147-456: Act III Broadcasting was a company that owned several television stations that started as independents, and later became Fox affiliates. The stations were located in medium-sized DMA's (markets) and were primarily UHF stations. Act III Broadcasting was in business from 1986 to 1995 when it was sold to ABRY Partners/Sullivan Broadcasting for US$ 500 million (equivalent to $ 910 million in 2023). Television producer Norman Lear owned
294-475: A blind trust and then sold directly to Fox due to conflicts with FCC ownership rules ], and one NBC affiliate ) that it had either already owned outright or was in the process of acquiring from Citicasters and Argyle Communications at the time to Fox starting in September 1994 and continuing as existing affiliation contracts with their existing major network partners expired. That summer, SF Broadcasting ,
441-662: A construction permit for channel 11 in Charleston. In early 1988, Act III acquired WZTV in Nashville, Tennessee , from Multimedia, Inc. , followed in late 1988 with its $ 12 million (equivalent to $ 27 million in 2023) acquisition of WUHF in Rochester, New York , from Malrite TV. In 1988, Act III bought out WRLH from Busse Communications, and also acquired WVRN 's assets, and integrated into WRLH's programming schedule, which effectively go dark by September, which claimed it
588-458: A local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group , owner of ABC / Fox / MyNetworkTV affiliate WKEF (channel 22), for the provision of certain services. However, Sinclair effectively owns WRGT-TV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The two stations share studios on Corporate Place in Miamisburg ; WRGT-TV's transmitter
735-548: A 20% stake in New World Communications , a television and film production company controlled by investor Ronald Perelman that had just recently entered into broadcasting through its 1993 purchase of seven stations owned by SCI Television . As a result of Fox acquiring a 20% minority interest in the company, New World signed an agreement to switch the affiliations of twelve stations (eight CBS affiliates, three ABC affiliates [ two of which were subsequently placed in
882-639: A 24-hour extension of the previous deadline, Time Warner and Sinclair reached a tentative settlement. After further negotiations, a final agreement was reached on February 2, 2011, keeping WRGT-TV and WKEF on Time Warner. On February 21, 2012, Miamisburg City Council approved a $ 150,000 loan to Sinclair, which planned to move the WRGT-TV/WKEF studios from Soldiers Home-West Carrollton Road in Dayton, and to move their business and sales offices from Broadcast Plaza (the former WRGT-TV studios), consolidating all within
1029-1108: A 50% interest in TCF Holdings, the parent company of the 20th Century Fox film studio. In May 1985, News Corporation, a media company owned by Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch that had mainly served as a newspaper publisher at the time of the TCF Holdings deal, agreed to pay $ 2.55 billion to acquire independent television stations in six major U.S. cities from the John Kluge -run broadcasting company Metromedia : WNEW-TV in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., KTTV in Los Angeles, KRIV-TV in Houston, WFLD -TV in Chicago, and KRLD-TV in Dallas. A seventh station, ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston,
1176-551: A Flying Start", featuring an animated Wright "B" Flyer used in its first promos (the "WRGT" calls are a reference to the Wright brothers ). Prior to its sign on, the only source of non-network programming in Dayton was WTJC (channel 26, now WBDT ) a mostly religious station. However, WXIX-TV and WIII-TV (now WSTR-TV ), both in Cincinnati , and WTTE in Columbus all reached portions of
1323-522: A Multi-Millionaire? , Temptation Island , Married by America , and Joe Millionaire (which became the first Fox program to crack the Nielsen Top 10), as well as video clip shows such as World's Wildest Police Videos and When Animals Attack! . After shedding most of these programs, Fox gradually filled its lineup with acclaimed dramas such as 24 , The O.C. , House , and Bones , and comedies such as The Bernie Mac Show , Malcolm in
1470-465: A clause in this deal stipulated that if TVX sold one of its underperforming stations, Fox could disaffiliate from that station. This was not the case in the Piedmont Triad, because WNRW's rival station WGGT (now WMYV ) was in bankruptcy, but it still ran a comparatively low-budget schedule. This solidified Act III's strategy of acquiring stations in mid-tier DMAs, with the added spin of affiliating with
1617-416: A collapse in viewership during the 2012–13 season ; American Idol and Glee suffered steep ratings declines, while the network as a whole fell to third place (suffering an overall decrease by 22%) in total viewership and to second place in the 18–49 demographic (where it remained as of 2014 ) by the end of the season. The decline in ratings continued into the 2013–14 season , with Fox placing fourth among
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#17328511423851764-895: A contract with the NFL to televise games from the National Football Conference (NFC)—which had been airing its games on CBS since 1956 —starting with the 1994 season . The initial four-year contract, which Fox bid $ 1.58 billion to obtain—while CBS offered $ 295 million per year to retain the rights —also included the exclusive U.S. television rights to Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 . The network also lured Pat Summerall , John Madden , Dick Stockton , Matt Millen , James Brown , Terry Bradshaw , and behind-the-scenes production personnel, from CBS Sports to staff its NFL coverage. Shortly afterward, News Corporation began striking affiliation deals with, and later purchasing, more television station groups. On May 23, 1994, Fox agreed to purchase
1911-520: A controlling stake in Act III Broadcasting through his company Act III Communications . Prior to the formation of Act III, Lear had a history in television station ownership. Along with his longtime business partners Jerry Perenchio and Bud Yorkin , Lear acquired WNJU-TV , a UHF independent station in the New York City area. The station offered religious English-language programming in
2058-501: A deal reached with Fox earlier in 2010; syndicated and local programs on Sinclair's Fox affiliates would not be seen. On December 31 , Time Warner reached an agreement with an out-of-market station, presumably Cincinnati's WXIX-TV, to provide Fox network programming at least through the end of February. Later that same day, Sinclair and Time Warner extended talks for another two weeks, with continued cable carriage of Sinclair's stations, through January 14, 2011. On January 15, 2011, after
2205-552: A default Fox affiliate at the time; it would manage to reach a total of 1.3 million subscribers by 1992. As Fox gradually headed towards carrying a full week's worth of programming in prime time through the addition of programming on Thursday and Friday nights at the start of the 1990–91 season , the network's added offerings included the scheduling of The Simpsons opposite veteran NBC sitcom The Cosby Show as part of Fox's initial Thursday night lineup that fall (along with future hit Beverly Hills, 90210 , which would become
2352-529: A few successful shows like the science fiction drama The X-Files , Fox still lacked credibility among viewers. Even those working in television thought of the network as "the one that has that cartoon show" ( The Simpsons ). More than 85% of affiliates in 1993 were UHF stations. Fox became a viable competitor to the older networks when it won broadcast television rights to the National Football League (NFL) away from CBS . In December 1993, Fox signed
2499-454: A few weeks, however, and the network was unable to reach a deal with Hall to return as host when it hurriedly revived The Late Show in early 1988. The Late Show went back to featuring guest hosts, eventually selecting Ross Shafer as its permanent host, only for it to be canceled for good by October 1988, while Hall signed a deal with Paramount Television to develop his own syndicated late night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show . Fox aired
2646-442: A first-run series on Comedy Central , where it ran from 2010 to 2013. Less successful efforts included The Critic , starring Saturday Night Live alumnus Jon Lovitz (which Fox picked up in 1994 after it was cancelled by ABC, only for the series to be cancelled again after its second season), and The PJs (which moved to The WB in 2000, after Fox cancelled that series after its second season). Other notable shows that debuted in
2793-519: A five-year contract valued at $ 205 million per-year. The network also began to increase its non-scripted output, announcing the new celebrity music competition series The Masked Singer (based on the South Korean format King of Mask Singer ), and the new game shows Mental Samurai and Spin the Wheel for the 2018–19 season. In August 2018, Fox Television Group CEO Dana Walden stated that
2940-558: A five-year extension to the network's affiliation agreement with Sinclair's 19 Fox stations, including WRGT-TV, allowing them to continue carrying Fox programming through 2017. On the network's October 31 , 2015 launch, WRGT-TV added the Sinclair-owned Comet on its third digital subchannel, 45.3. On February 28, 2017, WRGT-TV added the Sinclair-owned Charge! on its fourth digital subchannel, 45.4. Charge! programming
3087-505: A fourth network had failed because it programmed just under the number of hours defined by the FCC to legally be considered a network. This allowed Fox to make revenue in ways forbidden to the established networks (for instance, it did not have to adhere to the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules that were in effect at the time), since during its first years it was considered to be merely
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#17328511423853234-472: A half-hour series as part of the network's mainly comedy-based Sunday lineup for its first season, before expanding to an hour and moving to Fridays for the 1990–91 season). These two series, which would become staples on the network for just over two decades, would eventually be paired to form the nucleus of Fox's Saturday night schedule beginning in the 1994–95 season . Meanwhile, Married... with Children , which differentiated itself from other family sitcoms of
3381-411: A high-stakes "in-contest" competition among four potential owners in the late 1970s. The station ran a general-entertainment format consisting of cartoons , classic sitcoms , recent off-network sitcoms, old movies , drama shows , and sports . On its sign on date, WRGT-TV broadcast 2001: A Space Odyssey , with a stereo simulcast of the audio over WTUE -FM 104.7. It originally used the slogan "Off To
3528-551: A joint venture between Fox and Savoy Pictures that was founded in March 1994, purchased four stations from Burnham Broadcasting ( three NBC affiliates and one ABC affiliate ); through a separate agreement, those stations would also switch to Fox between September 1995 and January 1996 as existing affiliation agreements lapsed. These two deals were not the first instances in which a longtime "Big Three" station affiliated with Fox: in Miami,
3675-503: A large group of stations. By comparison, DuMont had been saddled by numerous regulatory barriers that hampered its potential to grow, most notably a ban on acquiring additional stations, during an era when the FCC had much tighter ownership limits for television stations (limiting broadcasters to a maximum of five stations nationwide) than it did when Fox launched. In addition, Murdoch was more than willing to open his wallet to get and keep programming and talent. DuMont, in contrast, operated on
3822-409: A large loyal fanbase that turned the show into a cult favorite. In 2009, Glee premiered to average ratings when its pilot aired as a lead-out program of the eighth-season finale of American Idol , but earned positive reviews from critics. The cast of the series has been acknowledged by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey , who have each asked the cast to perform live for various national events. At
3969-500: A large, loyal international fanbase. At the same time, Fox's live telecast of the Super Bowl XLV helped the network emerge as the first U.S. television network to earn an average single-night prime time audience of at least 100 million viewers. American Idol lost its first place standing among all network prime time programs during the 2011–12 finale (falling to second that season behind NBC Sunday Night Football ), ending
4116-469: A mediocre ratings performance, before viewership rose significantly midway through its first season following Heather Locklear 's addition to the cast), its own short lived spin-off Models Inc. , and family drama Party of Five . The early and mid-1990s also saw the network launch several series aimed at a black audience, which, in addition to Martin , included the sitcom Living Single and police procedural New York Undercover . Despite having
4263-519: A network called NetSpan. Blair Broadcasting, which had just acquired WSCV in Miami and KVEA in Los Angeles and converted these into full-time Spanish independent outlets, joined the alliance in 1985. WNJU and KSTS would be sold in 1986 to Reliance Capital Group, which separately acquired Blair Broadcasting; the sale marked Lear and Perenchio's exit from the station business. The following year, Reliance would consolidate its Spanish-language holdings into
4410-489: A new but short-lived sitcom ( Love and Marriage ) to the night at the beginning of the 1996–97 season backfired with the public, as it resulted in a brief cancellation of America's Most Wanted that was criticized by law enforcement and public officials, and was roundly rejected by viewers, which brought swift cancellation to the newer series. Married... quickly returned to Sundays (before moving again to Mondays two months later); both it and Martin would end their runs at
4557-507: A nightly 10 o'clock newscast on CW affiliate WBDT; this beat WRGT-TV's show in Dayton's metered market household ratings on the 26th day of its broadcast. On June 12, 2006, WKEF began airing a weekday morning program from 5 to 7, called ABC 22 Good Morning . On the same day, WRGT-TV began airing Fox 45 in the Morning from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays. In August 2008, WKEF began producing a 6:30 p.m. newscast for WRGT-TV, airing on weeknights against
Act III Broadcasting - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-525: A non-Big Three network on primetime). By 2016, Empire and The X-Files ranked in the Nielsen Top 10 for the season, the first season with 2 Fox programs entering the top rankings since the American Idol - House tandem of the 2007–2008 season (and the first ever season that Fox achieved such rankings without American Idol or any other reality television show from Fox in the Top 10). The same year also marked
4851-424: A partnership between ABRY and Dan Sullivan, who had previously run Clear Channel Communications ' television station group. This record-setting valuation came despite Fox's policy of not allowing acquisitions that resulted in one company controlling more than eight Fox affiliates, which acted as a deterrent on some potential bidders. Sinclair Broadcast Group then bought Sullivan in 1998; Sinclair had also implemented
4998-443: A second-tier independent station in markets where a more established independent declined the affiliation (such as Denver , Phoenix and St. Louis ). Largely because of both these factors, Fox in a situation very similar to what DuMont had experienced four decades before had little choice but to affiliate with UHF stations in all except a few (mainly larger) markets where the network gained clearance. Then-Fox Inc. head Barry Diller
5145-597: A series of affiliation realignments between all four U.S. television networks involving individual stations and various broadcasting groups such as those between CBS and Group W (whose corporate parent later bought the network in August 1995), and ABC and the E. W. Scripps Company (which owned three Fox affiliates that switched to either ABC or NBC as a result of the New World deal) affecting 30 television markets between September 1994 and September 1996. The two deals also had
5292-414: A shoestring budget and was unable to keep the programs and stars it had. Most of the other startup networks that launched in later years (such as UPN and The WB ) followed Fox's model as well. Furthermore, DuMont operated during a time when the FCC did not require television manufacturers to include UHF capability. To see DuMont's UHF stations, most people had to buy an expensive converter . Even then,
5439-489: A similar "roll-up" of independent stations a few years earlier, including the LMA strategy. Lear sold Act III Broadcasting for over $ 500 million (a 600% return on his original investment), despite receiving a far lower estimate of $ 15 million only a few years earlier from Boston Ventures, a group that had sought to acquire the stations during the height of the 1990 recession. The Act III stations then became part of Sullivan Broadcasting,
5586-449: A single market. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was controlled by trusts in the name of the Smith family who were founding owners of Sinclair. This effectively gave Sinclair a duopoly in Dayton. Glencairn later changed its name to Cunningham Broadcasting. There is undeniable evidence that Glencairn/Cunningham are merely shell corporations used to circumvent FCC ownership rules. Until
5733-539: A three-way tie for 29th place in the Nielsen ratings, it became a breakout hit and was the first Fox series to break the Top 30. The Simpsons , at 35 years as of 2024, is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series. In 1989, Fox also first introduced the documentary series Cops and crime-focused magazine program America's Most Wanted (the latter of which debuted as
5880-484: A time, made Fox Television Stations the largest owner of television stations in the U.S. (a title that has since been assumed by the Sinclair Broadcast Group , one of the network's largest affiliate groups). Fox completed its prime time expansion to all seven nights on January 19, 1993 , with the launch of two additional nights of programming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (The method of gradually adding nights to
6027-822: Is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by the Fox Entertainment division of Fox Corporation , headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan . Fox hosts additional offices at the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and at the Fox Media Center in Tempe, Arizona . Launched as a competitor to the Big Three television networks ( ABC , CBS , and NBC ) in 1986, Fox went on to become
Act III Broadcasting - Misplaced Pages Continue
6174-527: Is located off South Gettysburg Avenue in southwest Dayton. WRGT-TV was a charter Fox affiliate from the network's sign-on in 1986 until 2021. WRGT-TV signed on as an independent station on September 23, 1984, owned by Meridian Communications, based in Pittsburgh . WRGT-TV was Meridian's second station; it had launched WVAH-TV in Charleston, West Virginia , two years earlier. Meridian founded WRGT-TV following
6321-488: Is named after the film studio that was originally called 20th Century Fox (the network's corporate sibling prior to that studio's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company ) and after the producer William Fox , who had founded one of the film studio's predecessors, Fox Film , before it was merged with 20th Century Pictures in 1935. Fox is a member of the North American Broadcasters Association and
6468-530: Is only available over-the-air and has never been provided by local cable operators. On October 8, 2019, the station replaced This TV programming on subchannel 45.2 with programming from Dabl , while retaining MyNetworkTV in prime time. On December 29, 2020, the station announced that on January 1, 2021, its main subchannel would be moving to 22.2 on sister station WKEF. This was the result of Sinclair renewing several Fox affiliations, including that for Dayton, but instead of stations owned by their sidecar companies,
6615-440: Is the most-watched program on U.S. television by seasonal average viewership in the 2000s decade, as well as the most recent program scheduled to have successfully established a graveyard slot on U.S. television since the end of NBC's Friends in 2004 and the subsequent decline of NBC's previously dominant " Must See TV " Thursday timeblock. By 2005, reality television succeeded sitcoms as the most popular form of entertainment in
6762-456: The 1997–98 season , Fox had three shows in the Nielsen Top 20 (in terms of total viewers); The X-Files (which ranked 11th), King of the Hill (which ranked 15th) and The Simpsons (which ranked 18th), all of which aired on Sunday nights. Building around its flagship animated comedy The Simpsons , Fox would experience relative success with animated sitcoms in prime time, beginning with the debut of
6909-705: The 39th Primetime Emmy Awards and would air the next five editions. Although the network had modest successes in Married... with Children and The Tracy Ullman Show , several affiliates were disappointed with Fox's largely underperforming programming lineup during the network's first three years, KMSP-TV in Minneapolis and KPTV in Portland, Oregon , both owned at the time by Chris-Craft Television , disaffiliated from Fox in 1988 (with KITN (now WFTC ) and KPDX respectively replacing those stations as Fox affiliates), citing that
7056-607: The Buffalo Sabres games, which WNYB obtained when the deal closed in 1990. With the deal, the Sabres received a minority stake in the new WUTV McGrath stepped down as chairman of Act III Broadcasting in 1990 when he left to join Time Warner as President of International. Bert Ellis continued the company's strategy into 1991. To obtain dominance in the Piedmont Triad, Act III embarked on another programming-buying deal in 1991. It bought
7203-709: The Fox Television Stations group. With the sole exception of KDAF (which was sold to Renaissance Broadcasting in 1995, at which time it became an affiliate of The WB ), all of the original owned-and-operated stations ("O&Os") are still part of the Fox network today. Like the core O&O group, Fox's affiliate body initially consisted of independent stations (a few of which had maintained affiliations with ABC, NBC, CBS, or DuMont earlier in their existences). The local charter affiliate was, in most cases, that market's top-rated independent; however, Fox opted to affiliate with
7350-646: The Mike Judge -produced King of the Hill in 1997. Family Guy (the first of three adult-oriented animated series from Seth MacFarlane to air on the network) and Futurama (from Simpsons creator Matt Groening ) would make their debuts in 1999; however, they were canceled in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Due to strong DVD sales and highly rated cable reruns on Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim , Fox later decided to order new episodes of Family Guy , which began airing in 2005. Futurama would be revived with four direct-to-DVD films between 2007 and 2009 and would return as
7497-631: The National Association of Broadcasters . 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios ) had been involved in television production as early as the 1950s, producing several syndicated programs . Following the demise of the DuMont Television Network in August 1956, after it became mired in severe financial problems, the NTA Film Network was launched as a new "fourth network". 20th Century Fox would also produce original content for
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#17328511423857644-437: The finale of American Idol in its original run on Fox after airing for fifteen seasons, ending an era of one of the most successful shows in U.S. television history. In February 2017, Fox broadcast Super Bowl LI , which attracted an average 111.3 million viewers—ranking among the top five most-watched Super Bowl games, and the second-highest audience in network history behind Super Bowl XLVIII. In March 2017, Rob Wade
7791-496: The longest streak at#1 for a prime time broadcast network series in U.S. television history, through its eight-year ratings domination in both the Adults 18–49 demographic and total viewership. Idol also remained in the Nielsen Top 10 for eleven years from 2003 to 2013 , and became the highest-rated non- sports prime time television program as well as the highest-rated reality series in the U.S. from 2003 to 2012. these records marked
7938-562: The multiplexed signals of other Dayton television stations: WRGT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 45, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30, using virtual channel 45. WRGT-TV moved its digital signal from channel 30 to channel 36 at 10 a.m. on October 18, 2019, as part of
8085-522: The second most-watched television broadcast (by average) in U.S. history, and the lead-out programs that followed this event – New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine . Later, in May 2014, Kevin Reilly announced that he would resign as chairman of Fox Entertainment. On July 15, 2014, then-corporate parent 21st Century Fox announced that it would merge the operations of the network and 20th Century Fox Television into
8232-548: The Dayton market , and WTTV in Indianapolis was available on cable. Meridian persuaded WTJC's owner, Miami Valley Christian Television, to sell most of that station's non-religious programming to WRGT-TV. For all intents and purposes, it was now the only general-entertainment station in Dayton and the first independent since the demise of WKTR-TV in 1970 (now public station WPTD ) and WSWO-TV in Springfield in 1972 (which used
8379-406: The FCC's spectrum reallocation process. The station's transmitter power was reduced from 498 kW to 44.16 kW, pending a construction permit with the FCC to increase power to 1,000 kW. New antennas for both WRGT-TV and WKEF were installed via helicopter prior to December 23, 2019, and were connected to interim auxiliary transmitters on January 24, 2020; the station predicted that
8526-452: The February 2006 sweeps period, the station's 10 o'clock news was the fastest growing local broadcast in the Dayton market, on certain nights, sometimes winning the time slot. Until 2007, there was direct 10 o'clock news competition from WHIO-TV's Time Warner Cable-only Miami Valley Channel . There was no over-the-air competition until August 18, 2007, when NBC affiliate WDTN began to produce
8673-557: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s rules prohibiting a merger between any of the four major broadcast networks. As a result of the Disney/Fox deal, and with the merger of CBS and Viacom on December 4, 2019, Fox has become the only major U.S. broadcast network without attachment to any film studio . It was acknowledged that Fox had placed a larger emphasis on its sports programming in its first upfronts since
8820-410: The Fox affiliate, had been sold by TVX in 1988 to Michael Thompson. Fox was considering executing its policy that no broadcaster could control more than eight Fox affiliates by pulling the Fox affiliation from WXMT and moving it to WZTV. In January 1990, Act III cut a deal in which WZTV would take all of WXMT's shows, leaving WXMT with only religious and home shopping shows. However, Thompson backed out of
8967-540: The Fox network is a revival or at least a linear descendant of DuMont, since Metromedia was founded when DuMont spun off its two remaining owned-and-operated stations, WNEW-TV (then known as WABD) and WTTG, as DuMont Broadcasting (it later changed its name to Metropolitan Broadcasting before becoming Metromedia). Additionally, the former base of DuMont's operations, the DuMont Tele-Centre in Manhattan , eventually became
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#17328511423859114-476: The LMA concept back in 1991. Shortly afterwards, Sullivan announced that they would retain the Utica station WFXV and sister station WPNY-LD through his new company Quorum Broadcasting (which was eventually absorbed into what is now Nexstar Media Group in 2003). Although majority-controlled by Norman Lear, Act III Broadcasting was financed by a large group of other Wall Street interests and shareholders. The company
9261-473: The Middle , and Arrested Development . As the decade wore on, Fox began surpassing ABC and NBC in the ratings, first in age demographics, then in overall viewership, and placed second behind a resurgent CBS in total viewership, beginning in 2002 . Fox hit a major milestone in 2005 when it emerged as the most-watched U.S. broadcast network in the lucrative 18–49 demographic for the first time, largely boosted by
9408-485: The NTA network. The film network effort would fail after a few years, but 20th Century Fox continued to dabble in television through its production arm, TCF Television Productions, producing series (such as Perry Mason , Batman and M*A*S*H ) for the three major broadcast television networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS). The Fox network's foundations were laid in March 1985 through News Corporation 's $ 255 million purchase of
9555-403: The U.S. as a result of Fox's rise with American Idol and NBC's network declines. House , which aired as American Idol ' s lead-out program on Tuesday nights, earned international prominence in the 21st century and became Fox's first prime time drama series (and the network's third program overall) to reach the Nielsen Top 10 beginning 2006 . Beginning 2004 , CBS and Fox, which ranked as
9702-613: The advantage of offering programs intended to appeal toward a younger demographic – adults between 18 and 34 years of age – and that were edgier in content, whereas some programs that were carried by the "Big Three" networks attracted an older-skewing audience. Until the early 1990s, when Fox expanded its programming to additional nights and outside prime time, most Fox stations were still essentially formatted as independent stations – filling their schedules with mainly first-run and acquired programming, and, during prime time, running either syndicated programs or, more commonly, movies on nights when
9849-598: The affiliation moved from WCIX (channel 6) to NBC affiliate WSVN in January 1989 as the result of a complicated six-station affiliation swap in two South Florida markets spurred by NBC's purchase of CBS affiliate WTVJ (channel 4) and CBS's purchase of WCIX. WSVN immediately attracted industry notice for featuring a news-intensive tabloid format uncharacteristic of any Fox affiliate or independent station heretofore, with then-Fox network president Lucie Salhany calling WSVN "the future of television" in May 1994. WSVN remains
9996-668: The affiliations would shift to directly owned Sinclair stations. A similar move of the Fox affiliation from Port Arthur, Texas -licensed KBTV-TV , which it operates, to a subchannel of Sinclair-owned KFDM , licensed to Beaumont, Texas occurred, as station management there explained that the Fox schedule would air on both channels in a transition period ending on February 1. In addition, TBD and Stadium would be moving from WKEF to new WRGT-TV subchannels 45.5 and 45.6. The station advised over-the-air viewers to rescan on January 1. The 22.1/45.1 simulcast ended on February 4, with Fox becoming exclusive to 22.2. That day, WRGT-DT1's programming
10143-483: The beginning of the 2010s, new comedies Raising Hope and New Girl gave Fox its first live-action comedy successes in years. The second season of Glee delivered that series' highest ratings during the 2010–11 season, with viewership peaking during its Super Bowl lead-out episode in February 2011 (marking the most expensive post-Super Bowl episode ever produced on U.S. television). The said show has continuously attracted worldwide media attention that it formed
10290-435: The careers of future movie stars Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Damon Wayans , Marlon Wayans , Keenen Ivory Wayans , guest stars Chris Rock and Tim Meadows , and both members of the show's dance troupe, the "Fly Girls", Rosie Perez and Jennifer Lopez . The series also gained international prominence after Fox aired a special live episode in January 1992 as an alternative to the halftime show during Super Bowl XXVI , which
10437-450: The course of a single season, as well as Fox's fourth program overall (and the first since the 2013 finale of American Idol ) to enter the Nielsen Top 10 by the end of the 2014–15 season. The 2015–16 season marked a notable turnaround for Fox, as it jumped ahead of ABC to third place in nationwide ratings (both in overall viewership and in the 18–49 demo) and posted several firsts for the network and on U.S. television. Its improvement
10584-517: The deal at the last minute. Fox then announced it was moving its affiliation to WZTV as of February. At the end of January, MT Communications and Act III made a revised deal, which allowed WXMT to keep barter cartoons and several low budget syndicated shows, giving WZTV all the cash programming, which included the better and more expensive shows, along with Fox programming. WXMT's daily schedule now featured home shopping for 15 hours, religion 3 hours, cartoons 3 hours, and low-budget shows 3 hours. While WXMT
10731-538: The deal was announced, including the acquisitions of the NFL's Thursday Night Football package and rights to the FIFA World Cup . It was also noted that Fox had been increasingly pivoting towards programs that could generate large audiences, as opposed to ones that become successful primarily through critical acclaim. On June 27, 2018, WWE announced that SmackDown would move to Fox on Friday nights beginning October 4, 2019, following its run on USA Network , under
10878-439: The debut of MADtv on October 14, 1995; the sketch comedy series became a solid competitor to NBC's Saturday Night Live for over a decade and was the network's most successful late night program as well as one of its most successful Saturday night shows, running for 14 seasons until 2009. An attempt to make a larger effort to program Saturday nights by moving Married... with Children from its longtime Sunday slot and adding
11025-641: The debut of Fox News Channel in August 1996. Its sports operations expanded with the acquisition of controlling interests in several regional sports networks (including the Prime Network and SportsChannel ) between 1996 and 2000 to form Fox Sports Net (which launched in November 1996), its 2000 purchase of Speedvision (later Speed Channel, which was replaced in the United States by Fox Sports 1 in August 2013; however, it continues to exist in other North American and Caribbean countries as Fox Sports Racing ), and
11172-434: The early 2021 move of the Fox 45 programming to a subchannel of sister station WKEF, WRGT-TV was also considered an alternate ABC affiliate, airing that network's programs when WKEF was unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency or local special. Until that move, WRGT-TV, along with CBS affiliate WHIO-TV (channel 7), were the only two stations in the area who had not changed their network affiliations even through
11319-487: The end of that season. The Saturday schedule was revised in November 1996, to feature one new and one encore episode of Cops , and the revived America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back . Cops and AMW remained the anchors of Fox's Saturday lineup, making it the most stable night in American broadcast television for over 14 years; both shows eventually were among the few first-run programs remaining on Saturday evenings across
11466-411: The end of the year, it planned to pull all of its owned and/or operated TV stations in the United States, including WRGT-TV and WKEF, from Time Warner Cable, in a dispute over "retransmission fees". Negotiations began between the two parties. Around December 6, Time Warner announced that it would continue to provide Fox network programming on its systems (presumably via video on demand services), under
11613-417: The entire program inventory of WGGT, the other general entertainment station in the market, and merged it onto WNRW's schedule. WGGT's owner, Guilford Broadcasters, agreed to simulcast WNRW's signal on WGGT, making WGGT a full satellite of WNRW. This created a strong combined signal (with over 60% overlap) which became known as the "Piedmont Superstation." For all intents and purposes, Act III's stations were now
11760-743: The fast-growing Fox network which was rapidly emerging as a force in Broadcasting. In 1987, it bought out its second station, WTAT in Charleston, South Carolina , from a local group led by Terry Trousdale, for $ 4.8 million (equivalent to $ 11 million in 2023). WTAT's acquisition included restructuring ownership to gain majority control, but retained the stations limited partners. On October 12, 1987, Act III acquired WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio , and WVAH-TV in Charleston, West Virginia , from Meridian Broadcasting for $ 22 million (equivalent to $ 51 million in 2023). The transaction also included
11907-410: The financial markets began to recover from the deep recession of 1990-92 and the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert. During the 1989-1991 period, virtually no takeover activity was undertaken and asset values in general experienced steep, if temporary, declines. Gaba and Lear successfully exited the broadcasting business with the sale of Act III Broadcasting to ABRY, closing in 1995. ABRY had embarked on
12054-429: The fledgling network. On October 30, 1987, Meridian sold the station to Act III Broadcasting . Act III merged with Abry Broadcast Partners in 1995; the group would be renamed Sullivan Broadcasting, after Dan Sullivan was named as the company's its president and CEO. In 1998, after Sullivan was bought out by Sinclair, Sinclair filed to sell all license assets of the station, alongside WVAH-TV to Glencairn, Ltd. Around
12201-536: The former studios of CW affiliate WBDT on Corporate Place, off Byers Road, in Miamisburg. Sinclair expected to spend $ 5 million on renovations to its new facility, making it fully digital and high definition. The stations had anticipated moving into their new studios in November 2012; the move was finalized on January 27, 2013, with high definition newscasts, updated graphics and new logos on both stations. On May 15, 2012, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox agreed to
12348-519: The four major networks after decreasing prime time viewership – as more people opted to engage in leisure activities away from home rather than watch television on that night of the week led ABC, NBC and CBS to largely abandon first-run series on Saturdays (outside newsmagazines , sports and burned off prime time shows that failed on other nights) in favor of reruns and movies by the mid-2000s. America's Most Wanted ended its 22-year run on Fox in June 2011, and
12495-637: The game during the 1980s, several station groups like Media Central and Pappas Telecasting had avoided Fox when the network launched, but joined the network later on. The network had its " grand opening " when it expanded its programming into prime time on April 5, 1987, inaugurating its Sunday night lineup with the premieres of the sitcom Married... with Children and the sketch comedy series The Tracey Ullman Show . The premieres of both series were rebroadcast twice following their initial airings (at 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 pm. Eastern/Pacific, respectively) that night, which Jamie Kellner , who served as
12642-411: The highest-rated U.S. television program overall starting with the 2003–04 season , becoming the first reality singing competition series in the country to reach first place in the seasonal ratings. American Idol remains the most recent U.S. television program to date to lead the national prime time ratings and attract at least 30 million viewers for multiple and consecutive television seasons. It
12789-526: The largest Fox affiliate in terms of market size to have entirely eschewed any prominent on-air branding with the network name. The NFC contract, in fact, was the impetus for the affiliation deal with New World and SF Broadcasting's purchase of the Burnham stations, as Fox sought to improve local coverage of its new NFL package by aligning the network with stations that had more established histories and advertiser value than its charter affiliates. The deals spurred
12936-515: The late 1990s included the quirky David E. Kelley -produced live-action dramedy Ally McBeal , the short-lived game show Greed , and the period comedy That '70s Show , the latter of which became Fox's second-longest-running live-action sitcom, airing for eight seasons. Throughout the 1990s and into the next decade, Fox launched a slate of cable channels beginning with the 1994 debuts of general entertainment network FX and movie channel FXM: Movies from Fox (now FX Movie Channel ), followed by
13083-466: The launches of Fox Sports World (later Fox Soccer , which was replaced by FXX in September 2013) and Fox Sports en Español (now Fox Deportes ) in the early 2000s. By 2000, many staple Fox shows of the 1990s had ended their runs. During the late 1990s and carrying over into the early 2000s, Fox put much of its efforts into producing reality shows many of which were considered to be sensationalistic and controversial in nature – such as Who Wants to Marry
13230-402: The longest Nielsen ratings streaks of any Fox program in these categories. The 2012 season finale of American Idol marked the end of the season-long 25th anniversary of the establishment of Fox network, helping it win in the 18–49 demographic for the eighth consecutive season, the longest such streak according to Nielsen measurement records (and still standing as of 2024). However, Fox suffered
13377-482: The major networks in total viewership for the first time since 2001 . Subsequently, on January 13, 2014, Fox announced that it would abandon its use of the standard concept of greenlighting shows through the initial order of pilot episodes during the designated "pilot season" (running from January through April), instead opting to pick up shows directly to series. Fox scored renewed ratings successes with its February 2014 live telecast of Super Bowl XLVIII , which became
13524-498: The market, channel 11. WVAH's signal on channel 23 was not strong enough to reach the entire market—a 61-county behemoth occupying rugged terrain in three states. The FCC granted the request, and WVAH moved to channel 11 on April 11, 1988. This sort of deal-making characterized Act III into 1990, a year when it made several innovative deals in 1990 that positioned its stations the only general entertainment stations in their markets. In Nashville, WXMT (originally WCAY, now WUXP-TV ), then
13671-557: The mornings and Spanish programming weekday afternoons and evenings. On weekend afternoons, the station offered a variety of ethnic brokered programming. Under their ownership, the station phased out the ethnic shows in favor of more Spanish entertainment programming. In 1984, WNJU formed an alliance with Weigel Broadcasting 's WCIU in Chicago and locally owned KSTS in San Jose to acquire Spanish programming to air on all three stations under
13818-409: The most successful attempt at a fourth television network . It was also the highest- rated free-to-air network in the 18–49 demographic from 2004 to 2012 and 2020 to 2021, and was the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 2007–08 season . Fox and its affiliated companies operate many entertainment channels in international markets, but these do not necessarily air
13965-420: The most-watched television network overall in the United States, attributed to the strengths of Super Bowl XLII and its NFL game coverages, Idol and House during that season. To date, Fox is the only non-Big Three network to top the overall Nielsen ratings since its inception in the 1950–51 season . In the late 2000s, Fox launched a few series that proved to be powerful hits in different respects. In 2007,
14112-628: The nation's fourth major network. Fox Television Stations would acquire New World outright on July 17, 1996, in a $ 2.48 billion stock purchase, making the latter's twelve Fox affiliates owned-and-operated stations of the network; the deal was completed on January 22, 1997. Later, in August 2000, Fox bought several stations owned by Chris-Craft Industries and its subsidiaries BHC Communications and United Television for $ 5.5 billion (most of these stations were UPN affiliates, although its Minneapolis station KMSP-TV would rejoin Fox in September 2002 as an owned-and-operated station). These purchases, for
14259-448: The national news broadcasts on the "Big Three" stations. On July 9, 2019, the station rebranded its news operation as Dayton 24/7 Now , sharing that brand with WKEF. It introduced streaming apps and a social media presence with the same name and redirected its former website, www.fox45now.com . In addition, it tweaked its graphics to a different variation used by Sinclair stations. The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on
14406-465: The network began production on the game shows Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics! ; both shows ran for a total of three seasons each, making them the longest-running game shows in Fox's history. In 2008, the supernatural mystery series Fringe debuted to moderate ratings but earned critical acclaim during its first season on Tuesdays. Throughout its run, the series developed
14553-423: The network did not provide programming. Few Fox stations carried local newscasts during the network's early years, unlike the owned-and-operated stations and affiliates of its established rivals. Those that did were mostly based in larger markets (including some of the network's O&Os) and retained newscasts that had aired for decades. Even then, these news operations were limited to one newscast per day, following
14700-689: The network planned to commission and acquire more series from "independent" studios not co-owned with the Big Three networks, explaining that the vertical integration of the major broadcast networks (including Fox itself) with associated studios had limited opportunities for outside studios, and cited several top programs that were distributed by third-parties, such as The Big Bang Theory and This Is Us (produced by Warner Bros. Television and 20th Television for CBS and NBC respectively). There were also plans for Fox to acquire new pitches directly from their writers, and offer them to outside producers. As part of
14847-592: The network rolled out its Saturday night schedule with the premiere of the supernatural drama series Werewolf , which began with a two-hour pilot movie event. Three other series were added to the Saturday lineup over the next three weeks: comedies The New Adventures of Beans Baxter , Karen's Song , and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (the latter being an adaptation of the film of the same name). Both Karen's Song and Down and Out in Beverly Hills were canceled by
14994-399: The network's first successful American Idol lead-out since House , as well as the first American television program to consistently increase its episode-to-episode viewership during its first five weeks since the 1992 feat set by ABC's Roseanne . Empire ended its inaugural season as the first U.S. television show ever to increase its episodic viewership on a consistent basis throughout
15141-565: The network's longest-running drama, airing for ten seasons) after only a half-season of success on Sunday nights. The show performed well in its new Thursday slot, spending four seasons there and helping to launch Martin , another Fox comedy that became a hit when it debuted in August 1992. The Simpsons returned to Sunday nights in the fall of 1994, and has remained there ever since. The sketch comedy series In Living Color , which debuted in April 1990, created many memorable characters and launched
15288-418: The network's president and chief operating officer until his resignation in January 1993, stated would allow viewers to "sample FBC programming without missing 60 Minutes , Murder, She Wrote , or the 8 o'clock movies". Fox added one new show per week over the next several weeks, with the drama 21 Jump Street and comedies Mr. President and Duet completing its Sunday schedule. On July 11, 1987,
15435-449: The network's prime time lineup. On September 6, 1990, Fox reached an agreement with TCI (the nation's largest cable company at the time) in which TCI systems in markets that were not served by an over-the-air Fox affiliate at the time would become charter affiliates of a cable-only national feed of the network known as Foxnet . The cable-only network launched on June 6, 1991, bringing Fox programming to smaller markets that did not carry
15582-428: The network's weaker program offerings were hampering viewership of their stronger syndicated slate. At the start of the 1989–90 television season , Fox added a third night of programming, on Mondays. The season heralded the start of a turnaround for Fox. It saw the debut of a midseason replacement series, The Simpsons , an animated series that originated as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show . Ranked at
15729-431: The new Telemundo network, which is now owned by NBCUniversal . WCIU would be in that alliance for another year but retained by Weigel Broadcasting. Telemundo would eventually acquire Univision affiliate WSNS in Chicago, causing Univision to affiliate part-time with WCIU once again until it could buy WGBO in 1994. These early, primarily Spanish-language, stations are unrelated to the later Act III Broadcasting, which
15876-404: The new company. However, the deal fell apart shortly thereafter, with CEO Bert Ellis declaring the deal "dead as a doornail." Ellis left Act III in early 1992 to form Ellis Communications, and the group was put under the leadership of long-time Lear and Perenchio associate Hal Gaba. Gaba did not continue to growth of the group or conduct any acquisitions; instead, he focused on selling the group as
16023-531: The newly created Fox Television Group, with 20th Century Fox Television co-chairpersons Dana Walden and Gary Newman appointed to head the division. The 2014–15 season saw the series finale of Glee and debut of hits in the freshmen dramas Gotham (based on the Batman mythos) and the Lee Daniels -produced Empire . Ratings for Empire , in particular, increased week-to-week throughout its first season, becoming
16170-489: The official launch of FBC on April 5, 1987, under original Fox Entertainment President Garth Ancier, the network underwent a re-branding to the much shorter "Fox". According to an interview Ancier gave at that time, it was ad man Jay Chiat who suggested to network executives that, rather than create a brand from scratch, the network ought to use the "Fox" heritage of the previous 80 years and the "searchlight" iconography to link Fox Broadcasting to 20th Century Fox. Until late in
16317-500: The only general-entertainment stations in their markets, except for Nashville. Bert Ellis left Act III in early 1992 to form Ellis Communications and continue to pursue station acquisitions eventually building a group of 13 TV stations, two radio stations and Raycom Sports . In the late 1980s Act III pioneered the concept of the local marketing agreement , or LMA for short. Under an LMA, one station would buy all or most of another station's broadcast day and take over its operations, but
16464-446: The other station would technically remain under separate ownership. The senior partner in the LMA would then program the other station with shows that it didn't have time to air. Act III, however, was not interested in this concept. It was the approval of the LMA concept that allowed Act III to consolidate ownership and control of programming in small markets, significantly enhancing the value of its stations. This revolution in broadcasting
16611-502: The period as it centered on a dysfunctional lower-middle-class family, saw viewer interest substantially increase beginning in its third season after Michigan homemaker Terry Rakolta began a boycott to force Fox to cancel the series after objecting to risqué humor and sexual content featured in a 1989 episode . Married... ' s newfound success led it to become the network's longest-running live-action sitcom, airing for 11 seasons. Fox survived where DuMont and other attempts to start
16758-613: The present-day Fox Television Center. In October 1985, 20th Century Fox announced its intentions to form a fourth television network that would compete with ABC, CBS, and NBC. The plans were to use the combination of the Fox studios and the former Metromedia stations to both produce and distribute programming. Organizational plans for the network were held off until the Metromedia acquisitions cleared regulatory hurdles. Then, in December 1985, Rupert Murdoch agreed to pay $ 325 million to acquire
16905-525: The program then began to be hosted by a succession of guest hosts. After that point, some stations that affiliated with FBC in the weeks before the April 1987 launch of its prime time lineup (such as WCGV-TV in Milwaukee and WDRB -TV in Louisville ) signed affiliation agreements with the network on the condition that they would not have to carry The Late Show due to the program's weak ratings. Shortly before
17052-496: The programming schedule that began with the network's April 1987 prime time launch was replicated by The WB and UPN when those networks debuted in January 1995), making it the fifth broadcast network (behind the Dumont network) to air programming on a nightly basis. September 1993 saw the heavy promotion and debut of a short-lived western series that incorporated science-fiction elements, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. However, it
17199-553: The remaining equity in TCF Holdings from his original partner, Marvin Davis . The purchase of the Metromedia stations was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in March 1986; the call letters of the New York City and Dallas outlets were subsequently changed respectively to WNYW and KDAF . These first six stations, then broadcasting to a combined reach of 22% of the nation's households, became known as
17346-462: The same channel 26 allocation as WTJC/WBDT). Despite the competition from larger-market stations and with WXIX, WSTR and WTTV being available on cable, WRGT-TV prospered. It would not have any real competition in Dayton until 1999 when WBDT became a primary WB affiliate (it was a brief O&O of the Pax TV network before then). After Fox launched on October 6, 1986, WRGT-TV became a charter affiliate of
17493-615: The same programming as the U.S. network. Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U.S.-based Fox affiliate, either over the air or through a pay television provider, although Fox's National Football League broadcasts and most of its prime time programming are subject to simultaneous substitution regulations for pay television providers imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to protect rights held by domestically based networks. Fox
17640-402: The same time, Sinclair had also bought WKEF (then an NBC affiliate). In 2001, Sinclair purchased most of Sullivan's other stations, but could not buy WRGT-TV for two reasons. The Dayton market has only seven full-power stations, not enough to legally permit a duopoly . Also, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in
17787-438: The side benefit of increasing local news programming on the new Fox affiliates, mirroring the programming format adopted by WSVN upon that station's switch to the network (as well as expanding the number of news-producing stations in Fox's portfolio beyond mainly charter stations in certain large and mid-sized markets). With significant market share for the first time ever and the rights to the NFL, Fox firmly established itself as
17934-488: The signal quality was marginal at best compared to the signals of VHF stations (see also: UHF television broadcasting § UHF vs VHF ) . By the time Fox launched, cable allowed UHF stations to generally be on an equal footing with VHF stations. Although Fox was growing rapidly as a network and had established itself as a presence, it was still not considered a major competitor to the established "Big Three" broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC. From its launch, Fox had
18081-597: The spin-off of certain businesses. The sale did not include the Fox Broadcasting Company and television stations or the Fox Sports, Fox News, and Fox Business cable channels, which were to be maintained under a company tentatively referred to as " New Fox ". Because Disney already owns the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the acquisition of the Fox network by Disney would have been illegal under
18228-496: The start of the 1987–88 television season , the network's first fall launch, and were replaced by the sitcoms Second Chance and Women in Prison . In regard to its late night lineup, Fox had already decided to cancel The Late Show , and had a replacement series in development, The Wilton North Report , when the former series began a ratings resurgence under its final guest host, comedian Arsenio Hall . Wilton North lasted just
18375-483: The strength of the reality singing competition series American Idol . Regarded as the single most dominant program on 21st-century U.S. television, as well as the first Fox show to lead the Nielsen seasonal ratings, American Idol had peak audiences of up to 38 million viewers during the 2003 season finale and double-season average audiences of around 31 million viewers in 2006 and 2007 . Subsequently, it leapfrogged over Fox's Big Three competition to become
18522-476: The strengths of American Idol , 24 , House , and The O.C . In September 2006, as a result of the increasing number of over-the-air Fox affiliates and the increased availability of digital subchannels carrying Fox in certain markets, Foxnet was discontinued. Then, a sweeping milestone came by the conclusion of the 2007–08 season on May 21, 2008, shortly after the widely acclaimed seventh-season finale of American Idol , when Fox outranked longtime leader CBS as
18669-469: The swaps of 2004. In August 2006, it was confirmed that Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV , would air on a new second digital subchannel of WRGT-TV. On September 16, 2006, Time Warner Cable added MyTV Dayton to its digital cable lineup. In November 2008, the subchannel additionally became a launch-day affiliate of This TV , while retaining MyNetworkTV in prime time. Around November 11, 2010, Sinclair announced that when carriage agreements expired at
18816-409: The transition, Fox aimed to gradually reduce the amount of scripted programming development coming from 20th Television, although stalwarts such as The Simpsons would remain with the network. WRGT-TV WRGT-TV (channel 45) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio , United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Dabl . It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting , which maintains
18963-604: The two had researched the value of independent TV stations at great length, a strategy that was later realized with the launch of Act III. McGrath was promoted to vice president on December 12, 1987. Act III launched in early 1986; it made its debut by acquiring Fox affiliate WNRW in the Piedmont Triad from the TVX Broadcast Group , controlled by Gene Loving, for US$ 11 million (equivalent to $ 26 million in 2023). TVX had signed an affiliation deal with Fox;
19110-562: The two most-watched broadcast networks in the U.S. during the 2000s, have tended to equal one another in demographic ratings among general viewership, with both networks winning certain demographics by narrow margins; however, while Fox has the youngest-skewing viewer base, CBS is consistently regarded to have the oldest audience demographics among the major broadcast networks. Fox hit a milestone in February 2005 by scoring its first sweeps victory in total viewership and demographic ratings, boosted largely by its broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIX and
19257-477: The voting interests. Prior to the sale in 1997/98 the company undertook various buyouts of minority interests which increased the Act III Communications/Lear stake to an undetermined, but higher level. Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license . Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps )
19404-574: Was $ 7-$ 8 million. It was finalized by September 15. That same year, Act III mounted an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to acquire WDBD in Jackson, Mississippi , and WZDX in Huntsville, Alabama , from Media Central, Inc. formerly under the control of Mort Kent but then in Chapter 11 proceedings. In 1987, Act III successfully petitioned the FCC to allow it to move WVAH from channel 23 to the last VHF frequency in
19551-425: Was a late-night talk show , The Late Show , which was hosted by comedian Joan Rivers . After a strong start, The Late Show quickly eroded in the ratings; it was never able to overtake NBC stalwart The Tonight Show . By early 1987, Rivers (and her then-husband Edgar Rosenberg , the show's original executive producer) quit The Late Show after disagreements with the network over the show's creative direction,
19698-541: Was acknowledged to have been the one who created the network, with the New York Times noting in October 1986 that Diller's "current obsession is creating a television network to compete each evening with NBC, CBS and ABC." The Fox Broadcasting Company, or "FBC" as it was known back then, officially debuted with a soft launch at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time on Thursday, October 9, 1986. Its inaugural program
19845-471: Was boosted by the transfer of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from NBC, as well as shows such as Grease: Live , Empire and the return of The X-Files after its most recent season ending in 2002. Grease: Live became the first live American television musical special of the 21st century to be broadcast in front of a live studio audience (as well as the first ever live musical special aired by
19992-485: Was broadcast on CBS, marking the start of Fox's rivalry with the "Big Three" networks while popularizing the counterprogramming strategy against the Super Bowl telecast. The early and mid-1990s saw the debuts of several soap opera-style prime time dramas aimed at younger audiences that became quick hits, which, in addition to Beverly Hills, 90210 , included its adult-focused spin-off Melrose Place (which initially had
20139-452: Was considered a model of leveraged finance and resulted in a case study at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business . The eventual exit at over a 600% return on investment marks one of the most successful broadcast ventures in industry history. In 1991, it was reported that Lear, through Act III Communications, controlled 35% of the common stock of Act III Broadcasting and 80% of
20286-401: Was launched in late 1985. However, they are part of Norman Lear's early broadcast ownership experience. Act III Broadcasting was formed as a subsidiary of Act III Communications in 1986, controlled primarily by Norman Lear, who had just sold WNJU. It ran primarily under the leadership of Tom McGrath and Burt Ellis. McGrath and Ellis had met in 1984, when McGrath was with Columbia Pictures, and
20433-629: Was named Fox's new president of alternative entertainment and specials Rob Wade; he had previously worked as a showrunner for Dancing with the Stars , as head of entertainment for BBC Worldwide , and as executive producer of America's Got Talent and The X Factor . On July 27, 2018, in a deal first announced December 2017, and completed March 20, 2019, 21st Century Fox shareholders agreed to sell most of its key assets (including 20th Century Fox , 20th Century Fox Television , and FX Networks ) to The Walt Disney Company for $ 71.3 billion, following
20580-505: Was not eliminated as a competitor, it was left with a much weaker schedule. In Buffalo, Act III bought WUTV channel 29 in Buffalo from Citadel Communications in 1989, and merged all assets of WNYB into WUTV's programming schedule. Act III proceeded to get a duopoly waiver citing cross-ownership with existing WUHF in Rochester , which Act III then-recently acquired. Act III then restored its Fox affiliation to WUTV, as well as its rights to
20727-644: Was part of the original transaction but was spun off to the Hearst Broadcasting subsidiary of the Hearst Communications in a separate, concurrent deal as part of a right of first refusal related to that station's 1982 sale to Metromedia. (Two years later, News Corporation acquired WXNE-TV in that market from the Christian Broadcasting Network and changed its call letters to WFXT .) Radio personality Clarke Ingram suggested that
20874-796: Was replaced with the MyNetworkTV/Dabl schedule formerly on 45.2, with TBD moving to 45.5 to 45.2 and the 45.6 Stadium subchannel going dark, as it moved to 45.5. On April 19, 2021, MyNetworkTV and Stadium programming then moved from 45.1 to 22.3, with Comet shifting to that position, and Antenna TV shifting from 22.3 to 45.3; since then, WRGT's main channel has exclusively carried Dabl. As a Fox affiliate, WRGT-TV broadcast 17 + 1 ⁄ 4 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 3 + 1 ⁄ 4 hours each weekday and 30 minutes each on Saturdays and Sundays). In 1998, WRGT-TV started its nightly 10 o'clock newscast, now known as Fox 45 News at 10 , using sister station WKEF's existing news team. In
21021-532: Was seeded by Lear, but quickly added the General Motors Pension Fund as a shareholder. Debt was provided by GE Capital . The company was comprehensively refinanced in 1989 with a $ 100m bond offering taken down by Prudential Insurance. The Prudential notes were themselves re-financed following the recovery from the 1989–92 recession , in 1993 at a lower rate. Act III's judicious use of leverage in an industry historically financed with limited partnerships
21168-410: Was subsequently picked up by Lifetime (before being cancelled for good in 2013); Cops , in turn, would move its first-run episodes to Spike in 2013 after 23 seasons (ending its original run on Fox as the network's longest-running prime time program) and had been cancelled in 2020, leaving sports and repeats of reality and drama series as the only programs airing on Fox on Saturday evenings. During
21315-542: Was succeeded by Hal Gaba in late 1990; Bill Castleman was succeeded by Dick Kantor and Blair Schmidt-Fellner was succeeded by John DeLorenzo and Warren Spector. Ellis left in early 1992 to form Ellis Communications. ABRY Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, already owned two Fox network affiliates when the company entered into an agreement to acquire Norman Lear's controlling interest in Act III Broadcasting in early September 1991. The remaining shareholders, including Prudential Insurance, agreed to roll over their shares into
21462-716: Was the first step in the FCC's eventual de-regulation of station ownership and the lifting of the 12-station cap on ownership that had existed for decades prior to Act III's initiatives. The management team of Act III Broadcasting from its formation in 1985 through 1991 consisted of Tom McGrath , Chairman who was president and chief operating officer of Norman Lear's holding company, Act III Communications ; U. Bertram Ellis, Jr. (aka Bert Ellis), chief executive officer; Bill Castleman, President and Chief Operating Officer; Dick Kantor, EVP and Head of Programming; and Blair Schmidt-Fellner as CFO. All of Act III's station acquisitions and other transactions were conducted during this period. McGrath
21609-483: Was the supernatural investigative drama that debuted immediately following it on Friday nights, The X-Files , that would find long-lasting success, and would become Fox's first series to crack Nielsen's year-end Top 20 most-watched network programs. After several other failed attempts at late night programming following the cancellation of The Late Show (most notably, the quick failure of The Chevy Chase Show in 1993), Fox finally found success in that time period with
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