1889: Columbia Records formed
1908: Paramount Studios created by W. W. Hodgkinson
1916: Famous
Players cinema chain buys Paramount
1924: Publishing company Simon & Schuster founded
1927:
CBS formed
1928: William S. Paley buys CBS
1938: CBS buys Columbia Records
1946:
United Paramount Theatres are established
1954: Sumner Redstone controls National Amusements Inc
1963: CBS is the first to come to the UK
1965: CBS buys New York
Yankees
1966: Gulf + Western buys Paramount
1968: CBS-Sony if founded in Japan
1971: Viacom formed
1979: Viacom buys WAST-TV
1980: Viacom buys Egmont Sonderling broadcasting group
1982: HBO, Columbia Pictures, and CBS form Tri-Star Pictures
Viacom donates WWRL radio to United Negro College Fund
1985: Laurence Tisch buys 25% of CBS
Blockbuster founded
1987: NAI buys most of the interest in Viacom
Blockbuster bought by Wayne Huizenga
1988: Blockbuster buys Video-Library chain, increases number of stores
Sony Corp buys CBS Records' for $2 billion
1990: Blockbuster buys out several video chains, stores exceed 1,500
1992: Blockbuster buys Cityvision and becomes largest video renter in UK
Blockbuster begins music "Megastore" after buying 2 major music stores
1993: Blockbuster buys 35% of Republic Pictures
Blockbuster Entertainment Corp invests $600 million in
Viacom
Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries announce plans to launch a new
broadcast network
Paramount Publishing announces plans to buy Macmillan Publishing
Company
1994: Viacom, in agreement with PanAmSat, announces multi-transponder,
multi-satellite agreement
Simon & Schuster acquires Markt & Technik
Showtime and Castle Rock agree on a multi-year, 50-picture output
deal
Blockbuster invests 1.25 billion in Viacom, this buys Blockbuster for
$8.4 billion
Viacom and Paramount announce $8.4 billion merger
Viacom sells its 33% of Lifetime to Hearst corporation and ABC
Viacom sells Madison Square Garden for $1.075 billion
Viacom sells KRRT-TV San Antonio, WLFL-TV Raleigh/Durham and
WTXF-TV Philadelphia
Viacom buys WGBS-TV Philadelphia, WBFS-TV Miami and WSBK-TV
Boston
Viacom sells Prentice Hall Law & Business to Wolters Kluwer
1995: Viacom acquires 20% stake in Byron Preiss Multimedia
Viacom launches sams.net
Viacom buys Atlanta station WVEU-TV
Viacom sells KSLA-TV in Shreveport
Viacom acquires Grupo Mexicano de Video, which operates 100 stores
Viacom spins off TCI
MTV Radio Network launched
Sold Spelling Entertainment
Westinghouse Electric buys CBS
1996: Viacom buys the Waite Group
Blockbuster starts using stored value giftcards
MTV begins 24-hour programming in India
Blockbuster opens store in Ecuador
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co launched
Jossey-Bass acquires Pfeiffer & Company
Nickelodeon buys Barron Pfeiffer
Radio MTV premiers in Los Angeles, CA
Blockbuster gains 50 stores in Chile and 22 in Australia
Blockbuster buys Christianshavn Video in Denmark
First Blockbuster opens up in El Salvador and Portugal
Paramount acquiers WTOG-TV and UPN in Tampa after a switch w/
Hubbard
Viacom buys 50% of MTV Brasil from Abril
Blockbuster gains 141 stores in Eire and 76 in Northern Ireland
Viacom became public with it's plans for 50% ownership in UPN
Westinghouse sells Knoll furniture business
CBS buys Infinity radio broadcasting & outdoor advertising for $4.7
billion
Blockbuster acquires all retail operations of Video Invest Espanol SA
1997: Westinghouse Electric changes name to CBS
Spelling Entertainment sells its majority interest in Virgin Interactive
Entertainment
Blockbuster opens first store in Taiwan
MTV launched in Australia
Viacom's equity in Spelling increases to 80%
Paramount Stations Group swaps stations in Tacoma and St. Louis with
Cox Broadcasting and Belo
Paramount sells ten-stations Radio Group to Chancellor Media
South Park
Paramount Stations Group increases to 17 stations
Westinghouse changes name to CBS, sells hardware operations
CBS buys American Radio System chain for $2.6 billion, increases
stations to 175
Viacom sells interest in USA Networks to Seagram
Cinamerica Theaters joint venture of Viacom and Time Warner
sold to WestStar Holdings
Blockbuster buys 39 Video Flicks stores in Australia
Blockbuster Gemini joint-venture to develop 65 stores in Poland
1998: Las Vegas Star Trek theme park opens
Spelling Films closes
CBS sells 17% of Infinity Broadcasting for $2.9 billion
1999: CBS buys King World Productions for $2.5 billion
Viacom buys CBS for $50 billion
2001: Viacom buys The Music Factory from Wegener
Click here for the time line provided by Viacom