Viacom (original)

This article is about the original media conglomerate that existed until 2005. For its successors, see CBS Corporation and Viacom (2005–2019).

Viacom Inc.

Final logo, used from 1990 to 2005
Headquarters at One Astor Plaza in New York City
Formerly	CBS Television Film Sales (1952–1958) CBS Films (1958–1968) CBS Enterprises Inc. (1968–1970)
Company type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: VIA
Industry	Broadcasting and publishing
Founded	March 16, 1952 (1952-03-16)
Founder	Ralph Baruch
Defunct	December 31, 2005 (2005-12-31)
Fate	Split into the second incarnations of CBS Corporation and Viacom
Successors	CBS Corporation (legal successor) Viacom (spun off)
Headquarters	One Astor Plaza, New York City , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Sumner Redstone (Chairman and CEO) Tom Freston (Co-President and Co-COO) Les Moonves (Co-President and Co-COO)
Parent	CBS (1952–1971) National Amusements (1987–2005)
Divisions	CBS Radio Viacom Productions Viacom International CBS Sports Viacom Outdoor
Subsidiaries	CBS Paramount Pictures MTV Networks Showtime Networks BET Networks Paramount Parks Famous Players Simon & Schuster King World Productions UPN Westinghouse Licensing Corporation

Viacom (short for Video & Audio Communications) was an American media company. It was founded in New York City in 1971. The company existed until 2005 when the company changed its name to CBS Corporation. Viacom made television programs and television networks. Networks created by Viacom including CBS, UPN, MTV, CMT, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons TV, The N and Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids. The company was owned by Columbia Broadcasting System until 1973. After this, it was an independant company. In 1986, it was sold to National Amusements. In March 2005, Viacom announced that it would be splitting into two companies. This happened on December 31, 2005. The existing Viacom was renamed CBS Corporation, and a new company named Viacom was created.