The CBS/Fox Company (Duplicator)

History

This company was originally established in 1967 as Magnetic Video Corporation. Prior to 1977, the company exclusively provided audio duplication. The company was later renamed to 20th Century Fox Video in the spring of 1982 and, later, The CBS/Fox Company, a joint venture between CBS and 20th Century-Fox, in the summer of 1982, shortly after the home video subsidiaries of the former company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were split, upon Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's acquisition of United Artists from Transamerica.

List of Customers

• CBS/Fox Video (1982-1987)
  • 20th Century-Fox Video (1982)
    • Magnetic Video Corporation (1977-1982)
  • Key Video (1984-1987)
  • Playhouse Video (1985-1987)
• CBS Video Library (1982-1987)
• Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment (1981)
• MCA Videocassette, Inc. (1980)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1986-1987)
• On Gossamer Wings Productions (1985)
• Paramount Home Video (1979-1981)
• Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company (1987)
  • Touchstone Home Video (1987)
  • Walt Disney Home Video (1987)
• Worldvision Home Video (1982-1987)

How to Tell

• Tapes that were duplicated here prior to 1985 would have "MAG1" engraved on the back of the tape.
• 1984-1987 tapes duplicated at CBS/Fox would have engraving on the right side of the tape that says "CBS FOX" and printings on the bottom middle side, including a print date in the form of a day-year code that is read in either Day/YX, Day/Y or Day/YY.
  • For example, if the day-year code reads "16550", that means the tape was printed on the 165th day of 1985.
  • Invisible dark ink printings and white barcode stickers on the side of the tape began in 1986, with the code switched over from "DayYX" to "DayY." Technicolor Videocassette continued to use these style printings during the next three years, following its acquisition of CBS/Fox's duplication facility and split from VCA-Teletronics in 1987, and added Sony Sprinter systems to the plant. A few known copies of South Pacific and Lucas, as well as certain Buena Vista Home Video tapes, printed between June-August 1989, utilized printings that were similar to those of Technicolor's California plants. The evolution would continue after CBS/Fox moved to RVSA in March 1990.
    • Sometimes, from 1989-1990, the date code would read something like "18789." On some tapes, the overall printings are kind of visible.
      • However on some tapes printed in early 1990, the code would just read something like either "3190" or "3390" instead.
    • In addition to the above mentioned printings, tapes duplicated using industrial duplicators would have a code on the left (prior to 1986) or the right (after 1986) of the vertical-blanking interval that begins with "MV-GARD" (pre-1980), "MAGVID" (1980-1982), "FOXVID" (1982-1984), "CBSFOX" (1984-1986) or "CFV" (1986-1987). Technicolor Videocassette continued to use these, rather beginning with "TVC," for the next decade, following its acquisition of CBS/Fox's duplication facility and its name changes to Technicolor Video Services and Technicolor Video/CD/DVD Services in 1993 and 1997, respectively.
• Most tapes printed after late January 1990, more than two years after Technicolor's acquisition of CBS/Fox's duplication facility, would have an engraving on the left or right side that indicates the company that distributed it, identical to the engraving on either side of tapes duplicated at Technicolor in California. This never applied to tapes released by CBS/Fox, which would move to RVSA just a couple of months later but would not start duplicating their product there until that August.
• One known copy of the 1984 VHS release of Willie Nelson and Family in Concert, by CBS/Fox, had a higher pitched red screen test pattern at the very beginning.

Gallery

Farmington Hills plant

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  This is what the "MAG 1" etching looks like on the back of tapes duplicated by CBS/Fox Video from 1977 to 1983.
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  This is what the "CBS FOX" etching looks like on the right side of tapes duplicated by CBS/Fox Video from 1984 to 1987.
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Livonia plant

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  This is what the barcode sticker looks like on the left side of tapes duplicated in Livonia, beginning in 1986.

VBI codes

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  An example of the third example, but with the Macrovision signal.

Locations

• Farmington Hills, Michigan (1967-1986) (moved to Livonia)
• Livonia, Michigan (1986-1987, building later sold by Technicolor and used by battery supplier A123 Systems as their headquarters before it was ultimately demolished for a Beaumont Health medical center)