Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American

television program 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 advertising, e ...

and

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the

ABC Television Network The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Califor ...

. They primarily licensed programs from independent producers, rather than producing their own content.

History

ABC Films Syndication

In spring 1954,

American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (originally United Paramount Theatres, later the American Broadcasting Companies and ABC Television) was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Thea ...

, Inc. created ABC Films Syndication, Inc. (AFS), or ABC Films, a subsidiary headed by George Shupert, which specialized in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

and in-house program production. By , AFS formed a 50/50 joint venture production company, Rabco Productions, with Hal Roach Jr. In , AFS announced an expansion in production and sales staff for the year. Five new properties were acquired by the company and all received pilots, with two set for syndication if not placed nationally. Two were to be produced by John Gibbs and Meridian Pictures, '' Renfrew of the Mounted'' and ''

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...

'', while Rabco's Bernard Fox was assigned with ''Forest Ranger''. The two pilots set for production were ''The Americano'', directed by Martin Gosch and filmed in Spain, and ''The Force'' produced by

Victor Stoloff Victor Stoloff (1913–2009) was a Russian Empire-born American Hollywood director, producer and screenplay writer who worked in film and television. In 1943, Stoloff and Edgar Loew were nominated for an Academy Award in the category "Best Document ...

about the plain clothed Canadian Mounties division. Two shows, '' Code 3'' and ''The Three Musketeers'' were already under production for syndication. One of AFS's earliest successes was ''

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine, originally published primarily by Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She was the first female comic book character with her own title, with her ...

'', produced largely in Mexico by

Nassour Studios Metromedia Square (later known as Fox Television Center from 1986 to 1996) was a radio and television studio facility located at 5746 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on the southeastern corner of Sunset and Van Ness Avenue ...

and starring

Irish McCalla Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla (December 25, 1928 – February 1, 2002) was an American film and television actress and artist best known as the title star of the 1950s television series ''Sheena, Queen of the Jungle''. She co-starred with act ...

as the comic-book heroine. Even though only 26 episodes were filmed, the series ran for years in reruns on local stations, in kiddie-show time slots. In 1959, ABC International created Worldvision Enterprises to syndicate programs for overseas markets.

Henry G. Plitt Henry G. Plitt (1918 – January 26, 1993) was an American businessman and war hero who founded Plitt Theatres. Biography Plitt was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in New York City. He graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University and ...

, previously president of Paramount Gulf Theatres, became president of the company in February 1959, replacing Shupert after he left for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. Kevin O’Sullivan later became president of the company.

Worldvision Enterprises

In 1971, the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

barred the participation of networks in the syndication of their own programs, though this rule was eliminated by 1993. Worldvision Enterprises was formed by five former ABC Films executives to purchase the network's syndication assets on March 30, 1973. In 1974, Charles Fries and his Alpine Productions company had struck a distribution contract with the studio. Worldvision had obtained good relations from the Big Three networks who produced it, notably

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 ...

, who produced ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

'', and CBS, who produced ''

Spencer's Pilots ''Spencer's Pilots'' is an American adventure series that aired on CBS from September 17 to November 19, 1976. Created by Larry Rosen and developed by Alvin Sapinsley, the series stars Gene Evans.''The Tuscaloosa News'' (via Associated Press ...

'', which Worldvision distributed for international syndication. On November 7, 1981, Worldvision launched a home video subsidiary Worldvision Home Video, Inc., which was enabled to distribute its own videocassette titles, most notably its Hanna-Barbera cartoon product, the

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

' ''Golf My Way'' instructional video series, as well as the QM Productions library, with Albert Hartigan headed executive vice president and Martin Weinstein as the sales manager of the company. Worldvision has been owned by many companies over the years. The growth of its

division was primarily under the ownership of

Taft Broadcasting The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the Taft family, family of William Howard Taft, the 27th Presid ...

, which acquired the company in 1979. The sale was first announced in November 1978. As a result of Taft's purchase of Worldvision, Taft merged its syndicated arms Taft H-B Program Sales and Taft H-B International into the company. In 1981, Worldvision launched subsidiary Evergreen Programs to generate sales of its own programming already aired by networks and stations. In October 1987, Taft's assets including Worldvision were acquired by Great American Communications. Television producer

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

, attempting to find an outlet to distribute his programs, attempted to buy Worldvision from Great American, but chief company shareholder Carl H. Lindner told Spelling that he was not interested in selling the company.Interview with Aaron Spelling
''Archive of American Television'' (November 18/24, 1999). Lindner did agree to sell Worldvision to Spelling Productions for 50% of Spelling, Inc., the combined company, in 1988. The merger was finalized on March 1, 1989. In 1994, Worldvision's home video division was folded into

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

's Home Video division after Spelling Entertainment's purchase of Republic in the same year. Also that same year,

Blockbuster Inc. Blockbuster LLC, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, was an American-based provider of home video and video game rental services. Services were offered primarily at video rental shops, but later alternatives included DVD-by-mail, streaming med ...

, operator of the now-defunct video store chain, briefly held a controlling interest in Spelling, and its logo appeared on programs alongside Worldvision's. When Spelling Entertainment Group merged with

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

on May 26, 1999, Worldvision's operations were folded into

Paramount Domestic Television Paramount Domestic Television (PDT) was the television distribution arm of American television production company Paramount Television, once the TV arm of Paramount Pictures. It was formed in 1982 originally as Paramount Domestic Television and V ...

, then given over to

CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...

at the start of 2006 when Viacom and CBS were split into different companies. On December 4, 2019, CBS Corporation and

remerged into a single entity as ViacomCBS (which eventually renamed into

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

), which currently distributes the Worldvision library through

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...

Legal issues with World Vision International

The company's logo, as it appeared at the end of the programs it distributed, carried the following disclaimer: "Not Affiliated with

World Vision International World Vision International is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization. It prefers to present itself as interdenominational and also employs staff from non-evangelical Christian denominations. It was fo ...

, a Religious and Charitable Organization." This was because, in the mid-1970s, the charity sued the company for its use of the "Worldvision" name, which eventually led to

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may o ...

(a similar issue has existed for decades between

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

and

Burlington Industries Burlington Industries, formerly Burlington Mills, is a diversified American fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded by J. Spencer Love in Burlington, North Carolina in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexi ...

, both independently and as a brand asset). They eventually settled, with Worldvision allowed to continue using the name for the syndication company, provided that a disclaimer was included to distance itself from

, which was implemented starting in 1974.

References

{{Authority control American Broadcasting Company American companies established in 1954 American companies disestablished in 1999 Mass media companies established in 1954 Mass media companies disestablished in 1999 Television syndication distributors CBS Media Ventures Taft Broadcasting Defunct companies of the United States 1954 establishments in New York (state) 1999 disestablishments in California Paramount Global subsidiaries 1979 mergers and acquisitions 1987 mergers and acquisitions 1989 mergers and acquisitions 1999 mergers and acquisitions