Lexington Broadcast Services Company

The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company formed on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel. Advertising Age wrote of Siegel as "the man who built Lexington Broadcast Services into the nation's largest barter syndicator, and thus defined that segment of the TV ad business."[1][2]

LBS Communications, Inc.

The noodle logo of LBS
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Television syndication
Founded	November 15, 1976 (1976-11-15)
Defunct	1992 (1992)
Fate	Acquired by All American Communications
Successor	All American Communications Television (1992–1997) Pearson Television (1997–2001) Fremantle North America (2001–present)
Headquarters	New York City, U.S.
Parent	All American Communications (1991–1992)

It was originally a unit of Grey Advertising, in order to develop products that was marketed into syndication. One of the first products that was made were Not for Women Only, which was produced by WNBC-TV in New York City, and Hot Fudge, which was produced by then-ABC O&O WXYZ-TV in Detroit.[3] Siegel was moved from Grey Advertising's president in order to become head of Lexington Broadcast Services Company.[4] In 1977, it launched its first breakout hit for the company, Sha Na Na, for syndication, on advertising on a barter basis.[5]

In 1982, it entered into a partnership with Columbia Pictures Television to bring the ABC drama Family to off-net syndication starting in the fall of 1983, with LBS handling distribution under license from Columbia Pictures, which was sold onto a barter basis.[6][7] The success of Family led the formation of the Colex Enterprises joint venture (as mentioned below).[8] In 1986, it launched a syndicated block with DIC Entertainment and Mattel, Kideo TV.[9][10] That year, DIC and LBS formed the Family Theater package of eight animated specials, and decided that DIC and LBS teamed up with Columbia Pictures Television on a live-action Dennis the Menace feature film.[11]

In 1985, LBS, DIC Enterprises and Karl/Lorimar Home Video set up a home video distribution venture, Kideo Video, which released titles from LBS' Kideo catalog, which therefore, by 1986, LBS Enterprises is making its direct plans to make titles onto the videocassette market, and it gained programming rights of 200 Kideo titles, and by 1987, LBS had to market beauty videocassettes due to the underperforming expectations of the initial Kideo videocassettes, and sponsored made-fors would not be included in its initial deal.[12]

In June 1987, DIC and LBS settle their lawsuits on Kideo Video, "amicably" out of court, and the cross complaints stemmed from the home video label started in 1985, and the settlement allowed Lorimar Home Video to continue distributing for the home video market, certain kids' animated programs, and called for LBS and DIC to have right to enter into separate home video agreements independently of each other, and the rights of one of the companies could be independent of each other and also independent of Lorimar Home Video, and the issue was raised of a joint account the LBS was managing and was allegedly was trafficked in and out of the Cayman Islands, and the two companies involved such animated kids programs as Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and M.A.S.K., and there would be wrongdoing in the $250 million account in participation of LBS.[13]

In late July 1987, LBS Communications, on behalf of Westgate Entertainment, began marketing a $3 million, two-hour barter syndicated special on the Titanic, and LBS and Westgate had exclusive rights to the taped footage of the attacks at that time, and the company had to fed the special to an ad-hoc network of TV stations on October 28, and at least 30 minutes of the two-hour special would be from Monte Carlo, and decided that LBS would sell the telecast as part of a four-specials barter package.[14]

The company was known for distributing programs from DIC Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Television (including select material from Columbia subsidiary/label Screen Gems), by way of its Colex Enterprises joint venture with Columbia,[8] in addition to the 1991 syndicated re-launch of Baywatch. The company was also known for handling Elia Kazan's films that he directed from 1945 to 1976, and syndicating selected Bob Hope-produced movies that reverted to him after their initial release. That year, LBS Communications is building up its distribution arm to clear stations for syndicated TV productions from outside production companies, and Paul Siegel would take over as president of the LBS Entertainment division and has plans for advertising with Paramount Domestic Television and Coca-Cola Telecommunications, and the company then found itself in the cold, and the alternatives failed to materialize is a management buyout of the company from Grey Advertising by Marvin Davis, who was a former employee of the 20th Century-Fox film studio.[15]

Around the time that the joint venture with Columbia Pictures Entertainment ended in 1988, LBS began to lose money, and in December 1991, LBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a result, the company ended up having to sell between 80 and 85 percent of its assets to its Baywatch distributor partner, the Scotti Brothers' All American Television. In 1997, All American was sold to Pearson plc, and was re-branded as Pearson Television. Pearson Television later merged with CLT-UFA to form RTL Group and Pearson Television was renamed to Fremantle. As of today, most of LBS' library is owned by Fremantle North America with some exceptions.