The Venera (Russian: Ð'енера, pronounced [vʲɪˈnʲɛrÉ™]) series space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather data from Venus, Venera being the Russian name for Venus. As with some of the Soviet Union's other planetary probes, the later versions were launched in pairs with a second vehicle being launched soon after the first of the pair.

Ten probes from the Venera series successfully landed on Venus and transmitted data from the surface of Venus, including the two Vega program and Venera-Halley probes. In addition, thirteen Venera probes successfully transmitted data from the atmosphere of Venus.

Among the other results, probes of the series became the first human-made devices to enter the atmosphere of another planet (Venera 4 on October 18, 1967), to make a soft landing on another planet (Venera 7 on December 15, 1970), to return images from the planetary surface (Venera 9 on June 8, 1975), and to perform high-resolution radar mapping studies of Venus (Venera 15 on June 2, 1983). The later probes in the Venera series successfully carried out their mission, providing the first direct observations of the surface of Venus. Since the surface conditions on Venus are extreme, the probes only survived on the surface for durations varying between 23 minutes (initial probes) up to about two hours (final probes).

The Venera probes

Venera 1 and 2

The first Soviet attempt at a flyby probe to Venus was launched on February 4, 1961, but failed to leave Earth orbit. In keeping with the Soviet policy at that time of not announcing details of failed missions, the launch was announced under the name Tyazhely Sputnik ("Heavy Satellite"). It is also known as Venera 1VA.

Venera 1 and Venera 2 were intended as fly-by probes to fly past Venus without entering orbit. Venera 1 was launched on February 12, 1961. Telemetry on the probe failed seven days after launch. It is believed to have passed within 100,000 km of Venus and remains in heliocentric orbit. Venera 2 launched on November 12, 1965, but also suffered a telemetry failure after leaving Earth orbit.

Several other failed attempts at Venus flyby probes were launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, but were not announced as planetary missions at the time, and hence did not officially receive the "Venera" designation.

Venera 3 to 6

The Venera 3 to 6 probes were similar. Weighing approximately one ton, and launched by the Molniya-type booster rocket, they included a cruise "bus" and a spherical atmospheric entry probe. The probes were optimised for atmospheric measurements, but not equipped with any special landing apparatus. Although it was hoped they would reach the surface still functioning, the first probes failed almost immediately, thereby disabling data transmission to Earth.

Venera 3 became the first human-made object to impact another planet's surface as it crash-landed on March 1, 1966. However, as the spacecraft's dataprobes had failed upon atmospheric penetration, no data from within the Venusian boundary were retrieved from the mission.

On 18 October 1967, Venera 4 became the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet. While the Soviet Union initially claimed the craft reached the surface intact, re-analysis including atmospheric occultation data from the American Mariner 5 spacecraft that flew by Venus the day after its arrival demonstrated that Venus's surface pressure was 75-100 atmospheres, much higher than Venera 4's 25 atm hull strength, and the claim was retracted.

Realizing the ships would be crushed before reaching the surface, the Soviets launched Venera 5 and Venera 6 as atmospheric probes. Designed to jettison nearly half their payload prior to entering the planet's atmosphere, these craft recorded 53 and 51 minutes of data, respectively, while slowly descending by parachute before their batteries failed.

Venera 7

The Venera 7 probe was the first one designed to survive Venus surface conditions and to make a soft landing. Massively overbuilt to ensure survival, it had few experiments on board, and scientific output from the mission was further limited due to an internal switchboard failure which stuck in the "transmit temperature" position. Still, the control scientists succeeded in extrapolating the pressure (90 atm) from the temperature data (465 °C (869 °F)), which resulted from the first direct surface measurements. The Doppler measurements of the Venera 4 to 7 probes were the first evidence of the existence of high-speed zonal winds (up to 100 metres per second (330 ft/s) or 362 kilometres per hour (225 mph)) in the Venusian atmosphere (super rotation).

Venera 7's parachute failed shortly before landing very close to the surface. It impacted at 17 metres per second (56 ft/s) and toppled over, but survived. Due to the resultant antenna misalignment, the radio signal was very weak, but was detected (with temperature telemetry) for 23 more minutes before its batteries expired. Thus, it became, on 15 December 1970, the first human-made probe to transmit data from the surface of Venus.

Venera 8

Venera 8 was equipped with an extended set of scientific instruments for studying the surface (gamma-spectrometer etc.). The cruise bus of Venera 7 and 8 was similar to that of earlier ones, with the design ascending to the Zond 3 mission. The lander transmitted data during the descent and landed in sunlight. It measured the light level but had no camera. It continued to send back data for almost an hour.

Venera 9 to 12

The Venera 9 to 12 probes were of a different design. They weighed approximately five tons and were launched by the powerful Proton booster. They included a transfer and relay bus that had engines to brake into Venus orbit (Venera 9 and 10, 15 and 16) and to serve as receiver and relay for the entry probe's transmissions. The entry probe was attached to the top of the bus in a spherical heat shield. The probes were optimized for surface operations with an unusual looking design that included a spherical compartment to protect the electronics from atmospheric pressure and heat for as long as possible. Beneath this was a shock absorbing "crush ring" for landing. Above the pressure sphere was a cylindrical antenna structure and a wide dish shaped structure that resembled an antenna but was actually an aerobrake. They were designed to operate on the surface for a minimum of 30 minutes. Instruments varied on different missions, but included cameras and atmospheric and soil analysis equ ipment. All four landers had problems with some or all of their camera lens caps not releasing.

The Venera 9 lander operated for at least 53 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release.

The Venera 10 lander operated for at least 65 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release.

The Venera 11 lander operated for at least 95 minutes but neither cameras' lens caps released.

The Venera 12 lander operated for at least 110 minutes but neither cameras' lens caps released.

Venera 13 and 14

The descent craft/lander contained most of the instrumentation and electronics, and was topped by an antenna. The design was similar to the earlier Venera 9â€"12 landers. They carried instruments to take scientific measurements of the ground and atmosphere once landed, including cameras, a microphone, a drill and surface sampler, and a seismometer. They also had instruments to record electric discharges during its descent phase through the Venusian atmosphere.

The two descent craft landed about 950 kilometres (590 mi) apart, just east of the eastern extension of an elevated region known as Phoebe Regio. The Venera 13 lander survived for 127 minutes, and the Venera 14 lander for 57 minutes, where the planned design life was only 32 minutes. The Venera 14 craft had the misfortune of ejecting the camera lens cap directly under the surface compressibility tester arm, and returned information for the compressibility of the lens cap rather than the surface. The descent vehicles transmitted data to the buses, which acted as data relays as they flew by Venus.

Veneras 15 and 16

Venera 15 and 16 were similar to previous probes, but replaced the entry probes with surface imaging radar equipment. Radar imaging was necessary to penetrate the dense cloud of Venus.

Vega probes

The Vega probes to Venus and comet 1/P Halley launched in 1985 also used this basic Venera design, including landers but also atmospheric balloons which relayed data for about two days. "Vega" is an agglutination of the words "Venera" (Venus in Russian) and "Gallei" (Halley in Russian).

Scientific findings

There were many scientific findings about Venus from the data retrieved by the Venera probes. For example, after analyzing the radar images returned from Venera 15 and 16, it was concluded that the ridges and grooves on the surface of Venus were the result of tectonic deformations.

Venera camera successes and failures

The Venera 9 and 10 landers had two cameras each. Only one functioned because the lens covers failed to separate from the second camera on each lander. The design was changed for Venera 11 and 12, but this change made the problem worse and all cameras failed on those missions. Venera 13 and 14 were the only landers on which all cameras worked properly; although unfortunately, the titanium lens cap on Venera 14 landed precisely on the area which was targeted by the soil compression probe.

The external link at the bottom of the page shows all lander imagery.

Flight data for all Venera missions

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Periodontitis, also known as pyorrhea, is a set of inflammatory diseases affecting the tissues surrounding the teeth. Periodontitis involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, and if left untreated, can lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth.

Periodontitis is caused by microorganisms that adhere to and grow on the tooth's surfaces, along with an over-aggressive immune response against these microorganisms. A diagnosis of periodontitis is established by inspecting the soft gum tissues around the teeth with a probe (i.e., a clinical examination) and by evaluating the patient's X-ray films (i.e., a radiographic examination), to determine the amount of bone loss around the teeth. Specialists in the treatment of periodontitis are periodontists; their field is known as "periodontology" or "periodontics".

Classification

The 1999 classification system for periodontal diseases and conditions listed seven major categories of periodontal diseases, of which 2â€"6 are termed destructive periodontal disease, because the damage is essentially irreversible. The seven categories are as follows:

1. Gingivitis
2. Chronic periodontitis
3. Aggressive periodontitis
4. Periodontitis as a manifestation of systemic disease
5. Necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis/periodontitis
6. Abscesses of the periodontium
7. Combined periodontic-endodontic lesions

Moreover, terminology expressing both the extent and severity of periodontal diseases are appended to the terms above to denote the specific diagnosis of a particular patient or group of patients.

Extent

The "extent" of disease refers to the proportion of the dentition affected by the disease in terms of percentage of sites. Sites are defined as the positions at which probing measurements are taken around each tooth and, generally, six probing sites around each tooth are recorded, as follows:

1. mesiobuccal
2. mid-buccal
3. distobuccal
4. mesiolingual
5. mid-lingual
6. distolingual

If up to 30% of sites in the mouth are affected, the manifestation is classified as "localized"; for more than 30%, the term "generalized" is used.

Severity

The "severity" of disease refers to the amount of periodontal ligament fibers that have been lost, termed "clinical attachment loss". According to the American Academy of Periodontology, the classification of severity is as follows:

• Mild: 1â€"2 mm (0.039â€"0.079 in) of attachment loss
• Moderate: 3â€"4 mm (0.12â€"0.16 in) of attachment loss
• Severe: ≥ 5 mm (0.20 in) of attachment loss

Signs and symptoms

In the early stages, periodontitis has very few symptoms, and in many individuals the disease has progressed significantly before they seek treatment.

Symptoms may include:

• Redness or bleeding of gums while brushing teeth, using dental floss or biting into hard food (e.g., apples) (though this may occur even in gingivitis, where there is no attachment loss)
• Gum swelling that recurs
• Spitting out blood after brushing teeth
• Halitosis, or bad breath, and a persistent metallic taste in the mouth
• Gingival recession, resulting in apparent lengthening of teeth. (This may also be caused by heavy-handed brushing or with a stiff toothbrush.)
• Deep pockets between the teeth and the gums (pockets are sites where the attachment has been gradually destroyed by collagen-destroying enzymes, known as collagenases)
• Loose teeth, in the later stages (though this may occur for other reasons, as well)

Patients should realize gingival inflammation and bone destruction are largely painless. Hence, people may wrongly assume painless bleeding after teeth cleaning is insignificant, although this may be a symptom of progressing periodontitis in that patient.

Associated conditions

Periodontitis has been linked to increased inflammation in the body, such as indicated by raised levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6. It is linked through this to increased risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, and atherosclerosis. It also linked in those over 60 years of age to impairments in delayed memory and calculation abilities. Individuals with impaired fasting glucose and diabetes mellitus have higher degrees of periodontal inflammation, and often have difficulties with balancing their blood glucose level owing to the constant systemic inflammatory state, caused by the periodontal inflammation. Although no causal association was proven, a recent study showed correlation between chronic periodontitis and erectile dysfunction.

Causes

Periodontitis is an inflammation of the periodontium, i.e., the tissues that support the teeth. The periodontium consists of four tissues:

• gingiva, or gum tissue,
• cementum, or outer layer of the roots of teeth,
• alveolar bone, or the bony sockets into which the teeth are anchored, and
• periodontal ligaments (PDLs), which are the connective tissue fibers that run between the cementum and the alveolar bone.

The primary etiology (cause) of gingivitis is poor or ineffective oral hygiene, which leads to the accumulation of a mycotic and bacterial matrix at the gum line, called dental plaque. Other contributors are poor nutrition and underlying medical issues such as diabetes. Diabetics must be meticulous with their homecare to control periodontal disease. New finger prick tests have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US, and are being used in dental offices to identify and screen patients for possible contributory causes of gum disease, such as diabetes.

In some people, gingivitis progresses to periodontitis â€" with the destruction of the gingival fibers, the gum tissues separate from the tooth and deepened sulcus, called a periodontal pocket. Subgingival microorganisms (those that exist under the gum line) colonize the periodontal pockets and cause further inflammation in the gum tissues and progressive bone loss. Examples of secondary etiology are those things that, by definition, cause microbic plaque accumulation, such as restoration overhangs and root proximity.

Smoking is another factor that increases the occurrence of periodontitis, directly or indirectly, and may interfere with or adversely affect its treatment.

Ehlersâ€"Danlos syndrome is a periodontitis risk factor and so is the Papillonâ€"Lefèvre syndrome also known as palmoplantar keratoderma.

If left undisturbed, microbial plaque calcifies to form calculus, which is commonly called tartar. Calculus above and below the gum line must be removed completely by the dental hygienist or dentist to treat gingivitis and periodontitis. Although the primary cause of both gingivitis and periodontitis is the microbial plaque that adheres to the tooth surfaces, there are many other modifying factors. A very strong risk factor is one's genetic susceptibility. Several conditions and diseases, including Down syndrome, diabetes, and other diseases that affect one's resistance to infection, also increase susceptibility to periodontitis.

Another factor that makes periodontitis a difficult disease to study is that human host response can also affect the alveolar bone resorption. Host response to the bacterial-mycotic insult is mainly determined by genetics; however, immune development may play some role in susceptibility.

According to some researchers periodontitis may be associated with higher stress. Periodontitis occurs more often in people from the lower end of the socioeconomic scale than people from the upper end of the socioeconomic scale.

Mechanism

As dental plaque or biofilm accumulates on the teeth near and below the gums, there is a shift in the composition of the biofilm from essentially streptococcus to an actinomyces dominant plaque. Motile bacteria is also seen more frequently. As this happens, inflammation sets in the gingiva. Initially, this takes the form of gingivitis, which represents inflammation confined to the soft tissues above the bone level. Inflammation in the gingiva can remain at the gingivitis level for a long period and will not progress to periodontitis, unless in the presence of local conditions or generalized host susceptibility. When this shift occurs, the immune system's response to plaque accumulation shifts from a predominantly neutrophilic mediated response to lymphocytic and plasma cell-mediated response. Clinically, the gingiva presents swelling, redness and a tendency to bleed. This modifies the environment, leading to changes in the composition of the biofilm itself. As this happens, a pred ominantly gram-negative environment is established, with periodontal pathogens emerging. These include A. actinomycetemcomitans, the red complex bacteria (P. gingivalis, T. Forsythia, T denticola) and to a lesser extent the orange complex bacteria (F nucleatum, P micros, P.intermedia, P. nigrecens, E. nodatum and S. constellates). Strongest bacterial association to chronic periodontitis is with P. Gingivalis. Numerous virulence factors have been identified for this pathogen. This allows P. gingivalis to elude defense mechanism and perpetuate inflammation inside the periodontium. Prolonged inflammation in the periodontium leads to an apical shift in the attachment of the gingiva to the tooth with deepening pockets and bone loss around the teeth. Untreated periodontitis progresses unevenly over time but results in loss of function, tissue destruction, and tooth loss.

Prevention

Daily oral hygiene measures to prevent periodontal disease include:

• Brushing properly on a regular basis (at least twice daily), with the patient attempting to direct the toothbrush bristles underneath the gumline, helps disrupt the bacterial-mycotic growth and formation of subgingival plaque.
• Flossing daily and using interdental brushes (if the space between teeth is large enough), as well as cleaning behind the last tooth, the third molar, in each quarter
• Using an antiseptic mouthwash: Chlorhexidine gluconate-based mouthwash in combination with careful oral hygiene may cure gingivitis, although they cannot reverse any attachment loss due to periodontitis.
• Using periodontal trays to maintain dentist-prescribed medications at the source of the disease: The use of trays allows the medication to stay in place long enough to penetrate the biofilms where the microorganism are found.
• Regular dental check-ups and professional teeth cleaning as required: Dental check-ups serve to monitor the person's oral hygiene methods and levels of attachment around teeth, identify any early signs of periodontitis, and monitor response to treatment.
• Microscopic evaluation of biofilm may serve as a guide to regaining commensal health flora.

Typically, dental hygienists (or dentists) use special instruments to clean (debride) teeth below the gumline and disrupt any plaque growing below the gumline. This is a standard treatment to prevent any further progress of established periodontitis. Studies show that after such a professional cleaning (periodontal debridement), microbial plaque tends to grow back to precleaning levels after about three to four months. Nonetheless, the continued stabilization of a patient's periodontal state depends largely, if not primarily, on the patient's oral hygiene at home, as well as on the go. Without daily oral hygiene, periodontal disease will not be overcome, especially if the patient has a history of extensive periodontal disease.

Periodontal disease and tooth loss are associated with an increased risk, in male patients, of cancer.

Contributing causes may be high alcohol consumption or a diet low in antioxidants.

Management

The cornerstone of successful periodontal treatment starts with establishing excellent oral hygiene. This includes twice-daily brushing with daily flossing. Also, the use of an interdental brush is helpful if space between the teeth allows. For smaller spaces, products such as narrow picks with soft rubber bristles provide excellent manual cleaning. Persons with dexterity problems, such as arthritis, may find oral hygiene to be difficult and may require more frequent professional care and/or the use of a powered toothbrush. Persons with periodontitis must realize it is a chronic inflammatory disease and a lifelong regimen of excellent hygiene and professional maintenance care with a dentist/hygienist or periodontist is required to maintain affected teeth.

Initial therapy

Removal of microbial plaque and calculus is necessary to establish periodontal health. The first step in the treatment of periodontitis involves nonsurgical cleaning below the gumline with a procedure called scaling and debridement. In the past, root planing was used (removal of the cemental layer as well as calculus). This procedure involves the use of specialized curettes to mechanically remove plaque and calculus from below the gumline, and may require multiple visits and local anesthesia to adequately complete. In addition to initial scaling and root planing, it may also be necessary to adjust the occlusion (bite) to prevent excessive force on teeth that have reduced bone support. Also, it may be necessary to complete any other dental needs, such as replacement of rough, plaque-retentive restorations, closure of open contacts between teeth, and any other requirements diagnosed at the initial evaluation.

Reevaluation

Multiple clinical studies have shown nonsurgical scaling and root planing are usually successful if the periodontal pockets are shallower than 4â€"5 mm (0.16â€"0.20 in). The dentist or hygienist must perform a re-evaluation four to six weeks after the initial scaling and root planing, to determine if the patient's oral hygiene has improved and inflammation has regressed. Probing should be avoided then, and an analysis by gingival index should determine the presence or absence of inflammation. The monthly reevaluation of periodontal therapy should involve periodontal charting as a better indication of the success of treatment, and to see if other courses of treatment can be identified. Pocket depths of greater than 5â€"6 mm (0.20â€"0.24 in) which remain after initial therapy, with bleeding upon probing, indicate continued active disease and will very likely lead to further bone loss over time. This is especially true in molar tooth sites where furcations (areas between the root s) have been exposed.

Surgery

If nonsurgical therapy is found to have been unsuccessful in managing signs of disease activity, periodontal surgery may be needed to stop progressive bone loss and regenerate lost bone where possible. Many surgical approaches are used in the treatment of advanced periodontitis, including open flap debridement and osseous surgery, as well as guided tissue regeneration and bone grafting. The goal of periodontal surgery is access for definitive calculus removal and surgical management of bony irregularities which have resulted from the disease process to reduce pockets as much as possible. Long-term studies have shown, in moderate to advanced periodontitis, surgically treated cases often have less further breakdown over time and, when coupled with a regular post-treatment maintenance regimen, are successful in nearly halting tooth loss in nearly 85% of patients.

Maintenance

Once successful periodontal treatment has been completed, with or without surgery, an ongoing regimen of "periodontal maintenance" is required. This involves regular checkups and detailed cleanings every three months to prevent repopulation of periodontitis-causing microorganisms, and to closely monitor affected teeth so early treatment can be rendered if the disease recurs. Usually, periodontal disease exists due to poor plaque control, therefore if the brushing techniques are not modified, a periodontal recurrence is probable.

Alternative treatments

Periodontitis has an inescapable relationship with subgingival calculus (tartar). The first step in any procedure is to eliminate calculus under the gum line, as it houses destructive anaerobic microorganisms that consume bone, gum and cementum (connective tissue) for food.

Most alternative "at-home" gum disease treatments involve injecting antimicrobial solutions, such as hydrogen peroxide, into periodontal pockets via slender applicators or oral irrigators. This process disrupts anaerobic micro-organism colonies and is effective at reducing infections and inflammation when used daily. A number of other products, functionally equivalent to hydrogen peroxide, are commercially available, but at substantially higher cost. However, such treatments do not address calculus formations, and so are short-lived, as anaerobic microbial colonies quickly regenerate in and around calculus.

Doxycycline may be given alongside the primary therapy of scaling (see § initial therapy). Doxycycline has been shown to improve indicators of disease progression (namely probing depth and attachment level). Its mechanism of action involves inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (such as collagenase), which degrade the teeth's supporting tissues (periodontium) under inflammatory conditions. To avoid killing beneficial oral microbes, only small doses of doxycycline (20 mg) are used.

Prognosis

Dentists and dental hygienists measure periodontal disease using a device called a periodontal probe. This thin "measuring stick" is gently placed into the space between the gums and the teeth, and slipped below the gumline. If the probe can slip more than 3 mm (0.12 in) below the gumline, the patient is said to have a gingival pocket if no migration of the epithelial attachment has occurred or a periodontal pocket if apical migration has occurred. This is somewhat of a misnomer, as any depth is, in essence, a pocket, which in turn is defined by its depth, i.e., a 2-mm pocket or a 6-mm pocket. However, pockets are generally accepted as self-cleansable (at home, by the patient, with a toothbrush) if they are 3 mm or less in depth. This is important because if a pocket is deeper than 3 mm around the tooth, at-home care will not be sufficient to cleanse the pocket, and professional care should be sought. When the pocket depths reach 6 to 7 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in) in depth, the han d instruments and cavitrons used by the dental professionals may not reach deeply enough into the pocket to clean out the microbial plaque that causes gingival inflammation. In such a situation, the bone or the gums around that tooth should be surgically altered or it will always have inflammation which will likely result in more bone loss around that tooth. An additional way to stop the inflammation would be for the patient to receive subgingival antibiotics (such as minocycline) or undergo some form of gingival surgery to access the depths of the pockets and perhaps even change the pocket depths so they become 3 mm or less in depth and can once again be properly cleaned by the patient at home with his or her toothbrush.

If patients have 7-mm or deeper pockets around their teeth, then they would likely risk eventual tooth loss over the years. If this periodontal condition is not identified and the patients remain unaware of the progressive nature of the disease, then years later, they may be surprised that some teeth will gradually become loose and may need to be extracted, sometimes due to a severe infection or even pain.

According to the Sri Lankan tea laborer study, in the absence of any oral hygiene activity, approximately 10% will suffer from severe periodontal disease with rapid loss of attachment (>2 mm/year). About 80% will suffer from moderate loss (1â€"2 mm/year) and the remaining 10% will not suffer any loss.

Epidemiology

Periodontitis is very common, and is widely regarded as the second most common dental disease worldwide, after dental decay, and in the United States has a prevalence of 30â€"50% of the population, but only about 10% have severe forms.

Chronic periodontitis affects about 750 million people or about 10.8% of the population as of 2010.

Like other conditions intimately related to access to hygiene and basic medical monitoring and care, periodontitis tends to be more common in economically disadvantaged populations or regions. Its occurrence decreases with a higher standard of living. In Israeli population, individuals of Yemenite, North-African, South Asian, or Mediterranean origin have higher prevalence of periodontal disease than individuals from European descent. Periodontitis is frequently reported to be socially patterned, i.e. people from the lower end of the socioeconomic scale suffer more often from it than people from the upper end of the socioeconomic scale.

Society and culture

Etymology

The word "periodontitis" (Greek: περιοδοντίτις) comes from the Greek peri, "around", odous (GEN odontos), "tooth", and the suffix -itis, in medical terminology "inflammation". The word pyorrhea (alternative spelling: pyorrhoea) comes from the Greek pyorrhoia (πυόρροια), "discharge of matter", itself from pyon, "discharge from a sore", rhoÄ", "flow", and the suffix -ia. In English this term can describe, as in Greek, any discharge of pus; i.e. it is not restricted to these diseases of the teeth.

Economics

It is estimated that periodontitis results in worldwide productivity losses in the size of about US$54 billion yearly.

Other animals

Periodontal disease is the most common disease found in dogs and affects more than 80% of dogs aged three years or older. Its prevalence in dogs increases with age, but decreases with increasing body weight; i.e., toy and miniature breeds are more severely affected. Recent research undertaken at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition has established that the bacteria associated with gum disease in dogs are not the same as in humans. Systemic disease may develop because the gums are very vascular (have a good blood supply). The blood stream carries these anaerobic micro-organisms, and they are filtered out by the kidneys and liver, where they may colonize and create microabscesses. The microorganisms traveling through the blood may also attach to the heart valves, causing vegetative infective endocarditis (infected heart valves). Additional diseases that may result from periodontitis include chronic bronchitis and pulmonary fibrosis.

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Alan Kurdi (Kurdish: Alan Kurdî‎), initially reported as Aylan Kurdi, was a three-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned on 2 September 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea. He and his family were Syrian refugees trying to reach Europe amid the European refugee crisis (see timeline). Photographs of his body were taken by Turkish journalist Nilüfer Demir and quickly spread around the world, prompting international responses. Because Kurdî's family had reportedly been trying to reach Canada, his death and the wider refugee crisis immediately becam e an issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election.

Biography

Kurdi is believed to have been born in 2012 or 2013 in Kobanî, Syria. A Syrian journalist claimed that the family name was Shenu; 'Kurdi' was used in Turkey because of their ethnic background. After moving between various cities in northern Syria to escape the civil war and ISIL, his family settled in Turkey. The family returned to Kobanî at the beginning of 2015, but returned to Turkey in June 2015 when ISIL attacked Kobanî again. Following two failed attempts to take the family to the Greek island of Kos, Kurdi's father arranged a third attempt.

Kurdi's family members were hoping to join their relatives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, after his aunt Tima Kurdi filed for refugee sponsorship, but this was rejected by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada after the family members were denied an exit visa by Turkish authorities. According to the department an application by Abdullah's brother, Mohammad, was rejected as it was incomplete, and no application was ever received from Abdullah Kurdi. Abdullah Kurdi said that the Canadian government denied his application for asylum and that they were responsible for the tragedy.

Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Fin Donnelly told the media that he had hand-delivered their file to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander earlier this year, but the application was rejected in June 2015 because it was incomplete. The Kurdi family tried to obtain entry to Canada under a private sponsorship program whereby groups of five people may also sponsor an individual or family. They are required to demonstrate that they can provide roughly 27,000 Canadian dollars to support a family of four refugees. According to Alexandra Kotyk, project manager of Lifeline Syria, a refugee settlement group in Toronto, the program requires that people seeking to come to Canada from Turkey first be declared refugees by the Turkish government. She said that was often a difficult or impossible condition to fulfill.

Fatal accident and body recovery

In the early hours of 2 September 2015, Kurdi and his family boarded a small plastic or rubber inflatable boat, which capsized about five minutes after leaving Bodrum in Turkey. Sixteen people were in the boat, which was designed for a maximum of eight people. They were trying to reach the Greek island of Kos, about 30 minutes (4 kilometres or 2 ¹â„₂ miles) from Bodrum. Kurdi's father said: "We had no life vests", but also said they were wearing life jackets, but they "were all fake". Others have stated that they believed that they were wearing lifejackets but the items were ineffective.

It was later stated on Syrian radio that the Kurdi family paid $5,860 for their four spaces on the boat, which had twelve passengers on it despite being only about five meters long. Alan Kurdi's mother joined in the trip even though she had a fear of being on the open sea. Tima Kurdi, Alan Kurdi's aunt, advised her sister not to go. The individuals on the boat evaded the Turkish Coastguard by setting out from an isolated beach late at night.

Around 5 am authorities started an investigation after an emergency call that a boat had capsized and bodies were coming ashore. The bodies of Kurdi and another child were discovered by two locals at around 6:30 am. The two men moved the bodies from the water onto the dry part of the beach. Later, Kurdi was photographed face-down at the water's edge by a Turkish press photographer.

On 3 September 2015, Kurdi along with brother Galib and mother Rehana were taken to Kobanî for burials, which took place the next day. It is Islamic tradition to bury the dead within 24 hours if possible. The Siege of Kobanî ended in March 2015 and Islamic State attacks on what was left of the city stopped completely in August 2015.

Arrests of alleged perpetrators

Turkish authorities later arrested four individuals in connection with the illegal journey, although they appeared to be low-level intermediaries.

Alan Kurdi's father, Abdullah Kurdi, has stated in some of his interviews that the inflatable boat became uncontrollable as its engine had failed, with the 'captain' abandoning it and everyone else. Some Turkish sources claimed that in his first interview with the DoÄŸan News Agency, he gives a different account of the event; he also states that following two unsuccessful attempts to cross into the Greek island Kos, his family provided its own boat with its own means. However, Abdullah never confirmed the DoÄŸan News Agency interview.

An Iraqi survivor from the same boat, Zainab Abbas, who also lost two children from the disaster, told reporters that Abdullah had been presented to her as the 'captain', that he was driving the overcrowded boat too fast, causing it to flip over, and that he pleaded with her while they were still both in the water not to report him to anyone in authority. Abbas said her family escaped out of Baghdad from ISIS and she was angry because all the media attention was on Aylan Kurdi and Abdullah Kurdi and not on her family. She later returned to Baghdad and said her dead children's bodies had not been correctly prepared for burial and called on Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to grant her family asylum so they can escape Islamic State. The Reuters agency reported that interviews with two other passengers in the boat, Iraqis Ahmed Hadi Jawwad (Zainab Abbas's husband), and 22-year-old Amir Haider, corroborated Abbas's account.

Abdullah denied the accusation, stating: "If I was a people smuggler, why would I put my family in the same boat as the other people? I paid the same amount to the people smugglers." and "I lost my family, I lost my life, I lost everything, so let them say whatever they want." According to Turkish authorities, investigations into the smuggling operations in Turkey showed that refugees were often tasked with helping smugglers sign up passengers for smuggling trips. It was also not uncommon for one of the passengers to be given the responsibility of driving the boat. No smuggler, with family in Turkey and a steady income from the lucrative smuggling trade, would want to end up illegally in Europe and risk not being able to return home, where he would be likely to face arrest anyway. The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan offered Alan's father Abdullah citizenship of Turkey.

Photos

Reactions to the photos

The photograph of Kurdi's body caused international outrage. French President François Hollande phoned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and some European leaders after the images of Kurdi emerged in the media. He said that the picture must be a reminder of the world's responsibility regarding refugees. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he felt deeply moved by images of Kurdi. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny commented on the photographs of Kurdi and described the refugee crisis as a "human catastrophe" and found the pictures "absolutely shocking".

The picture has been credited with causing a surge in donations to charities helping migrants and refugees, with one charity, the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, recording a 15-fold increase in donations within 24 hours of its publication. The Daily Mail stated in a 10 September article that the harrowing nature of Kurdi's death and the related images were "highlighting the horrific human cost of the global migrant crisis".

In a Guardian article Karl Mathiesen criticised media for calling Kurdi a "climate refugee", saying that "David Butter, an associate fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme, said such a conflict 'could have happened at any time in Syria, irrespective of the drought'".

A Dagbladet article on 9 September 2015 reported that claims had surfaced on various websites, including Reddit, alleging that Kurdi's body had been moved so that photographs would be better.

Another article in The Guardian, on 22 December 2015, outlined a collection of what it described as "outrageous claims" against Abdullah Kurdi. It was said that he was an opportunist who used his status as a Syrian refugee for personal gain. Another source said that Abdullah was profiting from the tragedy, including selling his dead son’s clothes to a museum in Paris. Australian politician Cory Bernardi claimed that “The father sent them on that boat so he could get dental treatment”. Some anti-immigration politicians claimed that the image of Alan on the beach had been faked.

Debate on the public responses to the pictures

Brendan O'Neill wrote in The Spectator on 3 September 2015 that: "The global spreading of this snapshot ... is justified as a way of raising awareness about the migrant crisis. Please. It’s more like a snuff photo for progressives, dead-child porn, designed not to start a serious debate about migration in the 21st century but to elicit a self-satisfied feeling of sadness among Western observers."

In contrast, Nick Logan of Global News argued on 4 September 2015 that: "Photojournalists sometimes capture images so powerful the public and policymakers can’t ignore what the pictures show." He compared the images of Kurdi's body to the pictures taken during the 'Bloody Sunday' event in which African-American civil rights activists were beaten by Alabama state troopers, and he said that widespread viewership of those images helped peaceful demonstrators in the passage of measures such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Impact on the 2015 Canadian federal election

The death of Kurdi and reports that his family had been trying to ultimately reach Canada had an immediate impact on domestic Canadian politics. Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Stephen Harper cancelled a photo opportunity and addressed the issue in a campaign event. "Yesterday, Laureen and I saw on the Internet, the picture of this young boy, Alan, dead on the beach. Look, I think, our reaction to that, you know the first thing that crossed our mind was remembering our son Ben at that age, running around like that" Harper said. Minister of National Defence and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney cancelled an important announcement on Conservative efforts to protect the integrity of Canada’s immigration system and the security of Canada. Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced he would be temporarily suspending his campaigning in the 2015 Canadian federal election to return to Ottawa to resume his ministerial duties and investigate th e case of Alan Kurdi, whose uncle's application for refugee status had been rejected by his ministry.

Leader of the Opposition and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said that "Chris Alexander has a lot to answer for, but that’s not where we are right now. We’re worried about how we got here, how the collective international response has been so defective, how Canada has failed so completely." NDP MP Fin Donnelly was accused of using the tragic event as a means to garner votes, because he initially told reporters that he had personally handed a letter to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander urging the minister to look at the refugee application of Alan Kurdi's family, but that Canadian immigration authorities denied the family's application. However, later the aunt of Alan Kurdi revealed that the application was made only for Kurdi's uncle and was rejected because it was not complete. Meanwhile, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada office clarified that they had not received the proper documentation to certify refugee status for the uncle's family. Mulcair later defended Donnelly, sa ying that no apology was warranted because the letter had mentioned both families, and stated that he "couldn’t be prouder to have someone of the strength, integrity and hard work as Fin Donnelly" in caucus.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said that "you don't get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign" and that "All different stripes of governments in Canada have stepped up in times of crisis to accept people fleeing for their lives", he said. "Canadians get it. This is about doing the right thing, about living up to the values that we cherish as a country." Trudeau also reiterated the Liberal promise made several months before the election to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May criticized Stephen Harper's response to the crisis, noting the difficulty of sponsoring a refugee in Canada. On the Green Party website, May accused the government of lacking credibility on the issue, "having failed to honour previous [refugee] announcements".

Reactions in the arts

A week following his death, around 30 Moroccans recreated the discovery of three-year-old's body in tribute in the Moroccan capital. In January 2016 the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei posed like the drowned Alan Kurdi by imitating his dead body as shown in the pictures in the media. The picture was published first in the Indian magazine India Today together with an interview of Ai Weiwei, and was also shown at the India Art Fair.

In February 2016, Missy Higgins released a song titled "Oh Canada", dedicated to Alan Kurdi.

In March 2016 a huge mural of Kurdi's dead body appeared on a wall next to the European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt.

Legacy

Prayer events and moments of silence were held by various organisations including those held by NGOs. President of Defend International "called on the international community to share equitably the responsibility for protecting, assisting and hosting refugees in accordance with principles of international solidarity and human rights". A host of a daily radio program wished that "Alan Kurdi’s death would inspire us to create a world without borders", while a commentary published at Spiegel Online suggested that Berlin needs to "reform or abolish its refugee policy". Artists and poets from all over the world shared tributes to Alan Kurdi.

Over three months later, on Christmas Eve 2015, 3 News New Zealand said "Pictures of his lifeless body on a beach came to symbolise the wider tragedy. Can there have been a more moving, a more powerful image than the photograph of the tiny lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi being carried from the sea?"

On 2 January 2016 a feature article on the BBC News website opened with the words: "It was one of those moments when the whole world seems to care." It went on to quote Alan Kurdi's aunt Tima Kurdi:

On 8 September 2015, the publication Bild removed all pictures, including those of Kurdi, from its print edition and website in response to complaints about its decision to publish images of Kurdi; the newspaper said that "when one does not see them, one understands the magic which creates photos".

The ISIL terrorist group incorporated Kurdi's death into their propaganda campaigns, using an image of Kurdi's corpse while claiming that God will punish those that dare to emigrate from nations with ISIL influences. The group also asserted that those who leave are likely to become apostates who will have their souls enter hell upon death. The actions brought condemnation in publications such as the Daily Mail, labeling it "[d]epraved" and "sick".

Channel 4 in the UK present an annual Christmas message as an alternative to the Christmas Message of Queen Elizabeth II. In 2015 their speaker was Abdullah Kurdi, who said: "If a person shuts a door in someone's face, this is very difficult. When a door is opened they no longer feel humiliated. At this time of year I would like to ask you all to think about the pain of fathers, mothers and children who are seeking peace and security. We ask just for a little bit of sympathy from you. Hopefully next year the war will end in Syria and peace will reign all over the world."

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Paramount Pictures Corporation (known professionally as Paramount Pictures and often referred to simply as Paramount) is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world, the second oldest in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Six" film studios still located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood. In 1916, Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and honored each with a star on the logo. These fortunate few would become the first "movie stars." Paramount is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America.

In 2014, Paramount became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only.

History

1911â€"20: Early history

Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company (1895) and Pathé (1896), followed by the Nordisk Film company (1906), and Universal Studios (1912). It is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company. Hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "Famous Players in Famous Plays"). By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success. Its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt.

That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, later known as Samuel Goldwyn. The Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a suitable site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film, The Squaw Man.

Starting in 1914, both Lasky and Famous Players released their films through a start-up company, Paramount Pictures Corporation, organized early that year by a Utah theatre owner, W. W. Hodkinson, who had bought and merged several smaller firms. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies. Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor; until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation.

In 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one. The new company Lasky and Zukor founded, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, grew quickly, with Lasky and his partners Goldwyn and DeMille running the production side, Hiram Abrams in charge of distribution, and Zukor making great plans. With only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its "Paramount Pictures" soon dominated the business.

1921â€"30: Rise

Because Zukor believed in stars, he signed and developed many of the leading early stars, including Mary Pickford, Marguerite Clark, Pauline Frederick, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, and Wallace Reid. With so many important players, Paramount was able to introduce "block booking", which meant that an exhibitor who wanted a particular star's films had to buy a year's worth of other Paramount productions. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, but which led the government to pursue it on antitrust grounds for more than twenty years.

The driving force behind Paramount's rise was Zukor. Through the teens and twenties, he built the Publix Theatres Corporation, a chain of nearly 2,000 screens, ran two production studios (in Astoria, New York, now the Kaufman Astoria Studios, and Hollywood, California), and became an early investor in radio, taking a 50% interest in the new Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928 (selling it within a few years; this would not be the last time Paramount and CBS crossed paths).

In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg, an unerring eye for new talent, to run the new West Coast operations. They purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. Three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation.

In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios in New York City. The Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957. Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as "talkies", and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris. Richard A. Whiting and Leo Robin composed the score for the film; Maurice Chevalier starred and sung the most famous song from the film, "Louise".

Publix, Balaban and Katz, Loew's competition and wonder theaters

By acquiring the successful Balaban & Katz chain in 1926, Zukor gained the services of Barney Balaban (who would eventually become Paramount's president in 1936), his brother A. J. Balaban (who would eventually supervise all stage production nationwide and produce talkie shorts), and their partner Sam Katz (who would run the Paramount-Publix theatre chain in New York City from the thirty-five-story Paramount Theatre Building on Times Square).

Balaban and Katz had developed the Wonder Theater concept, first publicized around 1918 in Chicago. The Chicago Theater was created as a very ornate theater and advertised as a "wonder theater." When Publix acquired Balaban, they embarked on a project to expand the wonder theaters, and starting building in New York in 1927. While Balaban and Public were dominant in Chicago, Loew's was the big player in New York, and did not want the Publix theaters to overshadow theirs. The two companies brokered a non-competition deal for New York and Chicago, and Loew's took over the New York area projects, developing five wonder theaters. Publix continued Balaban's wonder theater development in its home area.

1931â€"40: Receivership

Eventually, Zukor shed most of his early partners; the Frohman brothers, Hodkinson and Goldwyn were out by 1917 while Lasky hung on until 1932, when, blamed for the near-collapse of Paramount in the Depression years, he too was tossed out. Zukor's over-expansion and use of overvalued Paramount stock for purchases led the company into receivership in 1933. A bank-mandated reorganization team, led by John Hertz and Otto Kahn kept the company intact, and, miraculously, Zukor was kept on. In 1935, Paramount-Publix went bankrupt. In 1936, Barney Balaban became president, and Zukor was bumped up to chairman of the board. In this role, Zukor reorganized the company as Paramount Pictures, Inc. and was able to successfully bring the studio out of bankruptcy.

As always, Paramount films continued to emphasize stars; in the 1920s there were Swanson, Valentino, and Clara Bow. By the 1930s, talkies brought in a range of powerful new draws: Miriam Hopkins, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, W.C. Fields, Jeanette MacDonald, Claudette Colbert, the Marx Brothers (whose first two films were shot at Paramount's Astoria, New York, studio), Dorothy Lamour, Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby, band leader Shep Fields, famous Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel, and Gary Cooper among them. In this period Paramount can truly be described as a movie factory, turning out sixty to seventy pictures a year. Such were the benefits of having a huge theater chain to fill, and of block booking to persuade other chains to go along. In 1933, Mae West would also add greatly to Paramount's success with her suggestive movies She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel. However, the sex appeal West gave in these movies would also lead to the enforcement of the Production C ode, as the newly formed organization the Catholic Legion of Decency threatened a boycott if it was not enforced.

Paramount cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios continued to be successful, with characters such as Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor becoming widely successful. One Fleischer series, Screen Songs, featured live-action music stars under contract to Paramount hosting sing-alongs of popular songs. The animation studio would rebound with Popeye, and in 1935, polls showed that Popeye was even more popular than Mickey Mouse. After an unsuccessful expansion into feature films, as well as the fact that Max and Dave Fleischer were no longer speaking to one another, Fleischer Studios was acquired by Paramount, which renamed the operation Famous Studios. That incarnation of the animation studio continued cartoon production until 1967, but has been historically dismissed as having largely failed to maintain the artistic acclaim the Fleischer brothers achieved under their management.

1941â€"50: United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.

In 1940, Paramount agreed to a government-instituted consent decree: block booking and "pre-selling" (the practice of collecting up-front money for films not yet in production) would end. Immediately, Paramount cut back on production, from seventy-one pictures to a more modest nineteen annually in the war years. Still, with more new stars like Bob Hope, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Paulette Goddard, and Betty Hutton, and with war-time attendance at astronomical numbers, Paramount and the other integrated studio-theatre combines made more money than ever. At this, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department decided to reopen their case against the five integrated studios. Paramount also had a monopoly over Detroit movie theaters through subsidiary company United Detroit Theaters as well. This led to the Supreme Court decision United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948) holding that movie studios could not also own movie theater chains. This decision broke up Adolph Zu kor's creation and effectively brought an end to the classic Hollywood studio system.

1951â€"66: Split and after

With the separation of production and exhibition forced by the U.S. Supreme Court, Paramount Pictures Inc. was split in two. Paramount Pictures Corporation was formed to be the production distribution company, with the 1,500-screen theater chain handed to the new United Paramount Theaters on December 31, 1949. Leonard Goldenson, who had headed the chain since 1938, remained as the new company's president. The Balaban and Katz theatre division was spun off with UPT; its trademark eventually became the property of the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation. The Foundation has recently acquired ownership of the Famous Players Trademark. Cash-rich and controlling prime downtown real estate, Goldenson began looking for investments. Barred from film-making by prior anti-trust rulings, he acquired the struggling ABC television network in February 1953, leading it first to financial health, and eventually, in the mid-1970s, to first place in the national Nielsen ratings, b efore selling out to Capital Cities in 1985 (Capital Cities would eventually sell out, in turn, to The Walt Disney Company in 1996). United Paramount Theaters was renamed ABC Theaters in 1965 and was sold to businessman Henry Plitt in 1974. The movie theater chain was renamed Plitt Theaters. In 1985, Cineplex Odeon Corporation merged with Plitt. In later years, Paramount's TV division would develop a strong relationship with ABC, providing many hit series to the network.

The DuMont Network

Paramount Pictures had been an early backer of television, launching experimental stations in 1939 in Los Angeles and Chicago. The Los Angeles station eventually became KTLA, the first commercial station on the West Coast. The Chicago station got a commercial license as WBKB in 1943, but was sold to UPT along with Balaban & Katz in 1948 and was eventually resold to CBS as WBBM-TV.

In 1938, Paramount bought a stake in television manufacturer DuMont Laboratories. Through this stake, it became a minority owner of the DuMont Television Network. Also Paramount launched its own network, Paramount Television Network, in 1948 through its television unit, Television Productions, Inc.

Paramount management planned to acquire additional owned-and-operated stations ("O&Os"); the company applied to the FCC for additional stations in San Francisco, Detroit, and Boston. The FCC, however, denied Paramount's applications. A few years earlier, the federal regulator had placed a five-station cap on all television networks: no network was allowed to own more than five VHF television stations. Paramount was hampered by its minority stake in the DuMont Television Network. Although both DuMont and Paramount executives stated that the companies were separate, the FCC ruled that Paramount's partial ownership of DuMont meant that DuMont and Paramount were in theory branches of the same company. Since DuMont owned three television stations and Paramount owned two, the federal agency ruled neither network could acquire additional television stations. The FCC requested that Paramount relinquish its stake in DuMont, but Paramount refused. According to television historian Willi am Boddy, "Paramount's checkered anti-trust history" helped convince the FCC that Paramount controlled DuMont. Both DuMont and Paramount Television Network suffered as a result, with neither company able to acquire five O&Os. Meanwhile, CBS, ABC, and NBC had each acquired the maximum of five stations by the mid-1950s.

When ABC accepted a merger offer from UPT in 1953, DuMont quickly realized that ABC now had more resources than it could possibly hope to match. It quickly reached an agreement in principle to merge with ABC.

In 1951, Paramount bought a stake in International Telemeter, an experimental pay TV service which operated with a coin inserted into a box. The service began operating in Palm Springs, California on November 27, 1953, but due to pressure from the FCC, the service ended on May 15, 1954.

With the loss of the theater chain, Paramount Pictures went into a decline, cutting studio-backed production, releasing its contract players, and making production deals with independents. By the mid-1950s, all the great names were gone; only Cecil B. DeMille, associated with Paramount since 1913, kept making pictures in the grand old style. Despite Paramount's losses, DeMille would, however, give the studio some relief and create his most successful film at Paramount, a 1956 remake of his 1923 film The Ten Commandments. DeMille died in 1959. Like some other studios, Paramount saw little value in its film library, and sold 764 of its pre-1948 films to MCA Inc. (known today as Universal Studios Inc.) in February 1958.

1966â€"70: Early Gulf+Western era

By the early 1960s, Paramount's future was doubtful. The high-risk movie business was wobbly; the theater chain was long gone; investments in DuMont and in early pay-television came to nothing; and the Golden Age of Hollywood had just ended, even the flagship Paramount building in Times Square was sold to raise cash, as was KTLA (sold to Gene Autry in 1964 for a then-phenomenal $12.5 million). Their only remaining successful property at that point was Dot Records, which Paramount had acquired in 1957, and even its profits started declining by the middle of the 1960s. Founding father Adolph Zukor (born in 1873) was still chairman emeritus; he referred to chairman Barney Balaban (born 1888) as "the boy." Such aged leadership was incapable of keeping up with the changing times, and in 1966, a sinking Paramount was sold to Charles Bluhdorn's industrial conglomerate, Gulf + Western Industries Corporation. Bluhdorn immediately put his stamp on the studio, installing a virtually unknown producer named Robert Evans as head of production. Despite some rough times, Evans held the job for eight years, restoring Paramount's reputation for commercial success with The Odd Couple, Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, Chinatown, and 3 Days of the Condor.

Gulf + Western Industries also bought the neighboring Desilu television studio (once the lot of RKO Pictures) from Lucille Ball in 1967. Using some of Desilu's established shows such as Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Mannix as a foot in the door at the networks, the newly reincorporated Paramount Television eventually became known as a specialist in half-hour situation comedies.

1971â€"80: CIC formation and high-concept era

In 1970, Paramount teamed with Universal Studios to form Cinema International Corporation, a new company that would distribute films by the two studios outside the United States. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would become a partner in the mid-1970s. Both Paramount and CIC entered the video market with Paramount Home Video (now Paramount Home Entertainment) and CIC Video, respectively.

Robert Evans abandoned his position as head of production in 1974; his successor, Richard Sylbert, proved to be too literary and too tasteful for Gulf + Western's Bluhdorn. By 1976, a new, television-trained team was in place headed by Barry Diller and his "Killer-Dillers", as they were called by admirers or "Dillettes" as they were called by detractors. These associates, made up of Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dawn Steel and Don Simpson would each go on and head up major movie studios of their own later in their careers.

The Paramount specialty was now simpler. "High concept" pictures such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease hit big, hit hard and hit fast all over the world, and Diller's television background led him to propose one of his longest-standing ideas to the board: Paramount Television Service, a fourth commercial network. Paramount Pictures purchased the Hughes Television Network (HTN) including its satellite time in planning for PTVS in 1976. Paramount sold HTN to Madison Square Garden in 1979. But Diller believed strongly in the concept, and so took his fourth-network idea with him when he moved to 20th Century Fox in 1984, where Fox's then freshly installed proprietor, Rupert Murdoch was a more interested listener.

However, the television division would be playing catch-up for over a decade after Diller's departure in 1984 before launching its own television network â€" UPN â€" in 1995. Lasting eleven years before being merged with The WB network to become The CW in 2006, UPN would feature many of the shows it originally produced for other networks, and would take numerous gambles on series such as Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise that would have otherwise either gone direct-to-cable or become first-run syndication to independent stations across the country (as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: The Next Generation were).

Paramount Pictures was not connected to either Paramount Records (1910s-1935) or ABC-Paramount Records (1955â€"66) until it purchased the rights to use the name (but not the latter's catalog) in the late 1960s. The Paramount name was used for soundtrack albums and some pop re-issues from the Dot Records catalog which Paramount had acquired in 1957. By 1970, Dot had become an all-country label and in 1974, Paramount sold all of its record holdings to ABC Records, which in turn was sold to MCA (now Universal Music Group) in 1979.

1980â€"94: Continual success

Paramount's successful run of pictures extended into the 1980s and 1990s, generating hits like Airplane!, American Gigolo, Ordinary People, An Officer and a Gentleman, Flashdance, Terms of Endearment, Footloose, Pretty in Pink, Top Gun, "Crocodile" Dundee, Fatal Attraction, Ghost, the Friday the 13th slasher series, as well as teaming up with Lucasfilm to create Indiana Jones And The Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels. Other examples are the Star Trek film series and a string of films starring comedian Eddie Murphy like Trading Places, Coming to America, and Beverly Hills Cop and its sequels. While the emphasis was decidedly on the commercial, there were occasional less commercial but more artistic and intellectual efforts like I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can, Atlantic City, Reds, Witness, Children of a Lesser God and The Accused. During this period, responsibility for running the studio passed from Eisner and Katzenberg to Frank Mancuso, Sr. (1984) and Ned Tanen (1984) to Stanley R. Jaffe (1991) and Sherry Lansing (1992). More so than most, Paramount's slate of films included many remakes and television spinoffs; while sometimes commercially successful, there have been few compelling films of the kind that once made Paramount the industry leader.

On August 25, 1983, Paramount Studios caught fire. Two or three sound stages and four outdoor sets were destroyed.

When Charles Bluhdorn died unexpectedly, his successor Martin Davis dumped all of G+W's industrial, mining, and sugar-growing subsidiaries and refocused the company, renaming it Paramount Communications in 1989. With the influx of cash from the sale of G+W's industrial properties in the mid-1980s, Paramount bought a string of television stations and KECO Entertainment's theme park operations, renaming them Paramount Parks. These parks included Paramount's Great America, Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Paramount's Carowinds, Paramount's Kings Dominion, and Paramount's Kings Island.

In 1993, Sumner Redstone's entertainment conglomerate Viacom made a bid for a merger with Paramount Communications; this quickly escalated into a bidding war with Barry Diller's QVC. But Viacom prevailed, ultimately paying $10 billion for the Paramount holdings. Viacom and Paramount had planned to merge as early as 1989.

Paramount is the last major film studio located in Hollywood proper. When Paramount moved to its present home in 1927, it was in the heart of the film community. Since then, former next-door neighbor RKO closed up shop in 1957 (Paramount ultimately absorbed their former lot); Warner Bros. (whose old Sunset Boulevard studio was sold to Paramount in 1949 as a home for KTLA) moved to Burbank in 1930; Columbia joined Warners in Burbank in 1973 then moved again to Culver City in 1989; and the Pickford-Fairbanks-Goldwyn-United Artists lot, after a lively history, has been turned into a post-production and music-scoring facility for Warners, known simply as "The Lot". For a time the semi-industrial neighborhood around Paramount was in decline, but has now come back. The recently refurbished studio has come to symbolize Hollywood for many visitors, and its studio tour is a popular attraction.

1994â€"2005: Dolgen/Lansing and "old" Viacom era

During this time period, Paramount Pictures went under the guidance of Jonathan Dolgen, chairman and Sherry Lansing, president. During their administration over Paramount, the studio had an extremely successful period of films with two of Paramount's ten highest-grossing films being produced during this period. The most successful of these films, Titanic a joint partnership with 20th Century Fox, and Lightstorm Entertainment became the highest-grossing film up to that time, grossing over $1.8 billion worldwide. Also during this time, three Paramount Pictures films won the Academy Award for Best Picture; Titanic, Braveheart, and Forrest Gump.

Paramount's most important property, however, was Star Trek. Studio executives had begun to call it "the franchise" in the 1980s due to its reliable revenue, and other studios envied its "untouchable and unduplicatable" success. By 1998 Star Trek TV shows, movies, books, videotapes, and licensing provided so much of the studio's profit that "it is not possible to spend any reasonable amount of time at Paramount and not be aware of [its] presence"; filming for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine required up to nine of the largest of the studio's 36 sound stages.

In 1995, Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries' United Television launched United Paramount Network (UPN) with Star Trek: Voyager as its flagship series, fulfilling Barry Diller's plan for a Paramount network from 25 years earlier. In 1999, Viacom bought out United Television's interests, and handed responsibility for the start-up network to the newly acquired CBS unit, which Viacom bought in 1999 â€" an ironic confluence of events as Paramount had once invested in CBS, and Viacom had once been the syndication arm of CBS as well. During this period the studio acquired some 30 TV stations to support the UPN network as well acquiring and merging in the assets of Republic Pictures, Spelling Television and Viacom Television, almost doubling the size of the studio's TV library. The TV division produced the dominant prime time show for the decade in Frasier as well as such long running hits as NCIS and Becker and the dominant prime time magazine show Entertainment To night.

During this period, Paramount and its related subsidiaries and affiliates, operating under the name "Viacom Entertainment Group" also included the fourth largest group of theme parks in the United States and Canada which in addition to traditional rides and attractions launched numerous successful location-based entertainment units including a long running "Star Trek" attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton. Famous Music â€" the company's celebrated music publishing arm almost doubled in size and developed artists including Pink, Bush, Green Day as well as catalog favorites including Duke Ellington and Henry Mancini. The Paramount/Viacom licensing group under the leadership of Tom McGrath created the "Cheers" franchise bars and restaurants and a chain of restaurants borrowing from the studio's Academy Award-winning film "Forrest Gump" â€" The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Through the combined efforts of Famous Music and the studio over ten "Broadway" musicals were created including Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, Andrew Lloyd Weber's Sunset Boulevard among others. The Company's international arm, United International Pictures (UIP), was the dominant distributor internationally for ten straight years representing Paramount, Universal and MGM. Simon and Schuster became part of the Viacom Entertainment Group emerging as the US' dominant trade book publisher.

In 2002, Paramount, Buena Vista Distribution, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. formed the Digital Cinema Initiatives. Operating under a waiver form the anti-trust law, the studios combined under the leadership of Paramount Chief Operating Officer Tom McGrath to develop technical standards for the eventual introduction of digital film projection â€" replacing the now 100-year-old film technology. DCI was created "to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control." McGrath also headed up Paramount's initiative for the creation and launch of the Blu-ray DVD.

2005â€"2006: Dissolution of the Viacom Entertainment Group and Paramount

In 2005, Viacom announced the spinoff of CBS into a separate public entity. As part of this spinoff, the Entertainment Group that was led by Dolgen, Lansing and McGrath, was dissolved and Paramount broken up into its separate assets. Famous Music, part of the company since its founding by Jesse Lasky, was sold to Sony Music. The UPN network and its TV stations were transferred to CBS. Paramount itself was broken into two parts and the television production and assets were stripped and made part of CBS. The theme parks group was sold to Cedar Fair in 2006 and renamed the parks by taking out the "Paramount's" prefix. Simon and Schuster also became part of CBS. The company's three chains of movie theaters were divested â€" Famous Players Theaters, the dominant theater circuit in Canada was sold to its competitor Cineplex Odeon. UCI which dominated the international theater markets consisting of 1,300+ screens in 11 countries was sold to buyout firm Terra Firma. Mann Theaters was slow ly divested screen by screen with the world-famous "Graumann's Chinese Theater" being sold to a consortium led by Eli Samaha.

The resulting company, approximately 20% of its former size coalesced in 2006 under the leadership of its new CEO, Brad Grey who held the same title as Sherry Lansing despite the much smaller size of the business under his leadership.

2006â€"present: Paramount today

CBS Corporation/Viacom split

Reflecting in part the troubles of the broadcasting business, in 2006 Viacom wrote off over $18 billion from its radio acquisitions and, early that year, announced that it would split itself in two. The split was completed in January 2006.

With the announcement of the split of Viacom, Dolgen and Lansing were replaced by former television executives Brad Grey and Gail Berman. The Viacom Inc. board split the company into CBS Corporation and a separate company under the Viacom name. The board scheduled the division for the first quarter of 2006. Under the plan, CBS Corp. would comprise CBS and UPN networks, Viacom Television Stations Group, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, Paramount Television, KingWorld, Showtime, Simon and Schuster, Paramount Parks, and CBS News. The revamped Viacom would include "MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET and several other cable networks as well as the Paramount movie studio". Paramount's home entertainment unit continues to distribute the Paramount TV library through CBS DVD, as both Viacom and CBS Corporation are controlled by Sumner Redstone's National Amusements.

In 2009, CBS stopped using the Paramount name in its series and changed the name of the production arm to CBS Television Studios, eliminating the Paramount name from television, to distance itself from the latter.

DreamWorks purchased

On December 11, 2005, the Paramount Motion Pictures Group announced that it had purchased DreamWorks SKG (which was co-founded by former Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg) in a deal worth $1.6 billion. The announcement was made by Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures who noted that enhancing Paramount's pipeline of pictures is a "key strategic objective in restoring Paramount's stature as a leader in filmed entertainment." The agreement does not include DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., the most profitable part of the company that went public the previous year.

On October 6, 2008, DreamWorks executives announced that they were leaving Paramount and relaunching an independent DreamWorks. The DreamWorks trademarks remained with DreamWorks Animation when that company was spun off before the Paramount purchase, and DreamWorks Animation transferred the license to the name to the new company.

UIP, Famous Music and Digital Entertainment

Grey also broke up the famous UIP international distribution company, the most successful international film distributor in history, after a 25-year partnership with Universal Studios and has started up a new international group. As a consequence Paramount fell from No.1 in the international markets to the lowest ranked major studio in 2006 but recovered in 2007.

DreamWorks films, acquired by Paramount but still distributed internationally by Universal, are included in Paramount's market share. Grey also launched a Digital Entertainment division to take advantage of emerging digital distribution technologies. This led to Paramount becoming the second movie studio to sign a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its films through the iTunes Store.

Also, in 2007, Paramount sold another one of its "heritage" units, Famous Music, to Sony/ATV Music Publishing (best known for publishing many songs by The Beatles, and for being co-owned by Michael Jackson), ending a nearly-eight-decade run as a division of Paramount, being the studio's music publishing arm since the period when the entire company went by the name "Famous Players."

In early 2008, Paramount partnered with Los Angeles-based developer FanRocket to make short scenes taken from its film library available to users on Facebook. The application, called VooZoo, allows users to send movie clips to other Facebook users and to post clips on their profile pages. Paramount engineered a similar deal with Makena Technologies to allow users of vMTV and There.com to view and send movie clips.

In March 2010, Paramount founded Insurge Pictures, an independent distributor of "micro budget" films. The distributor planned ten movies with budgets of $100,000 each. The first release was The Devil Inside, a movie with a budget of about US$1 million. In March 2015, following waning box office returns, Paramount shuttered Insurge Pictures and moved its operations to the main studio.

Other

In July 2011, in the wake of critical and box office success of the animated feature, Rango, and the departure of DreamWorks Animation upon completion of their distribution contract in 2012, Paramount announced the formation of a new division, devoted to the creation of animated productions. It marks Paramount's return to having its own animated division for the first time since 1967, when Paramount Cartoon Studios shut down (it was formerly Famous Studios until 1956).

In December 2013, Walt Disney Studios (via its parent company's purchase of Lucasfilm, Ltd. a year earlier) purchased Paramount's remaining distribution and marketing rights to future Indiana Jones films, while Paramount will permanently retain the distribution rights to the first four films, and will receive "financial participation" from any additional films.

In February 2016, Viacom CEO and newly appointed chairman Philippe Dauman announced that the conglomerate is in talks to find an investor to purchase a minority stake in Paramount. Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari are reportedly opposed with the deal. On July 13, 2016, Wanda Group was in talks to acquire a 49% stake of Paramount. The talks with Wanda were dropped. On January 19, 2017, Shanghai Film Group Corp. and Huahua Media said they would finance at least 25% of all Paramount Pictures movies over a three-year period. Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media, in the deal, would help distribute and market Paramount's features in China. At the time, the Wall Street Journal wrote that "nearly every major Hollywood studio has a co-financing deal with a Chinese company."

Investments

DreamWorks Pictures

In 2006, Paramount became the parent of DreamWorks Pictures. Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II soon afterwards acquired controlling interest in live-action films released through DreamWorks, with the release of Just Like Heaven on September 16, 2005. The remaining live-action films released until March 2006 remained under direct Paramount control. However, Paramount still owns distribution and other ancillary rights to Soros and Dune films.

On February 8, 2010, Viacom repurchased Soros' controlling stake in DreamWorks' library of films released before 2005 for around $400 million. Even as DreamWorks switched distribution of live-action films not part of existing franchises to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and later Universal Studios, Paramount continues to own the films released before the merger, and the films that Paramount themselves distributed, including sequel rights such as that of Little Fockers (2011), distributed by Paramount and DreamWorks. It was a sequel to two existing DreamWorks films, Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004). Paramount only owned the international distribution rights to Little Fockers, whereas Universal Studios handled domestic distribution).

Paramount owned distribution rights to the DreamWorks Animation library of films made before 2013, and their previous distribution deal with future DWA titles expired at the end of 2012, with Rise of the Guardians. 20th Century Fox took over distribution on post-2012 titles beginning with The Croods (2013) and will end with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) with Universal Pictures taking over the distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation due to NBCUniversal's acquisition of DreamWorks Animation in 2016, starting in 2018 with the release of Larrikins, though Paramount's rights to pre-2013 DreamWorks Animation films would've expired 16 years after each film's initial theatrical release date. However, in July 2014, DreamWorks Animation purchased Paramount's distribution rights to the pre-2013 library, with DreamWorks Animation's current distributor 20th Century Fox starting to distribute the library.

Another asset of the former DreamWorks owned by Paramount, is the pre-2008 DreamWorks Television library, distributed through Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution, the library includes Spin City, High Incident, Freaks and Greeks, Undeclared and On the Lot, the DreamWorks Television library was distributed by the old Paramount Television years before.

CBS library

Independent company Hollywood Classics now represents Paramount with the theatrical distribution of all the films produced by the various motion picture divisions of CBS over the years, as a result of the Viacom/CBS merger.

Paramount (via CBS Home Entertainment) has outright video distribution to the aforementioned CBS library with few exceptions-for example, the original Twilight Zone DVDs are handled by Image Entertainment. Until 2009, the video rights to My Fair Lady were with original theatrical distributor Warner Bros., under license from CBS (the video license to that film has now reverted to CBS Home Entertainment under Paramount).

The CBS-produced/owned films, unlike other films in Paramount's library, are still distributed by CBS Television Distribution on TV, and not by Trifecta Entertainment & Media, because CBS (or a subdivision) is the copyright holder for these films.

Units

Subsidiaries

• Paramount Licensing, Inc.
• Paramount Home Media Distribution

Divisions

• Paramount Digital Entertainment
• Paramount Pictures International
• Paramount Studio Group â€" physical studio and post production
  • The Studios at Paramount â€" production facilities & lot
  • Paramount on Location â€" production support facilities throughout North America including New York, Vancouver, and Atlanta
  • Worldwide Technical Operations â€" archives, restoration and preservation programs, the mastering and distribution fulfillment services, on-lot post production facilities management
• Paramount Television (revived in March 2013. Original Paramount Television now CBS Television Studios)
• Worldwide Television Distribution
• Paramount Famous Productions, direct-to-video
• Paramount Parks & Resorts, licensing and design for parks and resorts
• Paramount Motion Picture Group
• Paramount Pictures
  • Viacom Media Networks branded labels:
    • MTV Films
    • Nickelodeon Movies
    • Comedy Central Films
  • Insurge Pictures, micro-budget film (March 2015â€")
  • Paramount Animation (2011â€"present)
  • Paramount Vantage
• Republic Pictures

Joint ventures

• Epix
• United International Pictures

Former divisions, subsidiaries, and joint ventures

Original Paramount Television now CBS Television Studios

• Big Ticket Entertainment (semi-in-name-only since 2006, only shows running is Judge Judy and Hot Bench)
• Spelling Television (in-name-only since 2006)
• Viacom Productions (folded into PNT in 2004)
• Wilshire Court Productions (shut down in 2003)
  • Paramount Domestic Television, now CBS Television Distribution
    • Folded Viacom Enterprises in 1995 and Rysher Entertainment and Worldvision Enterprises in 1999
    • RTV News, Inc., producer of Real TV and Maximum Exposure
  • United Paramount Network (UPN) â€" formerly a joint venture with United Television, now part of the CBS/Time Warner joint venture The CW Television Network
  • Paramount Stations Group (now CBS Television Stations)
  • USA Networks (also including what is now called Syfy) â€" Paramount owned a stake starting in 1982, 50% owner (with Universal Studios) from 1987 until 1997, when Paramount/Viacom sold their stake to Universal (now part of NBCUniversal)
  • Paramount International Television (now CBS Studios International)
• Paramount Parks (Purchased by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in 2006)
• DW Studios, LLC (also DW Pictures) â€" defunct, holding film library and rights, principal officers left to recreate DreamWorks as an independent company
  • DW Funding LLC â€" DreamWorks live-action library (pre-09/16/2005; DW Funding, LLC) sold to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II and purchased back in 2010

Other interests

In March 2012, Paramount licensed their name and logo to a luxury hotel investment group which subsequently named the company Paramount Hotels and Resorts. The investors plan to build 50 hotels throughout the world based on the themes of Hollywood and the California lifestyle. Among the features are private screening rooms and the Paramount library available in the hotel rooms. On April 2013, Paramount Hotels and Dubai-based DAMAC Properties announced the building of the first resort: "DAMAC Towers by Paramount."

Production deals

Active

• Allspark Pictures (TBA)
• Amblin Entertainment (1985â€")
• Appian Way Productions (2016â€")
• Bad Robot Productions (2006â€")
• Cruise/Wagner Productions (1996â€")
• Di Bonaventura Pictures (2003â€")
• Hasbro Studios (2009â€")
• Disruption Entertainment (2011â€")
• Fake Empire Productions (2011â€")
• Gary Sanchez Productions (2006â€")
• Jerry Bruckheimer Films (1983â€"1990; 2014â€")
• Mirage Studios (1993; 2014â€")
• The Montecito Picture Company (2005â€")
• Platinum Dunes (2009â€")
• Skydance Media (2010â€")

Former

• Lucasfilm (1981â€"2008)
• DreamWorks Animation (2006â€"2012)
• Marvel Studios (2008â€"2011)
• Plan B Entertainment (2005â€"2013)
• Spyglass Entertainment (2008â€"2013)

Logo

The distinctively pyramidal Paramount mountain has been the company's logo since its inception and is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo. In the sound era, the logo was accompanied by a fanfare called Paramount on Parade after the film of the same name, released in 1930. The words to the fanfare, originally sung in the 1930 film, were "Proud of the crowd that will never be loud, it's Paramount on Parade."

Legend has it that the mountain is based on a doodle made by W. W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Adolph Zukor. It is said to be based on the memories of his childhood in Utah. Some claim that Utah's Ben Lomond is the mountain Hodkinson doodled, and that Peru's Artesonraju is the mountain in the live-action logo, while others claim that the Italian side of Monviso inspired the logo. Some editions of the logo bear a striking resemblance to the Pfeifferhorn, another Wasatch Range peak.

The motion picture logo has gone through many changes over the years:

• The logo began as a somewhat indistinct charcoal rendering of the mountain ringed with superimposed stars. The logo originally had twenty-four stars, as a tribute to the then current system of contracts for actors, since Paramount had twenty-four stars signed at the time.
• In 1951, the logo was redesigned as a matte painting created by Jan Domela.
• A newer, more realistic-looking logo debuted in 1953 for Paramount films made in 3D. It was reworked in early-to-mid 1954 for Paramount films made in widescreen process VistaVision. The text VistaVision â€" Motion Picture High Fidelity was often imposed over the Paramount logo briefly before dissolving into the title sequence. In early 1968, the text "A Paramount Picture/Release" was shortened to "Paramount", and the byline A Gulf+Western Company appeared on the bottom. The logo was given yet another modification in 1974, with the number of stars being reduced to 22, and the Paramount text and Gulf+Western byline appearing in different fonts.
• In September 1975, the logo was simplified in a shade of blue, adopting the modified design of the 1968 print logo, which was in use for many decades afterward.
• The studio launched an entirely new logo in December 1986 with computer-generated imagery of a lake and stars. This version of the Paramount logo was designed by Dario Campanile and animated by Apogee, Inc; for this logo, the stars would move across the screen into the arc shape instead of it being superimposed over the mountain as it was before. An redone version of this logo debuted with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (released on June 30, 1999).
• In March 2002, an updated logo was introduced in which shooting stars would fall from a night sky to form the arc while the Paramount logo would fly into place between them. An enhanced version of this logo debuted with Iron Man 2, released on May 7, 2010. The south col area of Mount Everest became the primary basis. The music is accompanied by Paramount on Parade. This logo is still featured on DVD and Blu-ray releases with Old Viacom Byline.
• On December 16, 2011, an updated logo was introduced with animation done by Devastudios, Inc. The new logo includes a surrounding mountain range and the sun shining in the background. Michael Giacchino composed the logo's new fanfare.

Studio tours

Those wishing to visit Paramount can take studio tours, which are offered seven days a week. Reservations are required, and can be made by visiting the tour website. Each tour day is different because the tour has to work around active movie sets. Pictures are allowed in some areas. Your tour guide will let you know if you can not take pictures. Most of the time this is because an area or studio is "set", meaning the area or set is being used for a current production and can't be photographed due to copyright laws. The regular tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at the current operations of the studio. Most of the buildings on the tour are named for historical Paramount executives or the artists that worked at Paramount over the years. Many of the stars' dressing rooms have been converted into working offices. The stages where Samson and Delilah, Sunset Blvd., White Christmas, Rear Window, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and many other c lassic films were shot are still in use today. The studio's backlot set, "New York Street", features numerous blocks of façades that depict a number of New York locales: "Washington Square" (where some scenes in The Heiress, starring Olivia de Havilland, were shot), "Brooklyn", "Financial District", and others. Led by a guide on a golf cart, the tour takes approximately two hours. The best time to take the regular tour is on the weekends because most of the filming is shut down and you can get into more areas. The VIP tour takes you to additional areas not covered by the standard tour, plus you have lunch in the studio restaurant. This tour takes 5 to 6 hours and is usually only offered on weekdays.

Film library

A few years after the ruling of the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. case in 1948, Music Corporation of America (MCA) approached Paramount offering $50 million for 750 sound feature films released prior to December 1, 1949 with payment to be spread over a period of several years. Paramount saw this as a bargain since the fleeting movie studio saw very little value in its library of old films at the time. To address any anti-trust concerns, MCA set up EMKA, Ltd. as a dummy corporation to sell these films to television. EMKA's/Universal Pictures library includes the five Paramount Marx Brothers films, most of the Bob Hopeâ€"Bing Crosby Road to... pictures, and other classics such as Trouble in Paradise, Shanghai Express, She Done Him Wrong, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Double Imdemnity, The Lost Weekend, and The Heiress.

Highest-grossing films

^‡â€"Includes theatrical reissue(s).

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