Warner Communications

Warner Communications was an American media company. It was based in New York City from 1972 to 1990. It was created after Kinney National Company spun off its remaining non-media assets to National Kinney Company and reorganized its entertainment assets into Warner Communications (WCI). Former Kinney assets brought into WCI included Warner Bros, Warner Music Group, Warner Books, Warner Cable, and DC Comics. In 1989, Time Inc. announced that the two companies would undergo a merger to form a new company. In 1990, the merger was completed, and Time Warner was formally established.  

 Background 

 Kinney Services Inc. (1961-1972) 

Before becoming subsidiaries of the future Kinney Services company, Riverside Memorial Home and Kinney Parking System were independent companies. Riverside Memorial emerged in 1933 and engaged in several mergers and acquisitions to become the then-largest funeral company in the United States. Kinney Parking System was established by multiple mafia figures and became a prominent New Jersey parking company. Steve Ross married into the family of Edward Rosenthal (Riverside's then-president) in 1953, and control of the business was ceded to him in 1958. In the same year, Steve established a rental car business with Riverside serving as its parent company, though it struggled to make profits and nearly faced shutdown in 1959. Steve negotiated with the Kinney Parking System to grant his car rental a branding license to become Kinney Rent-A-Car (a joint venture between Riverside and Kinney Parking). Though Kinney Renting faced some struggles, the joint venture led to a merger between Riverside Memorial and Kinney Parking in 1961, leading to the formation of Kinney Services.    

Steve Ross was appointed its CEO, and he took the company public in 1962. Its assets included Kinney Parking, Riverside, Kinney Rent-A-Car, and City Service Cleaning Contractors. He expanded Kinney's holdings by acquiring Circle Floor (a wood manufacturer) in 1964 and Walter B Cooke, Inc. (a funeral business) in 1965. Kinney Services underwent a merger with National Cleaning Contractors and changed its name to Kinney National Services in 1966. Steve Ross saw the growing potential of the entertainment industry, and he began a series of aggressive acquisition strategies to mark Kinney's entrance into entertainment.    

These acquisitions included National Periodical Publications (the predecessor to DC Comics)  and Ashley-Famous (a talent agency) in 1967, Panavision, Inc. (a film camera company) in 1968, and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. Kinney sold its car rental subsidiary in 1968 for 11 million dollars. Several months later, Kinney retired the Seven Arts branding and renamed the film studio to Warner Bros Inc. Starting in the early 1970s, Kinney Services shifted its focus to entertainment and either sold or offloaded its non-media assets to its subsidiary National Kinney Company (established in 1971). Riverside Memorial Home was sold in 1971, though its former president, Edward Rosenthal, remained a close executive to Steve Ross. In 1972, Kinney Services spun off all of its remaining funeral, parking, and cleaning businesses to National Kinney Corporation after a pricing scandal in its parking division. With Kinney being left a mostly entertainment company, it reorganized its media holdings into a new company.    

 Early Operations 

 1972 - 1982 
The reorganization of Kinney's media holdings was completed on February 10, 1972, and the new company was given the name "Warner Communications, in honor of its best-known asset, Warner Bros. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol (WCI). Steve Ross retained his position as CEO, while Edward Rosenthal would serve as Executive Vice President (EVP). Warner Communications' core media holdings included Warner Bros Inc, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, Warner Books, and National Periodical Publications. It also inherited Williams Publishing (a European publisher), Television Communications Corporation, the New York Cosmos, and Panavision from Kinney Services, along with serving as the parent company of National Kinney Services (which was completely spun off in 1978). Warner's first major hurdle was its European publishing division, Williams Publishing, which struggled to profit under its post-Kinney management. Its regional divisions were either sold or closed within a five-year period from 1974 to 1979, leading to the publisher shutting down. In 1973, Warner Communications started its cable division by renaming Television Communications Corporation as Warner Cable.  Warner Communications became an early adopter of the gaming industry by purchasing purchased Atari for 28 million in 1976.  In 1979, National Periodical Publications was rebranded to DC Comics in 1979.     

In late 1980, Warner Communications purchased The Franklin Mint for 225 million. WCI hoped the acquisition would benefit its consumer products holdings and division.         

 References 

Category:1972 establishments in New York (state)
Category:1990 disestablishments in the United States
Category:Defunct companies of the United States
Category:American entertainment companies
Category:Time Warner
Category:Companies based in New York City