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National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned theater company based in Dedham, Massachusetts, United States. The company was founded in 1936, as the Northeast Theatre Corporation by Michael Redstone.
National Amusements is now owned by Michael Redstone's son, Sumner Redstone, who holds 80% of the company, and Sumner's daughter, Shari Redstone, who owns the remaining 20%. Through National Amusements, the Redstones control both the CBS Corporation (owner of CBS) and Viacom (owner of Paramount Pictures) through supervoting shares.[1]
The City Center 15 Cinema De Lux in White Plains, New York's City Center includes a waiting area with a TV, newspaper rack and sofas (left), a piano (center), and a bar and grill restaurant (not pictured).
The company operates more than 1,500 movie screens across the Northeastern United States, one location in Springdale, Ohio, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and Russia under its Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, Cinema de Lux, and KinoStar brands.
National Amusements is equal partners in MovieTickets.com.
National Amusements' slogan, "Welcome to the Show", was coined by policy trailer producer Pike Productions, Inc., with which National Amusements had an exclusive contract until Filmack acquired Pike, in the late 2000s.
Financial troubles[]
At the end of 2008, the Redstones' financial troubles started when billionaire Sumner Redstone had to dump $400 million of nonvoting shares.[2]
It was released that National Amusements planned to sell $390 million of notes in another attempt to refinance a large part of the company's bank owed debt.[3]
Sale of theaters and subsidiary stock[]
In October 2009, the news was released that National Amusements would be selling almost $1 billion of stock they own in CBS and Viacom.[4] National Amusements has sold 35 theaters to Rave Motion Pictures. Today these theatres are owned by Cinemark. National Amusements now almost exclusively operates theaters in the Northeast (with the exception of one location in Ohio). [5]
Main competitors[]
- AMC Theatres
- Bow Tie Cinemas
- Cinemark Theatres
- Regal Entertainment Group
References[]
- ↑ Greg Griffin (2007-02-06). Redstones settle feud over family business. The Denver Post.
- ↑ James, Meg. "Redstone hit by credit troubles", LA Times, October 11, 2008. Retrieved on 2013-01-20.
- ↑ "National Amusements Plans to Sell $390 Million of Notes to Refinance Debt", Bloomberg, November 23, 2010. Retrieved on 2013-01-20.
- ↑ Edward B. Colby. "National Amusements Inc. to sell nearly $1B of its Viacom, CBS stock", The Daily News Transcript, 2009-10-14.
- ↑ Nikki Finke (2009-12-07). Rave To Acquire 35 Of Redstone’s National Amusements Theater Complexes.
External links[]
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- Template:Official website
- Showcase Cinemas website
- 2001 Box Office Magazine profile of the company
- Yahoo! - National Amusements Inc. Company Profile
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