Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Television  &  Radio  Networks

television & radio networks and producers, A-Z including: A.B.C.   •   Al Jazeera   •   B.B.C., ITV & Channel Four   •   C.B.S.   •   C.N.N.   •   Current TV   •   E.S.P.N.   •   Fox   •   H.B.O.   •   M.S.N.B.C.   •   MTV, Spike TV & Nickelodeon   •   N.B.C.   •   P.B.S.   •   Telemundo   •   Televisa   •   T.N.T.   •   Turner Networks   •   Univision important dates links

"The only thing high-definition television will do is provide sharper pictures of the garbage."
—  George Carlin [1937-2008]

Old Time Radio Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

Magic Lantern's History of Cinema Pages
Books About Hollywood & Cinema History

Magic Lantern's TV & Radio History Pages
pioneers of radio & TV  •  early TV programs  •  links
important dates  •  old time radio  •  fiction books
music  •  videos & DVDs  •  non-fiction books

Television  &  Radio  Networks  and  Producers
{ in alphabetical order }

Television Network entry at Wikipedia
List of TV Networks by Country at Wikipedia

"The Columbia History of American Television" [2007] by Gary Edgerton Columbia Univ Press 9¾x6¾ pb [3/2009] for $24.75 Columbia Univ Press 10x7¼ hardcover [9/2007] for $50.00

"The Curse of The Mogul: What's Wrong With The World's Leading Media Companies" []
by Jonathan A. Knee, Bruce C. Greenwald, Ava Seave /1591842646/

American  Broadcasting  Corporation
Formed in October 1943 from NBC Radio's Blue Network; first TV broadcast 1948; purchased by
Capitol Cities Communications in 1985; purchased by Disney in February 1996.

Magic Lantern's Disney Studios Page / A.B.C. Section

"Beating The Odds: The Untold Story Behind The Rise of A.B.C. - The Stars, Struggles & Egos That Transformed Network Television" [1991] by Leonard H. Goldenson, with Marvin J. Wolf Scribner hardcover [2/91] out of print/many used

ABC Australia
50 Years of Western Australia TV

Al Jazeera

ARD & ZDF Germany

The Auto Channel
http://www.theautochannel.com

B.B.C., I.T.V. & Channel Four

B.B.C. America
National Media Museum [est. 1983] in Bradford, West Yorkshire, U.K.

B.E.T. {Black Entertainment Television}
owned by Viacom/Paramount

  
Launched in September 2011, the Bounce TV broadcast network is skewed toward Afro-American viewers,
with a 24/7 mix of movies, sports, documentaries and original programming; founders include Martin Luther King III
and Andrew Young; already made deals for content with N.B.C.U. TV, Sony Pictures TV, Image Entertainment
& Codeblack Entertainment; based in Atlanta, Georgia.

official website

C.B.C. & Radio Canada

C.B.S. {Columbia Broadcasting System}
Launched in September 1927 with 16 radio stations.

	"C.B.S.: Reflections In A Bloodshot Eye" [1975] by {C.B.S. historian} Robert Metz Playboy Press mass pb [1975] out of print/many used Penguin/Signet mass pb [8/76] out of print/used Playboy Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1975] out of print/used
	"C.B.S.: The First 50 Years" [1998] by Tony Chiu Stoddart 11¾x10 hardcover [5/98] out of print/used

CCTV China

C.N.N. {Cable News Network}
Launched in June 1980

                 
Comedy Central

        

Current TV national cable & satellite channel was founded in May 2004 and launched in August 2005 by Al Gore, Jr. and Joel Hyatt; Comcast owns a 10% share. A short-lived experimental partnership with Yahoo! ran from September to December in 2006. Current TV launched on Dish Network in January 2007, and in Italy via satellite in May 2008. Changes in mid-2009 included hiring Mark Rosenthal (ex-MTV) as CEO and altering the content format. After Keith Olberman left MSNBC, he moved his "Countdown" program to Current TV, launching in June 2011. In August 2011, veteran TV exec David Bohrman was named president of Current TV; he will oversee the network’s new programming division and work closely with Olbermann. Bohrman & Olberman are based in New York City; the network's operations are headquartered in San Francisco.

official website • entry at Wikipedia

The CW Network (WB & UPN)

DuMont Television Network [1946-56]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuMont_Television_Network

	"The DuMont Television Network: What Happened? - A Significant Episode In The History of Broadcasting" [2002] by Ted Bergmann & Ira Skutch Rowman & Littlefield / Scarecrow 8¾x6¼ hardcover [4/2002] out of print/used
	"The Forgotten Network: DuMont & The Birth of American Television" [2004] by David Weinstein Temple Univ Press pb [3/2006] for $19.95 Temple Univ Press 9x6¼ hardcover [5/2004] for $37.49

E.S.P.N. {Entertainment Sports Programming Network}

Fox Television
Fox News Channel launched in October 1996

Gas Station TV Network provides brand and local & national advertising, sports & finance news, and
local weather, delivered to drivers at the pump on a four-minute loop; headquarters in Michigan.

company website • no entry at Wikipedia

        
H.B.O. {Home Box Office Network}

The HDNet cable and satellite channel launched in September 2001, and shows only high-definition television programming,
in any and all genres. The sibling channel HDNet Movies also launched in September 2001, and shows feature films in
HD converted from 35mm prints or originally shot in HD video. "All films are shown uncut and commercial-free."

HDNet: official website • entry at Wikipedia
HDNet Movies: official website entry at Wikipedia

Announced 1/2012: Dallas billionaire entertainment entrepreneur Mark Cuban has struck a deal with sports & concerts conglomerate A.E.G. (Anschutz Enttertainment Group) and talent agency C.A.A. (Creative Artists Agency) to rebrand HDNet as AXS TV (pronounced access), under the management of radio & TV personality & producer Ryan Seacrest, beginning this summer. The channel’s programming will rely heavily on live lifestyle & live entertainment fare, leveraging the music assets of A.E.G., the stable of talent at C.A.A., and Seacrest's many connections.

IBA & IETV Isreal

M.S.N.B.C.

                 
The M.T.V. (Music Television) Networks are owned by Viacom/Paramount; channels include Spike TV,
Nickelodeon, and Tres: MTV, Musica y Mas (formerly MTV Tres), a cable network targeting the Hispanic
members of the millennial generation

Mutual Broadcasting System [1934-99]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Broadcasting_System

        
N.B.C.  Universal  Television
National Broadcasting Company was founded in September 1926, and launched in November 1926 with 24 radio stations.
When M.C.A. took control of Universal in 1962, they merged their Revue Studios [1943-63] into Universal's TV division;
the M.C.A. TV division [1951-2004] was folded into Universal TV in the 1990s. General Electric bought Universal in 2004
and merged N.B.C.'s operations into Universal's, creating a broadly-integrated production, distribution & broadcast division.
N.B.C. Universal Television entry at Wikipedia
National Broadcasting Company (N.B.C.) entry at Wikipedia

	"Brought To You In Living Color: 75 Years of Great Moments In Television & Radio From N.B.C." [2002] by Marc Robinson Wiley & Sons 10¼x10¼ pb [10/2003] for $29.95 Wiley & Sons 10¾x10¾ hardcover [3/2002] for $0.00
	"N.B.C.: America's Network" [2007] Edited by Michele Hilmes Univ CA Press 8¾x5¾ pb [8/2007] for $18.21 Univ CA Press 9x6¼ hardcover [8/2007] for $60.00

"The Last Great Ride: [] by Brandon Tartikoff, Charles Leerhsen, Steve Oney

       
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/

N.H.K. Japan

The Outdoor Channel

O.W.N. {Oprah Winfrey Network}  
launched January First 2011

P.B.S. {Public Broadcasting System}

R.A.I. Italy

ReelzChannel bills themselves as 'TV about movies'; launched from Minneapolis, Minnesota in September 2006;
operations moved to Q Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico in May 2009

official website • entry at Wikipedia

RFD-TV  [est. 12/2000]

TV producer R.H.I. Entertainment was founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi, Sr. to make TV movies & miniseries, mostly for Hallmark TV. Hallmark Cards purchased R.H.I. in 1994, and Robert Halmi, Jr. (with other top executives & investment firm Kelso & Co.) acquired the company in 2006; the financing proved to be unmanageable when worldwide ad rates plunged 22% in 2008. R.H.I. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy 10 December 2010; creditors will trade an 85% ownership stake in the company for $309 million in debt, with the remaining 15% retained by president & CEO Robert Halmi, Jr.

official company website • company entry at Wikipedia

Telemundo Mexico

Televisa Mexico

TF1 France

T.B.S. Networks {Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.}
Divisions include C.N.N., H.L.N., T.B.S., T.N.T., Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang,
truTV, and TCM (Turner Classic Movies)

the leading U.S. Spanish-language network

Important  Dates  in  the  History of  Network  Radio  &  Television 1900 Aug 25: Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi coined the term 'television' in a paper read in Paris, France, to describe still photographs transmitted over wires. 1919 Oct 17: Creation of the Radio Corporation of America. 1924 Feb 8: First coast-to-coast radio broadcast. 1926 Sept 9: The National Broadcasting Company was founded by Radio Corporation of America. 1926 Nov 15: Launch of the National Broadcasting Company, with a network of 24 radio stations. 1927 Sept 18: Launch of the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System [later CBS] with a network of 16 radio stations. 1927 Sept 23: Invention of electronic scanning devices for television broadcast and receiving by Philo T. Farnsworth. 1928 Dec 23: National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent coast-to-coast radio network. 1932 Dec 25: The British Broadcasting Company inaugurated the Empire Service {forerunner of B.B.C. World Service). 1934 June 19: The Federal Communications Commission was created, replacing the Federal Radio Commission. 1934 Aug 25: First public demonstration of electronic scanning television by Philo T. Farnsworth at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. 1939: R.C.A. began selling the first commercial television receivers. 1941 July 1: First ever TV ad, for Bulova Watches, on W.N.B.T. New York City. 1943 Oct 14: Radio Corporation of America completed sale of its NBC Blue Network for $8 million to businessman Edward J. Noble; soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company. 1946 Oct 30: R.C.A. publicly demonstrated an all-electronic system of color TV, on a 15x20-inch screen. 1947 Jan 22: Station W6XYZ in Los Angeles, CA changed call letters to KTLA-TV 5, the first commercial TV west of Chicago. 1948: The United States leaped from fewer than 200,000 TV sets to 975,000 TV sets by the end of the year. 1948 Feb 16: First nightly television news broadcast, "The Camel Newsreel Theatre" on NBC-TV, showing Fox-MovieTone newsreels narrated by John Cameron Swayze. 1951 June 25: First commercial color television broadcast - CBS transmitted a one-hour special program from New York City to four other cities. 1952 Sept 6: Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal, PQ. 1953 Dec 17: First national broadcasts of R.C.A./N.T.S.C. color television, on C.B.S. at 6:15 pm and on N.B.C. at 6:30 pm. 1962 April 24: Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, CA and Westford, MA. 1970 Sept 21: "NFL Monday Night Football" debuted on ABC-TV. 1974: Two-thirds of U.S. homes had color TV sets. 1976 Dec: Media mogul Ted Turner originated the 'superstation' cable channel concept by transmitting by satelite from WTCG-TV in Atlanta, Georgia; Turner Broadcasting later sold to Time Warner. 1980 June 1: Debut of C.N.N. {Cable News Network}. 1996 Oct 10: Time Warner purchased and merged with Turner Broadcasting. 1996 Oct 17: Launch of the Fox News Channel. 2009 June 12: The end of analog television broadcasting in the U.S., the final switch-over to digital broadcast TV. 2009 Dec 2: Cable giant Comcast announced its offer for 51% ownership of NBC-Universal broadcast TV network. JM's detailed chronology of U.S. television history

Television  &  Radio  Links

Museum of Broadcast Communications [est. 1987] in Chicago, IL
"TV History: The First 75 Years" website
Early Television Museum/Foundation in Hilliard, Ohio
F.C.C. History of Television pages

History of Cinema Page
Books About Hollywood & Cinema History

see also Magic Lantern's History of Radio & Television Pages

on page one: pioneers of radio & TV • early TV programs •
links • important dates • old time radio • fiction books • music

on page two: videos & DVDs • non-fiction books

Online sales in association with     and   

Current Filmmakers  |   XXth Century Directors  |   Early Filmmakers
Foreign Cinema  |   Favorite Films (and Why)  |   The Movie Industry Page
Film Genres  |   Actors: Stars & Unknowns  |   Movies: Great & Unsung
Film Festivals & Orgns  |   Reference & Technical  |   Film Businesses Page

top of this page  Έ  back to Magic Lantern homepage