Big Three (American television)

In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — NBC (the National Broadcasting Company), CBS (formerly the Columbia Broadcasting System), and ABC (the American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their longevity and ratings success are referred to as the "Big Three." They dominated American television until the 1990s[1] (especially during the network era of the late 1950s to mid-1980s) and are still considered major U.S. broadcast companies.

The "Big Three" major United States broadcast networks: NBC, CBS, and ABC, arranged in order by the year each network began regular television broadcasting in the U.S.

This article is part of a US culture series on the
Television of the United States
American family watching TV in 1958
Timeline Networks
History Prewar broadcasting Golden Age Network era Multi-channel transition New Golden Age Post-network era Streaming wars History by decade History of: Sports broadcasting Public broadcasting Children's television TV animation: (Network era · Modern era)
Genres Daytime Sitcoms News (Cable news)
Networks Over-the-air Pay channels
Programming and Ratings Most Watched
United States portal
v t e