Fourth television network
The early history of television in the United States, particularly between 1956 and 1986, was dominated by the Big Three television networks: the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The term fourth television network was used within the industry during this era to refer to a theoretical fourth commercial broadcast (over-the-air) television network that would operate as a direct competitor to the "Big Three".
This article is about the situation in the United States. For the proposed UK television service in the 1960s and 1970s, see Fourth UK television service.
Prior to 1956, the DuMont Television Network operated as an existing fourth network alongside ABC, CBS, and NBC, but an inability to find solid financial ground, a weaker affiliate base, and internal competition from co-owner Paramount Pictures all contributed to DuMont's closure. Multiple companies, film studios and television station owners all either considered, announced or launched networks or program services that aspired to be the "fourth network", but none succeeded. Several of these attempts never advanced from being niche program services, while others either failed to launch or failed after launching. General consensus within the industry and by television critics was that a fourth television network was impossible; one television critic wrote, "Industry talk about a possible full-time, full-service, commercial network structured like the existing big three, ABC, CBS and NBC, pops up much more often than the fictitious town of Brigadoon."[1] Non-commercial educational television, especially with stations aligned with National Educational Television and successor PBS, also found success as program services with network-capable functions.
The October 1986 launch of the Fox Broadcasting Company was met with ridicule; despite the industry skepticism and initial network instability, the Fox network eventually proved profitable by the early 1990s, becoming the first successful fourth network and eventually surpassing the Big Three networks in the demographics and overall viewership ratings by the early 2000s.
Rationale[edit]
Some within the industry felt there was a need for a fourth network; that complaints about diversity in programming could be addressed by adding another network. "We need a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth network," one broadcaster stated.[1] While critics rejected "the nightly tripe being offered [to] the public on the three major networks," they were skeptical that a fourth network would offer better material: "[O]ne wonders if a new network lacking the big money already being spread three ways will be able to come up with tripe that is equal. Certainly a new network is not going to stress quality programming when the ratings indicate that the American public prefer hillbillies, cowboys and spies. A new network will have to deliver an audience if it is to attract the big spenders from the ranks of sponsors."[5]
Advertisers, too, called for the creation of a fourth network. Representatives from Procter & Gamble and General Foods, two of the largest advertisers in the U.S., hoped the competition from a fourth network would lower advertising rates on the Big Three.[6] Independent television producers, too, called for a fourth network after battles with the Big Three.[7]
Unfulfilled attempts[edit]
George Fox Organization network[edit]
George Fox, the president of the George Fox Organization, announced tentative plans for a television film network in May 1956. The plan was to sign 45 to 50 affiliate stations; each of these stations would have input in deciding what programs the network would air. Four initial programs – Jack for Jill, I'm the Champ, Answer Me This, and It's a Living – were slated to be broadcast; the programs would be filmed in Hollywood. However, only 17 stations had agreed to affiliate in May.[8] The film network never made it off the ground, and none of the planned programs aired.
With the success with Fox, several other media companies started to enter the broadcasting world in the 1990s to create the fifth commercial broadcast network that would allow a station to brand itself better and to stand out amongst the increasing number of television channels, particularly cable networks.[102]
In October 1993, Chris-Craft subsidiary United Television partnered with Paramount Television (at the time in the process of being acquired by Viacom) to create what would become known as the United Paramount Network (UPN), which launched on January 16, 1995 with an initial lineup consisting of two hours of programming on Monday and Tuesday nights.[114] Meanwhile, in November 1993, Warner Bros. parent Time Warner formed a partnership with the Tribune Company to develop The WB, which launched on January 11, 1995 (five days before UPN made its debut) with an initial two-hour lineup of sitcoms running on Wednesday nights.[115][116][117] In the same vein as how Fox utilized the stations that then-parent News Corporation acquired from Metromedia to serve as the bedrock for the network, United Television, Paramount Stations Group and Tribune Broadcasting (which each owned independents in large and mid-sized markets, including the top markets of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) recruited most of their independent stations to form the affiliate bases for UPN and The WB. Concurrently as the two "netlets" were under development, United left PTEN's parent, the Prime Time Consortium, to focus on UPN;[118] this left PTEN to primarily act as a syndicator of its remaining programs. The service shared affiliations with its respective parents' own network ventures in many markets (in some cases, resulting in PTEN's programming airing in off-peak time slots) until it finally folded in September 1997.
In March 1998, USA Broadcasting announced the launch of a programming concept known as "CityVision", a local general entertainment independent format that the company planned to expand to the company's other stations (most of which were Home Shopping Network affiliates) and was one of eight programming concepts or proposed networks being developed at the time (and referred to be a network venture by then-NBC president Bob Wright).[119] The concept was test-launched in June 1998 on USA's Miami station WAMI (now a UniMás owned-and-operated station).[120][121]
Pax TV, a venture of Paxson Communications, debuted on August 31, 1998, as an attempted seventh broadcast network to compete against UPN and The WB; although Pax carried a limited schedule of first-run programs in its early years, its schedule otherwise was composed mainly of syndicated reruns.
Additional networks were formed with increasing frequency immediately before and especially following the digital television transition, which gave stations the ability to multiplex their broadcast signals by adding subchannels, many of which since 2009 are being used to host networks focusing less or not at all on original content and relying mainly on programming acquired by various distributors (particularly classic series and feature films that are no longer being picked up by many cable networks).[122][123][124]