Between July 1956 to around November 1961, the National Telefilm Associates (NTA) operated the NTA Film Network, an early

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 multichannel video programming distributo ...

and syndication service that operated in the United States and Canada. The organization had syndicated television programs to individual stations since the early 1950s. The film network effort was an attempt to launch a viable " fourth television network" that would compete directly with CBS, NBC, and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, the three largest television networks in the United States. Although the program service was intended to attract

independent television station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

s, many CBS, NBC, and ABC affiliates also aired NTA programs. Between 1956 and 1961, NTA offered dozens of programs to affiliated stations. Some popular television series, such as ''

How to Marry a Millionaire ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' is a 1953 American screwball comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays ''The Greeks Had a Word for It'' (1930) by Zoe Akins and ''Loc ...

'', ''Premiere Performance'', '' Sheriff of Cochise'', and ''The Third Man'', each aired on over 100 local television stations.Mercer, Charles (October 22, 1958). "'Millionaire' Amusing, Corny". ''Radford News Journal'' (Radford, VA): p. 4.''Broadcasting'' volume 53, p. 46. 1957. Broadcasting Publications."NTA Signs Two More Sponsors For 'Sheriff'". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'': 6. August 11, 1956.Erickson, pp. 115–116. Other NTA programs were never widely seen; for example, after its first few months on the air, ''Alex in Wonderland'' aired on just one TV station.Erickson, pp. 85–87. Station managers were free to choose which programs they would air, and no television station aired NTA's complete program line-up. Even NTA's three

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

s (O&Os),

WNTA-TV WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

in New York, KMSP-TV in Minneapolis, and

WDAF-TV WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal Hi ...

in Kansas City, "cherry-picked" programs. As a way of assuring widespread viewership of its programs, NTA sold series to any television station that would air them. This angered station managers who had already signed affiliation agreements with the NTA Film Network, and led to NTA programs being aired on several television stations in the same city.Erickson, p. 14. NTA also purposely double-booked or triple-booked some programs to guarantee higher ratings. For example, in New York City, ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' aired on three different area stations at the same time.Erickson, pp. 58–59. This distribution method led to large numbers of stations airing some NTA offerings — by one estimate 370 stations in 1957.Emerson, Faye (July 15, 1957) "New Film Network Makes For Better TV Viewing" ''El Paso Herald Post'' (El Paso, TX). p. 12. Many NTA Film Network series were filmed in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

or England;Erickson, p. 57. some later NTA programs were

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d in New York.Erickson, p. 86. The film or tape medium of the recordings allowed local station owners to fill in empty spots in their schedules using NTA programs, and allowed the company to re-run its programs years after program production had ceased. NTA attempted to establish a standardized network schedule in 1958, but only 17 local stations agreed to air NTA programs in pattern (during the set time).Kleiner, Dick (May 3, 1958). "Thin Man Mystery Show May Add Baby to Cast". ''The Lima News'' (Lima, OH): p. 19. Although NTA announced provisional plans to telecast sporting and special events over a live network, the network remained distributed almost entirely on film. One notable exception, the

public affairs program In broadcasting, public affairs radio or television programs focus on matters of politics and public policy. Among commercial broadcasters, such programs are often only to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulatory expectations ...

''Open End'', was broadcast live from New York City to a network of 10 stations; the rest of the affiliates received the program on videotape. Although NTA's program service was fairly popular, occasionally attracting up to 22 percent of the viewing audience, the NTA Film Network was never a serious competitor to the "Big Three" television networks. The company had only three O&Os, while the larger networks had five apiece. Executives considered purchasing KTVR in

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and

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, but those stations were never acquired. NTA and its parent company sold the Minneapolis station in November 1959, the Kansas City station in August 1960, and its

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

New York City station in November 1961. NTA continued syndication services even after its flagship station was sold, however, and a few new television series debuted between 1961 and 1965.Erickson, pp. 76, 161 NTA also re-ran its older filmed programs during this era. All affiliate television stations are listed below, whether they carried many NTA programs or only a single series. Television stations listed here aired NTA programs between the launch of the network in 1956 and the end of the 1961–1962 television season.

Stations

An asterisk (*) denotes stations that affiliated at the launch of the network."Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". ''Boxoffice'': 13. November 10, 1956. A dagger (†) indicates stations that aired NTA's few live broadcasts."Channel 2 to Air Khrushchev Talk". ''Portsmouth Herald'' (Portsmouth, NH): p. 31. October 8, 1960. A diesis (‡) indicates stations that identified as NTA affiliates in the 1957–1958 ''Broadcasting/Telecasting Yearbook''."United States Television Stations and Market Data" ''Broadcasting/Telecasting Yearbook''. 1958. pp. 49–285.

Owned and operated stations of other networks

A number of CBS, ABC, and NBC

s (O&Os) also aired NTA programs. Among these were:

Radio simulcast

One of the more unusual broadcast agreements during the 1950s was a deal with radio station KSBK (later JORO) in

Naha, Okinawa is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is ...

, during the era when Okinawa was a U.S.-administered territory (1952 to 1972). KSBK

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

the audio portion of the program for U.S. servicemen and their families. A video feed came from mainland Japan.Kastner, Christine Kriha (2011). ''Soldiering On - Finding My Homes: Memoir of an Army Brat''. AuthorHouse: p. 160. . Among the NTA programs broadcast in this way were ''Divorce Court'',''Pacific Stars and Stripes'' (Tokyo, Japan): p. 30. November 15, 1958. ''George Jessel'',''Pacific Stars and Stripes'' (Tokyo, Japan): p. 35. July 1, 1959. and ''Sheriff of Cochise''.''Pacific Stars and Stripes'' (Tokyo, Japan): p. 33. June 24, 1959.

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