All American Television (later known as All American Communications Television) was a
television syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
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
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
shows such as ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...
'', ''
America's Top 10
''America's Top 10'' (commonly abbreviated to ''AT10'') was a popular weekly syndicated music television chart show that began airing in 1980 and ran until 1992.
The show was hosted by Casey Kasem throughout its run, with Charlie Tuna announcin ...
,'' and the
Mark Goodson Productions
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and ea ...
library of
game shows
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...
.
History
All American's roots trace back to 1967 where Anthony J. Scotti was a fledgling actor who was famous for playing "Tony Polar" in the movie ''
Valley of the Dolls''. After that, Scotti found his life as an actor boring. He told ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine, "I had come to the conclusion that acting was the most boring God-awful thing a human being could do." He then quit his acting career in 1971 to pursue a career in music. At the time, he was named senior vice president of
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
's record division. Three years later, he teamed up with his brother Ben to create
Scotti Brothers Records
Scotti Brothers Records (typically spelled Scotti Bros. Records) was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing singles and albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped ...
, a music marketing company that produced the success of artists such as
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...
,
Survivor, and
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
.
In 1979, the Scotti Brothers entered the television business by producing the pop music show ''
America's Top 10
''America's Top 10'' (commonly abbreviated to ''AT10'') was a popular weekly syndicated music television chart show that began airing in 1980 and ran until 1992.
The show was hosted by Casey Kasem throughout its run, with Charlie Tuna announcin ...
'', hosted by popular radio DJ
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...
. Two years later, the show's popularity led the Scotti Brothers and Syd Vinnedge, a veteran of TV and radio advertising, to found
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
-based All American Television. The new company was named after Anthony Scotti's success as a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player in
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
. Former employees of Gold Key Media would be migrated into the company.
In 1982, All American hired George Back, the founder of a small television syndicator in New York who brought Joe Kovacs with him into the company. In 1983, it picked up a program that offered, ''America's Choice''. Also that year, Alexy Klucar had to join the company, who served as administrative director of the studio, and Don Golden, who was formerly executive of Golden West Television, joined All American Television as sales executive. In 1985, All American went public and began trading as a
pink sheet on the
over-the-counter
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescr ...
(OTC) market. Later, the company joined the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
. In 1987, it attempted to merge with television producer/distributor
Atlantic Kushner-Locke to form a single company that paid $36 million in an effort to became a public organization without an effort of a single public offering, but the merger talks between All American Television and Atlantic Kushner-Locke were never realized.
In 1988, it served as the advertising sales barter of Vestron Television's own ''Double Images'' movie packages, which was available to be for the syndication market. In 1989, it made a joint venture with MG Perin to handle syndication of ''Inside Video: This Week'' for the first-run syndication market.
1990s
In late 1990, All American paved the way for success when it acquired the first-run syndication rights to ''Baywatch'' (a fledgling
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
drama series that
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
canceled at the time) through
LBS Communications
The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company formed on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel, wh ...
. The move paid off and ''Baywatch'' went on to become one of the most popular TV shows until its cancellation in 2001.
In 1991, All American and Scotti Brothers Entertainment Industries merged in a stock swap that created the television and music recording core of what would eventually become All American Communications. Anthony Scotti became
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the combined entity, and in January 1991 he hired Myron Roth, a former
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
and
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
executive, to become the company's new
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
COO
COO or coo may refer to:
Business
* Certificate of origin, used in international trade
* Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official
* Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process
...
. Syd Vinnedge was named senior executive
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
and Ben Scotti became executive vice president of the records division. All American was represented by Howard L. Mann of Schwartzman, Weinstock, Garelick & Mann, P.C. The
Scotti Brothers Records
Scotti Brothers Records (typically spelled Scotti Bros. Records) was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing singles and albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped ...
label distributed its music through
BMG Music
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...
from 1990 to 1996.
The company then acquired the assets of its ''Baywatch'' distribution partner,
Lexington Broadcast Services Company
The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company formed on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel, w ...
(LBS), which at the time had declared Chapter 11
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
. By October 1991, All American announced its long-awaited merger with LBS, and Anthony Scotti decided to name LBS founder Henry Siegel as All American's new president. Henry Siegel's brother Paul Siegel was named the company's new president of international and ancillary markets. The distribution rights of ''Baywatch'' and ''Family Feud'' reverted to All American in the agreement, while cancelling off LBS' collaboration with NBC, ''Memories...Then and Now''.
By late 1992, All American's first attempt to clone the success of ''Baywatch''—an action series ''
Acapulco H.E.A.T.''—had been sold to half of the United States independent television market.
In December 1993, All American's Scotti Brothers Records subsidiary created a new urban
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
division called Street Life Records which showcased
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
urban acts such as
Skee-Lo
Antoine Roundtree (born March 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Skee-Lo, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1995 song " I Wish", which became a hit in several countries and reached No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
His fi ...
, The Comrads, and
Craig Mack
Craig Jamieson Mack (May 10, 1971 – March 12, 2018) was an American rapper and record producer, and was famous during his tenure under Bad Boy Records.
Early life and career
Craig Jamieson Mack was born in The Bronx, New York, and raised on ...
. Also that year, it signed a deal with
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...
to launch ''
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad
''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' (or, in short, ''SSSS'') is an American television series. It was produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultracom Inc. and DIC Productions, L.P., with distribution by All American Television, and ran for a duratio ...
'', which was modeled on the success of ''
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon al ...
'', for the 1994-95 syndicated TV season, using footage from ''
Gridman the Hyper Agent
, known as ''Gridman the Hyper Agent'' in some English-speaking territories, is a 1993–1994 Japanese tokusatsu " Giant Hero" series created by Tsuburaya Productions (the producers of ''Ultraman'') and would be Tsuburaya's last non-Ultra superher ...
'', from
Tsuburaya Productions
is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing t ...
and its Ultracom subsidiary.
In 1994, All American found itself once again fighting its image as a "one-show wonder" when it was forced to cancel ''Acapulco H.E.A.T.'' after half a season and
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
drama ''
Sirens
Siren or sirens may refer to:
Common meanings
* Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies
* Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology
Places
* Siren (town), Wisconsin
* Siren, Wisco ...
'' after one season on the air. In July 1994, despite rumors that Henry and Paul Siegel were fired due to their dissatisfaction with the cancellation of ''Acapulco H.E.A.T.'', All American acquired interest in worldwide game show production company Fremantle International (not to be confused with
the current incarnation of Fremantle where the rights to the original Fremantle and All American library stand today) from
Interpublic Group of Companies
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a n ...
. In exchange for a 20% stake in All American, Interpublic gave All American some of the programming rights to Fremantle International's 93 game shows, which included local language versions of popular American game shows, such as ''The Price is Right'' and ''Family Feud'' (All American syndicated ''Feud'' in the U.S. at the time), all highly popular in their foreign markets. A month later, former Fremantle chairman Larry Lamattina replaced Henry Siegel as the new president and CEO of All American Television. Henry and Paul Siegel officially left the company to form SeaGull Entertainment, which handled syndication of children's programs, and signed a deal with
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...
.
In October 1995, All American acquired 50% of the assets and library of
Mark Goodson Productions
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and ea ...
, the producers of classic game shows including ''The Price is Right'' and ''Family Feud'', which the company acquired the foreign distribution rights through Fremantle International. By 1995,
David Gerber had signed an agreement to join the studio, which was entitled All American Television Productions. In March 1996, Scotti Bros. Records, which had released some 142 albums since 1982, was officially renamed All American Music Group and announced a distribution deal with
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
that promised to increase its penetration of the
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
market. A month later, All American acquired the remaining 50% of Mark Goodson Productions from Interpublic, giving All American total ownership of the Goodson library of game shows. Two months later, All American purchased international
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
producer and distributor Orbis Entertainment Company (not to be confused with now-defunct TV syndicator
Orbis Communications
Orbis may refer to:
Companies
* Orbis Business Intelligence, a British private intelligence firm
* Orbis Technology, a British bookmaker software company now called OpenBet
* Orbis (Polish travel agency), a Polish travel agency, established in 1 ...
, although both companies were created by the same two founders Robert Turner and Ethan Podell),
["AP News Archive]
Multimedia Buys Television Programming Assets
apnewsarchive.com, Retrieved on October 19, 2013 which was renamed All American/Orbis Communications. The acquisition significantly bolstered All American's shift into international television production and distribution and led to All American's second domestic attempt into the talk genre in the fall of 1997 with ''Arthel and Fred''. Its first attempt, ''The
Richard Bey
Richard Wayne Bey (born July 22, 1951) is an American talk show host. He was popular in the 1990s as host of '' The Richard Bey Show'', a daytime talk show containing ordinary people's personal stories incorporated into entertaining competitive g ...
Show'', which originated as a local talk show at
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...
in Secaucus, NJ, was cancelled in November 1996. All-American had also distributed a show featuring popular radio shock jock
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
from 1990 to 1992 that originated at WWOR, called simply ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
''. In July 1996, All American formed an in-house licensing and merchandising division to increase control of ''Baywatch'' and other merchandise lines.
By 1997, the record label was sold to
Zomba Music Group
The Zomba Group of Companies (sometimes referred to as Zomba Music Group or just Zomba Group) was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 and was place ...
's
Volcano Records
Volcano Entertainment (sometimes referred to as Volcano Records) was an American all-round music record label founded in 1996 which released albums by Tool, 311, Size 14, Survivor and "Weird Al" Yankovic. (The latter two were former Scotti Bros. ...
. Meanwhile, All American was sold to
Pearson plc
Pearson plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England.
It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s.J. A. Spende ...
's Pearson Television subsidiary, and All American became Pearson Television's U.S. division. When Pearson Television merged with CLT-UFA to form the
RTL Group
RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and ...
in 2000, Pearson TV became the content production arm of the new group, then changed its name to FremantleMedia the next year, and eventually in 2018 renamed into Fremantle, thus reviving the name of that acquired companies.
Current status of the All American libraries
Today, the current incarnation of Fremantle (formerly FremantleMedia) holds the rights to the All American and LBS libraries, as well as the old Fremantle International library of game shows, and the Orbis Entertainment library of talk shows. Vinnedge remained with the company for several years after, including replacing
Bob Barker
Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's ''The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American televis ...
as executive producer of ''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' for the first several years after Barker's retirement in 2007; he has since retired.
See also
*
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
*
Lexington Broadcast Services Company
The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company formed on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel, w ...
References
External links
Company history at fundinguniverse.com
{{Authority control
RTL Group
Former Bertelsmann subsidiaries
Defunct mass media companies of the United States
Television production companies of the United States
Mass media companies established in 1981
Television syndication distributors
Mass media companies disestablished in 1998
Companies based in Santa Monica, California