CKX, Inc.

CKX, Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: CKXE)
Founded	February 7, 2005 (United States)
Headquarters	New York City
Key people	Robert F.X. Sillerman, CEO & Chairman Simon Fuller, Director Thomas P. Benson, CFO Mitchell Slater, COO Howard Tytel, General Counsel
Industry	Entertainment
Products	entertainment content, intellectual property services, American Idol/Idol series
Revenue	288.1 million USD (2008)
Employees	442
Subsidiaries	19 Entertainment, Elvis Presley Enterprises and Muhammad Ali Enterprises
Website	ir.ckx.com

CKX, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) is a company founded on February 7, 2005 that owns and develops entertainment content and intellectual property.

CKx, Inc. is engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content. To date, CKX has focused on acquiring globally recognized entertainment content and related assets, including the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, the operations of Graceland, the rights to the name, image and likeness of Muhammad Ali and proprietary rights to the IDOLS television brand, including the American Idol series in the United States and local adaptations of the IDOLS television show format which, collectively, air in over 100 countries around the world. CKX plans to continue to make strategic acquisitions of, or partner or align with, companies or individuals that control various forms of established entertainment content, which may include intellectual property rights in music, film, television programming, written works and characters, rights to names, images and likenesses, video games, corporate brands and other related assets.

Background

The "C" and "K" stand for "Content is King", representing the focus of the company's business strategy to acquire established content, and then to improve, enhance and development the marketing of such content. The "X" takes the initial of founder Robert F.X. Sillerman. This is a trademark of many Sillerman companies, such as "SFX Entertainment" and "FXM Asset Management"

Before its foundation in 2005, and during the formation from 1986 to August 2002, the company operated a franchise of retail golf equipment, formerly known as Sports Entertainment Enterprises. In August 2002 the company sold all of its former assets. From September 2002 to February 2005, the company's main priority was to pursue a transaction with a business enterprise.

Assets and holdings

CKX's assets and holdings at present include:

• Global Rights - Elvis Presley - the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, and the operations of Graceland
• Majority Global Rights - Muhammad Ali - an 80% interest in the name, likeness, trademarks, and licensing agreements of Muhammad Ali including Ali's "Greatest Of All Time" (or G.O.A.T.) slogan
• 19 Entertainment - acquired from Simon Fuller in 2005 for $200 million. 19 owns, among other things, a share of the rights to the Idol series, including Pop Idol in Great Britain, American Idol in the United States, and numerous other international versions, and So You Think You Can Dance in the United States.
• Morra, Brezner, Steinberg & Tenenbaum Entertainment - purchased on 9 August 2005. MBST manages the careers of a number of Hollywood comedians, actors and directors. Clients include Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Woody Allen. MBST has produced or co-produced a number of successful film and television including Arthur, Good Morning Vietnam, Throw Momma From the Train, The Vanishing, The Greatest Game Ever Played and Match Point.

References

External links

• CKX website