Viacom

The first incarnation of Viacom Inc. (an acronym of Video & Audio Communications) is an American media conglomerate. It began as CBS Films, the syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs.

In 1999, Viacom acquired the then-parent company of CBS, the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had been renamed CBS Corporation in 1997.