Between 1994 and 1996, a wide-ranging realignment of television network affiliations took place in the United States as the result of a multimillion-dollar deal between the Fox Broadcasting Company and New World Communications, announced on May 23, 1994. Unprecedented in the broadcast industry, the deal resulted in twelve stations owned by, or in the process of being purchased by New World, switching network affiliations to Fox over the course of a two-year period when existing contracts expired. These stations were long-standing affiliates of the traditional "Big Three" television networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC, in some of the country's largest markets, with the majority having been aligned with CBS individually for over 40 years.
The major impetus for the changes was to allow Fox to improve its local affiliate coverage after having successfully outbid CBS for broadcast rights to the National Football Conference (NFC), which the National Football League (NFL) awarded to the fledgling network in December 1993. The alliance started a domino effect of similar deals between the other networks and their affiliates, mainly to shore up existing affiliate bases and, in the case of CBS, to recoup lost affiliates; CBS signed a critical pact with Westinghouse Broadcasting that resulted in Westinghouse's parent company purchasing CBS outright. The switches took place throughout the United States between September 1994 and September 1996, with one additional switch taking place in February 1997, in markets ranging in size from Atlanta, Georgia, to Miles City, Montana. In the case of four markets, CBS and NBC exchanged owned-stations between each other, with one market seeing their CBS- and NBC-owned stations swap both channel positions and transmitters. The complexities of these deals saw the "Big Three" affiliates in two markets, Baltimore and Denver, exchange networks with each other, but the Fox affiliate was unchanged. In total, these constitute some of the most sweeping and expansive changes in American television history.
As a result of this realignment, Fox ascended to the status of a major television network, comparable in influence to CBS, NBC, and ABC. Multiple New World–owned stations (which Fox purchased outright in 1996) struggled to adjust to their new affiliations, but many ultimately recovered with news-intensive schedules and were buoyed by Fox's success in prime time, particularly throughout the 2000s. CBS was most impacted among the "Big Three" networks, consigned to UHF stations with high channel numbers in markets like Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, but started to recover in the late 1990s by claiming the American Football Conference (AFC) rights from NBC. Fox Sports, particularly the NFL on Fox, has won acclaim since its 1994 launch for innovations in game presentation, and the network's aggressive bidding in 1993 signaled long-term trends both in American television and professional sports.
Television affiliation switches prior to 1994
Affiliation switches led by changing fortunes at the major national networks—the traditional "Big Three" of ABC, CBS, and NBC—began in the late 1970s with the rise of ABC, which had traditionally been in third place, to number one in the national ratings. Even though ABC's national coverage alone was not a disadvantage, the quality of affiliates in larger markets was, and the network began a concerted campaign to pry loose stations associated with its competitors. From January 1976 to the end of 1978 alone, ABC secured defections from 20 affiliates of the other "Big Three" networks, 11 from CBS and 9 from NBC. By 1983, NBC alone had lost 20 affiliates to ABC, defections that cost the network a full rating point on the NBC Nightly News and resulted in the loss of $9 million in advertising revenue from Nightly and $15 million in prime time. Among the defections from NBC were a string of major coups in sizable markets: WRTV in Indianapolis; KGTV in San Diego; WSOC-TV in Charlotte; KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities; and WSB-TV in Atlanta.
However, as NBC became the number-one network in the mid-1980s, it gained the upper hand. One of the last defectors from NBC to ABC was KOTA-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota, which changed in 1984; the reversal in fortune was not what KOTA-TV officials had expected and instead brought them closer with their primary competitor. The next year, NBC began a campaign to reverse some of the losses it had experienced. Two former NBC affiliates returned to the network after short stints with ABC: WSAV-TV in Savannah, Georgia, returned after three years, as did KCEN-TV in Temple, Texas, after changing in 1984. Between then and 1988, NBC upgraded its affiliations in a number of markets, including Omaha, Nebraska; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida. NBC president Pierson Mapes told Electronic Media that NBC was looking for upgrades based on a number of factors: "Mostly it's because the local news product isn't what it should be, the owners don't want to invest in the station to improve its performance or it's a UHF outlet that we want to upgrade." Many of the stations added to NBC were stronger than their replacements; the Knoxville station, WBIR-TV, was the dominant station there and commanded nearly half of the television audience for its early evening newscast. ABC struck back in 1990 with the signing of WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, the market's number-one station and a CBS outlet for 40 years; this attracted interest on the part of as many as a dozen CBS affiliates in switching to ABC.
In one of the largest single affiliation switches, six television stations in the Miami and West Palm Beach markets in South Florida changed affiliations on January 1, 1989, when CBS purchased Miami's Fox affiliate WCIX (channel 6) after NBC purchased Miami's CBS affiliate WTVJ (channel 4).
Fox launches and pursues the NFL
The genesis of the Fox Broadcasting Company took place through two 1985 transactions made by News Corporation, headed by Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch. After a failed takeover of Warner Communications, Murdoch purchased a 50% interest in 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation (TCF) on March 20, 1985, for $250 million. Murdoch and TCF minority investor Marvin Davis then announced a $2.5 billion purchase of Metromedia's program syndication unit and six television stations—including WNEW-TV in New York City, KTTV in Los Angeles and WTTG in Washington, D.C.—from John Kluge on May 6, 1985. Murdoch boasted that the Metromedia stations could exploit TCF's film and television library, prompting speculation these stations might form a new "fourth television network" alongside ABC, CBS, and NBC. To win regulatory approval for the deal, Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship and became a naturalized U.S. citizen on September 4, 1985. Davis, who later revealed he declined to participate in the Metromedia purchase, sold his stake in TCF to Murdoch 20 days later. The Metromedia deal closed on March 6, 1986, forming Fox Television Stations Group. After consummation, Fox, which only consisted of president Jamie Kellner and his secretary, began recruiting an executive team.
In July 1986, syndicated newspaper columnist Gary Deeb reported on the possibility ABC might not renew their broadcast rights to Monday Night Football (MNF), then the league's top-rated program, unless NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle agreed to lower the television rights fee significantly. The previous contract was set in 1981 when the annual inflation was at a substantial 13%, a rate that fell to 3%–4% by 1986, in turn, causing ABC Sports to lose $40 million. ABC had been purchased earlier in 1986 by Capital Cities, owner of some of ABC's most influential affiliates, and was under pressure to cut costs in both their news and sports divisions. By September 1986, CBS, rights-holder for the National Football Conference (NFC), and NBC, rights-holder for the American Football Conference (AFC), declined any interest in MNF, but Fox considered making a bid and even invited former MNF announcer Howard Cosell to be a part of it.
Fox formally launched as a network on October 9, 1986, with the debut of The Late Show with Joan Rivers and was preparing to unveil its first night of prime time programming on April 5, 1987. Against this backdrop, TCF chairman Barry Diller announced in January 1987 that Fox was ready to bid on MNF in an attempt to win legitimacy, telling the Miami Herald, "We would take ABC's (current) contract and sign it today." Diller viewed an MNF bid as making a long-term investment, and was prepared for Fox to "lose money in the double-digit eight figures" with such a deal buoyed by Murdoch's financial resources. ABC decided to bid for a renewal based largely on Fox's interest in MNF, with a fee reduction saving the network approximately $20 million per year and low-rated Sunday and Thursday games moved to ESPN. While Fox bid $7 million per game compared to ABC's $6.5 million per game, Rozelle was reportedly uninterested in the Fox offer as the network was still unestablished. NFL officials also expressed a willingness to remain with ABC and were unsure if Fox would exist in three years, a fate shared by other past attempts at a "fourth network".
Fox largely catered to the 18–34 demographic with younger-skewing shows and an "irreverent, sometimes sophomoric" style typified by Married... with Children and The Simpsons, the latter the network's first definitive hit. Emphasis was given to Black audiences with shows like The Sinbad Show, Martin, Living Single and New York Undercover. Sketch comedy series In Living Color gained national attention for broadcasting a live episode against the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show that was a ratings success. The debut season of teen-oriented Beverly Hills, 90210 had a controversial storyline centering around the loss of a character's virginity, unprecedented in network television. Fox expanded their prime time schedule incrementally, resulting in the network programming seven nights a week by the 1993–94 season. Entering that season, Fox heavily promoted The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. intending for it to be their next hit show, but the show that followed it on Friday night, The X-Files, became a sleeper hit instead. Fox's reputation by 1993 was still largely limited to hits like The Simpsons along with a string of failed shows that attained similar levels of notoriety. The network attempted to re-enter late night with The Chevy Chase Show but was cancelled after six weeks amid negative reviews and dismal ratings.
Securing the NFC rights In 1993, six years after Fox's failed MNF bid, the NFL opened up negotiations for all broadcast contracts, including the NFC and AFC rights. At the same time, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen asserted control over the NFL's broadcasting committee, usurping Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, who had been a long-time ally of CBS. Murdoch privately called Jones and declared his intent to bid, saying, "Jerry, I think I was a stalking horse last time (in 1990). I'm not going to do that and be just a stalking horse." When negotiations began on December 7, Murdoch presented to the broadcasting committee a sizzle reel by Sky Sports president David Hill proposing Fox could produce NFL games similarly to Sky's soccer coverage, with emphasis on more cameras and in-game natural sounds, and have the network market the league year-round. Jones later said, "I was just mesmerized by their imaginative thinking. They were changing the presentation of the game."