Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

distribution arm of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. The division oversees

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

's home entertainment and transactional digital distribution activities worldwide. The division is responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment content on behalf of

, Paramount Players,

Paramount Animation Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the critical and commerical success of P ...

, Paramount Television Studios, CBS,

Paramount Media Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...

( Showtime,

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, Nick Jr.,

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

, BET, and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

, and applicable licensing and servicing of certain pre-2010

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film studio and Film distribution, distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action a ...

titles,

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

, pre-2005

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

titles, and as well as select IFC Films titles and Saban Films titles. PHE additionally manages global licensing of studio content and transactional distribution across worldwide digital distribution platforms including online, mobile and portable devices and emerging technologies.

History

Before Paramount Home Entertainment was formed, Paramount released its video library through

Fotomat Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk open ...

. The relationship ended and Paramount soon formed its own video arm in 1979. In the United Kingdom and other countries, the

film library were released on VHS by CIC Video alongside

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

until 1999, when Universal pulled out of CIC in favour of its then-newly purchased

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as Filmworks, Casablanca Record & Filmworks, PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a film production company founded in 1975 as an American film studio, which became a European co ...

's home video division ( PolyGram Video which was promptly renamed Universal Pictures UK Ltd), CIC Video would be kept by Paramount and renamed Paramount Home Entertainment UK. In February 2015, Paramount Home Media Distribution signed a distribution agreement with

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

, whereby Universal distributed Paramount's titles overseas, particularly the territories including the United Kingdom where Paramount Home Media Distribution holds an office. The deal began on July 1, 2015. However, the deal expired in July 2020 when Paramount Home Entertainment signed a new UK home entertainment distribution deal with Elevation Sales (a joint venture between

StudioCanal UK StudioCanal Limited, trade name, doing business as StudioCanal UK (formerly known as Optimum Releasing), is a British film distribution division and the official British branch of the French film & television production and distribution company ...

and Lionsgate UK), as well as signing other home entertainment distribution deals with

Koch Media Plaion GmbH (formerly Koch Media) is an Austrian media company headquartered in Höfen, Tyrol, with an additional office in Planegg, Germany. It was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. The company operates video game publishi ...

(later Plaion Pictures) for Italy, Divisa Home Video for Spain, ESC Distribution for France and Dutch FilmWorks for Benelux, all starting in January 2021. In 2008, Paramount Home Entertainment launched a direct-to-video label, Paramount Famous Productions (with the "Famous" part of the name a throwback to the days when the company was called Famous Players). In 2011, due to a company restructure, Paramount Home Entertainment was renamed Paramount Home Media Distribution. Between 2013 and 2017, Paramount titles were distributed by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

, and participated in Warner-owned series like

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

and 4 Film Favorites. In May 2019, Paramount Home Media Distribution reverted its name back to Paramount Home Entertainment, which is the name they carried from 1999 to 2011.

HD DVD and Blu-ray support

Paramount brands the majority of its HD content under the label 'Paramount High Definition' which is seen both on the title box cover and as an in-movie opening. Films from Paramount subsidiaries such as Nickelodeon Movies and

MTV Films MTV Entertainment Studios (formerly MTV Production Development from 2003 until 2018 and MTV Studios from 2018 until 2021) is an American film and television Film production, production and Film distribution, distribution company and is the film ...

as well as from former sister studio DreamWorks use no special branding, Paramount Vantage (another subsidiary) releases only select titles under the Paramount High Definition banner. In October 2005, Paramount announced that it would be supporting the HD video format

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in addition to rival format

HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video.

, becoming the first studio to release on both formats. Its first four HD DVD releases came in July 2006, and it released four titles on Blu-ray two months later. In August 2007, Paramount (along with DreamWorks and

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

) announced their exclusive support for HD DVD. However, when other studios eventually dropped HD DVD and players for the technology stopped being manufactured, Paramount switched to Blu-ray. In May 2008, it released three titles on Blu-ray and continues to release its high-definition discs in that format exclusively.

Sub-labels

Paramount DVD

Paramount DVD is a sub-label of PHE exclusively found on DVD releases, generally noted by a logo animation with a DVD flying into the Paramount mountain and taking the shape of the outline created by the mountain, which was introduced in 2003.

Paramount High Definition

Paramount High Definition is a sub-label focusing on HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases of Paramount's film and television library in high definition video formats.

Paramount Presents

Paramount Presents is a series that showcased important classic titles from the Paramount and DreamWorks back catalogs, remastered for Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD, often with deluxe packaging and new bonus material. The label debuted in 2020.

Paramount Gateway Video

Paramount Gateway Video is a sublabel of Paramount Home Video, releasing titles in the midprice range. The label was originally formed in 1982.

Paramount Famous Productions (2007–2011)

Paramount Famous Productions was a sub-label of PHE, handling films released exclusively to home video formats without a theatrical release.

Peanuts Home Entertainment (1994–2007)

Peanuts Home Entertainment (originally Peanuts Home Video until 2000) was a sub-label used under license from

United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...

to distribute episodes of '' The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show'' and ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' specials, including '' Snoopy! The Musical'', '' It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown'' and the then-annually-repeated specials '' Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown'', '' It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown'', '' It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'', '' A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'', '' A Charlie Brown Christmas'' and '' Happy New Year, Charlie Brown''. It was active from 1994 to 2007, when distribution transferred to

References

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1976 Home video companies of the United States Home video distributors Paramount Pictures Paramount Global subsidiaries Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 1976 Mass media companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in California Gulf and Western Industries