. Kinney also announced that it would form a new separate company focused on its parking and cleaning businesses; National Kinney Corporation was formally founded in September 1971. [16]
On November 22, 1971, Kinney Services also bought Television Communications Corporation (which was renamed as Warner Cable in 1973), including its recording studio operations of 1,210,500 common shares. [17] [18]
Kinney National also owned wood flooring manufacturer Circle Floor from Seymour Milstein and Paul Milstein, when Kinney's predecessor bought it in 1964 for $15 million, with the Milsteins remaining as managers of the unit until 1971 before the sale. [19]
Due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations, [7] Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets on August 7, 1971 as the National Kinney Corporation, and renamed the remaining Kinney Services as Warner Communications Inc. on February 10, 1972. [20]
Steve Ross was the company's sole CEO, president, and chairman. Directors included Charles A. Agemian, the CEO of Garden State National Bank.
First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the country's largest theater chain. Expanding from exhibiting movies to distributing them, the company reincorporated in 1919 as Associated First National Theatres, Inc. and Associated First National Pictures, Inc.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games, and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command the significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.
Warner Music Group Corp. is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner, WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs more than 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was an American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969.
Warner Records Inc. is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Television Studios is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros.. Since 2006, it is one of the two companies that serve as television production arms of The CW, alongside Paramount Global's subsidiary CBS Studios; it also serves as a television production arm of DC Comics and distribution arm of HBO, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Warner Bros. Television Studios has also produced shows for other networks such as Blindspot and Found on NBC, Person of Interest on CBS, The Cleaning Lady on Fox and Abbott Elementary on ABC. It has also produced series for streaming services, including The Sandman on Netflix, Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, The Peripheral on Amazon Prime Video and Mrs. Davis on Peacock.
Seven Arts Productions was a production company which made films for release by other studios. It was founded in 1957 by Eliot Hyman, Ray Stark, and Norman Katz.
Kinney Parking Company was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch, and mob figure Abner Zwillman.
Steven Jay Ross was an American businessman and CEO of Time Warner, Warner Communications, and Kinney National Services, Inc. He is also known for helping to popularize soccer in the United States.
Morton Arthur Sweig was an American businessman and industry leader in janitorial and maintenance services.
Garden State National Bank was a mid-size commercial bank located in northern New Jersey that enjoyed success in the increasingly wealthy New Jersey suburbs of New York City during the 1970s. The significant media coverage it received during that period was more due to the various M&A transactions considered by its colorful CEO, Charles A. Agemian and by its majority investor, Warner Communications. It was ultimately subsumed into Fidelity Union Bancorporation of Newark in 1980.
Ashley-Famous was a talent agency started in 1945 by talent agent Ted Ashley. The agency was responsible for many hit television shows and had several famous clients. It changed names and ownership a few times, eventually becoming one of the agencies that in 1975 formed International Creative Management.
Ted Ashley was the chairman of the Warner Bros. film studio from 1969 to 1980 and founder of the Ashley-Famous talent agency.
Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) is an American multinational media and entertainment company operating as a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Eliot Hyman (1904–1980) was an American film executive who helped co-found Seven Arts Productions.
Seymour Milstein was an American real estate developer and philanthropist.
National Kinney Corporation was a parking, property management services, and real estate development company based in New York City. It was established on August 7, 1971 when Kinney Services spun off its non-entertainment assets due to a financial scandal over its parking operations.
The Riverside Memorial Chapel is an American Jewish funeral home chain with their main facility at 180 West 76th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The company has been owned by Service Corporation International since 1971.
Edward Rosenthal (1903–1991) was a former vice chairman of Warner Communications and president/owner of the Jewish funeral home chain, Riverside Memorial Chapel.