What if RKO Radio Pictures remained open?

Real life reference, RKO Radio Pictures is shut down by General Tire as a film studio in 1959. in 1981, RKO General, under the General Tire and Rubber Company, began to reenter film production, until it's last films are made in both 2012 and 2015. To this day, RKO has no more movies produced.

But let's imagine if RKO wanted to stay in the movie industry without ever closing down in 1959.

Changes

 * RKO would've been later known as RKO Teleradio Pictures (1959-1981), RKO Pictures (1981-present), and RKO/UC (2000-2015).
 * Also, RKO's parent company would've later been named The RKO Company (1984-1990), RKO Corporation (1990-2000), RKO/UC Corporation (2000-2009), RKO/UC Holdings (2009-2015) and RKO Holdings (2015-present).
 * RKO Television would've been opened in March of 1963.
 * RKO would've had 1,895 films in the film library.
 * RKO would've have remained one of the major American film studios, along with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Lionsgate Films.
 * After the Van Beuren Studios closed in 1937, RKO would've formed it's own animation unit rather than making a deal with Disney.
 * RKO Animation would've have a founder named Thomas Witherspoon (1895-1967; a made-up person).
 * RKO would've have it's own cartoon short series Radiotoons and Radio Rhapsodies, similar to Warner Bros. Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse/Silly Symphonies (which RKO distributed in reality), Paramount's Noveltoons/Harveytoons, Walter Lantz Cartoons, Terrytoons, and MGM Cartoons.
 * Just like Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes, Radiotoons can have several TV incarnations, most notably The Radiotoons Show, The Berenstain Bears, Home: Adventures with Tip and Oh and Whino.
 * Brother Bear from The Berenstain Bears would've been RKO's cartoon mascot, just like Bugs Bunny of Warner Bros., and Mickey Mouse of Disney.
 * Instead of distributing real-life Disney feature films from 1937 to 1953, RKO would've made The Billy Goats Gruff it's own animation division's first animated feature film.
 * RKO would've released A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon in the United States, Canada and Latin America on December 13, 2019 rather than Netflix on February 14, 2020.
 * Jetix would've been launched in 1993 and remained open as a Television channel for Kids.
 * RKO would've had it's own broadcasting network, RKO Broadcasting Company, inspired by NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, Fox, MyNetworkTV, Ion Television, and The CW (later TBS) - and pick up COPS instead of Fox, which would make their television broadcasting venture as successful.
 * RKO would've had a it's own television station WRKO-TV.
 * RKO's Superstition would've been WRKO Superstition.
 * With the success of their broadcasting stations, they would've managed to outbid Univision and Disney/ABC on USA Broadcasting Inc's television stations and converted WNDE, WORX, WACY and KLIK into the local TV model, which was originally scraped by USA for financial reasons.
 * With the popularity of RKO's television network instead of Fox's due to television stations and their variety of content, they would expand internationally in a similar way as Fox International Channels, first launching a Canadian version under partnershp with Shaw/Corus.
 * RKO would've operated it's own kids channels (called RKO Kids, RKO Toons, and RKO Preschool).
 * SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg would've worked for RKO Pictures after he left the show in 2004, before his return to SpongeBob for its 9th season and death in 2018.
 * He would be create new IPs for Disney such as the television series Sailor Cat and Sailor Fish, Family of the Dead, The Pet Adventures of Lego, Animal City, Jimmy Two-Shoes, Mario’s Mushroomy Tales, The Berenstain Bears (2003 series) and The Doggies (the latter which he would co-creating with Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel creator David Feiss).
 * Jimmy Two-Shoes, the Canadian cartoon, would've been co-produced by RKO Television Animation and United Plankton Pictures, being co-created by Stephen Hillenburg.
 * RKO Television would've remained open, and change its name to RKO Television Studios around late 2010s.
 * RKO's subsidary, United Circles Pictures, would've existed as a independent film production company once, before being bought in 2000.
 * United Circles would've still existed today as an in-name only unit of RKO.
 * RKO Home Video would've remained opened.
 * RKO would've still distributed it's films on home video to this day.
 * RKO would've distributed it's films on UntraViolet/Movies Anywhere.
 * RKO would've used it's own Warning screens.
 * Greenhouse Animation would've been RKO's Computer-animation division, simmilar to Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky.
 * RKO would've still owned the rights to the RKO Radio Pictures films, as well as now owning the rights to films and TV shows from smaller companies Castle Hill Productions, Weintraub Entertainment Group, and Relativity Media.
 * Both Tip Tucci and Oh the Boov would've been created in 1942 by RKO Animation rather than 2015 by DreamWorks Animation.
 * RKO would've all Tip Tucci shorts between 1942 and 1957.
 * RKO would've released and produced Home in 1992 rather than DreamWorks Animation in 2015.
 * RKO, however, would've co-produced the 2015 remake of the film and 2016 TV Series with DreamWorks Animation.
 * Key Video would've been revived by RKO, soon after CBS/Fox closed the label in 1990.
 * RKO's Movie Channel, Moonlight, would've been a seperate channel once until RKO and Moonlight merged in 1990.
 * Moonlight would've also been seperate again from 2000 until the RKO-Moonlight reunion 2009 under the name Moonlight Corporation.
 * Ethan's Network would've been RKO's Irish kids Channel.
 * Both Dora the Explorer and Blue Clues would've been produced by RKO Animation instead of Nickelodeon Productions.
 * Dora and The Lost City of Gold would've been produced and released by RKO instead of Nickelodeon and Paramount.
 * RKO may have had a chance to bid for Walt Disney Company's assets in 2004, Entertainment One's assets around late 2010s, and 21st Century Fox's assets in 2018.
 * Their bid for Disney in 2004 would've inevitably failed, due to conflicts with shareholders and especially Roy Disney, while their bid for Fox would've lost to Disney, who would've put more money.
 * Acquisition of Entertainment One could've succeeded due to the past failures in acquisitions leaving RKO with enough money (around 3-5 billion dollars) and thus outbid Hasbro, were it to happen later. Read more here.
 * With the acquisition of Entertainment One, they would have access to Amblin Partners, the Peppa Pig brand, and the home entertainment rights to eOne movies worldwide (instead of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment).
 * Inspired by Disney's acquisition of Marvel and Lucasfilm, RKO may have acquired Saban Brands and built an empire similar to Warner's kids brands and Hasbro. Read more here.
 * With the acquisition of Saban Brands comes Power Rangers, affiliated with Super Sentai, and interest in Japanese content through the franchise, subsequently ending up in acquisition of North American distribution rights to Studio Ghibli films.
 * With the acquisitions of Saban Brands and Entertainment One, RKO would've licensed their properties to Six Flags, Universal or Cedar Fair; or in 2006, if they had any interest in theme parks at the time, acquired Paramount Parks during the Viacom-CBS split; rather than have Cedar Fair acquire them.
 * However, it could've failed around 2008 or shrunk intensely due to the international economic recession. So even then, they would end up licensing their properties to other parks.
 * They would've greenlit as many films as possible with the "low budget, high creative" model, similar to Netflix with its original content and Paramount during Michael Eisner's presidency, possibly due to their past being interested in films such as Citizen Kane, which was a directorial debut.

Info
RKO Pictures (aka Radio-Keith-Orpheum) is an American film studio that is a subsidiary of RKO Holdings.

The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone. By the mid-1940s, the studio was under the control of investor Floyd Odlum.

RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid-to-late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio. Cary Grant was a mainstay for years. The work of producer Val Lewton's low-budget horror unit and RKO's many ventures into the field now known as film noir have been acclaimed, largely after the fact, by film critics and historians. The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history: King Kong and Citizen Kane.

RKO included franchises like Radiotoons, Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues, The Berenstain Bears, Tip and Oh, Shaun the Sheep, Whino, Doggy Day, A Parrot's Wing, Singly Ladybugs, Zebraffe, Summer Bearese, and Foxy Moxy.

Productions

 * List of RKO Pictures films
 * list of RKO Animation feature films

Film

 * RKO Pictures
 * United Circles Pictures
 * Radio Independent Pictures
 * RKO Family Entertainment
 * Moonlight Pictures

Home Entertainment

 * RKO Studios Home Entertainment
 * Key Video
 * RKO Classics
 * Moonlight Home Entertainment
 * RKO Digital Studios
 * RKO+
 * RKO Movies Anywhere
 * Moonlight Anytime
 * RKO Interactive
 * RKO Games
 * RKO Online
 * RKO Virtual Reality
 * Moonlight Games

Television

 * RKO Television Studios Group
 * RKO Television
 * RKO Television Distribution
 * RKO International Television
 * RKO News Productions
 * RKO Kids Studios
 * Teen RKO Studios
 * RKO Junior Studios
 * RKO Alternative
 * Moonlight Television Studios
 * Jetix Entertainment
 * RKO+ Originals
 * WRKO Productions
 * RKO Television Networks Group
 * RKO Broadcasting Company
 * RKO Television Stations
 * WRKO-TV New York
 * KRKO Los Angeles
 * CRKO Chicago
 * HRKO Hartford
 * NYRKO Albany
 * SRKO Syracuse
 * PRKO Philadelphia
 * SFRKO San Francisco
 * DCRKO Washington, D.C.
 * Other RKO TV Stations (licensed but not owned)
 * RKO Canada
 * RiverTV
 * RKO Cable Networks Group
 * RKO News
 * RKO Kids
 * Jetix
 * Teen RKO
 * RKO Toons
 * RKO Junior
 * WRKO Superstation
 * Moonlight Networks
 * Moonlight
 * Moonlight 2
 * Moonlight Family
 * Moonlight Latino
 * Moonlight Classic
 * RKO Channels International
 * RKO UK
 * RKO France
 * RKO Scandinavia
 * RKO Germany
 * RKO Spain
 * RKO Latin America
 * RKO Italy
 * RKO Romania
 * RKO Australia
 * RKO Ireland
 * Ethan's Network
 * RKO New Zealand
 * RKO Benelux
 * RKO Portugal
 * RKO Brazil
 * RKO China
 * RKO India
 * RKO Japan
 * RKO Southeast Asia
 * RKO Middle East
 * RKO Africa
 * RKO Greenland
 * RKO Russia
 * RKO Ukraine
 * RKO Stanistan
 * RKO Poland
 * RKO Czechia
 * RKO Slovakia
 * RKO Bulgaria
 * RKO Former Yugoslavia

Animation

 * RKO Animation
 * Greenhouse Animation
 * Greenhouse Television
 * Coinscog Studios
 * RKO Toons Studios
 * Happy Horse Productions
 * RKO Animation facilities
 * RKO Animation Studios San Deigo
 * RKO Animation Studios New York
 * RKO Animation Studios Washington D.C.
 * RKO Animation Studios Chicago
 * RKO Animation Studios Buffalo/Toronto
 * RKO Animation Studios Austin

Other

 * RKO Records
 * RKO Sound

Former

 * RKO Cable Group (renamed as Moonlight Group in 2000 and RKO Cable Networks Group in 2010)
 * RKO Cable Productions (renamed as Moonlight Television Studios in 2009)
 * Moonlight Television Distribution (folded into RKO Television Distribution in 2009)
 * Greenhouse Australia (closed by RKO due to the Viacom-CBS remerger in 2019)
 * RKO Television Animation (renamed as RKO Toons Studios in 2005)
 * United Circles Television (merged with RKO Television to form RKO/UC Television in 2000)
 * United Circles Home Entertainment (merged with RKO Home Entertainment to form RKO/UC Home Entertainment in 2000)
 * United Circles Animation (merged with RKO Animation to form RKO/UC Animation in 2000)