Exactly who owned what?

[bk77]

I know back in the 60's and 70's and maybe well into the 80's, the big three networks ( CBS, ABC and NBC ) owned a LOT more than just their networks and their O&O stations but my dad swears that he can remember when CBS owned a part of JC Penney while NBC had a stake in Hertz Rent-A-Car. Any of this true?

I know about the networks having their own record companies in the past but did ABC at one point owned some movie theatres as well? Should be interesting to learn exactly what did ABC, CBS and NBC owned over the years before Disney, Viacom and Universal, that had little if anything to do with broadcasting.

 

[RicoGregg]

I seem to remember reading a long time ago that NBC owned Hertz.

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

 

[bpatrick]

I think NBC owned Random House, whose president
was Bennett Cerf. I know NBC wasn't happy about
his appearing every week on "What's My Line?" on CBS.
"Let it be," he once said, "it won't last forever." He was
right; CBS canceled "Line" in 1967 and he was sort of a
semi-regular on syndicated "Line" from 1968 to his death
in 1971.

 

[wbhist]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

 

[mleach]

I have been told a long time ago that NBC for a brief time had a piece of both the Denver-based Joslins Department Store chain and the Kansas City-based Jones Store Company. I remember when Joslins had the "NBC studio" department and I believe it was the same with Jones Store too. Both chains are now defunct.

On the flip side of this is those who "claim" the networks are tied into something when they really aren't. I remember back in the early 80s, some people were trying to link CBS with Hustler Magazine saying that Larry Flynt "owned shares" in CBS stock and will soon "take over CBS" while Hugh Hefner was supposed to do the same with NBC. Yeah right !!! ABC/Disney? They had their "rumored to be associated with porn" moment as well when a few years back Focus On The Family tried to link them to Bear Films Inc. ( a porn company ). Ah it didn't work.

For some reason I seem to remember hearing that FOX was looking at buying Detroit's Bob-Lo Island Amusement Park back in the early 90s in hopes to turn that into a park based on characters from FOX TV shows. I can see rides with a Simpsons theme but Married...with Children? Anyway that never did happen and Bob-Lo today is just a memory in Detroit.

 

[cowboybud]

CBS owned Columbia and Epic records, and the Columbia House record club.

 

[allthatisdaveaz]

RCA, parent of NBC, owned Hertz from 1967-85:

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/The-Hertz-Corporation-Company-History.html

I seem to remember reading a long time ago that NBC owned Hertz.

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

 

[KeithE4]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

One can also say that about the quality of baseball played in Yankee pinstripes during CBS's run as owner. ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

CBS also owned Pacific Stereo - a large chain of electronics stores along the lines of Circuit City. Given their name, they may have been just a west coast chain. They were one of the first big electronics chains to go under - at least a decade ago. I don't know if CBS owned Pacific Stereo at the time of their demise, or not.

 

[radioman148]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

One can also say that about the quality of baseball played in Yankee pinstripes during CBS's run as owner. ;D

So very true they were among their worst years.

 

[bpatrick]

CBS also owned Pacific Stereo - a large chain of electronics stores along the lines of Circuit City. Given their name, they may have been just a west coast chain. They were one of the first big electronics chains to go under - at least a decade ago. I don't know if CBS owned Pacific Stereo at the time of their demise, or not.

We had Pacific Stereo in Dallas in the late '70s, so I
know the chain went at least that far east.

Someone mentioned CBS's owning Columbia Records,
which they bought in 1938. Columbia Records was
an early investor in CBS (maybe even as far back as
when CBS was called United Independent Broadcasters,
I'm not sure). I know that, for a brief time in 1928, the
network was known as CPBS (Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting
System), but with the network--pre-Paley--losing money,
Columbia pulled out, but allowed the Columbia name to remain,
hence CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). Robert Metz,
in his 1970s-era book, "CBS: Reflections In A Bloodshot Eye,"
has a lot of interesting information about the early, pre-Paley,
days of the network.

 

[RicoGregg]

Perhaps this is nitpicking on my part, but George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees from CBS in 1973 - for $6 million! They're probably worth over a billion today! George did all right for himself!

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

One can also say that about the quality of baseball played in Yankee pinstripes during CBS's run as owner. ;D

And while speaking of the CBS ownership of the Yankees, don't forget the organization's 1966 firing of legendary announcer Red Barber after pointing out all the empty seats at Yankee Stadium during a game ('66 was the first season the Yankees finished last in the AL since before Babe Ruth joined the team in 1920).

Here's an article on the Barber firing:

http://armchairgm.wikia.com/Article:The_Yankees_Didn't_like_the_Truth

 

[RicoGregg]

A little touch of irony: In 1953, ABC loaned Walt Disney $17 million to help him build Disneyland. They also got exclusive TV rights to Disney programming. If Disney had defaulted on the loan, ABC would have wound up owning the Walt Disney Company. Now, who owns who?

 

[bpatrick]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

One can also say that about the quality of baseball played in Yankee pinstripes during CBS's run as owner. ;D

And while speaking of the CBS ownership of the Yankees, don't forget the organization's 1966 firing of legendary announcer Red Barber after pointing out all the empty seats at Yankee Stadium during a game ('66 was the first season the Yankees finished last in the AL since before Babe Ruth joined the team in 1920).

Here's an article on the Barber firing:

http://armchairgm.wikia.com/Article:The_Yankees_Didn't_like_the_Truth

Somebody correct me, but didn't the Yankees beat the Cardinals in
the '64 World Series, then finish last in '65 (the first year under CBS
ownership)? In fact, I think they finished last nearly every year
before CBS sold the team to Steinbrenner. I also remember the last
year Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese did the CBS Saturday Game Of
The Week it was all Yankees games; the title was even changed to
"Yankee Baseball Game Of The Week." I doubt if many people outside
New York watched.

 

[kirkiefan]

CBS owned the New York Yankees from 1964-76 before selling to George Steinbrenner.

CBS also owned Fender Guitars for a few decades after 1965; electric guitar aficionados noted a massive drop in quality of the guitars manufactured under the Fender name during CBS's run as owner.

It was known as CBS Musical Instruments which also owned Rogers Drums and the Rhodes(Rheem) electric pianos. Not too good of quality when they owned it. When I played drums in the high school band in the early 70s,we boasted our Rogers Drums were manufactured in the late 1960s,hence they were "pre-CBS" as did Tia Carrere (as Cassandra in the Wayne's World movie) mentioned a Fender Stratocaster in the music store as "a pre-CBS with a whammy bar."

 

[KeithE4]

Somebody correct me, but didn't the Yankees beat the Cardinals in the '64 World Series, then finish last in '65 (the first year under CBS ownership)? In fact, I think they finished last nearly every year before CBS sold the team to Steinbrenner.

The Cardinals beat the Yankees in 7 games in 1964. They finished 77-85 (6th place out of 10) in 1965, and 70-89 in 1966, finishing last for the first time since 1912. They finished 9th in 1967 (the year the hated Red Sox won the Pennant for the first time since 1946). They finished last (out of 7 teams) in 1990, but that's the only time since '66.

I also remember the last year Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese did the CBS Saturday Game Of
The Week it was all Yankees games; the title was even changed to "Yankee Baseball Game Of The Week." I doubt if many people outside New York watched.

IIRC, they still had decent viewership, especiallyi considering that the games (and ABC's 1965 GOTW telecasts as well - the ones that had left CBS when they bought the Yankees) were blacked out in MLB markets, which was about 1/3 of the country. The blackout ended in 1966.

The appeal had to mostly be because of Dean and his "grasp" of the English language, or an unreasonable facsimile thereof. For those of you too young to remember, compared to Dizzy "He slud into third base" Dean, Yogi Berra speaks the King's English. Dean was there for entertainment value. Reese was the guy with the baseball knowledge and insight.

The team certainly wasn't worth watching, unless one wanted to see them lose pretty consistently. Then again, that was a lot of fun, wasn't it? ;D

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I also remember the last year Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese did the CBS Saturday
Game Of The Week it was all Yankees games; the title was even changed to
"Yankee Baseball Game Of The Week." I doubt if many people outside New York
watched.

So similar to now and the past few seasons.

What, you've never heard of Yankees/Red Sox Saturday Baseball on Fox? ;D

 

[KeithE4]

I also remember the last year Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese did the CBS Saturday
Game Of The Week it was all Yankees games; the title was even changed to
"Yankee Baseball Game Of The Week." I doubt if many people outside New York
watched.

So similar to now and the past few seasons.

What, you've never heard of Yankees/Red Sox Saturday Baseball on Fox? ;D

I've heard of Yankees/Red Sox Sunday Night Baseball on the Eastern Seaboard Partisan Network. ;D