From about 1930, five major "Hollywood" movie studios from all over the Los Angeles area, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros., owned large, grand theaters throughout the country for the exhibition of their movies. The period between the years 1927 (the end of the silent era) to 1948 was considered the “Golden Age of Hollywood.”  However, this ended in a landmark 1948 court decision, where the Supreme Court ruled that movie studios could not own theaters where only their own movies were shown.  By the mid-1950s, when television proved a profitable enterprise that was here to stay, movie studios began to be used for the television production as well.

On January 22, 1947, the first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi River, KTLA, began operating in Hollywood.  In December of the same year, the first Hollywood movie production was made for TV called The Public Prosecutor.  In the 1950s, music recording studios and offices began moving into Hollywood. The famous Capitol Records building on Vine Street, just north of Hollywood Boulevard, was built in 1956. Its unique circular design looks a little like a stack of old 45rpm vinyl records.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 and the first star was placed in 1960 as a tribute to artists working in the entertainment industry. Honorees receive a star based on career and lifetime achievements in motion pictures, live theatre, radio, television, and/or music, as well as their charitable and civic contributions.

In 1985, the Hollywood Boulevard commercial and entertainment district was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places protecting important buildings and ensuring that Hollywood's past would always be a part of its future.

The Kodak Theatre, which opened in 2001 on Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue, where the historic Hollywood Hotel once stood, has become the new home of the Oscars.

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