MCA

MCA Inc.
Founded	1924
Dissolved	1996 (folded into Universal Studios)
President	Lew Wasserman (1948–90)
Notable Works

MCA Inc. (Music Corporation of America) was an American media company founded in 1924, originally to produce music. Active within television production from 1950 to 1996, it is a predecessor of NBCUniversal.

In 1950, MCA relaunched former live concert subsidiary Revue Productions (renamed Revue Studios in 1958) as a television production studio, and one year later MCA Television was established, originally as the distribution arm, but soon also as a producer of television programming.

After acquiring major movie studio Universal Pictures in 1962 as part of its purchase of Universal's then-parent company, the American branch of Decca Records, MCA became one of the most influential media companies in the US, and Revue Studios was renamed Universal Television in 1963. In the 1980s, it became the half owner of leading cable operator USA Network, and in 1987 cable production studio MTE was launched.

In 1990, MCA (including Universal) was purchased by the Japanese multinational conglomerate Matsushita Electric (which eventually changed its name to Panasonic). In 1991, MCA made a bid to purchase the Hanna-Barbera animation studio but lost out to a competing bid by Turner Broadcasting (which continued to own the Hanna-Barbera catalogue as part of WarnerMedia until 2019, when Turner Broadcasting was dissolved and the Hanna-Barbera catalogue was transferred directly to Warner Bros., which now owns it as part of WarnerMedia successor Warner Bros. Discovery). In 1995, Seagram gained control of MCA (having acquired 80% of the company) and one year later MCA was folded into Universal Studios, while MCA TV and MTE were folded into Universal Television.