studio to develop their own television projects, including an NBC series commitment. On May 10, 1993, CPT and MCA TV formed their barter divisions. CPT's barter division was called Columbia Pictures Television Advertising Sales (a.k.a. "Columbia Television Advertising Sales"). The sales division handled series by TriStar Television and Merv Griffin Enterprises; as well as off-net series by Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Independent Productions, and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment. CPT used other companies such as Group W Productions for Beakman's World, MTV's One World Entertainment for Married... with Children, and Tribune Entertainment for Designing Women. Merger with TriStar Television, restructuring, and expansion (1994–2001) On February 21, 1994, after takeover by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television merged under the leadership of Jon Feltheimer and the two combined studios became Columbia TriStar Television. After the merger, Columbia Pictures Television Distribution was renamed as Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. During that year, SPE acquired a vast back catalog of independently produced game shows with the acquisition of Stewart Television. Along with the Merv Griffin, Chuck Barris, Barry & Enright, and CPT game shows they've already owned, these were part of the basis of the Game Show Network, launched on December 1, 1994. In 1998, ELP Communications became an in-name unit of Columbia TriStar Television. In 1997, most new shows, as well as some existing CPT shows like Party of Five, dropped the CPT logo and begin putting the CTT logo in its place, and also in January 1997, changed monikers from Sony Television Entertainment to Columbia TriStar Television Group. On July 1, 2000, Barry Thurston stepped down as president of Columbia TriStar Television Distribution after 17 years and was succeeded by then-current president, Steve Mosko. On January 1, 2001, Columbia Pictures Television officially dropped its separate logo and it was replaced by that of Columbia TriStar Television, with Days of Our Lives being the last known show to feature the separate CPT logo, just in time when NBC started doing split-screen credits. On October 25, 2001, CTT and CTTD merged to form Columbia TriStar Domestic Television. On September 16, 2002, Sony Pictures changed the name of its TV division as Sony Pictures Television. See also List of Sony Pictures Television programs Sony Pictures Television Columbia TriStar Television TriStar Television Screen Gems Columbia Pictures TriStar Pictures Triumph Films Notes and references Bibliography Perry, Jeb H. (1991). Screen Gems: A History of Columbia Pictures Television