CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS) is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name. The network is sometimes referred to as the Tiffany Network, which alludes to the perceived quality of CBS programming during the tenure of its founder William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBS's first demonstrations of color television, which were held in a former Tiffany & Co. building in New York City in 1950.According to a New York Times piece on November 9, 1950, "the first local public demonstrations of color television will be initiated Tuesday by the Columbia Broadcasting System. Ten color receivers are being installed on the ground floor of the former Tiffany building at 401 Fifth Avenue, near Thirty-seventh Street, where several hundred persons can be accommodated for each presentation."

The network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc., a collection of 16 radio stations that was bought by William S. Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paley's guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States and then one of the big three American broadcast television networks. In 1974, CBS dropped its full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the network in 1995 and eventually adopted the name of the company it had bought to become CBS Corporation. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which coincidentally had begun as a spin-off of CBS in 1971. In late 2005, Viacom split itself and reestablished CBS Corporation with the CBS television network at its core. CBS Corporation and the new Viacom are controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, the parent of the two companies.

History

Early years

The origins of CBS date back to the creation, on January 21, 1927 in Chicago, of the "United Independent Broadcasters" network. Established by New York talent agent Arthur Judson, United soon looked for additional investors; the Columbia Phonographic Manufacturing Company (also owners of Columbia Records), rescued the company in April 1927, and as a result, the network was renamed "Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System." Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18, 1927, from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and 15 affiliates.