- Universal Pictures Movie Studio. In reaction to Thomas Edison's creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company in New York in 1909, Universal Pictures opened in Hollywood in Los Angeles in 1912, on the other side of the country.
One of the original "Little Three" major minor studios during the 1930s and 1940s, having about a 7% market share, it never owned more than small theatre circuits during these years. In the 1950s and 1960s the company was sold to MCA, and ultimately Comcast (see below) in 2013.
Universal's Market Share in US and Canada in 2021 was 14%.
- Radio NBC started out as Radio Corporation America with RCA initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. In 1926, RCA formed the National Broadcasting Company NBC with two New York stations WEAF (started in 1922 with the initials thought to be Western Electric, AT&T, Fone) and WJZ (started in 1921 (in New Jersey) by Westinghouse-RCA, and since 1953 known as WABC). In 1932 RCA became independent, after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit.
TV Following many years of experimental transmission starting in 1928, in 1939 RCA opened TV station W2XBS (since 1960 WNBC) at the opening of the New York's World Fair.
In 1986 General Electric reacquired RCA (and NBC) and sold off its Radio networks.
In 2004 amid a major financial crisis caused by over-expansion, Universal Studios' parent company, a division of the French company Vivendi Universal, sold an 80% stake to NBC's parent company General Electric, forming NBC Universal.
In 2013 Comcast (Xfinity) the largest cable TV and home ISP company in the US, purchased NBC Universal from General Electric.
In 1953 a spin-off company Paramount Theatres purchased struggling Radio and Television network ABC. ABC had initially been started in 1927 as an NBC-operated radio network called the NBC Blue Network. It became independent in 1943, renaming itself as ABC and launching its first TV station in Philadelphia in 1948. In 1954, AB-PT made a deal with Walt Disney to provide capital for his proposed Disneyland amusement park.
Following major success in the 1970s, ABC was purchased by the much smaller company Capital Cities in 1986. It was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1996.
In 1976 Paramount launched Showtime cable television, competing with Home Box Office HBO, see below under Warners.
Paramount also had close ties with Radio and Television Broadcasting network CBS on and off through the years and the two companies merged in 2019. CBS had just purchased Channel 10 in Australia, in 2017.
Paramount's Market Share in US and Canada in 2021 was 6%.
In 1972, Warner Brothers became Warner Communications, purchasing a number of major cable channels. In 1991 it merged with Time, becoming Time Warner, and in the process acquired HBO (Home Box Office), the original cable movie channel founded in 1972. In 1996 Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting System with distribution rights to all of Ted Turner's classic movie library from MGM, see MGM below.
In 2018 Time Warner was acquired by AT&T briefly, before its sale and merger with Discovery in April 2022.
Market Share in US and Canada in 2021 was 14%.
In 2019 Disney purchased 21st Century-Fox and its Market Share in US and Canada in 2021 became 25%. 20th Century Fox had been renamed 21st Century Fox in 2013.
Fox Films arrived in Hollywood in 1916 from New Jersey. Fox merged with 20th Century Pictures to form
In 1985 it was purchased by News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch) founder of the
News Corporation has retained the FOX TV network after the sale of the studios to Disney.