Desilu International/Paramount Television International/Paramount International Television (1962–2006) The division as well as
Paramount International Television was originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division of
Desilu Productions,
Desilu International, which was managed by
Bruce Gordon. The company co-produced
The Lost Islands with the Ten Network (now
Network 10) in 1975. Network 10 and this division have been in common ownership since 2019 after the
ViacomCBS re-merger. In 1983, it acquired distribution rights to the Australian miniseries,
Return to Eden. In 1967, Desilu was sold to
Gulf+Western, the then-owners of the film studio
Paramount Pictures, adding international television to its well-known film operations. Gulf+Western rebranded the division as
Paramount Television International to handle international sales of Desilu/Paramount properties from
Paramount Television. The following year, John Pearson, who had run Desilu/Paramount's international operations, was fired. He proceeded to form his own company, John Pearson International, whose purpose was continue distributing the sitcom ''
Here's Lucy'' for the international market. In 1987, the company, along with
MCA TV International, signed an agreement with
China Central Television (CCTV), to offer a total of 100 drama hours. The deal, the largest license ever granted to Chinese television in that era, made the two Hollywood studios the largest suppliers of foreign production for that country. In 1990, it briefly considered an investment in Australia's
Nine Network. In 1986, Paramount Television International formed a partnership that would exploit the rights to the
Madison Square Garden properties. In 1995, Paramount International Television launched a joint venture to be headed by Peter Press. In 1998, James Dowaliby was tapped to be vice president of production and Christopher Ottinger was named vice president of business development at the division. Later that year, Paramount announced plans to enter international co-production. In 2000, the division was touted to develop and co-produce
Jeremiah with
Lions Gate Television, but was replaced by
MGM Television.
CBS Broadcast International (1981–2007) In 1981, CBS launched its international division,
CBS Broadcast International, to sell news, sports and entertainment programming produced in-house to foreign markets as well as non-broadcast and new technology markets in the United States. It eventually merged into
CBS Worldwide Enterprises and later incorporated into its marketing unit
CBS Productions (unrelated to
the later company of the same name) with
CBS Theatrical Films in August 1984. In the summer of 1985, CBS Productions, CBS News and Columbia House partnered to produce a videocassette
The Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite. Later that year, CBS shut down its theatrical production unit and CBS Broadcast International spun-out from the production unit, restoring the
CBS Broadcast International moniker in the process. In 1985, it sold a package of its productions to
China Central Television, in an attempt at introducing TV series and sports from the western world, as Chinese television had limited international content at the time. It planned to provide the
CBS Evening News bulletins to UK-based
British Satellite Broadcasting in 1988. CBS Broadcast International produced syndicated episodes of the television series,
The Twilight Zone in 1985. It then signed a partnership agreement with
MGM/UA Telecommunications 2 years later to syndicate its episodes from all 2 seasons with 30 new first-run episodes to form a 90-episode syndication package. On 28 October that same year,
CBS Broadcast International announced its acquisition of television and ancillary market rights to four Academy Award/Oscar-winning films produced by
Arthur Cohn such as
Dangerous Moves,
Black and White in Color,
The Garden of the Finzi Continis and
The Sky Above, The Mud Below. It also announced plans to pick up the bulletins of
CBS Evening News with Dan Rather which would place it on a tape-delayed basis on international channel
Tele Monte Carlo. CBS Broadcast International launched a global programming alliance with Virgin Media Television in 1997. That following year, Stephanie Pacheco was named the managing director of international sales of the division.
CBS Paramount International Television (2004–2009) CBS Broadcast International and
Paramount International Television merged on August 11, 2004 to create
CBS Paramount International Television and would be headed by Armando Nuarez Jr. The division was transferred to
CBS Corporation when CBS spun off from Viacom on January 1, 2006, with television rights to the films from its sister company,
Paramount Pictures, obtained by
Trifecta Entertainment and Media. With the December 4, 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom, the television rights to Paramount's films were brought back to the now-combined Paramount Global. The company distributes television content from the libraries of CBS Studios, the
King World Productions and certain
HBO shows internationally the
Rysher Entertainment library, the latter owned domestically by
2929 Entertainment.
CBS Studios International (2009–2019) In May 2009, CPITV was renamed CBS Studios International. On 14 September that year, CBS Studios International struck a joint venture deal with
Chellomedia to launch six CBS-branded channels in the UK which would replace
Zone Romantica,
Zone Thriller, Zone Horror and
Zone Reality, plus timeshift services Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1. The replacement channels launched on 16 November that year. On 5 April 2010, Zone Horror and Zone Horror +1 were rebranded as
Horror Channel and Horror Channel +1 respectively. CBS Studios International licensed rights for the top international formats. In 2010, CBS Studios International went into an equal joint venture with Reliance Broadcast Network Limited to form
Big CBS Networks Pvt. Ltd. At the time, the network operated 3 main channels;
Big CBS Prime, a general entertainment channel,
Big CBS Spark, a youth-oriented channel and
Big CBS Love, a women's and urban couple-oriented channel. In January 2011, CBS Studios International partnered with Australian company,
Ten Network Holdings, to launch digital free-to-air channel known as
Eleven and would hold a 33% stake in its joint-venture holding company, ElevenCo. Ten Network Holdings entered voluntary administration in June 2017 which ultimately led to CBS acquiring the entirety of the company that November. On 1 August 2012, Chellomedia revealed that the European versions of
Zone Romantica,
Zone Reality and
Club would be rebranded respectively as
CBS Drama,
CBS Reality and
CBS Action.
ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group/Paramount Global Content Distribution (2019–present) Following the December 4,
2019 merger of CBS and Viacom to create ViacomCBS, CBS Studios International and Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution merged and rebranded to
ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group. On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS rebranded as
Paramount Global, rebranding the division likewise to its current name and restoring the "Paramount" name in television for the first time in 16 years.
ViacomCBS International Studios was folded into the company later in 2022. ==Past activities==