ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks

In 1977, Warner Cable Communications is founded. In 1979, Warner Communications, alongside card firm American Express, formed a joint-venture company renamed Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment; and it consists of Warner-Amex Cable (later became Warner Cable/Time Warner Cable, became part of Charter Communications), and eventually Nickelodeon (formerly Pinwheel), Bravo (in a joint with Cablevision's Rainbow Media (now AMC Networks), later sold to them, now owned by NBCUniversal), MTV (formerly Sight on Sound), VH1 (channel spot originally Turner's Cable Music Channel), and The Movie Channel (which later merged with Viacom's Showtime in 1983 to become Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc.). Warner-Amex Cable division even owned the QUBE interactive cable service as well.

On July 18, 1985, Warner Communications made the decision to divest Nickelodeon, MTV, and VH1 into a public corporation called MTV Networks, Inc..[2]

On August 27, 1985, Warner sold 31% of MTV Networks to Viacom, with Warner also selling 19% of its Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. joint to Viacom as well.[3]

In November 1985, Viacom bought MTV Networks for $326 million from Warner and American Express.[4] This led to Viacom becoming a mass media company rather than simply a distribution company. and ending Warner's venture into cable television until it acquired HBO and Cinemax as part of its merger with Time Inc.. Time Warner would also through the purchase of the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS, TNT, CNN and Cartoon Network) in 1996. Warner retained Warner Cable (later renamed Time Warner Cable after Warner Communications merger with Time Inc. to form Time Warner in 1990),[5] which was later spun-off into a separate company in 2009. That unit would eventually become part of Spectrum, a subsidiary of Charter Communications.

In 2000, following Viacom's acquisition of CBS Corporation, The Nashville Network and CMT, the two channels owned by CBS by that time under CBS Cable, became part of MTV Networks, with The Nashville Network becoming The National Network.

In 2001, Viacom purchased Washington-based Black Entertainment Television, and integrated it into MTV Networks, which later separated BET from MTV to a new group BET Networks.

In 2002, Viacom acquired Sesame Workshop's shares of Noggin (now Nick Jr. Channel), and folded it under Nickelodeon Networks division of MTV Networks.

In 2003, Comedy Central became part of MTV Networks after Viacom's acquisition of the remaining shares of the latter from Time Warner. The joint dates back to 1991, when HA! and Time Warner's The Comedy Channel merged.

In 2005, the company announced plans of looking into splitting into two publicly traded companies under the continuing ownership of National Amusements because of a stagnating stock price. The internal rivalry between Les Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of CBS and MTV Networks respectively, and the controversy of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which resulted in MTV being banned from producing any more Super Bowl halftime shows, were also seen as factors. After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as chairman and chief executive officer, decided to split the offices of president and chief operating officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him. The split was approved by Viacom's board on June 14, 2005.

In January 2006, the remnants of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (MTV Networks and Showtime Networks) were separated following Viacom's split into two entities: CBS Corporation, which retained Showtime Networks (Showtime, The Movie Channel, and Flix), and a spun-off company under the Viacom name, which took ownership of Paramount Pictures, BET Networks and MTV Networks (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and VH1).

MTV Networks was renamed Viacom Media Networks in 2011.

In the fall of 2012, media analysts began to report that ratings among some of Viacom's leading brands in the U.S were experiencing declines in viewership.[6][7] MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon were of most concern to investors as the three account for roughly 50% of Viacom's operating profit, estimated David Bank of RBC Capital Markets.

In 2017, Viacom announced a five-point restructuring plan, in which the company would pour most of its resources behind six "flagship brands". These were MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., BET, and Paramount Pictures.[8][9][10][11] In February 2017, cable channels CMT and TV Land were moved from the Kids and Family Group to the Global Entertainment Group under Kevin Kay, joining up with Spike TV.[12] During the same month, it was announced that Spike would be relaunched as Paramount Network in 2018, aligning with the namesake film studio and being positioned as Viacom's main general entertainment outlet.[13][14]

In October 2018, Kevin Kay was announced to be leaving his position as head of the Entertainment Group. CMT was transferred from the Entertainment Group to the Music Group under president Chris McCarthy, with his exit. Executive Kent Alterman would take charge of Paramount Network and TV Land to go with his current leadership of Comedy Central and Bellator MMA.[15]

In 2019, after acquiring the free streaming service Pluto TV, Viacom would launch several channels on the service branded after its Media Networks and company-owned IP.[16][17][18][19]

In August 2019, Viacom announced that it would re-merge with CBS Corporation, reuniting the two entities under the new name ViacomCBS.[20][21] The merger closed in early December 2019.[22][23] Announced on November 11, 2019, as part of the re-merger, the Media Networks division was renamed ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, and reorganized. MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo were reorganized into the "Entertainment & Youth Group",[24] with the addition of Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, and TV Land. BET Networks was merged with Showtime Networks under CEO David Nevins, who also temporarily gained oversight of Pop TV;[25] Pop TV was transferred to the Entertainment & Youth Group on January 15, 2020.[26] In October 2020, the Entertainment & Youth Group was renamed MTV Entertainment Group.

• Nick Gas (1999–2009)
• VH1 Uno (2000–08)
• NickMom (2012–15)
• The N (2002-09)
• TEENick (2001-09)
• SNICK (1992-2005)
• Showtime Beyond (1999-2020)
• Noggin (TV Channel) (1998-2009)

¹Channel was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment originally tested as Sight on Sound until 1981 when it was officially launched as MTV.

²Channel started as Ha!, merged with HBO's The Comedy Channel the following year, became fully owned by Viacom in 2003.

³Originally TNN from 1983 to 2003 (as The Nashville Network until 1997; as The National Network until 2003) and was known as Spike until January 2018. Will relaunch as Paramount Movie Network in 2021.

⁴Channel was originally known as VH1 MegaHits before being discontinued in July 2005 to facilitate Logo launch.

⁵Channel originally owned by CBS, became part of MTV Networks when CBS merged with Viacom.

⁶Created as VH1 Country prior to Viacom/CBS merger.

⁷Channel was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment originally tested as Pinwheel until 1979 when it was officially launched as Nickelodeon.

⁸Channel was originally known as Noggin before being rebranded as Nick Jr. in 2009. Co-owned with Sesame Workshop from 1999 to 2002.

⁹Channel was originally known as MTV Hits before being rebranded as NickMusic on September 9, 2016.

¹⁰Channel was originally known as Nicktoons TV until 2003 when it was rebranded as Nicktoons which was rebranded again as Nicktoons Network in 2005 and finally rebranded yet again as Nicktoons once more in 2009.

¹¹Channel was originally known as The N before being rebranded as TeenNick in 2009.

¹²Channel originally owned by the first incarnation of Viacom, and earlier with former partner Warner-Amex, and later became part of CBS Corporation following Viacom's split in 2006. Showtime was established in 1976, and The Movie Channel was established in 1973 as Star Channel, and relaunched under its current name in 1979.

¹³Channel was originally co-owned by CBS Corporation through Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution until November 7, 2019, when the Institution sold its equity interest to Showtime.[27]

¹⁴Channel was originally a block on Nick at Nite.

¹⁵Previously owned by CBS Corporation, and prior to 2019, half of the share owned by Lionsgate. Formerly known as TVGN, and TV Guide Network.

¹⁶Established by Viacom's Showtime Networks in 1992, and later became part of CBS Corporation following Viacom's split in 2006.

¹⁷Channel was formerly Showtime Beyond from 1999 and was discontinued on July 15, 2020.

¹⁸Channel was originally known as "Star Channel" until it was bought by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment before becoming "The Movie Channel" in 1979.

¹⁹Channel was originally known as VH1 Smooth before being relaunched as VH1 Classic Rock on August 1, 1999. The channel was renamed VH1 Classic in 2000 and was later rebranded as MTV Classic on August 1, 2016.

²⁰Channel was originally known as Music: High Definition (MHD) before being rebranded as Palladia on September 1, 2008. On February 1, 2016, the channel was rebranded as MTV Live.

Through its Domestic Media Networks division, ViacomCBS also owns internet properties, such as MTV News and AwesomenessTV. The company ran a virtual world system, Virtual MTV, in the late 2000s.[28] It formerly owned Neopets, Atom Entertainment, RateMyProfessors.com, and other web properties before shutting them down or selling them to other companies in the 2000s and 2010s.

New York headquarters

In 2006, Viacom acquired Harmonix, a video game studio oriented towards music video games and the original developer of the Guitar Hero franchise, for $175 million.[29] The two subsequently collaborated on the creation of Rock Band.[30] That year, Viacom also acquired the gaming-oriented communications platform Xfire.[31]

In 2010, Harmonix was divested to an investment firm to become an independent studio,[32][33] and Xfire was sold.[34]

In 2011, Viacom established a in-house studio known as 345 Games, which is dedicated primarily to developing games based on Comedy Central and MTV properties.[35]