AHC: Earlier Fourth Television Network?

THE KINGFISH

THE KINGFISH

Nowadays, with access to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu/Disney+, Max, Amazon and their abundance of content, we hardly think about how we access the content (films and shows) we consume. Yet 50 years ago, that was an entirely different story. With the exception of the educational PBS and local independent stations - the only choices on what to watch on television were the “Big Three” television networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. This of course changed with the arrival of FOX in 1986 and its entry into prime-time the next year, and the rest is history.

But what if a fourth television network launched earlier? How would it effect the television landscape? To make this interesting, let’s say that this fourth network launches no later than 1971. Why that year specifically? Firstly because it’s 15 years before FOX launched IOTL, and secondly it’s because that’s around the same time the FCC’s fin-syn regulations were implemented. To add some more spice, I’m tagging @Jay_Maxu and @CountDVB for some insight on this era.
 
Jay_Maxu

Jay_Maxu

THE KINGFISH said:
Nowadays, with access to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu/Disney+, Max, Amazon and their abundance of content, we hardly think about how we access the content (films and shows) we consume. Yet 50 years ago, that was an entirely different story. With the exception of the educational PBS and local independent stations - the only choices on what to watch on television were the “Big Three” television networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. This of course changed with the arrival of FOX in 1986 and its entry into prime-time the next year, and the rest is history.

But what if a fourth television network launched earlier? How would it effect the television landscape? To make this interesting, let’s say that this fourth network launches no later than 1971. Why that year specifically? Firstly because it’s 15 years before FOX launched IOTL, and secondly it’s because that’s around the same time the FCC’s fin-syn regulations were implemented. To add some more spice, I’m tagging @Jay_Maxu and @CountDVB for some insight on this era.
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Oooh, thanks for the tag! For "insight", do you want me to provide some stuff I know about the period, or just put together my own idea for the challenge?
 

Nivek

Gavinworld12 said:
I say that maybe that Dumont thing could succeed or get bought out?
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DuMont will make TV work: A TL

Allen DuMont worried. He would have paced, in fact, but he had fallen far to ill with the worst flu that he could remember in quite some time to be able to do that. So instead he laid in bed unable to sleep as his emotions raged inside him. “Why now, of all times, for this to happen, when I had...
www.alternatehistory.com
An example

THE KINGFISH said:
Nowadays, with access to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu/Disney+, Max, Amazon and their abundance of content, we hardly think about how we access the content (films and shows) we consume. Yet 50 years ago, that was an entirely different story. With the exception of the educational PBS and local independent stations - the only choices on what to watch on television were the “Big Three” television networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. This of course changed with the arrival of FOX in 1986 and its entry into prime-time the next year, and the rest is history.

But what if a fourth television network launched earlier? How would it effect the television landscape? To make this interesting, let’s say that this fourth network launches no later than 1971. Why that year specifically? Firstly because it’s 15 years before FOX launched IOTL, and secondly it’s because that’s around the same time the FCC’s fin-syn regulations were implemented. To add some more spice, I’m tagging @Jay_Maxu and @CountDVB for some insight on this era.
Click to expand...
A successful example https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-the-story-of-americas-fourth-network.330520/

Fox worked as Murdoch was willing to experiment and got hits,them got the NFL and thrive
 

connorCD

Dumont's probably your best bet here, although it'd be fun to see someone make the aborted Paramount Television Service work rather than get strangled in its cradle.
 
skycloud86

skycloud86

I don't know much about US television channels, but I'm surprised that Fox is that young. I always thought it was much older.
 

Comte de Geneve

Fourth Network was not possible until cable became widespread. There were not enough channels in VHF to support 4 national networks. In the end it came down to Dumont or ABC surviving and ABC did but until the 60's ABC was always weak in number of outlets and often was shared in smaller markets. So until the 60's it was really 2 1/2 networks. UHF channels in the 60's were too weak to support more than marginal PBS or independent stations.
 
THE KINGFISH

THE KINGFISH

Comte de Geneve said:
Fourth Network was not possible until cable became widespread. There were not enough channels in VHF to support 4 national networks. In the end it came down to Dumont or ABC surviving and ABC did but until the 60's ABC was always weak in number of outlets and often was shared in smaller markets. So until the 60's it was really 2 1/2 networks. UHF channels in the 60's were too weak to support more than marginal PBS or independent stations.
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Forgive my ignorance (and late reply), but why weren’t there more VHF stations/channels? FCC regulation? Tech limitations?
 

Analytical Engine

THE KINGFISH said:
Forgive my ignorance (and late reply), but why weren’t there more VHF stations/channels? FCC regulation? Tech limitations?
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There needs to be enough available airwave space to accommodate the TV stations*, plus radio stations, plus everything else that needs to use radio bands (e.g. radar, military etc.)

There also needs to be enough space between the radio channels to avoid interference

It's why TV eventually moved over to UHF - you can fit more into a "smaller" space

Also...cost. It's expensive to run a TV network. That's the biggest reason why a lot of early radio and TV stations combined together into networks


*TV stations need a much wider bandwidth than radio stations, because, well, you know - they broadcast pictures as well as sound. Colour TV needs more bandwidth than black and white for the same reason
 

Nivek

THE KINGFISH said:
Forgive my ignorance (and late reply), but why weren’t there more VHF stations/channels? FCC regulation? Tech limitations?
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an problem of early sets didn't have integrated decoders for UHF and as the digital transition teach us... people were reticent to buy decoders, so that's what ended up killing Dumont.
 

Comte de Geneve

Dumont was dead before UHF was even a thing. One thing I forgot before was that Dumont lacked a Radio Network link, which was another drawback in getting stations and established personalities. Even when UHF emerged by the 60's and new TV's had UHF dials a separate antenna was needed for UHF and the stations obviously lacked power to effectively broadcast in an entire metro region. And the little, crowded dials for UHF were not user friendly.
 
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