Page "Paramount Pictures" Paragraph 16

With the separation of production and exhibition forced by the U. S. Supreme Court, Paramount Pictures Inc. was split in two.

Paramount Pictures Corporation was formed to be the production distribution company, with the 1, 500-screen theater chain handed to the new United Paramount Theaters on December 31, 1949.

Leonard Goldenson, who had headed the chain since 1938, remained as the new company's president.

The Balaban and Katz theatre division was spun off with UPT ; its trademark eventually became the property of the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation.

The Foundation has recently acquired ownership of the Famous Players Trademark.

Cash-rich and controlling prime downtown real estate, Goldenson began looking for investments.

Barred from film-making by prior anti-trust rulings, he acquired the struggling ABC television network in February 1953, leading it first to financial health, and eventually, in the mid-1970s, to first place in the national Nielsen ratings, before selling out to Capital Cities in 1985 ( Capital Cities would eventually sell out, in turn, to the Walt Disney organization in 1996 ).

United Paramount Theaters was renamed ABC Theaters in 1965 and was sold to businessman Henry Plitt in 1974.

The movie theater chain was renamed Plitt Theaters.

In 1985, Cineplex Odeon Corporation merged with Plitt.

In later years, Paramount's TV division would develop a strong relationship with ABC, providing many hit series to the network.