United Artists Television (UATV) was an

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

production/distribution studio of

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

Corporation that was formed on New Year's Day (January 1), 1958. The company is remembered for producing series such as ''

This Man Dawson ''This Man Dawson'' is a syndicated drama television series that was broadcast during 1959-60, starring Keith Andes as a former United States Marine Corps colonel hired to clean up police corruption in an undisclosed American city. The series ...

'', ''

World of Giants ''World of Giants'' (a.k.a. ''W-O-G'') is an American black-and-white science fiction spy-fi television series that aired in syndication from September 5, 1959 until November 28, 1959. It starred Marshall Thompson and Arthur Franz. Premise Amer ...

'', '' Stoney Burke'', '' The Outer Limits'', ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'', ''

My Mother the Car ''My Mother the Car'' is an American fantasy comedy that aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and April 5, 1966. Thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television. The premise features a man whose deceased mothe ...

'', '' The Fugitive'', '' The Rat Patrol'', '' thirtysomething'', '' The New Phil Silvers Show'', ''

The Patty Duke Show ''The Patty Duke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Sidney Sheldon and William Asher. The series ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, to April 27, 1966. The series was developed as a vehicle for teenage star Patty Duke, who h ...

'' and '' The Pink Panther Show''. In September 2014, the studio briefly returned to full-time TV production under the new management of United Artists Media Group (UAMG), led in part by husband and wife producers

Mark Burnett Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. He is best known for creating and producing the reality shows ''The Apprentice'', '' Survivor'', ''The Voice'', and ''Sh ...

and

Roma Downey Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series ''The Bible'' for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Moni ...

. With its folding back into

MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/Bro ...

, UATV was temporarily dormant until 2020 when

was reincorporated.

History

UATV was formed on New Year's Day (January 1), 1958, with Herb Golden, former vice-president of Banker's Trust, as its president, and Bruce Eells from

Television Programs of America Television Programs of America, Inc (TPA) was a New York-based US television production company in the 1950s. TPA had a Canadian subsidiary, Normandie Productions. This television production and distribution company was best known for '' Fury, K ...

as its top operating executive. In that same year, UATV purchased

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popey ...

(AAP), giving access to the pre-1950''You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story'' (2008), p. 255. Warner Bros.' short subject library and the 231 ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of ...

and

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized control ...

for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

between 1933 and 1957. With UATV's purchase, AAP became

United Artists Associated Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popeye ...

(UAA) and became its distribution division. In 1960, UATV purchased Ziv Television Programs, including the 20% share still held by board chairman

Frederick Ziv Frederick William Ziv (August 17, 1905 – October 13, 2001, Cincinnati, Ohio) was an American broadcasting producer and syndicator who was considered as the father of television first-run syndication and once operated the nation's largest indepen ...

and his son-in-law and business partner president John L. Sinn, for $20 million. The newly merged production company was renamed Ziv-United Artists. UATV had never been very successful in the small screen, having placed only two series in

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, ''

The Troubleshooters ''The Troubleshooters'' (titled ''Mogul'' for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. Th ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and '' The Dennis O'Keefe Show'' on CBS, both of the 1959–1960 season. This negative pattern continued after the merger. Ziv-UA produced a dozen of TV pilots during the first year of operation, but failed to sell any of them, although

Aubrey Schenck Aubrey Schenck (August 26, 1908, New York City – April 14, 1999, Murrieta, California) was an American film producer from the 1940s through the 1970s. Biography The son of George Schenck, a Russian immigrant theatrical manager, and Mary Schen ...

's ''

Miami Undercover ''Miami Undercover'' is an American crime drama series that aired in broadcast syndication from January to October 1961 for a total of 38 episodes. The series stars Lee Bowman (who had previously played sleuth Ellery Queen on television) and boxe ...

'' only lasted one season in 1961. In 1962, the studio phased out Ziv Television Programs and reverted its name to United Artists Television. In that same year, ABC premiered a successful

television film show called '' The ABC Sunday Night Movie'' in competition to NBC's successful motion picture program ''

Saturday Night at the Movies ''Saturday Night at the Movies'' was a weekly television series on TVOntario, the public educational television network in Ontario, Canada. The series presented classic movies, followed by interviews and feature segments with directors, actors ...

''. The first season featured releases of many United Artists' films with some episodes containing featurettes promoting the upcoming UA's cinema releases. UATV had several shows such as '' Stoney Burke'' (1962), ''

'' (1963), '' The Outer Limits'' (1963), '' The Fugitive'' (1963), ''

Hollywood and the Stars ''Hollywood and the Stars'' is a 1963 NBC television documentary series produced by the David L. Wolper Production Company in association with United Artists Television. It was narrated by Joseph Cotten with the theme music and several episodes ...

'' (1963), '' The Hollywood Palace'' (1964), and ''

'' (1964). In 1967, UATV was purchased by Transamerica Corporation and, the following year, United Artists Associated was reincorporated as United Artists Television Distribution (UATD). After ''

The Mothers-in-Law ''The Mothers-in-Law'' is an American situation comedy featuring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as two women who were friends and next-door neighbors until their children's elopement made them in-laws. The show aired on NBC television from Septemb ...

'' was cancelled on NBC in 1969, the studio decided to focus in presenting their movie library on television and rerunning their classics after years of still being unsuccessful in TV production. In 1981, MGM merged with UA to create MGM/UA Entertainment Co.; as a result, their respective television units combined as well became MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television or simply ''MGM/UA Television'' the following year. The United Artists Television name was eventually phased out around 1983 in favor of the MGM/UA Television banner, although UATV continued itself producing television shows until 1995. In 1985, United Artists Television was returned after Turner bought out MGM, to be headed by John J. McMahon, only to be combined into MGM/UA Television Productions within a year, when Turner sold off MGM/UA.

Return to television

In September 2014, MGM acquired a 55% controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media, both operated by husband/wife Hollywood producers

and

('' Touched by an Angel'' fame). The two companies were consolidated into a new film and television company, United Artists Media Group (UAMG). Burnett is UAMG's CEO and Downey is president of Lightworkers Media

Hearst Entertainment Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televi ...

, an investor in Burnett and Downey's entertainment assets, has also acquired a minority stake in United Artists through this deal. Through this acquisition, UAMG held the production rights to Burnett's reality show franchises '' The Voice'', '' Survivor'', ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'', '' On the Menu'', ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 201'Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank' ...

'', '' Beyond the Tank'' and ''

Lucha Underground Lucha Underground was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by United Artists Media Group. Partly owned by Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), ''Lucha Underground'' also refers to its weekly television program Televi ...

''. When it was folded back into MGM Television, UATV's current incarnation ended. Although since then, MGM/UA Television was reformed (as of February 2020), most new UATV material is produced either by MGM's digital unit or MGM itself.

Shows

United Artists Television (UATV)

United Artists Media Group (UAMG)

Television specials

* '' The Incredible World of James Bond'' (television special, 1965) * '' Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond'' (1967, television special) * '' The Pink Panther in: A Pink Christmas'' (1978, television special) * ''James Bond: The First 25 Years'' (1983, television special)

References

{{Authority control United Artists Television production companies of the United States Former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiaries Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1958 Mass media companies established in 1958 Mass media companies disestablished in 1981 1958 establishments in California 1981 disestablishments in California American companies established in 1958