Big Three Television Networks

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The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional broadcast (over the air) television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC.

NBC and CBS were founded as radio networks in the 1920s. They gradually began experimental television stations in the 1940s. ABC was spun off from NBC in 1943 when the US government determined that NBC's two-network setup was anticompetitive.

All three networks began regular television broadcasts in the 1940s. NBC began operations in 1946, followed by CBS and ABC in 1948. The three networks originally only controlled a few local television stations, but they swiftly affiliated with other stations to cover the entire United States.

For most of US television history, the Big Three dominated US television, controlling up to 99% of television broadcasting. During the 1950s and lasting until the early 1990s, every hit series appearing in the top 20 Nielsen Ratings was aired by one of the Big Three Networks. There were attempts by other companies (such as the DuMont Television Network) to enter the television medium, but few of these start-ups lasted very long. The prohibitive cost of starting a broadcast network, coupled with the difficulty of competing with the massive distribution of the Big Three Networks (particularly NBC and CBS), led to the downfall of almost all new companies. A viable "fourth network" would not become competitive with the Big Three until the Fox Network was founded in 1986.

Today, the "Big Three" control only a (relatively) small portion of the market. With broadcast competitors such as Fox, The CW, and MyNetworkTV, satellite and cable companies, the Big Three's market share has dwindled considerably.