Crossword Dictionary
MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises, Inc. (also known as "MTM Productions, Inc.") was an independent production company established in 1969 by actress Mary Tyler Moore (hence the initials of the company) and her then-husband Grant Tinker. The company was formed as a result of an agreement with Moore and the CBS network to produce 22 episodes of a new sitcom, which would become The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
In 1986, MTM launched MTM Television Distribution. MTM titles had previously been distributed by Viacom Enterprises (now CBS Media Ventures), and then Victory Television. MTM was sold to TVS Entertainment (a subsidiary of now-defunct ITV franchise holder TVS) in July 1988. In 1992 after TVS lost its ITV franchise to Meridian Broadcasting, it was then sold to International Family Entertainment, Inc., owners of The Family Channel, which in turn was sold and merged into Fox Family Worldwide in 1997. MTM ceased operations the following year, and its library assets were folded into 20th Century Fox Television (now 20th Television). Today, most of its library assets (with some exceptions) are owned by The Walt Disney Company after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019.
MTM Enterprises was also responsible for such critically acclaimed programs as the comedies The Bob Newhart Show (1972–78), Rhoda (1974–78), Taxi (1978–83), Newhart (1982–90), and Cheers (1982–93) as well as the dramas Hill Street Blues (1981–87) and Lou Grant (1977–82).