I think I actually remember this–even if I don’t remember the exact date. There were three major national networks when I was growing up: ABC, NBC, and CBS. Any other network was a local network. We didn’t have a lot of choices. All that changed on this date in 1987. Rupert Murdoch, a businessman from Australia who already owned 20th Century Fox, decided to challenge “the Big Three.” Fox Broadcasting Company was launched in prime time with Married…With Children and The Tracy Ullman Show. I never watched either show–not my style. But now Fox seems to be the one that instigated the reality show revolution. At least, that’s my opinion.
For more information:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aarong/from-andrew/fox/fox.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company
http://famousdaily.com/history/fox-broadcasting-network-begins.html
