FOX: Difference between revisions

Some of these stations had formerly been a part of the [[Du MontDuMont]] Network, which came on the air in the late '40s as the nation's third television network. Several problems, like ownership complications, problems keeping talent, and NBC and CBS making sure that they got all the good stations, did it in slowly. DuMont was finished off by the quick rise of [[ABC]] in 1954 from an also-ran to a money-making also-ran who could hang in there patiently. For the next thirty years, all attempts at creating a fourth television network (not counting [[PBS]], which nobody does anyway) were met with little success, and most of the former group of [[Du MontDuMont]] stations ended up part of Metromedia, which eventually began to run strong independent stations from the 60's and into the 70's and 80's.

The [[FOXFox]] network began broadcasts in 1986 in [[Late Night]] with the ''Late Show with Joan Rivers'', but it was more of a whimper than a bang. [[The Tonight Show|Johnny Carson]] [[I Have No Son|disowned]] his former guest host Rivers completely, providing a literal kiss of death (she was never forgiven by Carson) to the show before it ever began. She lasted less than a year before the show would die a slow death with guest hosts. Fox has never done well in late night and eventually gave the time back to their affiliates to run mainly ''[[Seinfeld]]'' reruns (after ''The Wilton-North Report'' nearly broke up the network completely), and the less said about Chevy Chase's [[Old Shame|short run on Fox, the better]].

Fox truly launched in April 1987 in primetime, making its name with edgy, risque TV shows like ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'', ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'', and the pioneering [[Reality Show]] ''[[Cops]]''. In 1993, they shocked the industry by picking up the [[wikipedia:National Football Conference|NFC]] contract for over a billion dollars. The network then signed up with stations owned by [[wikipedia:New World Communications|New World Communications]], owner of stations in several NFC markets. While [[ABC]] and [[NBC]] were hurt by this loss, it had truly devastating effects on [[CBS]], who had to move to lower-tier UHF stations in several cities (such as [[wikipedia:WGCL-TV|channel 46 in Atlanta]], initially set to affiliate with [[The WB]], and [[wikipedia:WWJ-TV|channel 62 in Detroit]]). Fox also signed over football commentators from CBS in addition to plundering its affiliates. The combination of the New World deal and the football contract in the early '90s were responsible for cementing Fox's status as being on par to the three major networks.

Today, thanks to the success of ''[[American Idol]]'', [[FOXFox]] is running neck-and-neck with CBS for first place in the ratings, eliminating any doubt as to its position on American television. The network is often stereotyped (rightfully or wrongly) for being [[The Firefly Effect|overly trigger-happy]] [[Screwed Byby the Network|in terms of cancelling shows]], which has been mocked by ''[[Family Guy]]'', [http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/080226.html among others].

Another source of controversy surrounding Fox, alluded to above, is that its content has historically [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|pushed far]] [[Hotter and Sexier|more boundaries]] than its broadcast competition, making it a frequent target of [[Moral Guardians]] (ironic, considering [[Fox News Channel|their news division's]] [[Strawman News Media|reputation]]). ''[[The Simpsons]]'' character Bart Simpson was seen as promoting juvenile delinquency, ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'' was subject to a boycott attempt by a Michigan [[Housewife]] due to its raunchy content (which [[No Such Thing Asas Bad Publicity|only increased its ratings]]), and trashy [[Reality Show|reality shows]] like ''The Swan'', ''Married by America'', ''Temptation Island'' and ''Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?'' managed to disgust nearly everyone. In [[The Nineties]], Fox was also famous for running [[Mondo|shockumentaries]] like the ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293702/ When Animals Attack!]'' specials and ''World's Wildest Police Videos''.

[[Fox News Channel]] also dominates [[24-Hour News Networks|cable news]], coming in as the number-one rated cable news network in 2007, hosting the number-one rated cable news [[Talk Show]], ''[[The O Reilly Factor|The O'Reilly Factor]]'' (which has held the spot for one hundred months in a row), and grossing more viewers than the other cable news networks combined. However it is always important to note that Fox and Fox News are completely different operations, and even some of the network's affiliates go out of their way to make sure that viewers know that in their local news coverage. Sister cable network Fox Business Network is a [[Spirited Competitor]] to CNBC with a much deeper pro-business slant.