In the United States, for most of the history of broadcasting, there were only three or four major commercial national terrestrial networks. From 1946 to 1956, these were ABC, CBS, NBC and DuMont (though the Paramount Television Network had some limited success during these years). From 1956 to 1986, the "Big Three" national commercial networks were ABC, CBS, and NBC (with a few limited attempts to challenge them, such as National Telefilm Associates [and its NTA Film Network] and the Overmyer Network). From 1954 to 1970, National Educational Television was the national clearinghouse for public TV programming; the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) succeeded it in 1970.
Today, more than fifty national free-to-air networks exist. Other than the non-commercial educational (NCE) PBS, which is composed of member stations, the largest terrestrial television networks are the traditional Big Three television networks (ABC, CBS and NBC). Many other large networks exist, however, notably Fox and The CW which air original programming for two hours each night instead of three like the original "Big Three" do, as well as MyNetworkTV and Ion, which feature reruns of recent popular shows with little to no original programming. Fox has just about the same household reach percentage as the Big Three, and is therefore often considered a peer to ABC, NBC, and CBS since it has also achieved equal or better ratings since the late 1990s; as of 2019, it also programs the equivalent amount of sports programming as the Big Three. Most media outlets now include Fox in what they refer to as the "Big Four" TV networks.
The transition to digital broadcasting in 2009 has allowed for television stations to offer additional programming options through digital subchannels, one or more supplementary programming streams to the station's primary channel that are achieved through multiplexing of a station's signal. A number of new commercial networks airing specialty programming such as movies, reruns of classic series and lifestyle programs have been created from companies like Weigel Broadcasting, Sinclair Broadcast Group and even owners of the major networks such as Fox Corporation (through the Fox Entertainment subsidiary), Paramount Global (through the CBS Media Ventures subsidiary), The Walt Disney Company (through the Walt Disney Television subsidiary) and Comcast (through the NBCUniversal subsidiary). Through the use of multicasting, there have also been a number of new Spanish-language and non-commercial public TV networks that have launched.
Free-to-air networks in the U.S. can be divided into five categories:
Each network sends its signal to many local affiliate television stations across the country. These local stations then air the "network feed," with programs broadcast by each network being viewed by up to tens of millions of households across the country. In the case of the largest networks, the signal is sent to over 200 stations. In the case of the smallest networks, the signal may be sent to just a dozen or fewer stations.
As of the 2016–17 television season, there are an estimated 118.4 million households in the U.S. with at least one TV set.[1]
All of the networks listed below operate a number of terrestrial TV stations. In addition, several of these networks are also aired on pay television services.
Name | Owner (Subsidiary) | Launch Date | % of U.S. households reached | # of households viewable | # of Full-Power Affiliates | # of Low-power/Class-A affiliates | Language | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NBC | NBCUniversal
(Comcast) |
1939[2] | 97% | 114,848,000 | 226 | ~338 | English | Major commercial network | |
CBS | Paramount Global | 1941[2] | 215 | ~299 | |||||
ABC | Walt Disney Television | 1948[2] | 229 | ~266 | |||||
Fox | Fox Corporation | 1986[3] | 223 | ~202 | |||||
The CW | Paramount Global (National Amusements) (50%)
Warner Bros. Discovery (50%) |
2006[4] | 204 | ~11 | |||||
PBS | Corporation for Public Broadcasting (main steward, not owner, of service) |
1969[5] | 96% | 113,664,000 | 349 | ~342 | Public | Non-Commercial | |
MyNetworkTV | MyNetworkTV, Inc. | 2006[4] | 97%[6] | 100,640,000 | 151 | ~30 | Commercial/syndication service | ||
MeTV | Weigel Broadcasting | 2010 | 84% | 99,456,000 | 176 | 29 | Classic series | ||
MeTV+ | Weigel Broadcasting | 2021 | Classic series | ||||||
Story Television | Weigel Broadcasting | 2022 | Classic historic and documentary series | ||||||
PBS Kids | PBS | 1994 | 83% | 98,272,000 | 269 | 0 | Children's programming | Non-Commercial | |
Court TV | Katz Broadcasting, LLC | 2019 | 80.49% | 95,300,160 | True crime/court news | ||||
Antenna TV | Nexstar Media Group | 2011 | 80% | 94,720,000 | 114 | 27 | Classic series | ||
Rewind TV | Nexstar Media Group | 2021 | Classic series | ||||||
Dabl | Paramount Global | 2019 | 77.70% | 91,996,800 | Lifestyle | ||||
True Crime Network | Tegna Inc. | 2014 | 76% | 92,936,000 | 62 | 10 | True Crime/Investigation | Launched as Justice Network | |
Ion Mystery | Katz Broadcasting, LLC | 75% | 88,800,000 | 124 | 25 | Suspense/drama/women's interest | Launched as Escape, later rebranded as Court TV Mystery | ||
Grit | 120 | 16 | Action/westerns/men's interest | ||||||
Create | American Public Television, WGBH-TV, & WNET | 2006 | 86% | 87,616,000 | 238 | 1 | Public TV/instructional | Non-Commercial | |
Laff | Laff Media, LLC | 2015 | 74% | 111 | 22 | Comedy | |||
This TV | Entertainment Studios | 2008 | 89 | 29 | Classic series and films | ||||
Bounce TV | Bounce Media LLC | 2011 | 73% | 86,432,000 | 112 | 11 | Black-centric programming | ||
Ion | Ion Media | 1998 (as Pax TV) | 72% (OTA only) | 85,248,000 | 109 | 25 | Minor commercial network; mainly recent procedural drama repeats |
||
Twist | Tegna Inc. | 2021 | 70% | 3,700,000 | Women-targeted reality programming from A&E Networks library | ||||
Comet | Sinclair Broadcast Group (operator: MGM Television) | 2015 | 66% | 78,144,000 | 100 | 17 | Science fiction | ||
GetTV | Sony Pictures Television | 2014 | 66 | 20 | Classic series and films | ||||
Circle | Circle Media (Gray Television, Inc. & Opry Entertainment Group, Inc.) | 2020 | 62.60% | 195,620,130 | 96 | 0 | Country music/lifestyle | ||
Heroes & Icons | Weigel Broadcasting | 2014 | 58% | 68,672,000 | 57 | 30 | Classic action and sci-fi series/men's interest | ||
World | American Public Television, WNET, WGBH Educational Foundation, & National Educational Telecommunications Association | 2007 | 59% | 68,617,000 | 160 | 0 | News and documentaries, and PBS NewsHour repeats | Non-Commercial | |
QVC | Qurate Retail Group | 1986 | 68,204,000 | 48 | 13 | Shopping | |||
HSN | Qurate Retail Group | 1985[7] | 41 | 46 | |||||
Decades | CBS Television Stations & Weigel Broadcasting | 2015 | 57% | 67,488,000 | 53 | 6 | Classic series and films/Historical documentaries | ||
Movies! | Fox Television Stations
(both owning 50%) |
2013 | 52 | 18 | Feature films | ||||
Cozi TV | Comcast | 56% | 66,304,000 | 66 | 31 | Classic series and NBC Mystery Movie series | |||
Fave TV | Paramount Global | 2020 | 36.56% | 44,091,360 | 14 | 0 | ViacomCBS reality series repeats | ||
Quest | Tegna Inc. | 2018 | 65% | 78,200,000 | 29 | TBD | Adventure programming | ||
Start TV | Weigel Broadcasting | 46% | 54,464,000 | 25 | 6 | procedural dramas/women's interest | |||
Buzzr | Fremantle & RTL Group | 2015 | 45% | 53,280,000 | 20 | 37 | Game shows | ||
Charge! | Sinclair Broadcast Group | 2017 | 43% | 50,912,000 | 52 | 4 | Action series and films | ||
Rev'n | Get After It Media
(Henry Luken III) |
2014 | 42% | 49,728,000 | 1 | 44 | Automotive | ||
Retro TV | Get After It Media
(Henry Luken III) |
2005 | 34% | 40,256,000 | 15 | 83 | Commercial, reruns | ||
TheGrio.tv | Entertainment Studios | 2021 | 33% | 39,072,000 | 14 | 0 | Black-centric programming | ||
QVC2 | Qurate Retail Group | 2013 | 31% | 36,704,000 | 5 | 34 | Shopping | ||
Localish | ABC Owned Television Stations (Walt Disney Television) | 2009 | 25% | 29,600,000 | 8 | 0 | Health/lifestyle | ||
TBD | Sinclair Television Group (Sinclair Broadcast Group)(operated by Jukin Media) | 2017 | 50 | 5 | Talk/lifestyle | ||||
Heartland | Get After It Media | 2012 | 22.51% | 23,342,140 | 2 | 44 | Country music/lifestyle | ||
JTV (Jewelry Television) | Multimedia Commerce Group, Inc. | 1993 | 22% | 26,048,000 | 16 | 114 | Shopping | ||
NewsNet | NewsNet LLC | 2018 | 19.21% | 38,085,302 | 0 | 33 | News | ||
NHK World | NHK | 1998 | 18% | 20,934,000 | 15 | 0 | Japanese news and information | Non-Commercial | |
The Action Channel | Get After It Media | 2016 | 21,312,000 | 2 | 38 | Men's Interest | |||
Biz Television | Center Post Media, Inc. | 2009 | 17% | 19,788,000 | 5 | 34 | Business and financial information | ||
WeatherNation TV | WeatherNation, Inc (Performance One Media) | 2011 | 20 | 7 | Weather | ||||
The Country Network | TCN Country, LLC | 2009 | 20,128,000 | 7 | 33 | Country music videos | |||
Soul of the South Television | SSN Media Group, LP | 2013 | 4 | 7 | African-American programming | ||||
Stadium | Sinclair Television Group, Inc. (Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.) & Silver Chalice | 2017 | 15% | 17,760,000 | 38 | 24 | Sports | ||
FNX (First Nations Experience) | San Bernardino Community College District | 2011 | 12% | 14,208,000 | 22 | 7 | Native American programming | Non-Commercial | |
Newsmax TV | Newsmax Media | 2014 | 12% (OTA only) | 14,208,000 | 0 | 23 | News/Documentaries/Conservative Talk | ||
ShopHQ | iMedia Brands Inc. (Comcast [12.5%]) | 1991 | 11% | 13,024,000 | 5 | 6 | Shopping | ||
France 24 | France Médias Monde (French Government) | 2006 | 10% | 11,640,000 | 4 | International news | Non-Commercial | ||
MiND (MiND: Media Independence) | WYBE | 2007 | 9% | 10,467,000 | 2 | 0 | Multicultural, educational | ||
Shop LC | Vaibhav Global | 8% | 9,472,000 | 0 | 42 | Shopping | |||
AccuWeather Channel | National Weather Service | 2006 | 7% | 8,148,000 | 13 | 4 | Weather | ||
YTA, formerly Youtoo America, formerly America One | Center Post Media | 1985 | 33% | 34,984,000 | 1 | 34 | Sports/lifestyle | ||
Classic Arts Showcase | The Lloyd E. Rigler – Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation | 1994 | 6,978,000 | 3 | 3 | Non-commercial performance art video clips | Non-Commercial | ||
The Family Channel | ValCom & Get After It Media | 2008[8] | 5% | 5,920,000 | 4 | 21 | Classic series and films | Called My Family TV until 2014. | |
QVC3 | Qurate Retail Group | 2016 | 0 | 5 | Shopping | ||||
Newsy | E. W. Scripps Company | 2021 | 81.05% | General news | |||||
AMGTV | Access Media Group | 2006 | 4.39% | 1 | 22[9] | General Entertainment | |||
Doctor TV | Doctor Television Channel, Inc. (MSGPR, Inc.) | 2014 | 2.22% | 6,942,039 | Health/lifestyle | ||||
DW-TV | Deutsche Welle | 1953 | 2% | 2,326,000 | 5 | 1 | Multicultural | Non-Commercial | |
Minnesota Channel | Twin Cities Public Television | 2005 | 17 | 0 | Educational television, public affairs, ethnic and local programming | ||||
Untamed Sports TV | None | 2008 | 1.29% | 4,021,177 | Sports/outdoors | ||||
Pursuit Channel | Pursuit Media LLC | 0.23% | 716,644 | Sports and recreation | |||||
Frost Great Outdoors | Get After It Media | 2011 | 0.02% | 294,038 | Outdoors/shopping | ||||
Univision | Univision Communications | 1986[10] | 49% | 94,100,000[11] | 62 | 26 | Spanish | Spanish commercial | |
Estrella TV | Estrella Media | 2009 | 46% | 64,232,000 | 38 | 29 | |||
Telemundo | Comcast | 1984[12] | 61.60% | 92,476,422 | 54 | 46 | |||
UniMás | Univision Communications | 2002[13] | 43% | 59,600,000[14] | 35 | 24 | |||
Azteca | HC2 Holdings (Azteca name & brand licensed from TV Azteca) |
2001 | 32% | 37,248,000 | 14 | 28 | |||
LATV | LATV Networks, LLC | 27 | 16 | Bilingual (English/Spanish) entertainment | |||||
TeleXitos | NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises (NBCUniversal Filmed and Entertainment) |
2012 | 42.46% | 32,661,468 | 25 | 1 | Spanish commercial | ||
Mega TV | Spanish Broadcasting System | 2006 | 6% | 6,984,000 | 5 | 1 | |||
TeLe-Romántica | Dreamhouse Entertainment, LLC (managed by TeVe-Romance) |
2012 | 0.46% | 1,425,200 | Telenovelas/lifestyle | ||||
Inmigrante TV | 2010 | 0% | 0 | Spanish political news and commentary | |||||
Multimedios | Grupo Multimedios | 1968 | 2.22% | 6,942,039 | Spanish commercial | ||||
Daystar | Word of God Fellowship | 1982 | 56% | 64,736,000 | 20 | 80 | English | Religious | |
SonLife Broadcasting Network | 2010 | 44% | 52,096,000 | 22 | 77 | ||||
enlace[15] | 2002 | 41% | 48,554,000 | 37 | 9 | Spanish | Spanish-language religious programming | ||
TBN | 1973 | 40% | 47,360,000 | 39 | 10 | English | Religious | ||
Smile of a Child TV[15] | Trinity Broadcasting Network | 2005 | 35 | 12 | Religious children's programming | ||||
Positiv[15][16](formerly JCTV and JUCE TV) | Trinity Broadcasting Network | 2003 | 36 | 10 | Christian and Family-oriented movies | ||||
Hillsong Channel[15] | Hillsong Church & Trinity Broadcasting Network | 2002 | 35 | 9 | Religious | ||||
3ABN | Three Angels Broadcasting Network | 1984 | 27% | 31,968,000 | 2 | 133 | |||
3ABN Latino | Three Angels Broadcasting Network | 2003 | 20% | 23,680,000 | 0 | 124 | Spanish | Spanish religious | |
Peace TV | 2006 | 15% | 17,760,000 | 7 | English | Religious (Islamic) | |||
Dare to Dream Network | Three Angels Broadcasting Network | 2010 | 13% | 15,392,000 | 101 | Religious | |||
3ABN Proclaim! | Three Angels Broadcasting Network | 2010 | 13% | 15,392,000 | 109 | ||||
Almavision | 2002 | 8% | 9,472,000 | 9 | Spanish | Spanish religious | |||
TCT | 1977 | 9% | 27,992,924 | 8 | 8 | English | Religious | ||
Cornerstone Television[17] | 1979[18] | 7.94% | 24,796,415 | 2 | 12 | ||||
Hope Channel | Seventh-day Adventist Church | 2003 | 6.74% | 21,058,587 | 0 | 15 | |||
The Walk TV | 2010 | 7.52% | 23,506,549 | 3 | 12 | ||||
CTN | 1979 | 5% | 5,780,000 | 11 | 5 | ||||
God TV | 1995 | 5% | 5,780,000 | 2 | 2 | ||||
WHT | Family Broadcasting Corporation | 1985[19] | 5% | 5,780,000 | 7 | 4 | |||
EWTN | 1981 | 3.50% | 10,928,781 | 1 | 7 | Religious (Catholic) | |||
The Word Network | 2000 | 1.5% | 1,734,000 | 2 | Religious | ||||
TLN | 1973 | 1% | 1,156,000 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Tvida Vision | 2005 | 0.7% | 809,200 | 0 | 2 | Spanish | Spanish religious | ||
The Worship Network[7] | 1992 | 0.6% | 693,600 | 1 | English | Religious | |||
Tele Vida Abundante | 1985 | 0.32% | 1,004,355 | 3 | Spanish | Spanish religious (Jewish) | |||
GLC | 1982 | 0.25% | 289,000 | 5 | 0 | English | Religious |
Additionally, several of the cable-oriented theme channels (e.g. music or shopping channels) have obtained broadcast clearances, usually on low-power stations, in many markets.
Additionally, Televisa, which distributes programming to Univision in the United States, operates in Mexico, but the company's networks (Canal de las Estrellas, Canal 5 and Nueve) have certain stations which can be received in parts of the U.S. located along and near the Mexican border, and likewise with the American networks have affiliates located or receivable in Mexican border cities. Some Mexican border stations (such as the former English-language ABC/Fox/CW affiliate XETV-TDT in Tijuana) who formerly maintained affiliations with U.S.-based English or Spanish networks, but mainly targeted their programming at their American border city (more than the Mexican metropolitan area that they are based in or merely licensed to).
Although the English-language programming model in the U.S. traditionally relies on the network and its stations handling programming responsibilities, Spanish language networks handle most of the responsibility for programming, while affiliates are limited to breakaways from the network feed to provide local news, public affairs and/or entertainment programming as well as local advertising. As such, all Spanish language networks primarily available on broadcast TV operate national feeds that are distributed to cable and satellite providers in markets without a local affiliate. Spanish-language independent stations also exist, although (particularly with the launch of Estrella TV and Azteca), these are very limited and they mainly exist in markets with a large Hispanic and Latino American population.
Several religious networks allow their broadcast affiliates to carry their programming out-of-pattern through clearance arrangements, notably TBN, 3ABN, Hope Channel and World Harvest Television.