Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox (and stylized as FOX),is an Americancommercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery

Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic from 2004 to 2009. In the 2007–08 season, Fox became the most popular network in America in household ratings for the first time in its history, replacing CBS.[3] CBS took back the top spot in the 2008–09 season.Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

The Fox Broadcasting Company and its affiliates operate many entertainment channels internationally, although these do not necessarily air the same programming as the U.S. network. Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U.S. Fox affiliate, although most of Fox's primetime programming is subject to Canadian simultaneous substitution regulations.Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

The network is named after sister company 20th Century Fox, and indirectly for producer William Fox, who founded one of the movie studio's predecessors, Fox Film.

History

20th Century Fox was involved in television production as early as the 1950s. The company produced several syndicated programs during this era. Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

In November 1956, 20th Century-Fox purchased 50% of the NTA Film Network, an early syndicator of films and television programs. Following the demise of the DuMont Television Network, NTA was launched as a new "fourth network". 20th Century-Fox would also produce original content for the NTA Network.Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery

The film network effort would fail after a few years, but Fox continued to dabble in television through its production arm, TCF Television Productions, producing series such as Perry Mason for the Big Three television networks.

1980s: Building a network

The groundwork for a new Fox network was laid in March 1985 by News Corporation's $250-million purchase of 50 percent of TCF Holdings, the parent company of the 20th Century Fox movie studio.Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

In May 1985, News Corporation agreed to pay $1.55 billion to acquire independent television stations in six major U.S. cities from John Kluge's company, Metromedia. These stations were WNEW-TV in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., KTTV in Los Angeles, KRIV-TV in Houston, WFLD in Chicago, and KRLD in Dallas.Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

A seventh station, WCVB-TV in Boston, was part of the original transaction but was spun off in a separate, concurrent deal to the Hearst Corporationas part of a right of first refusal related to that station's 1982 sale to Metromedia.

In October 1985, 20th Century Fox announced its intentions to form an independent television system, a fourth television network which would compete with the three major U.S. television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC).Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

The plans were to use the combination of the Fox studios and the former Metromedia stations to both produce and distribute programming. Organizational plans for the network were held off until the Metromedia acquisitions cleared regulatory hurdles. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery

Then, in December 1985, Rupert Murdoch agreed to pay $325 million to acquire the rest of the studio from his original partner, Marvin Davis. The purchase of the Metromedia stations was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in March 1986; the New York and Dallas outlets were subsequently renamed WNYW and KDAF respectively. Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

These first six stations, then broadcasting to 22 percent of the nation's households, became known as the Fox Television Stations group.

The network's first program was a late-night talk show, The Late Show, which debuted on October 9, 1986 with Joan Rivers as host.Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

After a strong start, the show quickly eroded in the ratings and by early 1987 Rivers had quit and the show was being hosted by a succession of guest hosts. After that point, some stations which affiliated with the network in the weeks before the April 1987 primetime launch, such as Milwaukee's WCGV-TV, signed affiliation agreements on the condition that they would not have to carry The Late Show due to the program's ratings weakness.Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

The network debuted in prime time on April 5, 1987, with the series Married... with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show. It added one new show per week over the next several weeks, with the series 21 Jump Street, Mr. President and Duet completing its Sunday schedule.Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

Beginning on July 11, the network rolled out its inaugural Saturday night schedule with a two-hour movie premiere of Werewolf, and over the next three weeks the series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, Karen's Song andDown and Out in Beverly Hills were added. Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

Both Karen's Song and Down and Out in Beverly Hills were canceled by the start of the 1987–88 television season, the network's first fall launch, and were replaced by Second Chance and Women in Prison.

The network had already decided to cancel The Late Show, and had a replacement series called The Wilton North Report in development, when the show began a ratings resurgence with its final guest host, comedian Arsenio Hall. Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

Wilton North lasted just a few weeks, however, and the network was unable to reach a deal with Hall to return when it hurriedly revived The Late Show in early 1988. The show went back to guest hosts again, eventually selecting Ross Shafer as its permanent host, and was permanently canceled by October 1988, while Hall signed a deal with Paramount Television to develop his own syndicated late night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show.Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

The network added its third night of programming in the 1989 television season. It gradually added nights of programming over the next few years, airing on all seven nights for the first time in the 1993 television season. The 1989 season also featured a midseason replacement series, The Simpsons; Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

ranked at a three-way tie for 28th place in the Nielsen ratings, it became the first Fox series to break the Top 30.

Unlike the three larger networks, which aired prime time programming from 8 to 11 pm Mondays to Saturdays and 7 to 11 pm Sundays, Fox has traditionally avoided programming the 10 pm hour, leaving that hour to affiliates to program locally. Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

The network did schedule programming in the 10 pm hour on Sunday nights between 1989 and 1992, but never added 10 pm programming on any other night.

Except for KDAF (which was sold to Renaissance Broadcasting in 1995 and became a WB affiliate at the same time), all the original stations are still part of the Fox network today. Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

Clarke Ingram, who maintains a memorial website to the failed DuMont Television Network, has suggested that Fox is a revival or at least a linear descendant of DuMont, since Metromedia was spun off from DuMont and Metromedia's television stations formed the nucleus of the Fox network.Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

WNYW (originally known as WABD) and WTTG were two of the three original owned-and-operated stations of the DuMont network.

Fox is a full member of the North American Broadcasters Association and the National Association of Broadcasters.

1990s: Rise into mainstream success

Fox survived where DuMont and other attempts to start a fourth network failed because it programmed just under the number of hours to be legally considered a network by the FCC.Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

This allowed Fox to make money in ways forbidden to the established networks, since during its first years it was considered to be merely a large group of stations. By comparison, DuMont was hampered by numerous regulatory roadblocks, most notably a ban on acquiring more stations since its minority owner, Paramount Pictures owned two television stations.Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

Combined with DuMont's three television stations, this put DuMont at the legal limit at the time. Also, Murdoch was more than willing to open his wallet to get and keep programming and talent. DuMont, in contrast, operated on a shoestring budget and was unable to keep the programs and stars it had.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

Most of the other startup networks (such as The WB, UPN and The CW) followed this model as well.

Although Fox was growing rapidly as a network and had established itself as a presence, it was still not considered a major competitor to the big three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). Until the early 1990s, most Fox stations were still essentially independents. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

The network did not have significant market share until the mid-1990s, when News Corp. bought more station groups. The first was New World Communications, which had signed an affiliation deal with Fox in 1994. Later, in 2001, Fox bought several stations owned by Chris-Craft Industries and its subsidiaries BHC Communications and United Television (most of these were UPN affiliates, although one later became a Fox O&O). Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

This made Fox one of the largest owners of television stations in the United States.

This all changed when Fox lured the National Football League away from CBS in 1993. They signed a huge contract to broadcast the NFC, which included luring Pat Summerall, John Madden, Dick Stockton, Matt Millen, James Brown, and Terry Bradshaw (as well as many behind-the-scenes production personnel) from CBS Sports as well. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

The NFC deal, in fact, was the impetus for the affiliation deal with New World; many of New World's stations were longstanding CBS affiliates. After acquiring the NFL rights, Fox was on the map for good.

The early and mid-1990s saw the launch of several soap-opera dramas aimed at younger audiences that became quick hits: Beverly Hills, 90210; Melrose Place; New York Undercover; and Party of Five.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

September 1993 saw the heavy promotion and debut of a short-lived Western with science-fiction elements, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. However, it was the Friday night show that debuted immediately following it, The X-Files, which would find long-lasting success, and would be Fox's first series to crack Nielsen's year-end Top 20.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery

The sketch-comedy series In Living Color created many memorable characters (and launched the careers of future movie stars Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans,Keenen Ivory Wayans, and "Fly Girl" dancer Jennifer Lopez).

MADtv, another sketch-comedy series that debuted in 1995, became a solid competitor to NBC's Saturday Night Live for over a decade and the most successful show on Saturday nights. Madtv ended in 2009.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

Fox would expand to a full week's worth of programming in 1993, which included scheduling the breakout hit The Simpsons opposite NBC's The Cosby Show as one of Fox's initial Thursday night offerings in the fall of 1990 (along with future hit Beverly Hills, 90210) after only a half-season of success on Sunday nights. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

The show performed well in its new Thursday night slot, spending four seasons there and helping to launch Martin, another Fox hit in 1992. The Simpsons returned to Sunday nights in the fall of 1994, and has been there since.

An attempt to make a larger effort to program Saturday nights by moving Married...with Children, Sony VAIO VPCEA20 Battery

Martin and two other long-forgotten new sitcoms to the night at the beginning of the 1996–97 season backfired with the public as it resulted in a short cancellation of America's Most Wanted that was criticized by law enforcement and public officials, and roundly rejected by the viewing public, which brought swift cancellation to the newer series, and Married... and Martin quickly returned to their previous nights.Sony VAIO VPCEB10 Battery

Two months later a revised schedule featuring a new and encore episode of COPS, and the revived America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back was launched. Cops and AMW had for many years remained the anchors of the network's Saturday schedule, making it the most stable night in American broadcast television for over 14 years.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM Battery

America's Most Wanted ended it's 23 year run on Fox in June of 2011

Notable shows that debuted in the late 1990s include the quirky dramedy Ally McBeal and traditional sitcom That '70s Show, Fox's second-longest-running live-action sitcom behind Married... with Children. By the 1997–98 season, Fox had 3 shows in the Nielsen Top 20, The X-Files which ranked 11th, King of the Hill which ranked 15th, and The Simpsons which ranked 17th.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI Battery

Building around its flagship The Simpsons, Fox has been relatively successful with animated shows. King of the Hill began in 1997; Family Guy and Futurama began in 1999 and were canceled in 2002 and 2003, respectively. However, the network commissioned new episodes of Family Guy that began in 2005 due to strong DVD sales and highly rated cable reruns on Adult Swim of Cartoon Network. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T Battery

Futurama would be revived with four direct-to-DVD films between 2007–2009 and would return as a series in 2010 on Comedy Central. Less successful efforts included The Critic, which starred Jon Lovitz from Saturday Night Live (originally airing on ABC then moved to Fox before being canceled), and The PJs, (which was later broadcast on The WB).Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI Battery

Throughout the 1990s, Fox launched its set of cable channels – FX, Fox News Channel, FXM (currently Fox Movie Channel), a controlling interest in the Fox Sports Netregional sports networks, Speed Channel, Fox Sports World (currently Fox Soccer Channel), and Fox Sports en Espanol (currently Fox Deportes).Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX Battery

2000s

Many Fox staple shows of the 1990s had ended. During this time, Fox put much of its efforts into producing reality fare such as Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?, Temptation Island, Married by America and Joe Millionaire, as well as video clips shows such as World's Wildest Police Videos and When Animals Attack!Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI Battery

After shedding most of these shows, Fox filled its lineup with acclaimed dramas such as 24, The O.C., House and Bones, and comedies such as The Bernie Mac Show,Malcolm in the Middle, and Arrested Development. By 2005, Fox's most popular show by far was the talent search American Idol, Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T Battery

peaking at up to 37 million viewers on certain episodes and being the nation's highest-rated program in the 2004–05 season.House, airing after Idol on Tuesday nights and having had a successful run of summer repeats in 2005, positioned itself as a top-ten hit in the 2005–06 season.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI Battery

Fox hit a milestone in February 2005 by scoring its first-ever sweeps victory among all viewers. This was largely due to the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIX, but also on the strength of American Idol, 24, House, and The O.C. By the end of the 2004–05 television season, Fox ranked No. 1 for the first time in its history among the 18–49 demographic most appealing to advertisers.Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX Battery

Another milestone came on May 21, 2008, Fox took the No.1 general households rating crown for the first time, based on the strength of Super Bowl XLII and American Idol .

Near the end of the 2000s, Fox launched a few series that proved to be powerful hits in different respects. In 2008, Fringe debuted to high ratings and critical acclaim during its first season on TuesdaysSony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI Battery

; though its viewership declined through its run, the series has helped to reverse Fox's dwindling fortunes on Friday nights. In 2009, Fox launched Glee to average ratings but positive reception from critics. Ratings picked up during the first season, and the show has been met with such media attention that it has formed a large loyal fanbase. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T Battery

The cast of the series has been acknowledged by notable people such as the President of the United States Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, who have each asked the cast to perform live for numerous national events. In 2010, Raising Hope gave Fox its first ratings success for a live action comedy series in years.Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI Battery

It was estimated in 2003 that Fox was viewable by 96.18% of all U.S. households, reaching a total of 102,565,710 houses in the United States.[12] Fox has 180 VHF and UHF owned-and-operated or affiliate stations in the United States and U.S. possessions.

Analog broadcasting on Fox largely ended on June 12, 2009 as part of the transition to digital television.Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX Battery

As a newer broadcast network, Fox still has a number of low-power television affiliates, covering markets like Youngstown, Ohio (WYFX) and Santa Barbara, California(KKFX), broadcasting in analog format. In some cases, including both of these markets, these stations also have digital signals on the digital subchannel of a sister television station in the same market.Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI Battery

Programming

Fox currently programs 19.5 hours of programming per week. It provides 15 hours of prime time programming to owned-and-operated and affiliated stations: 8–10 p.m. Monday to Saturday (all times ET/PT) and 7–10 p.m. on Sundays. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC Battery

One and a half hours of late night programming is offered on Saturdays from 11:00 pm to 12:30 am Weekend daytime programming consists of the infomercial block Weekend Marketplace (Saturdays from 10:00 am to noon) and the hour-long political news program Fox News Sunday (time slot may vary).Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T Battery

Sports programming is also provided, usually on weekends (albeit not every weekend year-round), and most commonly between 12–4 or 12-8 p.m. on Sundays (during football season, slightly less during NASCAR season) and 3:30–7 p.m. on Saturday afternoons (during baseball season).Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX Battery

Most of its primetime programming is produced by one of the production companies owned by News Corporation, usually 20th Century Fox Television or Fox Television Studios.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI Battery

Fox's weekday programming differs from the "big three" networks in several significant ways: There is no morning newscast, no daytime television, no evening newscast, no third hour of primetime, and no late-night talk shows. Local affiliates either produce their own programming during these times or run syndicated shows.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T Battery

News

Unlike the Big Three, Fox does not currently air national morning or evening news programs, choosing to focus solely on their primetime schedule. However, the network's parent company owns the Fox News Channel, which was launched in 1996 and is now available through virtually all cable and satellite providers in the United States. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI Battery

Fox News does produce some news coverage carried by the broadcast network, usually separate from the coverage aired on the cable channel, as Fox Report andStudio B anchor Shepard Smith anchors most primetime news presentations on the Fox network, especially during political news events (which are anchored by Bret Baieron the Fox News Channel).Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM Battery

Specifically, the Fox network airs coverage of the State of the Union address, presidential debates, national election coverage, as well as live breaking news bulletins from time to time branded as "Fox News Alerts" or sometimes "Fox News Red Alerts". (Carriage of such special coverage may vary from station to station, and is often limited to events occurring within the network's usual primetime block.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI Battery

For example, unlike the Big Three, the Fox network does not generally provide coverage of major political convention speeches, which usually occur during the 10:00 pm ET hour when many affiliates air local news. However the majority of Fox's O&O's and station groups do take weekday breaking news briefs.)Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T Battery

The public affairs show Fox News Sunday also airs on the Fox network on Sunday mornings and is later repeated on FNC. Finally, the Fox News Edge service provides national and international news reports for local Fox affiliates to use in their own newscasts.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI Battery

In prime time, Fox first tried its hand at a news show in 1988 with an hour-long weekly newsmagazine called The Reporters, which was produced by the same team behind the FTSG-distributed syndicated tabloid program A Current Affair. After two years with low ratings, this program was cancelled.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX Battery

Fox News Break news capsules segments produced and compiled by WNYW and KTTV reporters also aired during network primetime from the network's launch in 1987 until about 1995. Another failed attempt occurred in 1993, when Fox launched the newsmagazine Front Page in an attempt to capture a younger demographic for such a program, with Ron Reagan among its five hosts.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI Battery

After FNC launched in 1996, the network tried again in 1998 with Fox Files, hosted by Fox News anchors Catherine Crier and Jon Scott, as well as a team of correspondents. It lasted a little over a year before being cancelled. During the sweeps of the 2002–03 TV season, Fox tried another attempt with The Pulse, hosted by Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T Battery

Many Fox stations have a local morning newscast that airs on average three to four hours, including an extra two hours from 7 to 9 am as a local alternative to nationwide morning programming. Fox, however, did air a nationally based morning show called Fox After Breakfast (which was formerly Breakfast Time on Fox's FX cable channel) between 1996 and 1998,Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI Battery

which aired on all affiliates from 9 to 10 am as opposed to the other major networks airing theirs from 7 to 9 am Fox tried its hand again in 2001, at a morning show called Good Day Live, inspired by KTTV's Good Day L.A.—this time in syndication mode. The show did not fare well in ratings and was canceled in 2005.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX Battery

On January 22, 2007, Fox premiered The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet for its O&O (owned and operated) stations, hosted by Mike Jerrick andJuliet Huddy of the Fox News Channel's DaySide program. The show was lighter and more oriented towards entertainment, though the show's focus often changed when major news stories occurred. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B Battery

In February 2007, the show was syndicated to many ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates where a MyNetworkTV or Fox station did not carry it; it was cancelled in June 2009.

Sports

When the network launched, Fox management, having seen the critical role that sports programming Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G Battery

(soccer programming in particular) had played in the growth of the British satellite service British Sky Broadcasting, believed that sports, and specifically professional football, would be the engine that would make Fox a major network the quickest. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L Battery

In 1987, after ABC initially hedged on renewing its contract to carry Monday Night Football, Fox made an offer to the NFL for the same amount ABC had been paying, about $13 million per game at the time. However, the NFL, in part because Fox had not yet established itself as a major network, renewed its contract with ABC.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P Battery

Six years later, when the football contract was up for renewal, Fox made a $1.58 billion bid for 4 years of rights to the NFC. The NFL selected the Fox bid, stripping CBS of football for the first time since 1955. The event placed Fox on a par with the "big three" broadcast networks and ushered in an era of growth for the NFL.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W Battery

Fox's acquisition of the NFL rights also quickly led toward Fox reaching a deal with New World Communications to change the affiliation of 10 of their stations to Fox. The rights gave Fox many new viewers and a platform for advertising its other shows.

With a sports division now established with the arrival of the NFL, Fox acquired over-air broadcast rights to the National Hockey League (1994–99), Major League Baseball (since 1996), and NASCAR auto racing (since 2001). Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX Battery

From 2007 to 2010, Fox aired the Bowl Championship Series college football games, except for the Rose Bowl, which remained on ABC. The package also included the BCS Championship Game, except in 2010 when the game was played at the Rose Bowl.

In August 2011, Fox and mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) reached a multi-year deal. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B Battery

The agreement will include four live events in prime time or late night each year, the first time UFC has aired on broadcast television.

Children's programming

Fox began airing children's programming in 1990 when it launched the Fox Kids Network. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G Battery

Its children's programming featured many cartoons and some live-action series (particularly fantasy action programs) including Power Rangers (currently airing on Nickelodeon), Bobby's World, X-Men, The Tick, Eerie, Indiana and Goosebumps. When The WB added the Kids' WB programming block in 1995, Warner Bros. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L Battery

Animation-produced Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and later Batman: The Animated Series, (all of which originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication) moved to Kids' WB with new productions and original shows included.

Fox would abandon Fox Kids after selling the children's division and the former Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family) to The Walt Disney Company in 2002 and then sell the four hours of Saturday morning time to 4Kids Entertainment.Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P Battery

4Kids Entertainment ended its TV block at the end of 2008 due to a payment and distribution dispute with Fox that has since been settled, with a last airing on December 27, 2008.Fox did not lease the block to another provider, owing that the competition from cable networks and E/I regulations for broadcast stations have made putting on a competitive children's block virtually impossible.Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W Battery

Two hours of the Saturday block have been given back to their affiliates for Saturday morning newscasts or affiliate purchased E/I programming on January 3, 2009, while the latter two hours became a network-managed infomercial block called Weekend Marketplace.Sony VAIO VPCEB190X Battery

However, This Week in Baseball, an E/I show produced by Major League Baseball, was retained for the 2009 season. It airs a half-hour before the start of the weekly game telecast.

Fox HD

Fox began broadcasting in HDTV in 720p on September 12, 2004 with a series of NFL football games. Sony VAIO VPCEB19FX Battery

The network had no digital on-screen graphic logo in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen on the HD feed, except for a ten-second promotional sweep of a Fox HD, presented by DirecTV acknowledgement (the SD feed did); instead a trigger in Fox's program delivery system at each station displays the affiliate station's logo bug in the 16:9 right-hand corner of the screen,Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX Battery

which disappears during commercial breaks (during local pre-emptions of Fox programming the logo does remain on display even though the station is not airing the programming). However, network or affiliate bugs are not displayed during Fox Sports programming. On some Fox shows, a hashtag rests above the affiliate's logo so viewers can talk about the show on Twitter.Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX Battery

During some high-profile or live programming such as American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance however, Fox does display their network logo in the 4:3 safe areaand forgoes the affiliate's logo, mainly for promotional consideration due to fair use of clips from each series by other media outlets (et al., news programming and clip programs such as those seen on E! and TV Guide Network).Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX/B Battery

Fox is the only commercial television network (broadcast, cable or satellite) to air programs in widescreen on its digital feed that are not available in HD; programs produced in this format were identified as being presented in "Fox High Resolution Widescreen" from 2001 to 2006, but are currently unbranded.Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX Battery

Prior to the launch of its HD feed in 2004, some sitcoms and drama series were presented in this format, but now reality, talk, and game shows (American Idol being the lone exception, as it is presented in High Definition) are only presented in the enhanced definition widescreen mode.Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX/BI Battery

The children's sports show This Week in Baseball began being shown in widescreen in 2009, while Sunday political talk program Fox News Sunday converted to HD when Fox News Channel launched their new HD facilities in November 2008 (before the network's widescreen presentation effort went into effect in September 2010, Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX Battery

it was the final Fox News program to be produced to fit the 4:3 safe area, as Fox News Channel itself converted to a full-time widescreen presentation on both their HD and standard definition channels in 2009).MADtv was produced to air only in 4:3 until September 2008,Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX/BI Battery

likely due to a mix of stations airing the show at differing times than the mandated 11 pm timeslot and unable to offer it on the live air in 16:9, and the show's producers not making the switch to the format. The final network show to convert to HD was Family Guy as of their September 26, 2010 episode.Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX Battery

Fox is unique among US broadcasters in distributing its network HD feed over satellite to affiliates as an MPEG transport stream intended to be delivered bit-for-bit to viewers' television sets. During network time, local commercials are inserted using a transport stream splicer.Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX/BI Battery

The affiliates of most other networks decode compressed satellite network video feeds and then re-encode them for final over-the-air emission.

Since late July 2010, when Fox began to broadcast their sports programming with graphics optimized for 16:9 displays rather than the 4:3 safe area, Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX Battery

the network has asked cable and satellite providers to comply and use the No.10 Active Format Description code they now send out over Fox programming, which has 16:9 content display in letterboxed mode on 4:3 screens and has graphical elements optimized for the 16:9 screen.Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX/BI Battery

Subsequently a number of Fox O&O's and affiliates also now send out the AFD No.10 flag over their HD local news and syndicated programming with graphical elements optimized for 16:9 to allow that programming to appear in widescreen format on 4:3 analog sets.Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX Battery

Station standardization

During the early 1990s, Fox began having stations branded as "Fox", then the channel number, with the call signs nearby. For instance, WNYW in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and WAGA in Atlanta, Georgia, are referred to as Fox 5. By the mid-to-late 1990s, the call letters were minimized to be just barely readable to FCC requirements. Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI Battery

This marked the start of the trend for other networks to apply such naming schemes, especially at CBS, which uses the CBS Mandate on most of its owned-and-operated stations ("O&O").

Starting in 2006, more standardization of the O&Os began to take place both on the air and online. All the O&Os began adopting an on-air look more closely aligned with the Fox News Channel.Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX Battery

This included changing the logos to the same red, white and blue rotating box logo. After News Corporation's acquisition of the social networking site Myspace (which it sold in June 2011), some Fox O&Os launched websites that look the same and have similar addresses, such as MyFoxDC.com.Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI Battery

Logos

Over the years, the Fox Broadcasting Company has used a few logos, most of which have the familiar trademark searchlights on either side of "FOX".

In 1986, the year of its inaugurating television service, Fox got its first official logo, which was based on 20th Century Fox's longtime logo with the noted difference being that the only wording in the logo was the "FOX" in capital letters.Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX Battery

It also contained the signature Fox searchlights and the double-pane platform under the "FOX" typing (Fox Movie Channel currently uses a logo also modeled after the 20th Century Fox logo).

In 1993, the original logo was revised (however keeping the original logo intact with the new logo until 1994), with the "FOX" wordmark revised, and the angle changed so that the whole logo faces the viewer head-on. Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI Battery

The following year, the logo was again revised, dropping the searchlights, but keeping the panes.

The 1993 logo returned in 1996, without the panes underneath the network name, but leaving the searchlights and Fox wordmark. The current version of the logo was introduced in 1999 when the 20th Century Fox searchlights were removed completely and only the network name was visible.Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX Battery

Despite this, the searchlight theme remains an integral part of News Corporation's Fox branding efforts, still seen in the Fox News Channel logo, and in the new universal station logo utilized by the FTSG stations, those former Fox stations sold to Local TV LLC, and several of Tribune Broadcasting's Fox stations,Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI Battery

in addition to being used by some other Fox affiliates not related to FTSG, Local TV and Tribune. The older 1996–1999 Fox logo with searchlights is still used by many of the network's affiliates in their logos, also being an alternate logo from 2000 onwards, plus also being part of an alternate version of the Fox Sports logo. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX Battery

The searchlights were still seen in FX's logo until a rebranding effort in 2008.

Differences between Fox and the "Big Three" networks

Fox only airs two hours of network programming during the prime time hours, and three hours on Sundays, compared to the three weeknight and four Sunday night hours broadcast by the Big Three networks. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B Battery

This allows for many of its stations to air local news during the 10 pm (eastern) time slot. Fox's original reason for the reduced number of prime time hours was to avoid fulfilling the FCC's requirements at the time to be considered a network, and to be free of resulting regulations, though FCC rules have been relaxed since then.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G Battery

Fox also does not air soap operas or any other network daytime programming, such as game shows or talk shows, despite being a major network. Because of this, affiliates have more time for syndicated programming. Fox produces two syndicated daytime courtroom shows, Divorce Court and Judge Alex. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L Battery

Fox also produces two syndicated game shows, Don't Forget the Lyrics! and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, both of which previously aired on Fox in prime time.

Local news

At least half of Fox's 180 O&O and affiliated stations air local news in the 10–11 p.m. ET/PT (9–10 p.m. CT/MT) time slot. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P Battery

The newscast schedules on Fox stations vary more from station to station than ABC, CBS and NBC's affiliates. Some Fox stations have a newscast schedule similar to the Big Three's affiliates along with the added late evening newscast at 10 pm and a late afternoon newscast extended by a half-hour competing with the national evening newscasts, while others only have a 10 pm newscast.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W Battery

Miami's WSVN has the most local news of any Fox station with roughly 54 hours per week, followed by Tampa's WTVT with roughly 52.5 hours per week. Only a few Fox stations that air an 11 pm (or 10 pm) newscast along with a 10 pm (or 9 pm) newscast. Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX Battery

WTVT in Tampa, KDFW in Dallas/Fort Worth, WAGA in Atlanta, WOFL in Orlando,WJBK in Detroit, KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, KSAZ in Phoenix, WTTG Washington, D.C., and WFXT in Boston are the only Fox-owned stations to have a 11 pm/10 p.m. newscast in the Eastern Time Zone, Central and Mountain Time Zones with only WFXT, WTTG, and KSAZ airing it every night. Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B Battery

WDAF-TV in Kansas City, WITI in Milwaukee,WBRC in Birmingham, KOKH in Oklahoma City, WTIC-TV in Hartford, WXXA in Albany, WZTV in Nashville, WVUE in New Orleans, KTVI in St. Louis, KOKI-TV in Tulsa, KLRT in Little Rock, KPTV in Portland (has 50 hours of news per week), Oregon, and WSVN in Miami are among the non-O&Os airing a 10 pm (or 9 pm) and a 11 pm (or 10 pm) newscast.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W Battery

Stations that don't air local news air syndicated programming, usually off-network sitcoms in that time slot. Some small market Fox affiliates outsource their newscasts to a Big Three station in the market (either situation may change in the future as more Fox stations start their own news divisions), although markets as large as Pittsburgh also do this where Fox affiliate WPGH-TV airs a 10 pm news from NBC affiliate WPXI after WPGH shut down its news division in 2006. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery

In some smaller markets with duopolies, the Fox affiliate usually airs a 10 pm newscast from a sister station, such as Youngstown, Ohio where CBS affiliate WKBN-TV airs a 10 pm newscast on its sister station, Fox affiliate WYFX. Upstart Fox local news divisions do not run a full slate of newscasts Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery

(i.e., morning, midday, early and late evening newscasts plus news on weekend evenings and possibly weekend mornings), instead starting with a 10 pm newscast then gradually adding other newscasts. Between September 14 and September 21, 2009, six Fox affiliates owned by Tribune Company added an early evening and/or midday newscast; Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery

Fox has pushed its affiliates to carry more newscasts (especially ones in midday and early evening time slots) for several years, prior to the formation of Fox News Channel.

The largest market with a Fox affiliate that airs no news whatsoever is Buffalo, New York, where WUTV has long opted for sitcom reruns instead;Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery

that station is within range of the Toronto area and targets Southern Ontario heavily with their programs and advertising instead of launching a news operation in an area with heavy news coverage already from other stations in Buffalo, Hamilton and Toronto.Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery

News

Although the Fox network itself does not carry any national, regularly scheduled news programming other than Fox News Sunday, both this program and the network's breaking-news coverage are produced by the Fox News Channel, and are regular subjects of controversy. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery

The network has also received some criticism for deciding not to carry scheduled news events such as presidential speeches at times in primetime in order to air regular entertainment programming (such as a speech in September 2009 which would have jeopardized the long-promoted fall premiere of Glee had it aired).Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery

Indecency

Controversy surrounded the network in 2002 and 2003 over obscenities, expressed respectively by Cher and Nicole Richie, aired live on the network's broadcasts of theBillboard Music Awards on its affiliates in the Eastern and Central Time Zones despite the use of five-second audio delays;Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery

the indecent material was edited out on broadcasts in the Mountain Time Zone and westward. Both of the obscene instances were condemned by the Parents Television Council and named by them among the worst instances on television from 2001 to 2004.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery

PTC members filed tens of thousands of complaints to the Federal Communications Commission over the broadcasts. The Fox network's subsequent apology was labeled a "sham" by PTC president L. Brent Bozell III, who argued that Fox could have easily used audio delay to edit out the obscene language.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery

As the FCC was investigating the broadcasts, in 2004, Fox announced that it would begin extending live broadcast delays to 5 minutes from its standard 5 or 10 seconds to more easily be able to edit out obscenities uttered over the air. In June 2007, in the case Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery

the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC could not issue indecency fines against the Fox network because the FCC does not have the authority to fine broadcasters for fleeting expletives,such as in the case of the Billboard Awards. The FCC eventually decided to appeal the Second Circuit Court's finding.Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and oral arguments in FCC v. Fox, et al., began November 4, 2008.

The Parents Television Council has criticized many popular Fox shows for perceived indecent content, such as American Dad!, Arrested Development, The Simpsons,Family Guy, Hell's Kitchen, Married... with Children, Prison Break, and That '70s Show.Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery

The Council sometimes has gone even as far as to file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission regarding indecent content within Fox programming, having done so for That '70s Show and Married by America, having successfully been able to make the FCC fine the Fox network nearly $1 million for Married by America.Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery

That fine was reduced to $91,000 after it was discovered that the FCC originally claimed to have received 159 complaints, it later admitted to only receiving 90, which came from only 23 people. Blogger Jeff Jarvis studied the complaints and realized that all but 2 were virtually identical to each other,Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery

meaning that the $1.2 million judgment was based on original complaints written by a total of only three people. Armed with the new information, Fox promised to fight the fine. The fine was ultimately reduced to $91,000 in January 2009. Also, Fox programming has been chosen by the PTC for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature more often than programming from any other broadcast network.Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, with hyphen, from 1935 to 1985) — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery

The company was founded on May 31, 1935, as the result of the merger of Fox Film Corporation, founded by William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck, Raymond Griffith and William Goetz.Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery

20th Century Fox's most popular film franchises include Avatar, Star Wars, Ice Age, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, X-Men,Die Hard, Alien, Speed, Revenge of the Nerds, Planet of the Apes, Home Alone, Dr. Dolittle, Night at the Museum, Predator,Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The Chronicles of Narnia (which was previously distributed by Walt Disney Pictures),Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery

The Beach, plus famous TV shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad!. Some of the most famous actors to come out of this studio were Shirley Temple, who was 20th Century Fox's first film star, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The studio also contracted the first African-American cinema star Dorothy Dandridge.Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery

(References to "Fox" below refer to William Fox or Fox Film Corporation until 1935 and shortly afterwards, and to Twentieth Century-Fox or Twentieth Century Fox afterwards.)

Their most commercially successful production partners in later years have been 1492 Pictures, Lucasfilm, Lightstorm Entertainment, Davis Entertainment, Walden Media,Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

Regency Enterprises, Blue Sky Studios, Troublemaker Studios, Ingenious Film Partners, Scott Free Productions, Gracie Films, EuropaCorp, Color Force, Centropolis Entertainment, Conundrum Entertainment,Bad Hat Harry Productions, Red Hour Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures, Dune Entertainment, Chernin Entertainment, The Donners' Company, 21 Laps Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment.Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

Fox Film Corporation

The Fox Film Corporation was formed in 1915 by the theater chain pioneer William Fox, who formed Fox Film Corporation by merging two companies he had established in 1913: Greater New York Film Rental, a distribution firm, which was part of theIndependents;Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

and Fox (or Box, depending on the source) Office Attractions Company, a production company. This merging of a distribution company and a production company was an early example of vertical integration. Only a year before, the latter company had distributed Winsor McCay's groundbreaking cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur.Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

Always more of an entrepreneur than a showman, Fox concentrated on acquiring and building theaters; pictures were secondary. The company's first film studios were set up in Fort Lee, New Jersey where it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century.Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

In 1917, William Fox sent Sol M. Wurtzel to Hollywood to oversee the studio's West Coast production facilities where a more hospitable and cost-effective climate existed for filmmaking. Fox had purchased the Edendale studio of the failing Selig Polyscope Company, which had been making films in Los Angeles since 1909 and was the first motion picture studio in Los Angeles.Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

With the introduction of sound technologies, Fox moved to acquire the rights to a sound-on-film process. In the years 1925–26, Fox purchased the rights to the work of Freeman Harrison Owens, the U.S. rights to the Tri-Ergon system invented by three German inventors, and the work of Theodore Case. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

This resulted in the Movietone sound system later known as "Fox Movietone." Later that year, the company began offering films with a music-and-effects track, and the following year Fox began the weekly Fox Movietone News feature, which ran until 1963. The growing company needed space, and in 1926 Fox acquired 300 acres (1.2 km2) in the open country west of Beverly Hills and built "Movietone City," the best-equipped studio of its time.Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

When rival Marcus Loew died in 1927, Fox offered to buy the Loew family's holdings. Loew's Inc. controlled more than 200 theaters, as well as the MGM studio (whose films are currently distributed internationally by Fox). When the family agreed to the sale, the merger of Fox and Loew's Inc. was announced in 1929. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

But MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer, not included in the deal, fought back. Using political connections, Mayer called on the Justice Department's anti-trust unit to block the merger. Fortunately for Mayer, Fox was badly injured in a car crash in the summer of 1929, and by the time he recovered he had lost most of his fortune in the fall, 1929 stock market crash, putting an end to the Loew's merger.Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

Overextended and close to bankruptcy, Fox was stripped of his empire and ended up in jail. Fox Film, with more than 500 theatres, was placed in receivership. A bank-mandated reorganization propped the company up for a time, but it was clear a merger was the only way Fox Film could survive. Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

Under the new president Sidney Kent, the new owners began negotiating with the upstart but powerful independent Twentieth Century Pictures in the early spring of 1935.

Twentieth Century Pictures

Twentieth Century Pictures was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists), Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Brothers, William Goetz from Fox Films, and Raymond Griffith. Financial backing came from Schenck's older brother Nicholas Schenck and the father-in-law of Goetz, Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM Studios. Company product was distributed by United Artists (UA), and was filmed at various studios.Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

Schenck was President of 20th Century while Zanuck was named Vice President in Charge of Production and Goetz served as vice-president. Successful from the very beginning, their 1934 production, The House of Rothschild was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

In 1935, they produced the classic film Les Misérables, from Victor Hugo's novel, which was also nominated for Best Picture. Legend has it that the new independent took a detour straight into the major studio camp when Zanuck became outraged by United Artists' board including UA's co-founder Mary Pickford's refusal to reward Twentieth Century with UA stock,Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

fearing it would have diluted another UA stockholder and co-founder D.W. Griffith. Schenck, who had been a UA stockholder for over ten years, resigned from United Artists in protest of the shoddy treatment of Twentieth Century, and Zanuck began discussions with other distributors, which led to talks with the foundering giant, Fox.Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

For a list of films produced by Twentieth Century Pictures, see List of 20th Century Pictures films.

Twentieth Century/Fox merger

Joe Schenck and Fox management agreed to a merger; Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox-West Coast theaters, helped in the merger (and later became president of the new company). Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

Although it was still much smaller than Fox, Twentieth Century was the senior partner in the merger. At first, it was expected that the new company would be called "Fox-Twentieth Century." However, 20th Century brought more to bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

It was profitable and had more talent than Fox, the new company was called The Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, and began trading on May 31, 1935; the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President. Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Fox's longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan.Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

For many years, 20th Century-Fox claimed to have been founded in 1915, the year Fox Film Corporation was founded. However, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding date, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915.Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

Aside from the theater chain and a first-rate studio lot, Zanuck and Schenck felt there wasn't much else to Fox. The studio's biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity. Promising leading men James Dunn and Spencer Tracy had been dropped because of heavy drinking.Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

Zanuck quickly signed young actors who would carry Twentieth Century-Fox for years: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Carmen Miranda,Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Sonja Henie, and Betty Grable. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studio's leading assets,Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple.Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

Favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO and mighty MGM to become the third most profitable studio. While Zanuck went off for eighteen months' war service, junior partnerWilliam Goetz kept profits high by emphasizing light entertainment. Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

The studio's—indeed the industry's—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable.

In 1942 Spyros Skouras succeeded Schenck as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Fox's output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razor's Edge,Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery

Wilson, Gentleman's Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books Ben Ames Williams' Leave Her to Heaven (1945) starring Gene Tierney which was the highest-grossing Fox film of the 1940s. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery

Fox also produced Broadway musicals, including the Rodgers and Hammerstein films, beginning with the musical version of State Fair in 1945, and continuing years later with Carousel in 1956, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. They also distributed, but did not make, the CinemaScope version of Oklahoma! and the 1958 film version of South Pacific.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery

After the war and with the advent of television audiences drifted away, Twentieth Century-Fox held on to its theaters until a court-mandated divorce; they were spun off as Fox National Theaters in 1953. That year, with attendance at half the 1946 level, Twentieth Century-Fox gambled on an unproven gimmick.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery

Noting that the two film sensations of 1952 had been Cinerama, which required three projectors to fill a giant curved screen, and "Natural Vision" 3D, which got its effects of depth by requiring the use of polarized glasses, Fox mortgaged its studio to buy rights to a French anamorphic projection system which gave a slight illusion of depth without glasses. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery

President Spyros Skouras struck a deal with the inventor Henri Chrétien, leaving the other filmstudios empty-handed, and in 1953 introduced CinemaScope in the studio's ground-breaking feature film The Robe.

The success of The Robe was so massive that in February 1953 Zanuck announced that henceforth all Fox pictures would be made in CinemaScope.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery

To convince theater owners to install this new process, Fox agreed to help pay conversion costs (about $25,000 per screen); and to ensure enough product, Fox gave access to CinemaScope to any rival studio choosing to use it. Seeing the box-office for the first two CinemaScope features, The Robe and How to Marry a Millionaire, Warner Bros., Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery

MGM,Universal Pictures (then known as Universal-International), Columbia Pictures and Disney quickly adopted the process. In 1956 Fox engaged Robert Lippert to establish a subsidiary company, Regal Pictures, later Associate Producers Incorporated to film B pictures in CinemaScope.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery

CinemaScope brought a brief up-turn in attendance, but by 1956 the numbers again began to slide. That year Darryl Zanuck announced his resignation as head of production. Officially attributed to burn-out, rumors persisted that his wife had threatened divorce (in community-property California) after discovering Zanuck's affair with actress Bella Darvi. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery

Zanuck moved to Paris, setting up as an independent producer; he did not set foot in California again for fifteen years.

Production and financial problems

Zanuck's successor, producer Buddy Adler, died a year later. President Spyros Skouras brought in a series of production executives, but none had Zanuck's success. By the early 1960s Fox was in trouble. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery

A remake of Theda Bara's Cleopatra had begun in 1959 with Joan Collins in the lead. As a publicity gimmick, producer Walter Wanger offered one million dollars to Elizabeth Taylor if she would star; she accepted, and costs for Cleopatra began to escalate, aggravated by Richard Burton's on-set romance with Taylor and surrounding media frenzy.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery

Meanwhile, another remake — of the 1940 Cary Grant hit My Favorite Wife — was rushed into production in an attempt to turn over a quick profit to help keep Fox afloat. The romantic comedy, titled Something's Got to Give, paired Marilyn Monroe, Fox's most bankable star of the 1950s with Dean Martin, and director (George Cukor). Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery

The troubled Monroe caused delays on a daily basis, and it quickly descended into a costly debacle. As Cleopatra's budget passed the ten-million dollar mark, Fox sold its back lot (now the site of Century City) to Alcoa in 1961 to raise cash. After several months of very little progress, Marilyn Monroe was fired fromSomething's Got to Give and two months later she was found dead, although somewhat controversially. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/D Battery

Elizabeth Taylor's highly disruptive reign on the Cleopatra set continued unchallenged.

With few pictures on the schedule, Skouras wanted to rush Zanuck's big-budget war epic The Longest Day, a highly accurate account of the Allied invasion of Normandyon June 6, 1944, with a huge international cast, into release as another source of quick cash.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/D Battery

This offended Zanuck, still Fox's largest shareholder, for whom The Longest Day was a labor of love that he had dearly wanted to produce for years. After it became clear that Something's Got to Give would not be able to progress without Monroe in the lead (Martin had refused to work with anyone else), Skouras finally decided that something had to give and re-signed her. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery

But days before filming was due to resume, she was found dead at her Los Angeles home and the unfinished scenes from Something's Got to Give were shelved for nearly 40 years. Rather than being rushed into release as if it were a B-picture, The Longest Day was lovingly and carefully produced under Zanuck's supervision. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery

It was finally released at a length of three hours, and went on to be recognized as one of the great World War II films.

At the next board meeting, Zanuck spoke for eight hours, convincing directors that Skouras was mismanaging the company and that he was the only possible successor. Zanuck was installed as chairman, and then named his son Richard Zanuck as president. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery

This new management group seized Cleopatra and rushed it to completion, shut down the studio, laid off the entire staff to save money, axed the long-running Movietone Newsreel and made a series of cheap, popular pictures that restored Fox as a major studio.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery

The biggest boost to the studio's fortunes came from the tremendous success of The Sound of Music (1965), an expensive and handsomely produced adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, which became one of the all-time greatest box office hits.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery

Fox also had two big science-fiction hits in the 1960s: Fantastic Voyage (which introduced Racquel Welch to film audiences) in 1966, and the original Planet of the Apes, starring Charlton Heston, in 1968.

Zanuck stayed on as chairman until 1971 but there were several expensive flops in his last years, resulting in Fox posting losses from 1969 to 1971.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery

Following his removal, and after an uncertain period, new management brought Fox back to health. Under president Dennis Carothers Stanfill and production head Alan Ladd, Jr., Fox films connected with modern audiences. Stanfill used the profits to acquire resort properties, soft-drink bottlers, Australian theaters, and other properties in an attempt to diversify enough to offset the boom-or-bust cycle of picture-making.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery

In 1977 Fox's success reached new heights and produced the most profitable film made up to that time, Star Wars.

Rupert Murdoch

With financial stability came new owners, and in 1978 control passed to the investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery

By 1985, Rich had fled the U.S. after evading $100 million in U.S. income taxes, and Davis sold Rich's half of Fox to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Six months later Davis sold his half of Fox, giving News Corp complete control. To run the studio, Murdoch hired Barry Diller from Paramount. Diller brought with him a plan which Paramount's board had refused: a studio-backed, fourth television network that was financed by advertising.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery

To gain FCC approval of Fox's purchase of Metromedia's television holdings, once the stations of the old DuMont network, Murdoch had to become a US citizen. He did so in 1985 (the same year 20th Century-Fox dropped the hyphen from its name), and in 1986 the new Fox Broadcasting Company took to the air. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery

Over the next 20-odd years the network and owned-stations group expanded to become extremely profitable for News Corp.

Since January 2000 this company has been the international distributor for MGM/UA releases, until as of 2005,when Turner Broadcasting System bought MGM the worldwide video distributor for the MGM/UA library.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery

In the 1980s Fox— through a joint venture with CBS, called CBS/Fox Video—had distributed certain UA films on video, thus UA has come full circle by switching to Fox for video distribution. Fox also makes money distributing films for small independent film companies.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery

In 2008 Fox announced an Asian subsidiary, Fox STAR Studios, a joint venture with STAR TV, also owned by News Corporation. It was reported that Fox STAR would start by producing films for the Bollywood market, then expand to several Asian markets.

Its future is in doubt due to the recent News Corporation scandal; however, it might be the least impacted of all of News Corporation's holdings.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery

20th Television is Fox's television syndication division. 20th Century Fox Television is the studio's television production division.

During the mid-1950s features were released to television in hope that they would broaden sponsorship and help distribution of network programs. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery

Blocks of one-hour programming of feature films to national sponsors on 128 stations was organized by Twentieth Century Fox and National Telefilm Associates. 20th Century Fox received 50 percent interest in NTA Film network after it sold its library to National Telefilm Associates. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery

This gave ninety minutes of cleared time a week and syndicated feature films to 110 non-interconnected stations for sale to national sponsors.

Music

Fox Music is Fox's music arm since 2000. It encompasses music publishing and licensing businesses, dealing primarily with Fox Entertainment Group television and film soundtracks.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery

Prior to Fox Music, 20th Century Records was its music arm from 1958 to 1982.

Logo and fanfare

The 20th Century Fox logo, designed by landscape artist Emil Kosa, Jr., originated as the 20th Century Pictures logo, with the name "Fox" substituted for "Pictures, Inc."in 1935. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery

The logo was originally created as a painting on several layers of glass and animated frame-by-frame. Over the years the logo was modified several times.

In 1953, Rocky Longo, an artist at Pacific Title, was hired to recreate the original design for the new CinemaScope process. In order to give the design the required "width", Longo tilted the "0" in 20th. Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery

In 1981, after Longo repainted the eight-layered glass panels (and straightened the "0"), his revised logo became the official trademark. (The 1953 logo, however, would be used in tandem with the the newer logo until 1987.)

In 1994, after a few failed attempts (which even included trying to film the familiar monument as an actual three-dimensional model), Fox in-house television producer Kevin Burns was hired to produce new logo for the company Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery

— this time using the new process of computer-generated imagery (CGI). With the help of graphics producer Steve Soffer and his company Studio Productions (which had recently given face-lifts to the Paramount and Universal logos), Burns directed that the new logo contain more detail and animation, so that the longer (21 second) Fox fanfare with the "CinemaScope extension" could be used as the underscore. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery

This required a virtual Los Angeles Cityscape to be designed around the monument. In the background can be seen the Hollywood sign, which would give the monument an actual location (approximating Fox's actual address in Century City). One final touch was the addition of store front signs—each one bearing the name of Fox executives who were at the studio at the time. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery

One of the signs reads, "Murdoch's Department Store"; another says "Chernin's" and a third reads: "Burns Tri-City Alarm" (an homage to Burns' late father who owned a burglar and fire alarm company in Upstate New York). The 1994 CGI logo was also the first time that Twentieth Century Fox was recognized as "A News Corporation Company" in the logo.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery

In 2009, a newly updated CGI logo, done by Blue Sky Studios, debuted in the film Avatar. A 75th Anniversary version of this new logo was used to coincide with 20th Century Fox's 75th anniversary; it made its official debut with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and last appeared in Gulliver's Travels. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery

The Fox fanfare was originally composed in 1933 by Alfred Newman, who became head of Twentieth Century-Fox's music department from 1940 until the 1960s. It was re-recorded in 1935 when 20th Century Fox was officially established.

In 1953 an extended version was created for CinemaScope films, first used on the film How to Marry a Millionaire, released in the same year. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery

The Robe, the first film released in CinemaScope, used the sound of a choir singing over the logo, instead of the regular fanfare.

As television grew as a medium, the practice of placing production logos at the end of programs became commonplace. For Fox's television arm, a truncated version of the Newman fanfare has been used with a brief shot of the Fox logo. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery

Syndicated programs would overlay "Television" over "Century" in an animation, resulting in the logo reading "20th Television Fox". Today, CGI logos are used, with 20th Century Fox Television primarily for Fox network programming, and 20th Television for other programming (such as cable and syndication).Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery

By the 1970s the Fox fanfare was only being used sporadically in films. George Lucas enjoyed the Alfred Newman music so much that he insisted it be used for Star Wars (1977), which features the CinemaScope version. Composer John Williams composed the Star Wars main theme in the same key (B? major) as the Fox fanfare as an extension to Newman's score. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery

In 1980 Williams conducted a new version of the fanfare for The Empire Strikes Back. Williams' recording of the Fox fanfare has been used in every Star Wars film since. Since the introduction of the CGI Fox logo, Star Wars theatrical releases (beginning with the Special Editions of the original trilogy in 1997) have used a static angle version of the new logo, to allow for the animated Lucasfilm logo to appear during the extension.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery

The Fox fanfare was re-orchestrated in 1981, as Longo's revised logo was being introduced.

As the CGI logo was being prepared to premiere at the beginning of James Cameron's True Lies (1994), Burns asked composer Bruce Broughton for a new version of the familiar fanfare. In 1997 Alfred's son, composer David Newman, recorded the new version of the fanfare in Anastasia (1997). This rendition is still in use as of 2010.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery

Parodies of the fanfare have appeared at the start of the films The Cannonball Run (cars drive around the logo and knock out the searchlights), White Men Can't Jump(rap version of the fanfare), The Day After Tomorrow (thunderstorm on the set), Live Free or Die Hard (where the searchlights go out as a result of a power outage),Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (featuring a piano-rock version of the fanfare), The Simpsons Movie (Ralph Wiggum "sings along" with the fanfare; in trailers and commercials, the "0" in the tower is replaced by a pink, half-bitten doughnut of the type Homer eats),Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery

Daredevil (the picture morphs into a negative image of the logo- as if perceived by the main character's radar sense), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (with snow and volcanoes covering the logo, but the regular 20th Century Fox logo was shown on the film's DVD and Blu-rays release instead) and Minority Report (where the logo, alongside its DreamWorks counterpart, appears immersed in water, similar to the film's "precog" characters). Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery

A variant appears on most of the 2010 films, in which a 75 forms from lights, in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the merger.

In the X-Men films of the 2000s, the "X" in "Fox" remains ghosted on the screen as the scene fades out. In Moulin Rouge! the logo appears on a stage behind a red curtain with a conductor directing an orchestra playing the fanfare.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery

In the 2003 production of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the logo appears as a huge unlit monument dominating the nighttime London skyline. In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the studio placed a cartoon version of the 20th Century Fox structure on the main studio logo.Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery

At the end of Fox's Futurama, set in the 30th and 31st centuries, the logo is shown with the words "30th Century Fox".

As a surprise twist, the opening fanfare for Alien3 has the music "freeze" on the penultimate melody tone, and then adds wailing French horns and bending strings, before continuing with a crash into the opening titles, thus setting the dark mood for the film.Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery

Also on The Simpsons: Season 10 DVD, each disc's opening shows Bart Simpson running around the logo while being chased by the squeaky-voiced teenager.

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Foxstar Productions, and Fox Studios Australia are just a few of the other corporate entities that have used variations on the original 1933 design.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery

The Fox fanfare was sampled for the remix of rapper Busta Rhymes's song, "Stop The Party", after Ghostface Killah's verse.is a group of television stations located within the

History

Fox Television Stations was formed in April 1986 after the acquisition of the Metromedia-owned independent stations by the 20th Century Fox film studio,Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery

at the time jointly owned by Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, and Denver-based billionaire Marvin Davis. These stations would later become the basis of the Fox television network, which launched in October 1986. Not long after the Metromedia deal was made, Murdoch purchased Davis's shares and News Corporation assumed complete control of 20th Century Fox.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery

Initially FTS was a semi-autonomous unit in which News Corporation owned over 99 percent of the equity but only 24 percent of the voting power; the balance was held personally by Murdoch. Federal Communications Commission regulations of that era prohibited foreign interests or non-American citizens from controlling more than 25 percent of an FCC-licensed broadcast station. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery

Though News Corporation was still based in Australia, Murdoch had become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985, and the nominal transfer of a majority voting interest to Murdoch was sufficient to get around this hurdle. The quirk was removed permanently when News Corporation reincorporated in the U.S. in 2004.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery

The Fox network itself and affiliated cable channels were not affected by these regulations.

Starting with the original six stations, Fox Television Stations gained the bulk of its group through two large transactions: the 1997 purchase of New World Communications, succeeding a 1993 business deal between the two companies which led to all of New World's stations switching from other networks to Fox during 1994-95; Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery

and the 2001 acquisition of the Chris-Craft/United group, which gave Fox ownership of several stations then affiliated with the UPN network, and also created several duopolies (two stations in the same market owned by the same company).

The Fox-owned UPN affiliates were not included in the UPN/WB merger (The CW), which was announced on January 24, 2006. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery

Soon after, these stations removed references to UPN from their on-air branding and websites. On February 22, 2006, Fox Television Stations announced that all of their non-Fox outlets will be charter affiliates of a new service known as MyNetworkTV , which commenced operations on September 5, 2006.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery

Partnerships with NBC Local Media, E. W. Scripps and CBS

On November 13, 2008 Fox Television Stations and NBC Local Media, the station division of NBC Universal, announced the formation of a partnership that will allow Fox-owned stations and NBC-owned stations to pool their news resources.Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery

The partnership is first being tested in the Philadelphia market, where Fox owns WTXF-TV and NBC operates WCAU-TV. The two stations are the first network affiliates in the nation to undertake the plan as an effective way to deal with rising in costs in news operations.Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery

The service is scheduled to roll out later in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, D.C., each a market in which Fox owns and operates two stations and NBC owns and operates an English-language station.

On April 1, 2009, Fox Television Stations announced a similar arrangement with the broadcast division of the E.W. Scripps Company, which covers markets where the two entities own stations: Detroit, Phoenix and Tampa/St. Petersburg. Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

On May 19, 2009, WFXT in Boston announced a video-sharing agreement with that city's CBS-owned station, WBZ-TV. The stations will share video for general market news, along with a helicopter for traffic reports and breaking news.Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery