UATV was formed on New Year's Day, 1958, with Herb Golden, former vice-president of Banker's Trust, as its president, and Bruce Eells from Television Programs of America as its top operating executive. In that same year, UATV purchased Associated Artists Productions, giving access to the pre-1950 Warner Bros.' short subject library and the 231 Popeye cartoon shorts made by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures between 1933 and 1957. With UATV's purchase, AAP became United Artists Associated and became its distribution division. In 1960, UATV purchased Ziv Television Programs, including the 20% share still held by board chairmanFrederick Ziv and his son-in-law and business partner president John L. Sinn, for $20 million. The newly merged production company was renamed Ziv-United Artists. UATV had never been very successful in the small screen, having placed only two series in prime time, The Troubleshooters on NBC and The Dennis O'Keefe Show on CBS, both of the 1959–1960 season. This negative pattern continued after the merger. Ziv-UA produced a dozen of TV pilots during the first year of operation, but failed to sell any of them, although Aubrey Schenck's Miami Undercover only lasted one season in 1961. In 1962, the studio phased out Ziv Television Programs and reverted its name to United Artists Television. In that same year, ABC premiered a successful prime time television film show called The ABC Sunday Night Movie in competition to NBC's successful motion picture program Saturday Nightat the Movies. The first season featured releases of many United Artists' films with some episodes containing featurettes promoting the upcoming UA's cinema releases. UATV had several shows such as Stoney Burke, The Patty Duke Show, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, Hollywood and the Stars, The Hollywood Palace, and Gilligan's Island. In 1967, UATV was purchased by Transamerica Corporation and, the following year, United Artists Associated was reincorporated as United Artists Television Distribution. After The Mothers-in-Law was cancelled on NBC in 1969, the studio decided to focus in presenting their movie library on television and rerunning their classics after years of still being unsuccessful in TV production. In 1981, MGM merged with UA to create MGM/UA Entertainment Co.; as a result, their respective television units combined as well became MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television or simply MGM/UA Television the following year. The United Artists Television name was eventually phased out around 1983 in favor of the MGM/UA Television banner, although UATV continued itself producing television shows until 1995.
Return to television
In September 2014, MGM acquired a 55% controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media, both operated by husband/wife Hollywood producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. The two companies were consolidated into a new film and television company, United Artists Media Group. Burnett is UAMG's CEO and Downey is president of Lightworkers Media. Hearst Entertainment, an investor in Burnett and Downey's entertainment assets, has also acquired a minority stake in United Artists through this deal. Through this acquisition, UAMG held the production rights to Burnett's reality show franchises The Voice, Survivor, The Apprentice, On the Menu, Shark Tank, Beyond the Tank and Lucha Underground. When it was folded back into MGM Television, UATV's current incarnation ended. Although since then, MGM/UA Television was reformed, most new UATV material is produced either by MGM’s digital unit or MGM itself.
