![]() Three years later, Diller would sell Studios USA back to Universal, by then a subsidiary of Vivendi SA (at the time known as Vivendi Universal). In 1997, Viacom sold its stake in USA Networks to Universal, who spun off all its television assets to Barry Diller the next year into the new company Studios USA. In 1994, Paramount was sold to Viacom, followed by Seagram's purchase of a controlling stake in MCA (of which Universal was a subsidiary) from the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company the next year. The first program shown on the network was the film Star Wars. Asimov's widow Janet and Roddenberry's widow Majel Barrett were both in attendance. Rubenstein recalled: "The first thing that was on the screen was 'Dedicated to the memories of Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry'." Leonard Nimoy was master of ceremonies at the channel's launch party, held at the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan. ![]() Star Trek 's creator Gene Roddenberry and author Isaac Asimov were among those on the initial advisory board, but both had died by the time the channel finally launched on September 24, 1992. The channel was seen as a natural fit with classic films and television series that both studios had in their vaults, including Universal's Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Rod Serling TV series Night Gallery, along with Paramount's Star Trek television series. In March 1992, the concept was picked up by USA Networks, then a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios. They planned to have it begin broadcasting in December 1990, but they lacked the resources to launch it. ![]() In 1989, in Boca Raton, Florida, communications attorney Mitchell Rubenstein and his wife Laurie Silvers devised the concept for the Sci-Fi Channel.
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