Big Three (American television)

They gradually began experimental television stations in the 1930s, with commercial broadcasts being allowed by the Federal Communications Commission on July 1, 1941.

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.

Ironically, the fourth 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 a television network, with consideration being made to have film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer supply programming talent.

[10] Fox, which began as 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.

Although Fox has firmly established itself as the nation's fourth major network with its ratings success, it is not considered part of the Big Three.

Fox does not feature any daytime programming on weekdays, 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.

[12] In 1998, Tribune launched The WB 100+ Station Group in 1998, a programming service primarily intended for smaller markets.

[16] 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.

[23] 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.

[1] 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.