Cinemax, also known as Max, is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its parent network, Home Box Office (HBO), Cinemax initially focused on recent and classic films. Today, its programming primarily includes recent and classic theatrically released films, original action series, documentaries, and special behind-the-scenes features.
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is currently owned by the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched as a program block on January 25, 1980, BET would eventually become a full-fledged channel on July 1, 1983.
Paramount Media Networks is an American mass media division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after the MTV cable network. It would be known under this name until 2011; when it would be thereafter known as Viacom Media Networks until 2019; and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks until 2022.
Flix is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. Its programming consists solely of theatrically released motion pictures released from the 1970s to the present day, interspersed with some films from the 1950s and 1960s.
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released and independently produced motion pictures, and during promotional breaks between films, special behind-the-scenes features and movie trivia.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a renaming of the original incarnation of the Paramount Television studio.
Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company was a joint venture owned and operated by Warner Communications and American Express that developed and initiated several successful cable networks that remain well-known. The channels originated as part of the groundbreaking interactive cable television system known as QUBE.
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at Warner Bros. Discovery's corporate headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy, and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs.
Spotlight was an American premium cable television network that was founded by the Times Mirror Satellite Programming Company unit of the Times Mirror Company, and owned as a joint venture with Storer Communications, Cox Cable and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI). The channel's programming focused mainly on theatrically released motion pictures, with the only scheduling deviation being of monthly specials previewing films set to air on the channel.
Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) is an American multinational media and entertainment company operating as a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded by Charles Dolan and based out of WarnerMedia's former corporate headquarters at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in the West Side of Manhattan, its main properties include its namesake pay television network Home Box Office (HBO), sister service Cinemax, HBO Films, and the international HBO Go streaming service. It has also licensed or maintained ownership interests in international versions of HBO and Cinemax, most of which are managed by Home Box Office, Inc. through sister division Warner Bros. Discovery International.
MGM+, is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios. The network's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, original television series, documentaries, and music and comedy specials.
Black Entertainment Television LLC is a subsidiary of American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its CBS Entertainment unit. BET oversees television channels and premium services aimed at African Americans, including its namesake cable channel.
Nickelodeon is an American basic cable and satellite television network that is part of the Nickelodeon Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, which focuses on programs for children and teenagers ages 2 to 17 years old.
The original phase of Viacom Inc. was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City. It began as CBS Television Film Sales, the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company went under Sumner Redstone's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements.
The United States pay television content advisory system is a television content rating system developed cooperatively by the American pay television industry; it first went into effect on March 1, 1994, on cable-originated premium channels owned by the system's principal developers, Home Box Office, Inc. and Showtime Networks. The voluntary-participation system—developed to address public concerns about explicit sexual content, graphic violence and strong profanity that tend to be featured in pay-cable and pay-per-view programming—provides guidance to subscribers on the suitability of a program for certain audiences based on its content.
Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures, CBS Studios, Paramount Media Networks, and Paramount Pictures, while also including original series and films, live streaming sports coverage, and in the United States, live streaming of local CBS broadcast stations.
Showtime, also known as Paramount+ with Showtime, is an American premium television network and the flagship property of Showtime Networks, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Paramount+ with Showtime's programming includes original television series produced exclusively for the linear network and developed for the co-owned Paramount+ streaming service, theatrically released and independent motion pictures, documentaries, and occasional stand-up comedy specials, made-for-TV movies, and softcore adult programming.
