TCA

TCA, officially named The Canadian Askew, is a Jonathian-based media conglomerate based in Gelta City. It is one of the largest corporations gloally, and has amassed a revenue of ₳159.8bil JNA (equivalent to just over $205.5bil CAD). TCA was founded in 1915 as The Canadian Askew, and started off as an independent publisher owned by William Bower Atkinson. The TCA expanded into film production in 1946, television and radio broadcasting in 1950, personal computers in the late 1970s, and video games in 1980. As of , the TCA is one of the largest companies in history, in terms of both revenue and size.
During it's -year history, TCA has created and acquired multiple companies to expand it's lineup and promote content it would otherwise be unable to. The film and television arm of the company, TCA Studios, includes various subsidiaries such as White Cat Productions, Artimations, Cheese! Media, and Area 51. TCA's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, publishing, theme park resorts, consumer products, video games, and international operations. Through these various segments, TCA owns and operates the Dutlese-based NRD broadcast network; cable television networks such as TCA Channel, TCA Xtra, National Geographic, TCA SF, and Objection!; merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as TCA+; publishing brands such as TCA Publishing, MAPE, and Mody-Cearley Comics; and TCA Parks and Experiences, a group of twenty-one theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world.
TCA is one of the biggest and most well-known companies in the world and has been ranked number 16 on the 2022 Hoblyn 500 list of biggest companies in Jonathia by revenue. The company, which has been public since 1980, trades on the Jetzeburg Stock Exchange (JSE) with ticker symbol TCA.
== History ==
=== Early starts as a publisher ===
The TCA was started in 1915 as "The Canadian Askew", by Unadian writer William Bower Atkinson. Atkinson had fallen out with future TCA subsidiary MAPE Publishing, then one of the largest, if not the largest, publishers in the world. In response, Atkinson decided to form his own company to rival MAPE. The name "The Canadian Askew" was created at random, and has no official meaning. The reason the name was chosen was to create a rememberable name that had no prior meaning, and to create a name that had no association with Atkinson, his past, or the country of Unadia.
The TCA initially got off to a terrible start. While the TCA managed to scoop up some new and small publishers, they were unable to compete with the major names that MAPE had. However, luck came for the TCA in 1922, when after having a conflict with MAPE's chairmen, Mitchell Alkins and Patrick Eusgrove, Jetzeburg-based author Quentin Coakes defected to the TCA, effectively cementing the TCA's place in the publishing industry.
=== Foray into film and television ===
William Bower Atkinson died on December 22nd, 1944, at age 98. The position of chairman was originally going to go to Atkinson's oldest son, Ronald, but he was disinterested in the publishing business and therefore declined the position. Because of this, then-CEO Graham Stepak, became the chairman. Stepak had adored the film industry, and had been turned away previously from both Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures. The TCA had only picked him up for his bright mind, and had no regard for his motion picture adoration. Immediately after becoming chairman, Stepak placed aside around 48.6% of the company's budget, shortened the company's name to just TCA, and formed TCA Studios.
TCA Studios' first motion picture release was Archer of the Woods, released while the Great War was in full swing across the planet. Despite the ongoing conflict bubbling across the world, Archer of the Woods, which starred then-soon-to-be acting legends Roscoe Ellerby and Chloe Wroughton, was a hit success across Jonathia, raking in a box office of ₳36.2 million JNA (₳1,662,436,641.22 in today's money). While some disagreed with the turn TCA was taking, others praised the new outlook. Stepak himself stated that the TCA would one day become "a global media and entertainment presence".
However, the sudden growth of the TCA caught the eye of the Republican-led Jonathian government. Then-prime minister Taylor McKenzie wrote to Stepak, asking if the TCA could film a propaganda film to help raise morale across Jonathia. The movie, titled The Persimmon Beast, did well to an extent, but not as well as Archer of the Woods had done, pouring in only ₳10.7 million JNA (₳491,383,206.11 in today's money). 
The studio's assets were briefly seized during the occupation of Jonathia by Canadia, but were returned shortly after the Battle of Jumanji and the surrender of the Canadish government. TCA Studios resumed operations in May of 1948.
=== Continuous growth and international expansion ===
Following the Great War, TCA flourished, expanding to international markets. The TCA were one of the first companies to see the dominance of television across the world, and quickly moved to seize the television market. In 1950, the TCA decided to fund the launch of a commercial television network in Canadia, before eventually buying it out and launching it in 1954, as the TCA Television Network (TTN; today Television Three). Noticing their success in the Canadish television market, the TCA attempted to foray into the Jonathian television market. However, TTN Jonathia failed to compete with the JBC and later both the NBC and RBA's various regional networks, and eventually sold TTN Jonathia in 1967 to a group of private investors who renamed the channel to Jonathia Television (today defunct as a result of a merger with C11). TTN Canadia continued to operate as a TCA division until it too was sold off in 1972. As a result of these failings, TCA would never return to television broadcasting until 1998, with the launch of the TCA Channel. Instead, TCA opted to license its programs to other broadcasters.
It was around this time that the first rendition of the TCA squares was designed, by Julian Beakes, the brother of Stepak's wife. Beakes had previously been hired as the overseer of the motion picture department. The squares, originally adopted in 1966, were originally black and had a much thinner outline. The logo was slightly changed in 1970 to make the outlines slightly bolder, and in 1989 were dipped in a shade of purple, similar to the purple colour that TCA Studios had used for years.
=== Post-Stepak era ===
Stepak resigned as chairman of the TCA in 1966 after the Department of Intelligence became aware of his past as a mafia boss working under the name "Al James". This left a huge void in the TCA. With their main creative mind gone, the TCA were left to figure out how to replace him by themselves. As well as this, both the stock and revenue of the TCA took a giant dip. Immediately, the company began getting desperate. The company declared chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1967 and spun off it's entire television industry into it's own company.
The company remained without an actual chairman for six years until 1972. Between 1966 and 1972, the CEO at the time, Horace Wendings, served as the acting chairman until he too resigned in 1971. An election was called in the company where all employees of all departments could vote on who would be the next chairman. The two frontrunners in the election were Julian Beakes, who was already serving as acting CEO following Wendings' resignation, and Mark Morrison, who at the time was the head of the publishing department. After a tough vote, Beakes was elected by a slim 93 votes of a possible 671,855.
=== Expansion into technology and TCA's golden era ===
The mid-1970s saw the TCA venture into yet another business foray. Technology had been on the eyes of the TCA since 1968, but nothing was acted upon due to the near-collapse of the company. Work began on a TCA computer in 1974, codenamed Momentum. This operating system would later release in 1977 as TCA-DOS. While TCA-DOS would not be a commercial hit, it did give a foray into the company's future. A new corporate headquarters was opened the same year in the central business district of Gelta City, while it's film studios and publishing company remained in Voureg.
Before long, the TCA had released a newer, revamped version of TCA-DOS in the year 1979, now with a graphical interface, one of the first of their kind. This operating system, simply dubbed TCA OS, would pave the way for TCA to rise and quickly seize the personal computer market. This, as well as high profits from TCA Studios, opened the door for the TCA's golden era, which lasted well throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
During this golden era, new innovations were made for the company. The TCA also ventured into video games with TCA Interactive, and before long their very first video game console, the TCA Entertainment System (TES) was released to the public to mounting success. TCA's film industry also did well too, with most of it's releases around this time breaking records not only for the company, but for the film industry altogether.
=== Post-Beakes era and rise of the Abbot dynasty ===
Beakes' death from a sudden heart attack on October 19th, 1993, sent shockwaves throughout the company. The loss of the company's biggest creative mind took a toll on the many divisions TCA was composed of. Unlike the last near-collapse, which saw the departure of many big names in the company, the TCA had a plan and immediately implemented Finlay Abbot, then head of the computer department, as company chairman. He immediately reformed the company, which had taken a toll from shareholder panic following Beakes' death, which included the decision to purchase several smaller companies including Microsoft (1995), MAPE (1998), and Artimations (1999).
The early 2000s saw the rise of the Abbot dynasty in the company, with many of Finlay Abbot's relatives and friends taking top jobs in the company. This rapid appointing of Abbot's associates caused the Daily Post to give the TCA the nickname "The Company of Abbot". Finlay Abbot would retire in 2008, and would be replaced by his son, John Abbot, who continues to run the company to this day.
=== Modern TCA ===
In 2012, TCA announced it would be shutting down the Microsoft brand, citing an alleged lack of profit from the division. Its assets were subsumed into the larger TCA technological divisions. The source code for its in-house web browser, Internet Explorer, was later used by several Microsoft fans to create the open-source Edge web browser and subsequently Edge Technologies. TCA has not yet acknowledged the company's existence.
In 2015, TCA celebrated its 100th anniversary. Celebrations included a series of events held in and around TCA properties.
On August 8, 2017, TCA announced it would be ending its distribution deal with streaming service Bi-Stream, with the intent of launching its own streaming platform built in-house by 2019. On November 12, 2019, TCA's subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service TCA+, which had 500 movies and 7,500 episodes of television shows from across TCA's many brands, was launched in Jonathia, Lyvena, Canadia, and Amberia. Within the first day, the streaming platform had over 10 million subscriptions; and by 2022 it had over 135 million subscribers, and was available in over 125 countries.
== Products ==
=== Movies and television ===
Main pages: List of TCA Studios films and List of TCA Studios television shows
=== Video games ===
Main page: Video games developed and/or released by TCA
==== Video game consoles ====
Home consoles:
* TCA Entertainment System (TES, 1985)
* Super TCA Entertainment System (STES, 1991)
* TCA Galaxy (1996)
* TCA Gamesphere (2002)
* TCA Saber (2006)
* TCA U (2012)
* TCA Switch (2017)
Handheld consoles:
* Gamewalk (1989)
* V-Walk (1995)
* GW Colour (1998)
* GW Ultra (2001)
* TCA 2S (2004)
* TCA 3S (2011)
* TCA Switch (2017)
== Controversies ==
=== TCA vs Circle lawsuit ===
On the 23rd of October, 1996, Canadish-based production company and technology manufacturer Circle Corporation sued the TCA after the TCA published several books on the Flames of Mars movies, of which Circle owned. After much debate, the Lolland Supreme Court ruled that the two companies should settle the matter outside of court. TCA later agreed to pay $36 million ($59 million in today's money) to Circle, and in return Circle will allow TCA the rights to publish content on Circle movies, television shows, and video games, as long as Circle gives consent.
The agreement was originally going to last until 2006, but later contracts extended the agreement to 2016, and later 2026.
== Logo history ==
TCA Squares logo purple.png|1989 - 2023
TCA logo (2023 variant).png|2023 - present
== See also ==
Category:Companies
Category:Jonathia
Category:Jonathian companies
Category:TCA