Fox Broadcasting Company

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The Simpsons, which debuted on Fox in 1989, became one of the network’s signature programs and the longest-running animated series in U.S. television history.

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company is an American television broadcasting company founded in 1986 by media magnate Rupert Murdoch. It is a subsidiary of Fox Corporation (FOXA).

With the considerable financial backing of Murdoch, the network began with 79 affiliate stations that reached 80% of homes in the United States. Its first broadcast, a late-night talk show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers, aired on October 9, 1986. The following March, the network expanded into prime-time programming on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Barry Diller, chief executive officer, and Jamie Kellner, president, were responsible for Fox’s programming philosophy, which appealed to the young, affluent audiences advertisers favored. Over the next seven years, the company increased broadcast hours until the network was on the air seven nights a week and gained more affiliates, making it available across the country.

Early hits for the company in the late 1980s included the comedy Married…with Children, which aired for 11 seasons; The Simpsons, the longest running sitcom and animated series in U.S. history; the police drama 21 Jump Street; and two of prime time’s longest-running shows, the true-crime profile America’s Most Wanted and the reality-based COPS.

Fox achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with youth-oriented melodramas, including Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and Party of Five; the science-fiction drama The X-Files; the sketch-comedy In Living Color; and the comedy-drama Ally McBeal.

It also expanded into children’s programming through Fox Kids and later 4Kids TV and into sports broadcasting through Fox Sports, putting it on a par with the established broadcasting companies ABC, CBS, and NBC. Fox’s children’s television businesses and the Fox Family Channel became part of the Walt Disney Company (DIS) in the early 2000s.

In addition to its broadcast network, Fox expanded into cable television. Fox News Channel, a satellite and cable news network, was launched in 1996 and soon attracted more regular viewers than any other news network. Popular opinion shows included The O’Reilly Factor with host Bill O’Reilly and Hannity & Colmes with hosts Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. Hannity & Colmes was replaced by Hannity when Colmes left the show in 2009. A radio division, Fox News Radio, debuted in 2003. Despite its slogan “fair and balanced,” however, the network’s coverage was widely perceived as favoring politically conservative viewpoints.

In 2005, Fox launched Fox Reality Channel, which aired solely reality-based programming. The channel was shuttered in 2010. Later prime-time hits for Fox included the dramas The O.C. and 24, the reality show American Idol, the animated comedy Family Guy, and Glee, a musical comedy-drama series.

When Murdoch’s conglomerate News Corporation (NWSA) split into separate publishing and television and film entities in 2013, Fox Broadcasting was among the companies transferred to his media holding company 21st Century Fox. In 2019, after Disney acquired most of 21st Century Fox’s assets, Fox Broadcasting became part of the newly formed Fox Corporation.