Plitt Theatres was one of the largest chain of cinemas

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The theater chain was divested from Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 decision in the case United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.

United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.

United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 was a landmark United States Supreme Court anti-trust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusivity rights on which theatres would...

(1948).

The company was formed by Paramount from Balaban and Katz

Balaban and Katz

The first incarnation of the Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation appeared in 1916 in Chicago by A. J. Balaban, Barney Balaban, Sam Katz, and Morris Katz. It held its first meeting as a Delaware corporation on January 21, 1925. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation bought a controlling interest in...

 and other properties and headed by Leonard Goldenson

Leonard Goldenson

Leonard H. Goldenson was President of the U.S. television and radio broadcaster ABC.-Early life and career:...

. Goldenson went on to split UPT from Paramount Pictures, and to form the ABC-TV

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 network (see Chronology below).

UPT is no relation to the later television network which was known as the United Paramount Network

UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

, which was named for a consortium

Consortium

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

 made up of Paramount Pictures/Viacom

Viacom (1971–2005)

Viacom , stylized as VIACOM in its current logo, was an American media conglomerate. It was the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon & MTV, among others. Effective December 31, 2005, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation...

 and television station group United Television

BHC Communications

BHC Communications, Inc. was the holding company for the broadcast property of Chris-Craft Industries. BHC is said to stand for "broadcasting holding company".-History:...

.

Chronology

• 1949: United Paramount Theatres was formed. The company was divested from Paramount on December 31, 1949.
• 1953: The chain merged with the American Broadcasting Company
  American Broadcasting Company
  The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
  
  . The merged company was named American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (but did not affect the name of the radio or TV networks).
• 1965: American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres was renamed American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., with the theater chain renamed ABC Theatres.
• 1974: The Midwestern (ABC Great States) movie theaters were sold to one of its managers, Henry Plitt, and the company was renamed Plitt Theatres. Coincidentally, the same year, Paramount sold its record label division, the Famous Music
  Famous Music
  Famous Music was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures as The Godfather and Forrest Gump...
  
   Group, to ABC
  ABC Records
  ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
  
   (MCA Records
  MCA Records
  MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
  
   later bought out ABC's record division in 1979; the ABC Records catalog is now owned by Universal Music Group
  Universal Music Group
  Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
  
  ).
• 1978: The Southern (ABC Southern) movie theaters were sold to Plitt.
• 1985: Plitt Theaters was sold to Cineplex Odeon Corporation.