The creation of NBC Universal

NBC Universal Inc. is one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment news and information to a global audience. In 1915, Carl Laemmle opened the largest production facility, Universal City Studios, which became the largest studio in Hollywood for a decade.

Between 1909 and 1930, Universal produced some 5,000 films. Many of them were nickelodeon-era shorts, and separate production numbers for individual serial chapters fattened the title list a bit, but still it was a substantial body of work.

In 1936, Laemmle lost control of his studio and it was taken over by Standard Capital and renamed the New Universal Studios.

In 1945, the British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank bought into a merger with Universal, culminating in the studio’s eventual reorganization as Universal-International.

In 2004, the controlling stake in the company was sold to General Electric, parent of NBC, resulting in the creation of the super-conglomerate NBC Universal.

In 2007, NBC Universal launched Get On Board a comprehensive, company-wide program to improve the environmental impact of its operations by reducing greenhouse gases, raising awareness about green issues and stimulating change in the media and entertainment industry.

In 2008, NBC Universal and Grupo Televisa signed a 10-year platform deal to distribute news, entertainment and sports programming to be delivered by TV channel and by Televisa’a SKY Satellite Network.
The creation of NBC Universal

Universal Studio

The oldest studio in the United States, Universal was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle and others. An early nickelodeon owner, in 1909 he founded the Yankee Film Company, which evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company, producing some of the first films in the early 20th century.

Although production was in New York City at this time, in 1915 he purchased a large area of land in the north side of Hollywood, which became a filmmaking complex known as Universal City.

In 1915, Laemmle opened the largest production facility, Universal City Studio, which became the largest studio in Hollywood for a decade.  All studio operations were moved to this location.

On August 29, 1936, Universal’s creditors took over the studio for $4.5 million. The takeover was largely due to the studio’s 1935/36 combined loss of $1.098 million and it was taken over by Standard Capital. It was renamed the New Universal Studios.

The years later, on November 12, 1946, Universal merged with International Pictures to form Universal-International. In 1952, Universal-International was taken over by Decca Records.

With TV movies, Universal became the largest supplier of network broadcast television programming, reaching a crest in 1977 by providing Roots, the most popular TV movie of its era.

Currently Universal Studios is owned b COMCAST, a division of the mega media conglomerate NBCUniversal.
Universal Studio