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A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
s,
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...
s, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or
broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
, content from a centralized source. For example, ( U.S.), (
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
), the ( UK), the (
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
), (
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
), (
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
), and NHK (
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
) are TV networks that provide programming for local
terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
station affiliates to air using signals that can be picked up by the home television sets of local viewers. Networks generally, but not always, operate on a national scale; that is, they cover an entire country.
Streaming media Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
,
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
, and webcasting are sometimes considered forms of broadcasting despite the lack of terrestrial stations; its practitioners may also be called "broadcasters" or even "broadcast networks".


American networks


AT&T's "WEAF Chain"

Following the introduction of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) developed the first
radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many ( simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) t ...
, linking together individual stations with specially prepared long-distance
telephone line A telephone line or telephone circuit (or just line or circuit industrywide) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system. It is designed to reproduce speech of a quality that is understandable. It is the physical wire or ot ...
s in what at the time was called a "chain". The key station was AT&T's WEAF (now WFAN) in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The network featured a variety of regularly scheduled programs which included sponsorships (at the time not called advertising but "toll broadcasting"). From the beginning, AT&T planned to eventually expand nationwide, so that national companies would be able reach large portions of the nation with their brand names and slogans in an efficient manner. At first the network's expansion was slow. In 1924, the ''Eveready Hour'' was broadcast over 12 stations, primarily located in the
U.S. Northeast The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Sout ...
. ''Eveready Hour'' was the first commercially sponsored
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...
in the history of broadcasting. By 1925, AT&T had linked together 26 stations in its network. AT&T eventually decided to concentrate on its most profitable business, telephones, and in 1926 sold its broadcasting interests to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA's purchase included an agreement to lease AT&T phone lines.Perry, Stephen D. (2004). A Consolidated History of Media (4th edition). Bloomington, IL: Epistelogic


RCA's "WJZ Chain"

In 1922 the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) followed AT&T's network model lead, and formed a small competing network centered on its New York City station, WJZ (now WABC). However, conflict resulted as RCA had a limited ability to lease lines from AT&T, and often had to use telegraph lines to connect stations, which had inferior acoustical properties.


NBC

After acquiring WEAF and AT&T's network assets in 1926, RCA created the
National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ar ...
(NBC) and reorganized the WEAF chain (with WGR, WTIC, WTAG, WEEI, WJAR, WZAN, WFI-WLIT,
WCAE WCAE was a PBS member station on channel 50 at St. John, Indiana, owned by the Lake Central School Corporation. It was the first television station to serve Northwest Indiana and the Calumet Region. The station began experiencing financial and ...
, WRC,
WTAM WTAM (1100 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and carries a news/ talk/sports format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Oh ...
, WSAI, WWJ, WGN, WOC, KSD, WDAF, WCCO) as the NBC Red network and the WJZ chain as the NBC Blue network (with WBZ, WBZA, KYW, KDKA). (One explanation for the color designations is that they reflected the red and blue push pins used on a map that AT&T originally used to designate the affiliated stations on the two networks.) On 23 December 1928, NBC instituted the first permanent transcontinental network. As of September 1938, when there were 154 NBC outlets; 23 composed the basic Red network and 24 composed the basic Blue network. Supplementing these basic networks were 107 stations, of which one was available only to the basic Red network, six were available only to the basic Blue network, and the remainder available to either. NBC also had a chain of shortwave stations, called the "NBC White Network", in the 1930s. In 1941, the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
's (FCC) ''Report on Chain Broadcasting'' reviewed the alleged monopolistic practices of the radio networks. The FCC was concerned NBC Red and NBC Blue were anti-competitive. Because the FCC did not have the power to directly regulate networks, it decided to enact regulations affecting the stations, and adopted standards intended to force NBC to relinquish one of its networks. In 1943, the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's power to enforce its chain broadcasting regulations.Rivera-Sanchez, M. (1998). Report on Chain Broadcasting. History of the Mass Media in the United States, An Encyclopedia, pg 590–591. As a consequence, NBC Blue was sold to Edward Noble who later named it the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...
(ABC). After NBC Blue was divested the remaining NBC Red network was renamed the NBC Radio Network.


CBS

In 1927, United Independent Broadcasters, Inc., supported by the Columbia Phonograph Record Company, started a new network of 16 stations ( WOR New York, WFBL Syracuse,
WMAK WMAK (1570 AM) is an American country radio station licensed to serve Lobelville, Tennessee, with studios in downtown Linden, Tennessee. Currently acting as a full-time simulcast of co-owned WOPC, the station's broadcast license is held b ...
Buffalo-Lockport, WNAC Boston, WEAN Providence, WCAU Philadelphia, WJAS Pittsburgh, WCAO Baltimore, WADC Akron, WAIU Columbus, WKRC Cincinnati,
WGHP WGHP (channel 8) is a television station licensed to High Point, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Francis ...
Detroit, WOWO Fort Wayne, WMAQ Chicago, KMOX St. Louis, KOIL Council Bluffs) named the ''Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System''. In 1928 William S. Paley assumed control of the network, which under his leadership focused on entertainment programming, news, and news affiliation. He quickly turned the failing company around, which was named Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. ( CBS) in 1929. By the end of 1938 there were 113 CBS outlets. Regional networks on CBS also existed in various parts of the country. CBS later hired Edward R. Murrow who is credited with boosting ratings dramatically. Murrow and CBS covered the war in Europe while
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
was in power. NBC and ABC withdrew from the war for safety reasons. As a result of taking the risk, CBS's ratings skyrocketed.


ABC

In 1945, the NBC Blue network was sold to
Edward John Noble Edward John Noble (August 8, 1882 – December 28, 1958) was an American broadcasting and candy industrialist originally from Gouverneur, New York. He co-founded the Life Savers Corporation in 1913. He founded the American Broadcasting Company ...
, who later renamed it
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...
(ABC). By the mid-1940s broadcasting had become a
big Three television networks In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their lon ...
battle. ABC almost went
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and in 1951 Leonard Goldenson and United Paramount Theaters bought the network for $25 million. In 1964, ABC won the ratings race in the fifty largest U.S. markets. In the 1970–71 season, ABC ranked #1 in the
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
with a
medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...
called Marcus Welby, M.D., the first ABC
television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
to top the list.


Mutual

In 1929, a group of four radio stations in the major markets of New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit organized into a loose confederation known as the Quality Network. In 1934 this was reorganized as the Mutual Broadcasting System. The network was organized with the members contracting for telephone-line transmission facilities and agreeing to collectively enter into contracts with advertisers for their networked shows.


Westwood One News

Radio news network launched on January 1, 2015, and operated by Westwood One through its parent company Cumulus Media.Cumulus/WestwoodOne To Establish CNN Powered News Service
– ''Radio Insight'' (accessed February 21, 2019)


Canadian national networks

The first network in Canada was CNR Radio starting in 1923. The first regularly scheduled coast-to-coast network program produced by CN Radio was broadcast on 27 December 1928. By 1930, the network consisted of 27 stations. Its assets were acquired by the government owned Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) in 1932.


CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...
(public network, founded in 1936, successor to the CRBC) *
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...
*
CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...
*
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
*
Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of ...
* Ici Musique *
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...


CTV

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...
(private, founded 1961)


Global

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after C ...
(private, founded as an Ontario network in 1974, national in 1997)


Quebec

* TVA (private, founded 1971) * V (private, founded 1986) *
Télé-Québec The Société de télédiffusion du Québec (; en, Quebec Television Broadcasting Corporation), branded as Télé-Québec (), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Cro ...
(public, founded 1975)


See also

* Media in New York City * Media in Philadelphia * New Yorkers in journalism *
Radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many ( simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) t ...
*
Television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadcast Network Television terminology