PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment logo, used from 1997 until 1999
Formerly	Filmworks (1975–1976) Casablanca Record & Filmworks (1976–1980) PolyGram Pictures (1980–1983)
Company type	Subsidiary
Predecessor	Casablanca Filmworks
Founded	1975; 49 years ago (1975)
Founders	Peter Guber
Defunct	1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Fate	Acquired by Seagram and folded into Universal Pictures; majority of assets were sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Some of its North American distribution assets sold to USA Networks
Successors	Studio: Universal Pictures USA Films Focus Features PolyGram Entertainment Library: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (pre-April 1996 films with exceptions) Universal Pictures (post-March 1996 films with exceptions and some pre-March 1996 films)
Owner	Philips (1980–1998) Seagram (1998–1999)
Parent	PolyGram (1980–1998) Universal Pictures (1998–1999)
Divisions	PolyGram Television PolyGram Video

Evolution of Comcast NBCUniversal

1912	Universal Pictures is founded
1926	NBC is founded
1928	Walter Lantz Productions is established
1943	MCA Inc. establishes Revue Studios (later Universal Television)
1953	NBC begins first compatible color broadcasts, preceding other networks by nine years
1956	NBC's first peacock logo debuts
1963	American Cable Systems is founded
1964	Universal Studios Hollywood opens
1967	NBC broadcasts the first Super Bowl
1968	American Cable Systems rebrands to Comcast
1972	Comcast began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
1975	Universal releases Jaws
1980	PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures
1982	Universal releases E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
1984	Walter Lantz Productions' assets are sold to Universal
1985	Universal releases Back to the Future
1986	General Electric buys RCA for $6.4 billion, including NBC and a stake in A&E
1989	NBC relaunches Tempo Television as CNBC
1990	Universal Studios Florida opens Law & Order premieres on NBC Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting merge to form British Sky Broadcasting Universal Cartoon Studios (later Universal Animation Studios) is established
1993	Universal releases Jurassic Park
1994	DreamWorks Animation is founded
1996	NBC and Microsoft replace America's Talking with MSNBC
1997	Barry Diller purchases Universal's domestic television assets
1998	Seagram acquires PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Universal Television is renamed Studios USA Television
1999	PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is folded into Universal Pictures Universal Studios Florida expands to become Universal Orlando Resort Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premieres on NBC
2001	Grand opening of Universal Studios Japan Universal releases The Fast and the Furious Vivendi purchases Studios USA
2002	NBC acquires Telemundo and Bravo Studios USA assets are folded into Universal Focus Features is formed Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband for $44.5 billion
2003	Universal becomes the first studio with five summer releases breaking the $100 million mark
2004	GE and Vivendi merge NBC and Universal into NBCUniversal
2005	The Office premieres on NBC Comcast sets up a joint-venture with PBS, Sesame Workshop & HIT Entertainment to form PBS Kids Sprout Comcast & Time Warner Cable jointly acquire Adelphia Cable assets for $17.6 billion
2006	USA Network begins 13-year streak as #1 cable network in total viewers
2007	Illumination is founded
2010	Universal releases Illumination's first film Despicable Me
2011	Vivendi divested in NBCU; Comcast buys 51% of NBCU from GE, turning it into a limited liability company NBCUniversal Archives is founded
2012	Universal celebrates its 100th anniversary NBCUniversal divests its A&E Networks minority stake
2013	Comcast buys GE's remaining 49% of NBCU Comcast/NBCU assumes full ownership of Sprout
2014	Comcast attempts to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion NBCUniversal reaches a new long-term deal with WWE
2016	NBCU acquires DreamWorks Animation
2017	Sprout relaunches as Universal Kids
2018	Comcast acquires Sky after a heated bidding war with 21st Century Fox
2019	NBCU acquires Cineo Lighting
2020	NBCU launches Peacock
2021	Grand opening of Universal Beijing Resort
2023	The Super Mario Bros. Movie becomes Illumination's highest-grossing film
v t e

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as Filmworks, Casablanca Records & Filmworks, PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a film production company founded in 1975 as an American film studio, which became a European competitor to Hollywood within two decades, but was eventually sold to Seagram Company Ltd. in 1998 and was folded a year later. Among its most successful and well known films were The Deep (1977), Midnight Express (1978), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Flashdance (1983), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Dead Man Walking (1995), The Big Lebowski (1998), Fargo (1996), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Game (1997), Barney's Great Adventure (1998) and Notting Hill (1999).