Metromedia was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997.
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13 Facts About Metromedia
2.
Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMont Television Network ceased operations and its owned-and-operated stations were spun off into a separate company.
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3.
Metromedia then acquired ownership stakes in various film studios, including controlling ownership in Orion.
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4.
In 1997, Metromedia closed down and sold its media assets to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
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5.
Metromedia entered the realm of live entertainment by purchasing the Ice Capades and the Harlem Globetrotters .
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6.
Later in the decade Metromedia opened a television production center in Los Angeles, known as Metromedia Square, which served as the studio facility for numerous network programs.
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7.
Metromedia owned a TV production and distribution company called Metromedia Producers Corporation, established in 1968 from Wolper Productions.
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8.
Metromedia spent the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s increasing its television and radio station portfolio, and continued to expand its syndication business.
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9.
Metromedia entered the record business in 1969 with the launch of the Metromedia Records label, whose biggest-selling artist was Bobby Sherman.
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10.
In 1976, similar to the more successful SFM Holiday Network of syndicated stations launched two years later, Metromedia teamed up with Ogilvy and Mather for a proposed linking of independent TV stations termed MetroNet.
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11.
In 1982, Metromedia made its biggest broadcasting purchase when it acquired WCVB-TV in Boston for $220 million, which at the time was the largest amount ever spent on a single television station property.
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12.
Also around this time, Metromedia attempted to bring to the air a national newscast for independent stations, planned for launch in the fall of 1983; the company attempted to hire Charles Kuralt away from CBS News to serve as anchor.
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13.
In 1996, Metromedia acquired Motion Picture Corporation of America and The Samuel Goldwyn Company.
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