This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2012) |
Industry | Television syndication |
---|---|
Founded | November 15, 1976 |
Defunct | 1992 |
Fate | Acquired by and folded into All American Communications |
Successor | All American Communications Television Fremantle |
Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
Owner | Marvin Davis (1987–1992) |
Parent | Grey Advertising (1976–1987) |
The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company founded on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel, who, according to Advertising Age , was "the man who built Lexington Broadcast Services into the nation's largest barter syndicator, and thus defined that segment of the TV ad business." [1] [2]
LBS was originally a unit of Grey Advertising, in order to develop products that were marketed for syndication. Some of the first products that were made were Not for Women Only, which was produced by WNBC-TV in New York City, and Hot Fudge, which was produced by then-ABC O&O WXYZ-TV in Detroit. [3] Siegel was moved from Grey Advertising's president in order to become head of Lexington Broadcast Services Company. [4] In 1977, it launched its first breakout hit for the company, Sha Na Na , for syndication, with advertising on a barter basis. [5]
In December 1982, it entered into a partnership with Columbia Pictures Television to bring the ABC drama Family to off-net syndication starting in September 1983, with LBS handling distribution under license from Columbia Pictures Television, which was sold onto a barter basis. [6] [7] The success of Family led to the formation of the Colex Enterprises joint venture (as mentioned below). [8] In 1986, it launched a syndicated block with DIC Entertainment and Mattel, Kideo TV . [9] [10] That year, DIC and LBS formed the Family Theater package of eight animated specials, and decided that DIC and LBS would team up with Columbia Pictures Television to produce a live-action Dennis the Menace feature film. [11]
In 1985, LBS, DIC Enterprises and Karl/Lorimar Home Video set up a home video distribution venture, Kideo Video, which released titles from LBS' Kideo catalog, through which, by 1986, LBS planned to release titles for the videocassette market, and it gained programming rights for 200 Kideo titles. By 1987, LBS had to market beauty videocassettes due to the underperforming expectations of the initial Kideo videocassettes, and sponsored made-for-TV specials would not be included in its initial deal. [12]
In June 1987, DIC and LBS settled their lawsuits regarding Kideo Video "amicably" out of court, due to the cross complaints that stemmed from the home video label beginning in 1985. The settlement allowed Lorimar Home Video to continue distributing for the home video market certain kids' animated programs, and called for LBS and DIC to have the right to enter into separate home video agreements independently of each other. In addition, the rights of one of the companies could be independent of each other, and also independent of Lorimar Home Video, and the issue of a joint account that LBS was managing and allegedly was being trafficked in and out of the Cayman Islands was raised. It was revealed that there was wrongdoing in the $250 million account co-owned by LBS. [13]
In late July 1987, LBS Communications, on behalf of Westgate Entertainment, began marketing a $3 million, two-hour barter syndicated special on the Titanic, and LBS and Westgate had exclusive rights to the taped footage of the attacks at that time. The company had to feed the special to an ad-hoc network of TV stations on October 28, and at least 30 minutes of the two-hour special would be from Monte Carlo. It was decided that LBS would sell the telecast as part of a four-special barter package. [14]
The company was known for distributing programs from DIC Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Television (including select material from Columbia subsidiary/label Screen Gems), by way of its Colex Enterprises joint venture with Columbia, [8] in addition to the 1991 syndicated re-launch of Baywatch . The company was also known for handling Elia Kazan's films that he directed from 1945 to 1976, and syndicating selected Bob Hope-produced movies that reverted to him after their initial release. That year, LBS Communications built up its distribution arm to allow stations to broadcast syndicated TV productions from outside production companies, and Paul Siegel would take over as president of the LBS Entertainment division. He had plans for advertising with Paramount Domestic Television and Coca-Cola Telecommunications, but the company then found itself in the cold, and the alternatives failed to materialize due to a management buyout of the company from Grey Advertising by Marvin Davis, who was a former employee of the 20th Century-Fox film studio. [15]
Around the time that LBS' partnership with Columbia Pictures Television ended in late 1989, LBS began to lose money, and in December 1991, LBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a result, the company ended up having to sell between 80 and 85 percent of its assets to its Baywatch distributor partner, the Scotti Brothers' All American Television.
Title | Run | Co-producer | Current distributor |
---|---|---|---|
Not for Women Only | 1976–79 | ||
Hot Fudge | 1976–80 | ||
The Andy Williams Show | 1976–77 | Pierre Cossette Enterprises | |
Sha Na Na | 1977–81 | Pierre Cossette Enterprises | |
Sorority '62 | 1978 | Dick Clark Productions | |
Hee Haw Honeys | 1978–79 | Yongestreet Productions | Ryman Hospitality Properties |
The Health Field | 1979–84 | ||
Doctor Snuggles | 1981 | Polyscope | |
The Glen Campbell Music Show | 1982–83 | Pierre Cossette Productions Gaylord Program Services | |
In Search of... | 1982–83 | Alan Landsburg Productions | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
Super Friends | 1982–85 | Hanna-Barbera DC Comics | Warner Bros. Television |
Inspector Gadget | 1983–86 | DIC Enterprises | WildBrain |
Family | 1983–84 | Columbia Pictures Television Spelling/Goldberg Productions | Sony Pictures Television |
How the West Was Won | 1983–84 | MGM Television | Warner Bros. Television |
LBS Children's Theater | 1983–85 | Various | Various |
The Greatest American Hero | 1984–85 | Stephen J. Cannell Productions | Shout! Factory |
Heathcliff | 1984–85 | DIC Enterprises | WildBrain |
Tales from the Darkside | 1984–88 | Laurel Entertainment Jaygee Productions | CBS Media Ventures |
INDAY
| 1985–86 | Tribune Broadcasting | |
M.A.S.K. | 1985–86 | DIC Enterprises | WildBrain |
Care Bears | 1985 | DIC Enterprises | WildBrain |
What's Happening Now!! | 1985–88 | Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
Kideo TV | 1986–87 | DIC Enterprises Mattel | WildBrain |
Canned Film Festival | 1986 | Young & Rubicam Chelsea Communications | Keurig Dr Pepper/Fremantle |
The New Gidget | 1986–88 | Ackerman/Riskin Productions Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin | 1986–87 | DIC Enterprises Atkinson Film-Arts | The Jim Henson Company |
The Real Ghostbusters | 1987–91 | DIC Enterprises Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
The New American Bandstand | 1987–88 | Dick Clark Productions | |
Hardcastle and McCormick | 1987–88 | Stephen J. Cannell Productions | Sony Pictures Television |
New Monkees | 1987–88 | Coca-Cola Telecommunications Straybert Productions | Sony Pictures Television |
Family Feud | 1988–92 | Mark Goodson Productions | Fremantle |
Police Academy | 1988–89 | Ruby-Spears Productions Warner Bros. Television | Warner Bros. Television |
Crazy Like a Fox | 1989 | Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
The New Adventures of He-Man | 1990 | Jetlag Productions Parafrance Communications | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
Dragon Warrior | 1990 | Saban International | |
Memories...Then and Now | 1990–92 | NBC News Productions | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
Baywatch | 1991–92 | The Baywatch Company Tower 12 Productions | Fremantle |
Title | Run | Co-producer | Current distributor |
---|---|---|---|
The Clairol Crown | 1979–81 | ||
Strawberry Shortcake
| 1980–85 | Kenner Products Mueller/Rosen Productions (#1-#3) Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (#1/#3) Perpetual Motion Pictures (#2) Nelvana (#4-#6) | CBS Media Ventures (#1-#2) WildBrain (#3-#6) |
Peter and the Magic Egg | 1983 | Mueller/Rosen Productions Murakami-Wolf-Swenson | CBS Media Ventures |
The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings | 1983 | Kenner Products Atkinson Film-Arts | Cloudco Entertainment |
The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine | 1984 | Kenner Products Atkinson Film-Arts | Cloudco Entertainment |
Poochie | 1984 | DIC Enterprises | WildBrain |
The Adventures of the Get Along Gang | May 6, 1984 | Nelvana | Cloudco Entertainment |
GoBots: Battle for GoBotron | 1984 | Hanna-Barbera Tonka | Warner Bros. Television |
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear | December 8, 1984 | Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
Peter and Paul | 1985 | Universal Television | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
Hope Diamonds
| 1986 | Hope Enterprises | Sony Pictures Television |
The Story of Rock 'n Roll | 1987 | Chelsea Communications | Fremantle |
Return to the Titanic...Live | October 28, 1987 | Westgate Communications | Fremantle |
Bonanza: The Next Generation | 1988 | Bonanza Ventures Gaylord Productions | Entertainment One |
Exploring Pyschic Powers...Live | 1989 | Fremantle | |
The Billy Martin Celebrity Roast | September 30, 1989 | Multiview Productions | Fremantle |
It Nearly Wasn't Christmas | 1989 | Ventura Entertainment Group | Fremantle |
Orion Releasing, LLC is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon.
Inspector Gadget is an animated superhero science fiction comedy series co-created by Andy Heyward, Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi, and was originally syndicated by DIC Audiovisuel and Lexington Broadcast Services Company. The show revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, dim-witted police officer from Metro City named Inspector Gadget—a police inspector with various bionic gadgets built into his body—who is sent on missions to thwart plans by his nemesis Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization known as "M.A.D.", while unknowingly being assisted by his niece Penny and their dog, Brain.
Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television. It was founded by Irwin Molasky, Merv Adelson, and Lee Rich. The company's name was a portmanteau of the name of Adelson's then wife, Lori, and Palomar Airport.
M.A.S.K. is a 1985 animated television series produced by DIC and ICC TV Productions, Ltd. The series was based on the M.A.S.K. action figures produced by Kenner Products. It was animated in Japan by Ashi Productions, Studio World and K.K. DiC Asia.
DIC Entertainment Corporation, branded as the Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production company that was mostly associated as an animation studio. As a now former division of The Walt Disney Company, DIC produced live-action feature films and licensed numerous anime series.
Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. The company was active from 1974 until New Year's Day 2001, when it was folded into Columbia TriStar Television, a merger between Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker "CPT Holdings" to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!
Telepictures is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Telepictures was established in 1979 by David Salzman, Michael Jay Solomon, and Michael Garin as a television syndication firm.
Bohbot Entertainment was an American advertising and marketing company specializing in the children's market founded in 1985, and had traded under various different names over the years. The company produced and distributed programming under their operated syndicated block – Amazin' Adventures, later renamed to Bohbot Kids Network (BKN).
The Program Exchange was a syndicator of television programs. It was founded as DFS Program Exchange in 1979, which became elongated to the DFS-Dorland Program Exchange from 1986 to 1987. From 1986 to 2008, it was a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, an advertising agency, while merging with Dorland Advertising in 1986, and would later be acquired by Publicis in 2000. In January 2008, Publicis transferred The Program Exchange from the Saatchi & Saatchi subsidiary to its ZenithOptimedia subsidiary, the logo was then changed to reflect this move. In 2016, the programexchange.com website was shut down; the shutdown coincided with NBCUniversal's purchase of one of its most prominent clients, DreamWorks Classics while Jay Ward Productions has been sold to WildBrain, as of 2022.
Coca-Cola Telecommunications, Inc. (CCT) was a first-run syndication unit of Columbia Pictures Television created on November 4, 1986, that was a merger between CPT's first-run syndication division and The Television Program Source, Inc.. The Television Program Source was a joint-venture between Alan Bennett, former King World president Robert King, and CPT that was founded on October 15, 1984.
Colex Enterprises was a joint venture between Columbia Pictures Television and LBS Communications, Inc., active from January 30, 1984 to Janurary 1, 1987. The name of the joint venture is a portmanteau of the two companies' names.
Tribune Entertainment was a television production and broadcast syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Broadcasting. It was started in 1964 as a subsidiary of WGN-TV in Chicago. Many programs offered from Tribune Entertainment have been broadcast on the company's television stations.
Taft Broadcasting Company was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV is the television syndication division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, in the United States. Its predecessors include NBC Enterprises, Universal Television Distribution, Multimedia Entertainment, PolyGram Television, and Sky Vision. At some point in its history, it was also known as "NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution" and "NBC Universal Television and New Media Distribution.” This unit is possibly the parent for the similarly named "NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution" unit.
Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation, Inc. was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City, California, its assets included television production and syndication, feature films, home video, and broadcasting.
Barris Industries, Inc. was an American game show production company that was founded by Chuck Barris.
Debmar-Mercury, LLC is a television syndication company. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios, it was formed from a merger of Debmar Studios and Mercury Entertainment in 2005.
All American Television was a television syndication company active from 1981 to 1998. It was founded by Anthony J. Scotti, Ben Scotti, and Syd Vinnedge. The company was known for producing and distributing television shows such as Baywatch, America's Top 10, and the Mark Goodson Productions library of game shows.
GT Media, Inc. was an American home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well known due to its distribution of media from third parties and classics. The founders for the company were the brothers Kenneth, Joseph and Stanley Cayre of Salsoul Records. Its headquarters were in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company had a distribution facility in Jersey City, New Jersey and a duplication facility in Bayonne, New Jersey, known as GTK Duplicating Co..
Brillstein Entertainment Partners is a talent management firm and television production company formed by the 1986 addition of Brad Grey to The Brillstein Company, founded by Bernie Brillstein in 1969.