RALEIGH, N.C. — CBS said Thursday that it would sell off its theme park division, which includes Carowinds near Charlotte and Kings Dominion near Richmond, Va.

The news comes on the heels of company news earlier this week that it was merging its UPN network with the WB network to form a new network with Warner Bros, called the CW.

CBS became the owner of the theme park division, called Paramount Parks, after the breakup of the Viacom company, in which some assets, such as television, radio, publishing, and the theme parks were kept with CBS.

Paramount Parks -- which had more than 12 million visitors in 2005 -- consists of operations that include Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, Ontario); Paramount's Carowinds (Charlotte); Paramount's Great America (Santa Clara, Calif.); Paramount's Kings Dominion (Richmond, Va.); and Paramount's Kings Island (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Carowinds opened in March 1973 has been owned by several companies, including Taft Broadcasting Company and Kings Entertainment Company.

Paramount bought Carowinds in 1992.