USA Network (USA) is an American cable television network that airs shows such as In Plain Sight, Psych and White Collar. USA Newtork has over 90 millions subscribers. It is owned by NBC Universal. The headquarters is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Floor 21, New York, NY 10112.
History[]
USA Network began as the Madison Square Garden Network in 1977. In April 1980, MSG Sports Network was reorganized as USA Network under joint ownership of Madison Square Garden and UA-Columbia Cablevision. In October 1981, USA Network was acquired by Time Inc., Gulf & Western’s Paramount Pictures Corp. and MCA Inc. (now Universal). In June 1987, Paramount and MCA became equal partners in their ownership of USA Network. In 1992, USA launched SCI FI Channel, which has since become the fastest growing basic cable network in primetime. In 1994, Viacom, Inc. acquired Paramount and a year later, The Seagram Company Ltd Universal acquired Universal. In 1997, Seagram agreed to purchase Viacom’s half interest in USA. Shortly thereafter, Seagram sold USA along with SCI FI Channel, and Universal’s domestic television production and distribution assets (renamed Studios USA) to Barry Diller’s HSNi (renamed USA Networks, Inc). These assets became part of the USA Entertainment Group, one of two separate divisions within USA Networks, Inc. In December 2000, the creation of Vivendi Universal was approved by the shareholders of Vivendi, Seagram and Canal+; thus finalizing the merger of the three companies. In December 2001, USA Networks, Inc. and Vivendi Universal announced the creation of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE), a joint venture combining the assets of the USA Entertainment Group and Universal Studios Group. (At this time, USA Networks, Inc. changed its name to USA Interactive.) When the transaction was finalized in May 2002, USA Network became part of Universal Television Group, a division of VUE. Currently, USA Network is a Universal Television Network, part of the Universal Television Group. In May 2004, NBC bought the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal, creating a new company, NBC Universal.