Beech Tree News Network

One of the big 3 broadcast companies launched when I was 8 years old.  That is insane to me.  I was alive at the birth of a national network.  Fox Broadcasting Company was founded 33 years ago on October 9, 1986 by Rupert Murdoch and Barry Diller.  The parent company is the Fox Corporation.  The foundation of the network was laid a year earlier on March 18, 1985 through News Corporation’s $255 million purchase of a 50% interest in TCF Holdings, the parent company of the 20^th Century Fox film studio.  In May 1985, News Corporation, a media company owned by Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch that had mainly served as a newspaper publisher at the time of the TCF Holdings deal, agreed to pay $2.55 million to acquire independent stations in 6 major U.S. cities from the John Kluge-run broadcasting company, Metromedia. 

Thursday October 9, 1986 at 11 pm eastern and pacific time was the soft launch of Fox.  The show was a late-night talk show, The Late Show, hosted by the late Joan Rivers.  After a strong start, The Late Show quickly eroded in the ratings.  It was never able to overtake The Tonight Show.  Funny enough, Fox’ first show on their network basically sounds like a vengeful show.  See, a few months earlier, the late Johnny Carson had banned Rivers from ever again appearing on The Tonight Show.  In fact, she never returned to the show until Jimmy Fallon took the reins.  And the appearance was just seven months before her death in February 2014.

April 5, 1987 was the network’s “grand opening” with the first show being Married…With Children and the second being the Tracy Ulman Show.  Both shows were broadcast twice that night.  They added one new show per week over the next few weeks, with one being 21 Jump Street(starring a young Johnny Depp, yes, Captain Jack Sparrow). 

Fox survived where other attempts at a fourth big network had failed because it programmed just under the number of hours defined by the FCC to legally be considered a network.  This allowed Fox to make revenue in ways forbidden by other networks.  It didn’t have to adhere to Financial Interest and Syndication Rules that were in effect at the time. 

For NBC’s Cosby Show, Fox countered with The Simpsons.  At the start of the ‘90’91 season, Fox was headed towards carrying a full week’s worth of programming.  August 1992 saw the series premiere of one of my favorites I still binge, Martin.  Yes, long before the Bad Boys movie franchise that made Martin Lawrence an action movie star alongside Will Smith, Martin had his own show on the brand new network.  The sketch comedy In Living Color debuted April, 1990.  Get a load of the all-star lineup who got their start on this show: Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans and a dance troupe called The Fly Girls featured a young Jennifer Lopez! The mid-‘90’s saw the debuts of Beverly Hills 90210 and spinoff Melrose Place.  In December of 1993, Fox was able to nab the NFL from CBS.  Funny that today, they both have the NFL. 

Fox shows of the ‘90’s had ended their run by 2000.  During the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s, Fox put most of their effort behind reality shows.  I was with them until then.  Yes, I eventually got into American Idol(until the network cancelled it).  Idol lost its grip on #1 during its 2011-12 finale.  2013-14 saw Fox drop to 4^th in ratings for the first time since 2001.  2015-16 saw a remarkable turnaround for Fox as they moved ahead of ABC for 3^rd in ratings, boosted by Empire, Grease Live and the return of X Files. 

On July 27, 2018, 21^st Century Fox shareholders agreed to sell most of its key assets to Walt Disney Corporation for $71.3 billion.  This sale didn’t include Fox Network, as it would be illegal for them to own a second network, as per FCC rules.  As of 2015, FOX provided 19 hours of regularly scheduled programming each week.  Fox News in 1996, Fox Kids a few years later, Fox Business are just a few new ventures Fox has amassed.  They’ve come a long way since fledgling newcomer back in the mid to late ‘80’s.