20 Facts About MCA Inc

1.

MCA Inc was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924.

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2.

MCA Inc was the legal predecessor of Vivendi Universal and thereby NBCUniversal.

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3.

MCA Inc helped pioneer modern practices of touring bands and name acts.

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4.

Early on, MCA Inc booked such prominent artists as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton for clubs and speakeasies run by legendary notorious Chicago mobsters such as Al Capone and others.

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5.

Wasserman helped create MCA Inc's radio show, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, which debuted on NBC Radio that same year.

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6.

In 1939, MCA Inc's headquarters moved from Chicago to Beverly Hills, California, creating a movie division and beginning to acquire talent agencies and represent established actors such as James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, and Ronald Reagan, whom Wasserman became very close with personally.

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7.

In February 1958, MCA Inc acquired Paramount Pictures' pre-1950 sound feature film library through a newly created MCA Inc subsidiary, EMKA, Ltd.

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8.

MCA Inc went public on the New York Stock Exchange and was incorporated as MCA Inc on November 10,1958.

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9.

On June 18,1962, Decca Records shareholders agreed to MCA Inc's buyout offer after the record label had entered into talks about a merger that April.

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10.

MCA Inc would have to close its talent agency, which represented most of the industry's biggest names, in order to retain Universal.

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11.

In 1964, MCA entered the music publishing business when it acquired Lou Levy's Leeds Music, and formed Universal City Studios the same year in effort to merge under one umbrella both Universal Pictures and its Revue Studios division, which was later reincorporated as Universal Television in 1966.

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12.

On July 15,1964, MCA Inc established the Studio Tour, which provided guests a sneak peek behind-the-scenes glimpse at movie and television production at the backlot of Universal Studios.

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13.

In 1966, MCA Inc formed Uni Records in Hollywood, California, and in 1967, MCA Inc bought New York–based Kapp Records.

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14.

That same year MCA Inc acquired guitar maker Danelectro and mall retailer Spencer Gifts.

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15.

MCA Inc issued soundtrack albums for most films released by Universal Pictures.

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16.

In 1984, MCA bought Walter Lantz Productions and its characters, including Woody Woodpecker.

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17.

In November 1996, MCA Inc announced that it would acquire television syndication company Multimedia Entertainment from Gannett, whom acquired its parent company in 1995, for $40 million.

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18.

MCA Inc Records continued to live on as a label within the Universal Music Group.

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19.

In 1996, MCA Inc filed a lawsuit against Viacom over the latter's launch of the TV Land cable network.

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20.

Landmark Paul Williams–designed Beverly Hills property that MCA Inc once occupied became the headquarters of Paradigm Talent Agency until 2018.

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