Communications in the United States include extensive industries and distribution networks in print and telecommunication. The primary telecom regulator of communications in the United States is the Federal Communications Commission.
A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or, in the United States, multichannel video programming distributors. Until the mid-1980s, broadcast programming on television in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of terrestrial networks. Many early television networks such as the BBC, CBC, PBS, PTV, NBC or ABC in the US and in Australia evolved from earlier radio networks.
KCET is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV. The two stations share studios at The Pointe in Burbank; KCET's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August 2013. Most households have more than one set. The percentage of households owning at least one television set peaked at 98.4%, in the 1996–1997 season. In 1948, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one television; in 1955, 75 percent did. In 1992, 60 percent of all U.S. households had cable television subscriptions. However, this number has fallen to 40% in 2024.
Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquartered in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of the PBS member stations licensed in the state, with the exception of KBDI-TV in Broomfield, which serves as the Denver market's secondary PBS station through the network's Program Differentiation Plan. The network comprises five full-power stations—flagship station KRMA-TV in Denver and satellites KTSC in Pueblo, KRMJ in Grand Junction, KRMU in Durango and KRMZ in Steamboat Springs. The broadcast signals of the five full-power stations and 60 translators cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, during the network era of American television, there were three commercial broadcast television networks – NBC, CBS, ABC – that due to their longevity and ratings success are informally referred to as the "Big Three". The three networks' dominance was interrupted with the launch of Fox in 1986, leading it to join them as one of the expanded "Big Four", while the viewership shares of all the major broadcast networks declined over the following years.
WYCC was a public television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was last owned by not-for-profit broadcasting entity Window to the World Communications, Inc., alongside PBS member station WTTW and classical music radio station WFMT. WYCC's operations were housed with WTTW and WFMT in the Renée Crown Public Media Center, located at 5400 North Saint Louis Avenue in the city's North Park neighborhood; WYCC and WTTW shared transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower on South Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WYCC previously maintained studios at Kennedy–King College on South Union Avenue and Halsted Parkway in the Englewood neighborhood.
KVCR-DT is a PBS member television station in San Bernardino, California, United States. It is owned by the San Bernardino Community College District alongside NPR member KVCR. The two stations share studios at the San Bernardino Valley College campus on North Mt. Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino; KVCR-DT's transmitter is located atop Box Springs Mountain.
Arkansas PBS is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkansas government operated through the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which holds the licenses for all of the public television stations based in the state. The commission is managed by an independent board of university and education officials, and gubernatorial appointees representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts. Along with offering television programs supplied by PBS and various independent distributors, the network produces public affairs, cultural and documentary programming as well as sports events sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).
KNME-TV, branded New Mexico PBS or NM PBS, is a PBS member television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Jointly owned by the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools, it is a sister station to Santa Fe–licensed KNMD-TV. The two stations share studios on UNM's North Campus on University Boulevard Northeast in Albuquerque; KNME-TV's transmitter is located atop Sandia Crest.
Nebraska Public Media, formerly Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), is a state network of public radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC). The television stations are all members of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), while the radio stations are members of National Public Radio (NPR).
KVCR is an FM non-commercial public radio station in located San Bernardino, California, broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire area. It is owned by the San Bernardino Community College District, along with channel 24 KVCR-DT. KVCR asks for donations from its listeners, especially during fundraisers, usually held for a week, several times per year.
WMBQ-CD is a class A television station in New York City, affiliated with First Nations Experience (FNX). Owned by The WNET Group, it is sister station to the city's two PBS member stations, Newark, New Jersey–licensed WNET and Garden City, New York–licensed WLIW, as well as WNDT-CD.
Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. Most cable viewers in the U.S. reside in the suburbs and tend to be middle class; cable television is less common in low income, urban, and rural areas.
KRSU-TV is an educational independent television station in Claremore, Oklahoma, United States, serving the Tulsa area. Owned by Rogers State University, the station maintains studios on the university's campus on West Will Rogers Boulevard in Claremore, and its transmitter is located to the adjacent southeast of Oologah Lake in northern Rogers County.
V-me is a Hispanic-Latino American Spanish-language television network, currently carried as an over-the-air public broadcasting network in association with public television stations. V-me airs a variety of programs, including comedy, music, science and technology, sports, soap operas, entertainment, juvenile, news and current affairs, food, reality shows, talk shows, lifestyle, nature, showbiz, magazines and educational pre-school content.
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is a group of Canadian specialty television channels based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The channels broadcast programming produced by or highlighting Indigenous peoples in Canada, including arts, cultural, documentary, entertainment, and news and current affairs programming.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programs to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS News Hour, Masterpiece, Sesame Street, and This Old House.
Smoky Hills PBS is a regional network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television stations serving central and western portions of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is operated by the Smoky Hills Public Television Corporation, a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for all of the stations licensed in the network. The broadcast signals of the four stations cover most of the western half of the state outside Wichita.
