Prior to 1948, the larger Hollywood studios owned their own theater chains. Obviously, this arrangement meant that the studios could control which films would be seen by audiences. The federal government looked to breakup this situation and the case reached the Supreme Court in 1948.
The Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides and ended up siding with the government, which resulted in the "Paramount Decree". The studios divested themselves of their theater chains as quickly as possible. The Paramount Theater chain eventually became the ABC Television Network.
