Misplaced Pages

#127872

65-462: (Redirected from Independent TV ) Independent television can refer to: In general [ edit ] Independent station , a terrestrial television station not affiliated to networks Private television , television not associated with the government Entities [ edit ] Africa Independent Television , a Nigerian satellite television station Independent Television (Bangladesh) ,

130-443: A "programming service" which primarily carries acquired programming. 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. Pax TV later rebranded to i: Independent Television in 2005, before it

195-527: A 25-percent stake, split at nominal 12.5-percent stakes for both companies. Under Nexstar, The CW also began to broaden its programming to include national news (primarily via collaborations with Nexstar-owned cable news channel NewsNation ) and sports programming, Fox launched MyNetworkTV at the same time as The CW, with a lineup of English language telenovelas ; it later shifted toward unscripted programs and movies, though its persistent lack of ratings success led News Corporation in 2009 to convert it to

260-581: A Bangladeshi 24/7 news channel Independent Television (Tanzania) , a Tanzanian television channel Independent Television Act (UK) Independent Television, a British television network: ITV (TV network) , Independent Television, a television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands ITV (TV channel) , former brand name used by ITV plc for twelve franchises of

325-759: A Portuguese television channel Independent TV (India) , Indian direct to home operator Independent Television Network , a Sri Lankan state-owned broadcaster Network 10 , an Australian television network launched as Independent Television System See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "indepedent television"  or "independent tv" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles beginning with Independent Television All pages with titles containing Independent Television All pages with titles containing Independent TV Independent (disambiguation) Television (disambiguation) TV (disambiguation) IT (disambiguation) ITV (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

390-410: A Sunday night lineup for all but its first half-season on the air. In 1998, Tribune launched The WB 100+ Station Group in 1998, a programming service primarily intended for smaller markets. Both networks mainly aired only prime time and children's programming. The latter was the only form of weekday daytime programming offered by either one, although UPN discontinued its children's lineup in 2003 at

455-522: A burden not faced by network-affiliated stations – these factors made prospective owners skittish about signing on a television station as an independent. By the 1970s, however, cable television had gained enough penetration to make independent stations viable in smaller markets. This was especially true in markets that were either located in rugged terrain or covered large areas; in these regions, cable (and later satellite) are all but essential for acceptable television. Nearly 300 independent stations existed in

520-561: A complicated six-station affiliation switch in South Florida saw WSVN in Miami switch from NBC to Fox in 1989, the station adopted a news-intensive format unlike any independent station or Fox affiliate prior, a scheduling choice initially ridiculed in local media but which quickly attracted industry attention and saw ratings success. This model was copied by stations owned by New World Communications and SF Broadcasting that switched to Fox in

585-436: A distant fourth network, rose to major network status in 1994 after must-carry rules took effect; the rules allowed Fox affiliates to force their way onto cable lineups, and the network's affiliation deal with New World Communications , which it later purchased in 1996, and the acquisition of National Football League broadcast rights brought a wave of new Fox affiliates. Since its founding, Fox has surpassed ABC and NBC in

650-763: A few local television stations, but they quickly affiliated with other stations to cover almost the entire U.S. by the late 1950s. Several of these stations affiliated with all three major networks and DuMont, or some combination of the four, in markets where only one or two television stations operated in the early years of commercial television; this resulted in several network shows, often those with lower national viewership, receiving scattershot market clearances, since in addition to maintaining limited broadcast schedules early on, affiliates that shoehorned programming from many networks had to also make room for locally produced content. As other stations signed on in larger cities, ABC, NBC, and CBS were eventually able to carry at least

715-640: A few markets. In the 21st century, the "Big Four" have controlled only a relatively small portion of the broadcasting market in the United States. By 2007, their collective share was estimated at a combined 32%. The Big Three's market share has declined considerably as a result of growing competition from other broadcast networks such as Ion Television, The CW, and MyNetworkTV; Spanish language networks such as Univision , UniMás , and Telemundo ; national cable and satellite channels such as TNT , ESPN , and AMC ; and streaming channels such as Netflix . Each of

SECTION 10

#1733093270128

780-541: A full-service variety format, while others are devoted primarily to classic television (such as MeTV ) and/or films, or carry mainly niche programming. Many stations that are affiliated with the larger post-1980s networks still behave much like independents, as they program far more hours a day than a station affiliated with one of the Big Three networks. This is especially the case with MyNetworkTV, whose efforts to offer first-run programming were largely unsuccessful. By 2009,

845-495: A mix of programs from both predecessors, as well as some newer shows after the launch. The last surviving series of The CW's predecessors — Supernatural , from The WB — continued until its finale on The CW in 2020. Nexstar Media Group acquired a 75-percent ownership stake in The CW on October 3, 2022; former joint owners Paramount Global ( successor to CBS Corporation) and Warner Bros. Discovery (successor to Time Warner) retained

910-756: A network programming style as much as possible; but in turn, Fox only carried a late-night talk show at its launch in October 1986, and beginning in April 1987, offered one night of prime time programming a week (on Sundays). The network only programmed two hours of prime time programming each night (and, beginning in the 1990s, some children's programming through Fox Kids ), but gradually expanded its prime time lineup to all seven nights until January 1993. Fox's owned-and-operated stations left INTV in March 1992. The lack of programming in other dayparts forced most Fox affiliates to maintain

975-447: A result of the various network launches that have occurred since the 1986 launch of Fox, true independent stations have become a rarity. The smallest stations, which in the past would have been forced to adopt a locally originated independent program schedule, now have other options – 24-hour-a-day networks that require no local or syndicated programming for the station to carry; some of these networks, such as AMG TV or America One , follow

1040-551: A schedule dominated by shows held over from and an affiliate body primarily made up of stations previously aligned with its two predecessors. Some of the newly independent stations subsequently found a new network home through MyNetworkTV , itself created out of the prospect that the UPN affiliates of corporate sister Fox Television Stations would become independents due to The CW choosing to affiliate with CBS Television Stations and Tribune Broadcasting stations in overlapping markets. As

1105-529: A sizable portion of their programming on one station. Of the four original networks, only DuMont did not have a corresponding radio network. Ironically, the fourth major radio network of the Golden Age of Radio era, the Mutual Broadcasting System , which maintained a long time extensive news reporting unit up to the 1980s, had briefly considered the idea of transitioning with expansion and launching

1170-548: A specific genre of television programming. For instance, religious independent stations buy and schedule, or produce locally, evangelism and study programs, and ethnic independent stations purchase or produce programs in specific languages or catering to specific communities. During the 1950s and 1960s, independent stations filled their broadcast hours with movies, sports, cartoons, filmed travelogues , and some locally produced television programs, including in some instances newscasts and children's programs. Independents that were on

1235-495: A standalone basis have become quite rare in the United States and, in turn, independents that are senior partners in duopolies are fairly uncommon. With the proliferation of duopolies and local marketing agreements since that point, most independent stations are operated alongside a major network affiliate (more commonly, one of either ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox), which may share syndicated programming with and/or produce newscasts in non-competitive timeslots for its unaffiliated sister. This

1300-610: A television network , with consideration being made to have film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer supply programming talent. Plans for the proposed Mutual-branded network advanced far enough that, at the annual meeting of Mutual stockholders in April 1950, network president Frank White made an official announcement of the planned creation of a limited five-station Mutual network ( Boston - WNAC , New York City - WOR , Washington, D.C. - WOIC , Chicago - WGN , and Los Angeles - KHJ ). At that same time Mutual radio station KQV in Pittsburgh , which

1365-490: A television network. Afterwards, Mutual's individual component stations themselves launched television outlets in their home cities. Some of Mutual's component stations bought a stake in the Overmyer Network in 1967 (resulting in a branding change to "The United Network"), but other than a single late-night talk show, The Las Vegas Show , which lasted one month, that network never made it to its full launch. For most of

SECTION 20

#1733093270128

1430-435: A third hour of prime time , or late-night talk shows . Other networks eventually launched in an attempt to compete with the Big Three as well as Fox, although these "netlets" have been unable to ascend to the same level of success. The WB and UPN launched in 1995; like Fox, they both added nights of prime time programming over the course of a few years, although The WB was the only one that aired any on weekends, carrying

1495-477: A very different program format from their predecessors. While sitcom reruns are still popular, expanded newscasts and other syndicated programs such as talk shows; courtroom shows; reruns of recent scripted comedy and drama series; and no-cost public domain programming are common. Another type of content being added to many independent station lineups in recent years has been brokered programming , including infomercials , home shopping and televangelist programs ;

1560-1034: Is because in most markets, independents tend to have lower viewership than that of a network affiliate, and usually fall within part of the FCC's duopoly criteria (which allows a company to own two stations in the same market if one is not among the four highest-rated at the time of an ownership transaction). 5.4 MyNetworkTV August 16, 1969 (2nd incarnation) July 5, 1976 (current incarnation) April 1, 1971 (2nd incarnation) 68.2 ABC November 1, 1964 (current incarnation) 23.2 ABC 19.2 MeTV/MyNetworkTV 19.2 Independent 55.2 MeTV 7.2 The CW June 1994 (current incarnation) April 30, 1997 (current incarnation) (now WGPX-TV) (now WMYA-TV) (now KSIX-TV) 13.2 Independent 13.3 CBS 13.2 Independent 13.3 Telemundo (now KHII-TV) (now KCVH-LD 6 ) (now KYAZ) 4.2/29.2 Independent (now WNDY-TV) (now WJAX-TV) 30.2 MyNetworkTV/MeTV 30.4 Telemundo 47.4 MyNetworkTV Big Three (American television) History of: From

1625-479: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Independent station In North American and Japanese television, independent stations with general entertainment formats emerged as a distinct class of station because their lack of network affiliation led to unique strategies in program content, scheduling, and promotion, as well as different economics compared to major network affiliates. The Big Three networks in

1690-524: Is not considered part of the Big Three. Among Fox's differences with the Big Three is its reduced weekday programming. It lacks national morning and evening news programs; Fox has a news division consisting of cable and radio operations, but does not provide content for the broadcast television network other than a weekly news analysis program , limited special breaking news reports and an affiliate news service for its stations called Fox News Edge. Fox does not feature any daytime programming on weekdays,

1755-650: Is used to refer to stations with general entertainment formats. Historically, these stations specialized in children's programming, syndicated reruns or first-run shows, and sports coverage. Some independent stations, mostly those once having been affiliated with a major network, produce substantial amounts of news and public affairs programming. The model for these stations was WSVN in Miami , an NBC affiliate that switched to Fox in January 1989 and dramatically expanded its news output. Further affiliation changes and news expansions from

1820-722: The Eastern and Pacific time zones, and 9:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones. Network stations aired their late newscasts an hour later. From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, independent stations in several U.S. cities, particularly those that had yet to receive a cable franchise, carried a form of a network affiliation through subscription television networks (such as ON TV , Spectrum and SelecTV ); these services – which were formatted very similarly to their pay cable counterparts – ran sports, uncut and commercial-free movies (both mainstream and pornographic , broadcasts of

1885-602: The Nielsen top 20 television programs and every successful commercial network telecast of a major feature film was aired by one of the Big Three networks. A viable fourth television network in the commercial sense would not again become competitive with the Big Three until Fox was founded in October 1986 from some of the assets and remnants of the DuMont network, which had become Metromedia after DuMont folded, and were acquired by News Corporation earlier in 1986. Fox, which began as

1950-556: The " Big Three ". The three networks' dominance was interrupted with the launch of Fox (the Fox Broadcasting Company, "the Searchlight Network") in 1986, leading it to join them as one of the expanded " Big Four ", while the viewership shares of all the major broadcast networks declined over the following years. The National Broadcasting Company and Columbia Broadcasting System were both founded as radio networks in

2015-508: The 1920s, with NBC eventually encompassing two national radio networks, the prestige Red Network and the lower-profile Blue Network . They gradually began experimental television stations in the 1930s, with commercial broadcasts being allowed by the Federal Communications Commission on July 1, 1941. In 1943, the U.S. government determined that NBC's two-network setup was anticompetitive and forced it to spin off one of

Independent Television - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-793: The 1950s to the 1980s, during the network era of American television, there were three commercial broadcast television networks – NBC (the National Broadcasting Company, "the Peacock Network"), CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System, "the Eye Network"), ABC (the American Broadcasting Company, "the Alphabet Network") – that due to their longevity and ratings success are informally referred to as

2145-691: The 1990s onward have produced a number of additional stations, such as KTVK in Phoenix (an ABC affiliate until 1995); WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida (a CBS affiliate until 2002); and WHDH in Boston (an NBC affiliate until 2017), as well as stations such as WGN-TV in Chicago and KUSI-TV in San Diego that never held a major network affiliation. However, in a broader sense, there are independent stations that focus on

2210-475: The Big Four (to Five) networks is now owned by a media conglomerate , providing corporate synergy with various cable channels, a major film studio , a companion streaming service, and other sibling media assets. NBC is owned by NBCUniversal , a Comcast company (whose assets include Universal Pictures , Peacock , Universal Destinations & Experiences , E! , MSNBC , and Golf Channel ), since 2004, CBS and

2275-484: The Federal Communications Commission did not allow infomercials to be broadcast on American television until 1984, but since then, it has proven to be a lucrative, if somewhat polarizing with viewers, way to fill airtime. During the 1990s when infomercials gained popularity, many stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day rather than signing off at night. By filling the overnight hours with infomercials,

2340-757: The ITV Network covering England, Southern Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (now known as ITV1) ITV Digital , a UK digital terrestrial TV broadcaster, which opened in 1998 as ONdigital and closed in 2002 ITV plc , a British company which owns thirteen of the fifteen ITV Network franchises ITV Studios , a production company owned by ITV plc itv.com , the main website of ITV plc ITC Entertainment (Independent Television Corporation) Independent Television Authority (UK government) Ion Television , U.S. network, previously called i: Independent Television Televisão Independente ,

2405-585: The Rich and Famous , Star Search , Independent Network News and Star Trek: The Next Generation (as well as canceled network series revived for first-run syndication such as Fame , Too Close for Comfort , Charles in Charge , It's a Living and Baywatch ), and made-for-television movies and miniseries like Sadat . This trend primarily benefited independent stations. Independents scheduled these first-run programs during prime time and on weekends. In

2470-633: The United Paramount Network ( UPN ). The WB, UPN and their affiliates used a very similar programming model to that initially used by Fox and its stations during their first four years of existence (although neither network would expand their prime time lineups to all seven nights); the launch of those networks resulted in PTEN's demise in 1997, as most stations that became affiliates of UPN and The WB (whose respective founding parents, Chris-Craft Industries and Time Warner , jointly owned PTEN) either dropped

2535-604: The United States by the mid-1980s, in markets of varying sizes, up from fewer than 100 in 1980. They could buy new shows without cash using barter syndication . Many stations belonged to the Association of Independent Television Stations (INTV), a group similar to the National Association of Broadcasters , and which lobbied the FCC on behalf of independents. In the 1980s, television syndicators began offering original, first-run series such as Solid Gold , Lifestyles of

2600-1023: The United States during the 1960s and 1970s, independent stations from large and mid-sized markets were imported by these systems via wire or microwave relay to smaller media markets , which often only had stations that were affiliated with the Big Three television networks ( ABC , NBC and CBS); these independents became the first " superstations ," which were distributed on a statewide or regional basis. In December 1976, Ted Turner decided to uplink his struggling Atlanta , Georgia station WTCG to satellite for national distribution. Soon, other companies decided to copy Turner's idea and applied for satellite uplinks to distribute other stations; WGN-TV in Chicago, KTVU in Oakland -San Francisco, and WPIX and WOR-TV in New York City would begin to be distributed nationally during

2665-450: The United States — ABC , CBS , and NBC — traditionally provided a substantial number of program hours per day to their affiliates, whereas later network startups— Fox , UPN , and The WB (the latter two were succeeded by The CW and, to a lesser extent, MyNetworkTV )—provided substantially fewer shows to their affiliates. Through the early 1990s, Fox affiliates were often considered independents. The term independent station most often

Independent Television - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-778: The United States, many independent stations were commonly owned. Companies that operated three or more independents included: In 1986 several independent outlets, led by the Metromedia stations, formed the Fox Broadcasting Company , the first major venture at a fourth U.S. broadcast television network since the DuMont Television Network shut down in August 1956 (which resulted in some of its affiliates, including those owned by Metromedia, becoming independents). Fox made efforts, slowly at first, to have its affiliates emulate

2795-419: The United States; some mid-sized markets would not regain a general entertainment independent until the early 2000s, through sign-ons of unaffiliated stations and disaffiliations by existing stations from other commercial and noncommercial networks. In 2001, Univision Communications purchased several English language independents in larger markets (which mostly operated as Home Shopping Network affiliates until

2860-432: The air during this period would sign-on at times later than that of stations affiliated with a television network, some not doing so until the early or mid-afternoon hours. Another source of programming became available to independent stations by the mid-1960s: reruns of network programs which, after completing their initial runs, were sold into syndication . As cable television franchises began to be incorporated around

2925-459: The conclusion of a content deal with Disney, and UPN aired sports programming via the short-lived XFL , as well as WWF SmackDown! . While The WB and UPN each had a few popular series during their existences, they struggled for overall viewership and financial losses. This led their respective parent companies, Time Warner and CBS Corporation , to shut them down and jointly launch The CW and The CW Plus in 2006. The CW initially featured

2990-456: The early evening, and movies during prime time and late night hours. In some areas, independent stations carried network programs that were not aired by a local affiliate. In larger markets such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, independent stations benefited from a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that barred network-affiliated stations within the top 50 television markets from airing network-originated programs in

3055-527: The history of television in the United States, the Big Three dominated, controlling the vast majority of television broadcasting. DuMont ceased regular programming in 1955; the NTA Film Network , unusual in that its programming, all pre-recorded, was distributed by mail instead of through communications wires, signed on in 1956 and lasted until 1961. From 1961, and lasting until the early 1990s, there were only three major networks. Every hit series appearing in

3120-673: The hour preceding prime time. This legislation, known as the Prime Time Access Rule , was in effect from 1971 to 1995, and as a result independents faced less competition for syndicated reruns. Some stations in larger markets (such as WGN-TV in Chicago; KTLA , KCOP-TV and KHJ-TV in Los Angeles; KWGN-TV in Denver ; and (W)WOR-TV, WPIX and WNEW-TV in New York City) ventured into local news broadcasts, usually airing at 10:00 p.m. in

3185-527: The late 1970s and early 1980s (in the case of KTVU, it would revert to being a regional superstation by the early part of the latter decade). By the start of the 1970s, independent stations typically aired children's programming in the morning and afternoon hours, and movies and other adult-oriented shows (some stations aired paid religious programs ) during the midday hours. They counterprogrammed local network-affiliated stations' news programs with syndicated reruns – usually sitcoms and hour-long dramas – in

3250-457: The late 1990s) from USA Broadcasting to form the nuclei of the upstart Spanish language network Telefutura (now UniMás ), which launched in January 2002. Several stations affiliated with The WB and UPN became independent again when the respective parent companies of those networks (Time Warner and CBS Corporation ) decided to shut them down to form The CW , which launched in September 2006 with

3315-486: The latter often created legal issues that were eventually largely cleared up due to an FCC regulation that legally allowed the broadcast of programs featuring content that would otherwise be deemed indecent when broadcast "in the clear" if the encrypted signal was not visible or audible to nonsubscribers), and on some services, television specials. Independents usually ran the services during the evening and overnight hours in lieu of running movies and other programs acquired off

SECTION 50

#1733093270128

3380-443: The lucrative and viewer-rich 18–49 age demographics, in large part due to the success of its NFL coverage and its top rated prime time program, American Idol . Given the network's success in its prime time and sports offerings, it has been occasionally included with the Big Three, in which case the phrase "Big Four" is used. Although Fox has firmly established itself as the nation's fourth major network with its ratings success, it

3445-559: The mid-1990s , and to other news-producing Fox and minor network affiliates, and independent stations, by the 2000s. In September 1993, many independents began carrying the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), an ad-hoc programming service that emulated a network model, which featured drama series and made-for-TV movies intended for first-run syndication. In January 1995, many remaining independents, including those that carried PTEN, joined upstart networks The WB and

3510-541: The network had abandoned its first-run programming efforts and became a "programming service", with its programming now focused upon off-network reruns of drama series. After this transition, many of MyNetworkTV's affiliates began to downplay their affiliation with the network and move the block to alternate timeslots (such as late-night); network owner Fox Television Stations rebranded most of its MyNetworkTV stations as offshoots of their parent Fox stations (such as " Fox 11 Plus" for KCOP-TV ) Current independents follow

3575-458: The networks; NBC chose to sell the Blue Network operations, which eventually became the American Broadcasting Company. All three networks began regular, commercial television broadcasts in the 1940s. NBC and CBS began commercial operations in 1941, followed by ABC in 1948. A smaller fourth network, the DuMont Television Network , launched in 1944. The three networks originally controlled only

3640-413: The over-the-air subscription services had shuttered operations by the end of the 1980s. Until the late 1970s, independent stations were usually limited to the larger American television markets, due to several factors. Most smaller markets did not have a large enough population to support four commercial stations. Even in markets that were large enough to support a fourth station, the only available license

3705-479: The ratings during the early primetime hours in which it competes against the longer-established networks, becoming the second most-watched network behind CBS during the 2000s. During the 2007–08 season, Fox was the highest-rated of the major broadcast networks, as well as the first non-Big Three network to reach first place, but it lost the spot in the 2008–09 season and dropped to a close second. From 2004 to 2012 and 2020 to 2021, Fox also dominated American television in

3770-463: The same programming model as independent stations during non-prime time slots, and during its early years, on nights without prime time programming from the network. Fox coerced most of its affiliates to air prime time newscasts (there were some holdouts as late as 2013, while many others opted to run outsourced local newscasts from a competing network affiliate) as well as news programming in other dayparts common with other major network affiliates. When

3835-441: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Independent Television . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Independent_Television&oldid=1236468932 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

3900-546: The service or moved its lineup out of prime time when those networks launched. Other stations banded together to become charter outlets of the Pax TV (now Ion Television ) network in August 1998, although some of the stations that aligned with Pax had earlier affiliated with its predecessor, the Infomall TV Network (inTV), two years before. The launches of these networks drastically reduced the number of independent stations in

3965-544: The station would be able to generate extra revenue where they had previously been off the air. Home shopping programs (mainly simulcasts of cable services that also have over-the-air distribution such as QVC and the Home Shopping Network) or syndicated programs fill overnight time periods on stations that do not run infomercials during that day part. Since the FCC revised its media ownership rules to permit station duopolies in August 1999, independents that operate on

SECTION 60

#1733093270128

4030-605: The syndication market by the station, although a few eventually began to carry these services for most of the broadcast day. The services required the use of decoder boxes to access the service's programming (some of which were fairly easy to unencrypt due to the transmission methods stations used to scramble the signal during the service's broadcast hours); some required the payment of an additional one-time fee to receive events and adult films. As cities added cable franchises, thus allowing people to subscribe to conventional premium television networks like HBO and Showtime , nearly all of

4095-514: Was engaged in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get a television license, was reportedly hoping for their station to be a Mutual television affiliate. "Mutual Television Network" ended up being the decided-on branding for the Mutual-branded network. However, the 5-station Mutual network failed in short time, and Mutual became the only one of the "Big Four" U.S. radio networks to not be long-term connected to (and eventually lose its dominance to)

4160-464: Was on a UHF channel allocation. During the analog television era, the reception quality of UHF stations was not nearly as good as stations on the VHF band, especially in areas with rugged terrain (the reverse is true in the present day with the transmission of digital signals) or in markets that cover large geographic areas. Since independent stations had to buy an additional 16 hours of programming per day –

4225-605: Was renamed to Ion Television in 2007. Likewise, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has existed since 1970, is not considered to be a "Big" network. PBS operates as a noncommercial service with a very different distribution form compared to the major networks; its member stations basically own the network instead of the traditional mode of a network owning some of its stations and affiliating with additional stations owned by other broadcasters, and it maintains memberships with more than one educational station in

#127872