Blair Entertainment
In February 1981, John Blair & Company, through Blair Television, founded Blair Video Enterprises with Richard C. Coveny as president.[13][14] This unit entered the syndication market in 1982 with the first-run music magazine format series The Rock 'n' Roll Show.[15][16] In late August 1983, Blair acquired Rhodes Productions, with Jack E. Rhodes brought on as special sales consultant.[17] In October 1983, the company was officially renamed Blair Entertainment.[18] Blair retained distribution rights to several shows, including The Cisco Kid and SCTV, as well as a revival of Divorce Court.[19] In 1985, Blair Entertainment introduced the new game show Break the Bank in partnership with broadcasting groups Storer Communications and Hubbard Broadcasting.[20][21] This was followed in 1986 by another game show property, Strike It Rich.[22] Kline and Friends, the producers of both shows, also piloted a third series titled Sweethearts for Blair; this show never made it to air.[23]
Divorce Court was highly profitable, among other hit syndicated series in Blair's lineup. In 1990, Blair Entertainment, in collaboration with RHI Entertainment (now known as Halcyon Studios) and advertising sales agent Action Media Group launched a new drama, Dracula, as their entry into the syndicated action/adventure market; it only lasted one season. In 1991, Blair Entertainment debuted a new program in collaboration with GRB Entertainment and All American Television, Stuntmasters, which would ultimately be their final new series.[24]
In 1992, Blair Entertainment shuttered their operations (which had generally been a sideline to Blair Television's primary market of representing television stations for advertising sales), in part because of the company being unable to find additional investors into their operation,[25] and their program library was acquired shortly thereafter by All American.[26] Currently, majority of its library has since been passed to Fremantle. Rights to the Divorce Court franchise (through Storer) was maintained by New World Entertainment and thereafter by Twentieth Television's distribution unit.[27] The series has been currently syndicated by Fox First Run since 2019.
