The Fox Broadcasting Company is a television network in the United States. It is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

It was launched on October 9, 1986 as "FBC" (for "Fox Broadcasting Company") with a late-night talk show program, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, a year after News Corporation purchased TCF Holdings, the parent company of the 20th Century Fox movie studio. The seed Fox stations were a chain of television stations purchased by News Corp. from John Kluge's company, Metromedia, in April 1986. These first stations became known as the Fox Television Stations Group. As the network grew, other affiliates would be added to this group of stations.

The network did not have a significant market share until the early 1990s when News Corp. bought more TV station groups, e.g. New World Communications, Chris-Craft Industries, BHC Communications and United Television, making it the largest owner of television stations in the United States. Fox became a major competitor to the "big three" broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) in 1994 after it outbid longtime rights owner CBS to broadcast National Conference games of the National Football League. The rights gave Fox many new viewers (and affiliates) and a platform for advertising its other shows. Fox later acquired rights to broadcast games of the National Hockey League (in 1995), Major League Baseball (in 1996), and NASCAR auto races (in 2000).

The Fox network is home to the longest-running sitcom and animated series in American television history, The Simpsons. It is also credited with launching the careers of such Hollywood stars as Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller and Ashton Kutcher.

It was estimated in 2003 that FOX is viewable by 96.18% of all US households, reaching 102,565,710 houses in the United States. FOX has 180 VHF and UHF owned-and-operated or affiliate stations in the U.S. and U.S. possessions.

See also

• List of Fox affiliates
• List of programs broadcast by Fox
• List of United States television networks

External links

• Fox website (http://www.fox.com/)