NBCUniversal Syndication Studios
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, in the United States.[2] Its predecessors include NBC Enterprises, Universal Television Distribution, Multimedia Entertainment (including Avco Program Sales), PolyGram Television (formerly ITC Entertainment), and Sky Vision. At some point in its history, it was also known as "NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution"[1] and "NBC Universal Television and New Media Distribution.”[3] This unit is possibly the parent for the similarly named "NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution" unit.[4][5]
Formerly
MCA TV (1948–1996)
Universal Television Enterprises (1996–1997)
Studios USA Television Distribution (1998–2002)
Universal Domestic Television (2002–2004)
NBC Universal Television Distribution (2004–2011)
NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2011–2021)
Television syndication
-
- NBC Enterprises
- Universal Worldwide Television
- Multimedia Entertainment
- PolyGram Television/ITC Entertainment
- Universal Pictures Visual Programming (formerly PolyGram Visual Programming)
- Sky Vision
- 1948
(as MCA Television Ltd.) - December 9, 1996
(as Universal Television Enterprises) - September 13, 2004
(as NBC Universal Television Distribution)
Frances Manfredi (President, US & Canada, 2015)[1]
The company distributes television series produced by NBC (after 1973), Universal Television, Multimedia Entertainment, Studios USA, Revue Studios, PolyGram Television (except the ITC library), Universal Media Studios and G4 Media, LLC. The division distributes the film libraries of Universal Pictures, the 1929–49 Paramount Pictures library (owned by EMKA, Ltd.), all 1996–99 PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films (as well as PolyGram Visual Programming), USA Films, StudioCanal (International only), Focus Features, Universal Animation Studios, Summit Entertainment (unitl 2012), Open Road Films and DreamWorks Animation.
The name was changed to reflect the NBCUniversal brand between September 13, 2004 and January 31, 2011. NUTD is considered the third broadcast syndication arm of NBC, with NBC Enterprises being the second and NBC Films (now part of CBS Media Ventures) as the first, dating back to spring 1953. NUTD is also considered the sixth broadcast syndication arm of Universal Television with MCA TV as the first, Universal Television Enterprises as the second, Studios USA Television Distribution as the third, Universal Domestic Television as the fourth, and Universal Television Distribution as the fifth.
History[edit]
NBC Universal Television Distribution was formed in 2004 from a merger between NBC Enterprises and Universal Television Distribution. In 2004, it broke their ties with MGM Television to launch a standalone distribution operation.[38] In 2011, NBC Universal dropped its space from all of its television divisions, becoming the CamelCase style format NBCUniversal.[39][40]
In 2014, Hulu Plus reached an agreement with the company to allow streaming of television programs from NBCUniversal's series aired the previous year.[3]
On October 5, 2020, NBCUniversal Television Distribution was renamed to NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, in an effort to drop "Television" from its branding.[41][42] On December 2, 2020, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios announced that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit would air on a daily strip for syndication.[43]