Sony Pictures Television
On September 16, 2002, Sony Pictures Entertainment retired the name "Columbia TriStar" from television and renamed the American studio as Sony Pictures Television and its international division as Sony Pictures Television International. Some shows continued using the CTDT name, although many stopped using it in November 2002, while "Hollywood Squares" continued using it until early 2003.
Columbia Pictures Television
On November 8, 1989, Sony Corporation bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion and the next day, Sony acquired the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (formerly game show production company Barris Industries with the library of game shows including "The Newlywed Game", "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show") for $200 million after hiring film producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters to run the company. On November 5, 1990, CPE folded its first-run syndication unit Guber-Peters Television into Columbia Pictures Television Distribution. On August 7, 1991, CPE changed its name to Sony Pictures Entertainment and TriStar Television was relaunched on October 10. Throughout the 1990s the studio launched such successful shows as "Beakman's World" on TLC and CBS in 1992, "Mad About You" on NBC in 1992, "Ricki Lakes talk show in syndication which lasted 11 years, "The Nanny" on CBS in 1993, "Party of Five" on FOX, "NewsRadio" on NBC, "Malcolm & Eddie" on UPN in 1996, and the short-lived cult animated series "The Critic" on ABC and FOX in 1994. One of the most successful by far was "Seinfeld", a Castle Rock Entertainment production which Columbia distributed in off-net syndication years later. On August 21, 1992, Columbia's subsidiary CAT Holdings, Inc. (Columbia Act III Television) and Franklin/Waterman Entertainment created a joint venture called Franklin/Waterman 2. On December 7, 1992, Sony Pictures acquired the Barry & Enright Productions game show library. On May 10, 1993, CPT and MCA TV formed their barter divisions. CPT's barter division was called Columbia Pictures Television Advertising Sales"' (a.k.a. "Columbia Television Advertising Sales"). The sales division handled series by TriStar Television and Merv Griffin Enterprises; as well as off-net series by Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Independent Productions, and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment. CPT used other companies such as Group W Productions for "Beakman's World", MTV's One World Entertainment for "Married... with Children", and Tribune Entertainment for "Designing Women".