CBS Television Distribution rebrands

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CBS Television Distribution, the syndication arm of CBS, is rebranding with the name “CBS Media Ventures.”

“Syndication has traditionally meant distribution, but as the media landscape has evolved so have we,” president Steve LoCascio said in a statement Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. “In addition to our core business of producing and distributing leading first-run series, we also have a robust ad sales and partnerships business, create digital content for multiple platforms and run the lifestyle network Dabl. This new name better reflects who we are and positions us for limitless opportunities in the future.”

The division will continue to distribute programming, but its new name reflects its role in production, ad sales and partnerships.

The move comes as part of an overall rebranding of CBS and its various businesses and includes a logo redesign in Proxima, just like many other CBS businesses have switched to, including its namesake network and news division.

Under that is the tagline “Production + Licensing + Ad Sales and Partnerships,” the “plus sign” styling also used by other CBS properties to break down what they do specifically.

Programming distributed and produced by CBS Media Ventures will replace the production vanity card featuring the Didot CBS logo floating in front of a dark scene of trusswork, curved backgrounds and spotlights.

The new one followed the “deconstructed” approach to using the shape and parts of the CBS eye as inspiration and also includes a mnemonic branding element inspired by the primary CBS one.

CBS Media Ventures distributes “Dr. Phil,” “Jeopardy!,” “Judge Judy,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “The Doctors,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Drew Barrymore Show” and more. It handles ad sales for shows such as “South Park,” “24 Words or Less” and “Family Feud.”

Not all shows distributed by CBS Media Ventures air on CBS affiliates, since many of them are sold via the syndication model where whatever station is willing to pay the most for a show (and has time on their schedule) in local markets will air the show.

This causes the CBS name to appear on production vanity cards on non-CBS stations, though NBC, ABC and other major networks have similar distribution arms that cause their logos to appear on other networks as well.

CBS Television Distribution notably acquired King World, one of the industry’s first and most successful distribution companies, as well as Big Ticket Entertainment, which has generated billions in revenue from “Judge Judy.”