The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and television production. It was one of the two companies formed from the December 31, 2005 spin-off of the Viacom assets of the original Viacom, as founded by Ralph Baruch in 1952 as CBS Television Film Sales. It was one of two companies which succeeded the original incarnation of Viacom, alongside the second incarnation of Viacom; both were controlled by National Amusements, a theater company controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone. The spin-off was structured so that CBS Corporation would be the legal successor to the first Viacom, with the second Viacom being an entirely separated company. CBS Corporation comprised the over-the-air television (CBS and The CW) broadcasting, television production and distribution, publishing, pay-cable, and recording assets that were previously owned by the first Viacom. It was the world's eighth largest entertainment company in terms of revenue and headquartered at the CBS Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second merger between CBS Corporation and Viacom, creating the combined company ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global), was completed on December 4, 2019. Background The first incarnation of Viacom was created in 1952 as the television syndication division of CBS and was spun off in 1971. However, in 1999, Viacom acquired its former parent, by this time also named CBS Corporation, formerly Westinghouse Electric. The prior CBS Corporation also owned CMT and The Nashville Network, which remained Viacom properties after the 2005 split, but the prior CBS did not own UPN, Showtime, Paramount Television, Paramount Parks, or Simon & Schuster. History Early history In March 2005, Viacom contemplated splitting the company into two publicly traded companies, amid issues of the stock price stagnating (although it was alleged that another main force behind the split was the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, which led to MTV not being allowed to produce any more halftime shows, they had also produced the show for Super Bowl XXXV, the first Super Bowl CBS aired since regaining NFL rights and becoming MTV's corporate sibling). On June 14, 2005, the Viacom board of directors approved the split of the company into two firms. The CBS Corporation name would be revived for one of the companies, to be headed by longtime television executive (and Viacom co-president) Les Moonves, and