Apparently, it's a long story, but after Howard Hughes ran RKO into the ground, the studio was taken over by Desilu Productions, which in turn was absorbed by Paramount.  So some of the titles remained with Paramount but Ted Turner did get TV rights to many of those.  Of course, Turner sold out to TimeWarnerAOL, which has its own story!  There's a pretty good summary at the Scarlet Street Forum Q&A:
http://pub4.ezboard.com/fscarletstreetrkoandotherstudios.showMessage?topicID=45.topic

"Only connect" --E.M. Forster
Donald F. Larsson
English Dept., AH 230
Minnesota State University
Mankato, MN  56001


        -----Original Message-----
        From: Sharon Knolle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent: Tue 8/27/2002 4:58 PM
        To: [log in to unmask]
        Cc:
        Subject: Monogram and RKO films



        Hi,
        Does anyone know who ended up with distribution rights to Monogram and RKO
        films from the '40s and '50s? I've seen some RKO films end up on Turner Home
        Video, but certainly not all.

        Many thanks,

        Sharon Knolle
        Entertainment Writer
        [log in to unmask]
        Online Portfolio: http://home.sprintmail.com/~sknolle/frame.html

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