The Interpreter Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 http://www.pacificepoch.com/newsstories/67948_0_5_0_M/ Posted by: Zhengqian Zhou on Jul 05, 2006 | 14:07 Editorial Summary A Paramount theme park will be constructed in Tianjin as part of Tianjin municipal government's Eleventh Five Year Plan, reports China Business. An official with the Tianjin branch of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that the plans for the park have been approved by the Tianjin government but still need approval from China's State Council. The park will likely be in Tianjin's Binghai New District. An insider from Tianjin Teda Investment Holdings, the company that will construct the park, said that the company has signed a confidentiality agreement with Paramount and cannot reveal details of the deal for three years. Paramount is a Viacom subsidiary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Eagles 1972-2004 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 WTF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Wow..And they didn't want the 5 North America parks. That's crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 It's more than likely a locally run park that is renting Paramount branding. I know they are still building Century OCT over there - which borrows some ideas from PKI - such as having a Giant Frisbee and Giant Topspin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 Guess again. Viacom has previously indicated it intends to operate a chain of Paramount Parks in Asia... Why there and not here? Because there it is a high risk, high growth potential market, not a mature industry like it is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow2k3 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Talk about screwed up. Oh well, I guess it's all about the bottom line... ~S~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium13 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 They're also planning to open one in Japan. Here's the article straight from the Paramout Parks website. If they take care of theming over there like they did here, it probably won't look that nice after a year or two. Or it cuild just be a way over-hyped drawing. (They did that a lot also.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Guess again. Viacom has previously indicated it intends to operate a chain of Paramount Parks in Asia... Why there and not here? Because there it is a high risk, high growth potential market, not a mature industry like it is here. Well I am sure they will od well. I know Japanese people LOVE roller coasters - probably even more than we do. I wonder how the family friendly attractions will go over in China and Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Eagles 1972-2004 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Uhm... Cedar Fair just bought the Paramount Parks entity. Viacom can't use that name or paramountparks.com anymore... they no longer own it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 Uhm... Cedar Fair just bought the Paramount Parks entity. Viacom can't use that name or paramountparks.com anymore... they no longer own it. Not true. CBS had only a license to use the name in the USA and Canada for the next 10 years. VIACOM owns the Paramount name...not CBS, and certainly NOT Cedar Fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Eagles 1972-2004 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 There's a Paramount Drywall Service here. Does that mean Viacom owns it? No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 There's a Paramount Drywall Service here. Does that mean Viacom owns it? No. Nope, but Viacom could certainly sue them for trademark infringement, should it choose to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Eagles 1972-2004 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 http://www.theparamount.com/ http://www.paramounttheatre.com/ Neither of those are Viacom properties... They don't have almighty ownership of the word Paramount, and CF just bought Paramount Parks as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 I don't recommend you take up the practice of trademark law. The mere threat of litigation is enough to stop most companies from using the name claimed to be the property of another. And in this case, the name is currently used under license....which license is an admission that you don't OWN the mark, just the right to use it...for a time and in exchange for the payments of monies... The Paramount theaters predate even the Gulf + Western days, and are allowed to keep the usage as pre-existing uses....At one time, they belonged to the studios (except the one in Ashland, Kentucky...which is a long story for another day), but the Government made the studio sell them off due to antitrust concerns... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Yeah - CBS licensed it right? They would essentially be starting a new company for these Asian parks. As far as the litigation thing - I know Timber Terror at Silverwood was originally named Grizzly - but had to change its name because of the same name being used at a Paramount park. Kind of surprising they could trademark a name like that. I mean how many Big Dipper, Little Dipper and Cyclones are there out there? Besides - Grizzly is highly appropriate for Silverwood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 And there was the guy in Nashville, Tennessee who thought he could start a small amusement park and call it "Valleyfair!", exclamation mark and all. He got a letter for Cedar Fair and decided a different name might be a good idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you were going to rip off an existing park's name, I wonder why you'd choose Valleyfair? If I was going to get the lawyers after me, I'd go for broke and call it "Disney" The proposed park in China: http://www.pkicentral.com/forums/index.php...wtopic=5512&hl= ...and even earlier Japan: http://www.pkicentral.com/forums/index.php...wtopic=2154&hl= ...have been under discussion/consideration for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 which makes one wonder why this information about Viacom's proposed involvement in the theme park business is being published NOW, while Cedar Fair contemplates whether or not it wants to pay to use the Paramount branding....Coincidence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Titanic_Mess Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 The growth potential in China and the east is huge. Mandarin has surpased English as the global language of business. This is probably a smart move for Paramount, keeping their foot in the theme park business without the need for the North American parks. Paramount Pictures always envisioned the parks as a way to promote the movie studio and television side of the business. However slapping the name of a movie onto the side of a roller coaster did not quite convey the message. Paramount never supported the attractions with the capital needed to really have an impact the way that Disney and Universal have done with their attractions. Paramount's most successful attempt at combining movies with with a themed experience is Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. PKI's best attempt was Tomb Raider, but it fell short of expectations. It will be interesting to see how the China park plays out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erosarrow05 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 The main difference i see... Is that they would be starting from scratch. Slapping a movie name on a coaster is essentially all they could do in some cases. In most cases rollercoasters dont lend themselves verywell to be highly themed - 'most' cases... not all... I agree that it will be interesting to see how it plays out.... It will be a 'from the ground up' project no doubt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Well myself and Alien Seed are cooking up a themed roller coaster that will make Paramount cry wishing they had built something like this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 ^Finnaly, We Were Soldiers: The ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortexlover2 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you were going to rip off an existing park's name, I wonder why you'd choose Valleyfair? If I was going to get the lawyers after me, I'd go for broke and call it "Disney" The proposed park in China: http://www.pkicentral.com/forums/index.php...wtopic=5512&hl= ...and even earlier Japan: http://www.pkicentral.com/forums/index.php...wtopic=2154&hl= ...have been under discussion/consideration for a while. I saw the japan article last year, and also what about the paramount park thats in europe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you mean the one in Spain, Paramount only managed it. From 2001 to 2004, Paramount Parks managed Terra Mitica, in Benidorm, Valencia, Spain. The management contract was not renewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 ^Did it carry any viacom theming or paramoutn entitys etc. ? Why was the contract not re-newed, why did Paramount parks want to manage it and when the 5 parks were purchased from KECO, why was Australia's wonderland not purchased? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 Paramount Communications bought the KECO parks, and it was a stretch for them at the time to buy the parks they did. We sometimes forget Paramount Communications should get the credit for putting the KECO parks back together. Kings Island was no longer related to the other KECO parks...there was only a management contract with Lindner, and it was in its last year. There was widespread, probably accurate, sentiment that it was not going to be renewed. And, of course, had KI not been included and KECO had sold the other parks, there wouldn't have been much of a KECO to manage KI left for long anyway. When contracts are not renewed, the major reasons are usually either financial (someone is either paying too much or getting too little in their opinion, or not getting what they are paying for or losing money doing the contract on the other hand). Sometimes the parties just plain old don't like each other, or think they can do a better job elsewhere or even by themselves. Usually why a contract ends is not talked about. It's considered "proprietary information." Business speak to the rest of us for "none of your business." As for the theming, I was never there. Perhaps someone here was? Why did Paramount Parks want to manage it? Probably to make some money and to see if they were good at managing parks in Europe to gain experience and decide if that was something they wanted to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveo3631 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 ^Did it carry any viacom theming or paramoutn entitys etc. ? Why was the contract not re-newed, why did Paramount parks want to manage it and when the 5 parks were purchased from KECO, why was Australia's wonderland not purchased? Australia's Wonderland closed several years ago and demolished. Paramount was not involved with it at that time, and I can't imagine what happened to the KI Zodiac Double Wheel that ended up there. I'd heard that AW was never profitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 ^Wasnt it Flight Commander, not the zodiac, that ended up there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveo3631 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I know for a fact Zodiac ended up there. The park was built with several cast off rides from KECO parks. Zodian appeared on park maps. As for Flight Commander, I was under the impression that all of them were junked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Paramount Communications bought the KECO parks, and it was a stretch for them at the time to buy the parks they did. We sometimes forget Paramount Communications should get the credit for putting the KECO parks back together. Kings Island was no longer related to the other KECO parks...there was only a management contract with Lindner, and it was in its last year. There was widespread, probably accurate, sentiment that it was not going to be renewed. And, of course, had KI not been included and KECO had sold the other parks, there wouldn't have been much of a KECO to manage KI left for long anyway. ...that brings up some interesting thoughts. Imagine just how vulnerable an independent KI would have been in the 90s with all the consolidation that occurred in the industry. A single, unaffiliated park wouldn't have had the competitive buying power or marketing clout of all the chain parks...it would have been a perfect target for Six Flags during its huge spending spree. Imagine if that would have happened...Six Flags Kings Island. Kind of gives all the "Paramount haters" pause for thought, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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