50-612: Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation, Inc. was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation . Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios ) in Culver City, California , its assets included television production and syndication (which operated under the Lorimar-Telepictures name), feature films, home video, and broadcasting. The merger of Lorimar-Telepictures
100-558: A Public-Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) to buy toxic assets from banks' balance sheets. The major stock market indices in the United States rallied on the day of the announcement rising by over six percent with the shares of bank stocks leading the way. PPIP has two primary programs. The Legacy Loans Program will attempt to buy residential loans from banks' balance sheets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will provide non-recourse loan guarantees for up to 85 percent of
150-518: A high-yield bond ( non-investment-grade bond , speculative-grade bond , or junk bond ) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies . These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events but offer higher yields than investment-grade bonds in order to compensate for the increased risk. As of 2024, high-yield bonds have a higher yield than U.S. Treasury securities . As indicated by their lower credit ratings , high-yield debt entails more risk to
200-554: A $ 1.85 billion group deal. WTVJ, including the studio building and surrounding land, was itself sold for $ 405 million. Also included was Storer's program production company, advertising sales division and Washington news bureau . Lorimar-Telepictures also made purchase offers for WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh and WTTV in Bloomington – Indianapolis . By October 22, 1986, Lorimar-Telepictures requested to exclude WTVJ from
250-734: A 15% share in the then-financially troubled Warner Communications . On February 19, 1986, the Lorimar-Telepictures merger was completed and the company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange as "LT". In 1986 they purchased the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio lot in Culver City, as well as the Metrocolor laboratory from Ted Turner . L-T turned around and sold off the Metrocolor facility to Technicolor for $ 60 million. Around that same year, Rich left
300-522: A big-band jazz production of Porgy and Bess . By early 1987, while the company's expansion (including a deal with international film distributor Cinecom Entertainment Group ) continued, the relationship between Lorimar and Karl had turned sour, primarily thanks to the division racking up financial losses from failed experiments; as a result, Karl resigned in March 1987 due to violating the company's ethical guidelines. Karl-Lorimar continued to exist under
350-700: A complicated six-station affiliation swap in Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida , on January 1, 1989. The Storer stations were also sold to George N. Gillett Jr. in 1987. The purchase offer for WTTV failed to close, with the station instead being sold to Capitol Broadcasting Company . WPGH-TV, which was successfully purchased by Lorimar, was sold to Renaissance Broadcasting in 1987. KCPM, KSPR and KMID were sold to Goltrin Communications in 1988. Lorimar Television Lorimar Productions, Inc. , later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution ,
400-766: A deal with the studio. Lorimar continued as a production company until September 1993, when it was eventually folded into Warner Bros. Television , primarily for economic reasons. The last series to premiere under the Lorimar name was Time Trax , as part of the Prime Time Entertainment Network programming block. Several shows slated to be Lorimar productions, such as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman , Living Single , It Had to Be You , Café Americain , The Trouble with Larry and Family Album ended up being produced by Warner Bros. Les Moonves , who would later become
450-817: A failed $ 1 billion offer in 1985 for Multimedia, Inc. , which owned eight television stations and fifteen radio stations. On May 21, 1986, Lorimar-Telepictures agreed to purchase from private equity firm KKR WTVJ (channel 4) in Miami , along with Storer Communications stations WAGA-TV in Atlanta , WITI in Milwaukee , WJBK in Detroit , WJW-TV in Cleveland , WSBK-TV in Boston and KCST in San Diego , in
500-845: A few exceptions. Lorimar-Telepictures also distributed most of the pre-1990 DIC Entertainment and Saban Entertainment series in international markets; most of the DIC series are currently distributed by WildBrain , and most of the Saban series are currently distributed by Disney–ABC Domestic Television , as well as some of the Universal Pictures films that Lorimar distributed are currently distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios via its Universal Television division. Lorimar-Telepictures also held ownership interests in several television stations via predecessor Telepictures, mostly based in smaller markets and Puerto Rico . The company made
550-551: A few films remained with their original distributors. In 1984, Lorimar purchased Karl Video Corporation (KVC), also known as Karl Home Video , which was named after its founder, Stuart Karl (1953–1991). KVC, which was best known for producing the bestselling Jane Fonda's Workout exercise videos, was renamed Karl-Lorimar Home Video after the acquisition. However, Lorimar continued to license library product (primarily Allied Artists titles) to CBS/Fox Video (as well as sub-labels Key Video and Playhouse Video) for some time. After
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#1732780638497600-585: A joint venture of TCF and The Walt Disney Company called U.K. Film Distributors in the United Kingdom , France 's UGC and German's Neue Constantin Film , along with Toho-Towa in Japan . In January 1987, the film unit was renamed Lorimar Film Entertainment to coincide with its newly formed in-house distribution unit; this superseded the previous deal with Fox. That year, New Century/Vista Film Co.,
650-807: A joint venture of The Vista Organization and New Century Entertainment, struck a deal with Lorimar for international distribution. Several Vista productions were distributed by Lorimar, including Rented Lips , Pass the Ammo and Fright Night Part II . Lorimar also acquired international theatrical and other ancillary rights to Return of the Living Dead Part II . In May 1987, Craig Bamgaurten, who had been with Lorimar Motion Pictures since 1984, announced that he would resign his post as president in December, and Peter Chernin took over as president of Lorimar Film Entertainment. In 1988, following
700-767: A production company (circa 1990), and once again as a syndication company (1995). The former MGM studio lot was sold to Sony to house Columbia Pictures , TriStar Pictures , and Sony's other operations towards the end of 1989 with the facilities renamed as Columbia Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios ) at the beginning of 1990. In 1990, David Salzman left Lorimar to start Millennium Productions, an independent production company allied with WB. In 1991, after Orion Pictures shut down its television unit, Gary Nardino moved to Lorimar, taking some Orion-produced shows and talent deals ( Thomas Carter , Robert Townsend , Paul Stojanovich, Clifton Campbell and Deborah Joy LeVine ) with them. In 1992, Barbara Corday , former CBS executive, struck
750-615: A rapidly depreciating asset . Even those assets that might have gone up in value in the long-term depreciated rapidly, quickly becoming "toxic" for the banks that held them. Toxic assets , by increasing the variance of banks' assets, can turn otherwise healthy institutions into zombies . Potentially insolvent banks made too few good loans creating a debt overhang problem. Alternatively, potentially insolvent banks with toxic assets sought out very risky speculative loans to shift risk onto their depositors and other creditors. On March 23, 2009, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced
800-515: A syndication unit. In late 1978, Lorimar Productions and United Artists entered into a partnership; UA distributed Lorimar-produced films, while Lorimar sought to adapt UA properties into television series. However, nothing would come of the latter, and UA's distribution deal with Lorimar ended in 1980. In 1980, Lorimar purchased the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation library. In the 1984–85 season, three of
850-591: The Prevue Channel was rebranded as the TV Guide Channel ). In June 1988, Lorimar was purchased by Warner Communications , which in 1990 merged with Time Inc. to form Time Warner . Lorimar's distribution business was folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution and became Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution; since then, the Telepictures name has been resurrected as both
900-572: The 1980s; it first acquired Kenyon & Eckhardt , an advertising agency, in 1983. It then acquired Bozell Jacobs in 1985, and merged it with Kenyon to form Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt. The firm was renamed to Bozell Worldwide in 1992. Lorimar's TV productions included: Most of Lorimar's film and television library, with several exceptions, is now owned by Warner Bros. Several of Lorimar's films are still owned by their original distributors or third parties, which are marked with an asterisk (*). High-yield debt In finance ,
950-492: The Lorimar buyout, Karl-Lorimar began to expand, first with a deal to distribute movies from Lorimar Motion Pictures. Third-party distribution deals were struck with VCL Communications and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group , while laying groundwork for international expansion that saw Lorimar titles released in the UK through Guild Home Video and The Video Collection (the latter company handling children's titles, including titles from
1000-651: The Scholastic-Lorimar Home Video venture). In late 1986, a new broadcast-style home video branding, "KLV-TV" (advertised as being "Your Personal Network") was introduced. Other areas of growth included Karl-Lorimar's distribution of the Shades of Love direct-to-video romance series (in cooperation with Canada's Astral Film Enterprises ) and Jazzvisions , featuring jazz concerts from Herbie Hancock , Antonio Carlos Jobim , John Scofield , George Duke , Tito Puente and Etta James , as well as
1050-696: The Storer deal after learning that CBS , of which WTVJ was affiliated with, inquired with the owners of WCIX (channel 6) about a purchase, putting the valuation of WTVJ in peril and ultimately collapsing the entire deal. Other financial market analysts argued that Lorimar grossly overpaid for WTVJ, as the $ 405 million price was nearly 21 times WTVJ's cash flow (typical station purchase prices were 10 to 14 times cash flow) and made it difficult to cover interest serviced on $ 2 billion in high-yield bonds . KKR sold WTVJ to NBC in January 1987, ultimately initiating
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#17327806384971100-823: The U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program monies, private investors, and from loans from the Federal Reserve's Term Asset Lending Facility (TALF). The initial size of the Public Private Investment Partnership is projected to be $ 500 billion. Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman has been very critical of this program arguing the non-recourse loans lead to a hidden subsidy that will be split by asset managers, banks' shareholders and creditors. Banking analyst Meredith Whitney argues that banks will not sell bad assets at fair market values because they are reluctant to take asset write downs. Removing toxic assets would also reduce
1150-594: The US Treasury to seek congressional appropriations to buy those assets in September 2008 to prevent a systemic crisis of the banks. Such assets represent a serious problem for purchasers because of their complexity. Having been repackaged perhaps several times, it is difficult and time-consuming for auditors and accountants to determine their true value. As the recession of 2008–09 hit, their value decreased further as more debtors defaulted, so they represented
1200-512: The acquisition of Syndivision, whose rights include syndication of The Greatest American Hero and It's a Living , with ultimately-aborted plans to tape new episodes of the CBS game show Press Your Luck . In October 1985, Lorimar, as part of their first-run syndication expansion, announced it would merge with television syndication firm Telepictures , becoming Lorimar-Telepictures . That same year Lorimar announced their intention to buy
1250-408: The announcement of L-T's merger with Warner Communications, Lorimar struck a new distribution deal with Warner Bros. This deal effectively ended Lorimar's in-house distribution wing; under Warner, Lorimar continued to make theatrical films until 1990. The theatrical film library of Lorimar was subsequently folded into Warner Bros. Pictures . Warner Bros. now owns most of Lorimar's catalogue, though
1300-596: The banner of Lorimar Motion Pictures (or sometimes Lorimar Pictures ). Lorimar's entrance into feature films was predominantly sanctioned by Adelson; Rich was vehemently against it. This asset was among the many factors that led to Rich's exit from the studio in 1986. Lorimar ended their original distribution pact with United Artists in 1980, soon after purchasing the Allied Artists library, due mainly to dissatisfaction with UA's scattershot marketing of Lorimar productions. Subsequently, much of Lorimar's film output
1350-427: The chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation , was the president and CEO of Lorimar Television from 1990 to 1993. Moonves then became the chairman of Warner Bros. Television after the merger with Lorimar. Additionally, Lorimar owned key components of the film library of the defunct Allied Artists film studio (originally Monogram Pictures), which includes Cabaret and Papillon ; these, too, are now owned by Warner. After
1400-508: The company and moved to MGM. In 1987, Lorimar-Telepictures's production arm became Lorimar Television and the L-T distribution business was rebranded as Lorimar Syndication. This was part of a strategy where the Lorimar name would be used as an operating name for all of L-T's business units. Plans were announced for a TV series based on TV Guide magazine, but these plans did not come to fruition ( TV Guide would come to television in 1999, when
1450-578: The economic and social consequences of transforming firms through the aggressive use of financial leverage. In 2005, over 80% of the principal amount of high-yield debt issued by U.S. companies went toward corporate purposes rather than acquisitions or buyouts. In emerging markets, such as China and Vietnam, bonds have become increasingly important as short term financing options, since access to traditional bank credits has always been proved to be limited, especially if borrowers are non-state corporates. The corporate bond market has been developing in line with
1500-461: The first quarter of 2022 are estimated to be about $ 1.8 trillion, comprising about 16% of the U.S. corporate bond market, which totals $ 10.7 trillion. New issuances amounted to $ 435 billion (~$ 505 billion in 2023) in 2020. Indices for the high-yield market include: Some investors, preferring to dedicate themselves to higher-rated and less-risky investments, use an index that only includes BB-rated and B-rated securities. Other investors focus on
1550-409: The general trend of capital market, and equity market in particular. High-yield bonds can also be repackaged into collateralized debt obligations (CDO), thereby raising the credit rating of the senior tranches above the rating of the original debt. The senior tranches of high-yield CDOs can thus meet the minimum credit rating requirements of pension funds and other institutional investors despite
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1600-430: The investor compared to investment grade bonds. Investors require a greater yield to compensate them for investing in the riskier securities. In the case of high-yield bonds, the risk is largely that of default: the possibility that the issuer will be unable to make scheduled interest and principal payments in a timely manner. The default rate in the high-yield sector of the U.S. bond market has averaged about 5% over
1650-418: The largest purchasers of high-yield debt. Individual investors participate in the high-yield sector mainly through mutual funds. Some institutional investors have by-laws that prohibit investing in bonds which have ratings below a particular level. As a result, the lower-rated securities may have a different institutional investor base than investment-grade bonds. . U.S. high-yield bonds outstanding as of
1700-474: The long term. During the liquidity crisis of 1989–90, the default rate was in the 5.6% to 7% range. During the COVID-19 pandemic , default rates rose to just under 9%. A recession and accompanying weakening of business conditions tends to increase the possibility of default in the high-yield bond sector. Institutional investors (such as pension funds , mutual funds , banks and insurance companies ) are
1750-620: The lowest quality debt rated CCC or distressed securities , commonly defined as those yielding 1,000 basis points over equivalent government bonds. The original speculative grade bonds were bonds that once had been investment grade at time of issue, but where the credit rating of the issuer had slipped and the possibility of default increased significantly. These bonds are called "fallen angels". The investment banker Michael Milken realized that fallen angels had regularly been valued less than what they were worth. His experience with speculative grade bonds started with his investment in these. In
1800-659: The merger with Telepictures, they also took possession of the Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment animation house, along with the post-1973 library of that company, including its entry into the 1980s animation market, ThunderCats , which ran until 1989; a Warner Bros. Animation -produced revival show aired on Cartoon Network for one season in 2011. Lorimar was not restricted to producing television programs. They also sporadically produced theatrical motion pictures, most of which were originally distributed by other studios; these were produced under
1850-643: The mid-1980s, Milken and other investment bankers at Drexel Burnham Lambert created a new type of high-yield debt: bonds that were speculative grade from the start, and were used as a financing tool in leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and hostile takeovers . In a LBO, an acquirer would issue speculative grade bonds to help pay for an acquisition and then use the target's cash flow to help pay the debt over time. Companies acquired in this manner were commonly saddled with very high debt loads, hampering their financial flexibility. Debt-to-equity ratios of at least 6 to 1 were common in such transactions. This led to controversy as to
1900-532: The name Lorimar Home Video , with a new push intended for Lorimar theatrical releases; however, this wouldn't last long, as Lorimar Home Video closed in 1988 following the Warner merger, and was folded into Warner Home Video . In Australia , Lorimar joined a venture with Village Roadshow to create Roadshow Lorimar Home Video , which distributed movie titles by Lorimar Motion Pictures in that country. In 1979, Lorimar formed Lorimar Records, whose first release
1950-572: The parent company of the groups. Both had used Lorimar as operating names starting on January 19, 1987. It is reported that Robert Rosenbaum was named vice president of production at the Lorimar Television unit. Also that year, it faced a $ 21.7 million loss from the studio. In June 1988, Warner Communications acquired Lorimar-Telepictures after shaking off the hostile takeover of the company. Note: All series listed here are now owned and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Studios with
2000-423: The purchase price of legacy loans. Private sector asset managers and the U.S. Treasury will provide the remaining assets. The second program is called the legacy securities program which will buy mortgage backed securities (RMBS) that were originally rated AAA and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) which are rated AAA. The funds will come in many instances in equal parts from
2050-415: The rights to CBS . The Homecoming: A Christmas Story , airing during the 1971 holiday season, was a ratings success, and served as the pilot for Lorimar's first major hit, The Waltons , which premiered in 1972. Throughout the 1970s, Lorimar produced a number of hit shows, including Eight Is Enough ; of these, the most popular by far was Dallas . Lorimar's operations gradually expanded, first with
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2100-441: The significant risk in the original high-yield debt. When such CDOs are backed by assets of dubious value, such as subprime mortgage loans, and lose market liquidity , the bonds and their derivatives become what is referred to as "toxic debt". Holding such "toxic" assets led to the demise of several investment banks such as Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–09 and led
2150-443: The top 10 shows in the United States were produced by Lorimar; Dallas , Knots Landing , and Falcon Crest . In the mid-1980s, Lorimar's output swung toward family-friendly sitcoms; among these were The Hogan Family (initially titled Valerie ), Perfect Strangers , and Full House , which were produced by Miller-Boyett Productions . 1985 saw a concerted effort to expand into the lucrative field of first-run syndication with
2200-687: The volatility of banks' stock prices. Because stock is akin to a call option on a firm's assets, this lost volatility will hurt the stock price of distressed banks. Therefore, such banks will only sell toxic assets at above market prices. On 27 April 2010, the Greek debt rating was decreased to "junk" status by Standard & Poor's amidst fears of default by the Greek Government . They also cut Portugal 's credit ratings by two notches to A, over concerns about its state debt and public finances on 28 April. On 5 July 2011, Portugal's rating
2250-468: Was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros. , active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television (now Warner Bros. Television Studios ). It was founded by Irwin Molasky , Merv Adelson , and Lee Rich . The company's name was a portmanteau of the name of Adelson's then wife, Lori, and Palomar Airport . In the late 1960s, Lorimar Productions
2300-498: Was announced on October 7, 1985, by Merv Adelson . On February 19, 1986, the merger was complete. Lee Rich , one of the other founders of Lorimar, sold his shares in 1986 and left the company. In 1987, Lorimar-Telepictures decided to launch separate divisions with brand logos, which are Lorimar Television for network television production, Lorimar Syndication for broadcast and off-net syndication, and Lorimar International for television distribution, with Lorimar-Telepictures being
2350-427: Was decreased to "junk" status by Moody's (by four notches from Baa1 to Ba2) saying there was a growing risk the country would need a second bail-out before it was ready to borrow money from financial markets again, and private lenders might have to contribute. On 13 July 2012, Moody's cut Italy's credit rating two notches, to Baa2 (leaving it just above junk). Moody's warned the country it could be cut further. With
2400-488: Was distributed by either Universal or Paramount domestically. By late 1984, the entire unit began to ramp up operations, including a deal with Sidney Lumet to develop feature films. In 1985, it entered into a partnership with Producers Sales Organization , handling worldwide sales, and 20th Century Fox , which took over North American distribution rights to many of its theatrical films. By 1986, Lorimar Motion Pictures had signed international distribution agreements with
2450-600: Was founded with the aid of a bank loan of $ 185,000 from Adelson. Prior to Lorimar, Rich had an established reputation first as an advertising executive at Benton & Bowles , then as a television producer, co-producing (with Walter Mirisch ) successful series such as The Rat Patrol . Lorimar initially produced made-for-television movies for the ABC Movie of the Week . Rich bought the script to an adaptation of Earl Hamner Jr. 's novel The Homecoming and subsequently sold
2500-515: Was the soundtrack to the film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh . The label would have very few artists signed to it. It was mainly distributed by Columbia Records , but it was also distributed for one album from The Coyote Sisters by Motown via the Morocco subsidiary. Lorimar Records' final release was the soundtrack to Action Jackson (1988), which in that case was distributed by Atlantic Records . Lorimar also expanded into advertising during
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