Family Partial To A Network

Until the last few years, Fox was always viewed as the edgier network in style and in programming. Mainly younger people watched Fox because of their shows like "The Simpsons".

CBS for a long time was the "rural" network, NBC what more urban people wached, and ABC was more common appeal, IMO.

It sort of is like that today. CBS's demographics are dominated by the older people, and it does well especially in smaller markets in the South and in the Midwest.

NBC is the network that was/is more "urban" in nature. Back when "Seinfeld" and "Friends" were on, they drew most of their ratings from the major cities like New York and Chicago.

ABC is almost all catered toward women now. They used to be catered to young adults. Almost all of their hit shows now like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Dancing With The Stars" are for women. They don't even produce any sports anymore on ABC, instead branching it off to their sister network ESPN.

The CW is targeted toward young people, mostly teenagers with all their dramas. When they were the WB, that was their target audience, too. My Network TV was like that too, but mainly they now show reruns.

Back when UPN was around, almost all of their main audience was among African-Americans because they had shows like "America's Next Top Model" and others. They also got a lot of younger people because of "WWE Smackdown."

BMR, we're edging off toward sociology here, but it's probably fair to say that the US is less class-conscious than Britain. There's always been more fluidity in class lines here, and more ability to rise above one's birth status (or sink below it). As a consequence, TV networks over here were truly mass-audience media, never really class-stratified, at least not in the three-network era. What distinctions existed were fairly subtle ones - ABC, at least in the 1960s and 1970s, had the reputation of appealing to somewhat younger, urban audiences, while CBS in the 1960s tended to lean toward somewhat older, more rural audiences. (Some of that distinction can be traced to each network's pattern of affiliation; older, more established CBS stations on low-band VHF channels were often the only signals that could be seen clearly in rural areas, while ABC made do with newer stations, often on UHF, that didn't carry well beyond urban areas.)

With the advent of the 500-channel universe, of course, much of that has gone out the window: there are now cable/satellite networks targeted to every imaginable demographic out there.

Scott Fybush said:

BMR, we're edging off toward sociology here, but it's probably fair to say that the US is less class-conscious than Britain.

Click to expand...

Yes I'm afraid the good ole British class system is alive and well. In society in general it is very much still there, although some people don't like to talk about it so be careful if you ever visit these isles

There's always been more fluidity in class lines here, and more ability to rise above one's birth status (or sink below it).
As a consequence, TV networks over here were truly mass-audience media, never really class-stratified, at least not in the three-network era. What distinctions existed were fairly subtle ones - ABC, at least in the 1960s and 1970s, had the reputation of appealing to somewhat younger, urban audiences, while CBS in the 1960s tended to lean toward somewhat older, more rural audiences. (Some of that distinction can be traced to each network's pattern of affiliation; older, more established CBS stations on low-band VHF channels were often the only signals that could be seen clearly in rural areas, while ABC made do with newer stations, often on UHF, that didn't carry well beyond urban areas.)

With the advent of the 500-channel universe, of course, much of that has gone out the window: there are now cable/satellite networks targeted to every imaginable demographic out there.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's a 500 channel world here too!

ITVs move upmarket in the 1980s marked the begining of the end of blatently class based TV in the UK.

The older ITV audience continued to watch some ITV (with only four channels they didn't have much choice!!) and were also catered for after a fashion by some comedy and light drama and even some (rather tame!) game shows on the BBC. And then....well they died, and with them the BBC/ITV class divide.

dave73 said:

This varied in each household in my family. In my own household, the network preference depended on the night. I used to remember ABC being the choice for Thursday & Friday night primetime. Thursday for NBC. I believe CBS for Monday & Wednesday. Sundays varied. I don't remember about Monday & Tuesday. For local news, we used to always watch the news on NBC or CBS. Sometimes, we watched the 9pm news on then independent WGN-TV. For daytime, my mom wouldwatch her soap operas on NBC & ABC (she always hated CBS soap operas), & game shows mainly on NBC & CBS (sometimes ABC).

At my maternal grandmothers house, primetime was mostly CBS & NBC (she was never really into ABC primetime). For daytime, that also was mostly CBS & NBC gameshows, but not soap operas (she always hated soap operas). So when soap operas were on during the daytime, she refused to watch network TV & turn on independent WGN-TV, WFLD 32, WPWR-TV 60 (before they switched to 50 in 1987), or WGBO 66. I wanna say for Wednesday nights, she usually watched WTTW 11 for PBS programming.

For my Paternal Grandmother's house, she mainly watched ABC & NBC for primetime & ABC for the local news. During the daytime, she almost never watched soap operas, & would watch one of the independents on the UHF.

My Aunt Dawn used to watch NBC for soap operas & for game shows, all 3 networks. For primetime, it depended on what she liked & had no preference on ABC, CBS, or NBC. For local news, I believe it was always ABC for local news.

Click to expand...

we always watched abc for the news and prime time

News? NBC and its local affil back in the day - now it's FNC and one or another of the local Bigger 3 affils (for the local weather). Entertainment and sportswise... whatever was/is on.

ixnay

Never gave it much thought until now, but it was pretty much CBS around the house when I was a kid; their daytime soaps, Saturday morning cartoons, sitcoms, and variety shows (from Ed Sullivan and Garry Moore to Cher and Tony Orlando.) Also news, both network and the local affiliate. Of course it was Johnny Carson on NBC for my mom after I was put to bed, and Walt Disney on Sunday evenings; and the NBC station had the only after-school kiddie show, a local version of Bozo the Clown. Until the late 60's, we didn't have an ABC station in our area, so both the CBS and NBC affiliates ran some ABC shows on delayed kinnies snd 16mm film a week or two after they were on the live network.

Up thread, ITV in the UK was mentioned. I trust some of you remember when London's ITV franchise was called Associated-Rediffusion (now *that* name was funkier than Dumont!).

ixnay

It's funny. Back in the day, my family was "partial" to the station and their news - the network was an afterthought. When they talked about something on TV, they referred to the channel number (or occasionally even the call letters if the TV station was associated and shared calls with a radio station they had listened to before). Somehow, branding has become focused on the network but it wasn't always that way. My family was partial to WWJ-TV, the Detroit News (although they always read the Free Press). Sometimes after the "90 minute news," they'd hang around for Chet and David.

In the '70s and early '80s, my family was pretty partial to CBS. I can remember my mother saying that if we had to choose one channel, we would probably choose Channel 7 (referring to KHQA in Quincy, IL, the local CBS affiliate). We did occasionally watch shows on the other networks, but almost always watched CBS News and local news from the CBS affiliate. Ironically, years later, my mother now favors NBC News and the local NBC affiliate (WGEM).

Oscar Madison said:

It's funny. Back in the day, my family was "partial" to the station and their news - the network was an afterthought. When they talked about something on TV, they referred to the channel number (or occasionally even the call letters if the TV station was associated and shared calls with a radio station they had listened to before). Somehow, branding has become focused on the network but it wasn't always that way. My family was partial to WWJ-TV, the Detroit News (although they always read the Free Press). Sometimes after the "90 minute news," they'd hang around for Chet and David.

Click to expand...

The bolded part was true in our family too.

ixnay

ixnay said:

The bolded part was true in our family too.

ixnay

Click to expand...

I think that's still true to a great degree. "ABC7" or "Fox 2" and all those network referencing brands are generally just used by the stations themselves. I don't know anybody these days - even young people - who say "Did you see Modern Family last night on ABC7?." It's still just "Channel 7" and "Channel 2" to most people - though I've noticed that more and more people are referring to call letters. Locally, here in the Bay Area, the station branded for years as "TV20" (independent) is now just "KOFY-TV" ("Coffee") and that's what most people seem to call it.

My dad was very partial to KGO, and eventually to ABC network shows. In the '50s and 60s, he preferred NBC for news, but after returning to the bay Area from a brief stay in Chicago, he apparently wanted a change of pace from Chet and David. Since he never cared for Cronkite, he gave that new kid Peter Jennings a chance on ABC, and stayed with that network as his first choice for decades afterward. By the '70s, he watched 'Newscene 7' with Van Amburg and Jerry Jensen, and rarely looked elsewhere for local news. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, most of the non-news programs I remember were on ABC(It wasn't until the 'Must See TV' era that we watched NBC for more than one program in one night; we didn't bother with much of anything on CBS other than 'MASH' and later, 'Newhart'.)

I grew up in the fifties, the first real decade of the TV age. There were just the three network stations in Philly, where I grew up, and Philly was pretty important in the national pecking order of TV and networks. All three of our network affiliates were on the standard VHF band, NBC had channel 3, ABC had channel 6, and CBS had channel 10.

I remember our old Magnavox TV - just a 12" screen in a fairly large boxy console. And I remember that Dad used to play around with a flat antenna ribbon wire that he'd drape a certain way around our stairs banister to get channel 10 better. It may be that because of the necessity of re-aligning the antenna lead (we didn't need much more than that since we lived relatively line-of-sight to the transmitters) that we stuck mostly with CBS shows from that early habit.

In the years I remember, we watched all of the CBS sitcoms, LUCY, OUR MISS BROOKS, DECEMBER BRIDE, etc. And we watched THE TWILIGHT ZONE, GUNSMOKE, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, JACKIE GLEASON, ED SULLIVAN, RED SKELTON, I'VE GOT A SECRET, THE GARRY MOORE SHOW, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, ANDY GRIFFITH, TO TELL THE TRUTH, WHAT'S MY LINE - pretty much the entire CBS line-up.

And in Philly, the late great John Facenda was the face of the local news on CBS10, and we watched him - and Cronkite for national news.

I guess it was sometime in the '60s that my teenaged self began to branch out and occasionally sample a show or two on ABC. Peer pressure, school talk, etc., began buzzing about shows like THE OUTER LIMITS, McHALE'S NAVY and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. These shows offered escape from some of the tired westerns that were often a staple on CBS, so I began to branch out.

Chances are that in the '60s, our family would give CBS the benefit of the doubt and check out their show first. If it wasn't to our liking, we might venture over to ABC. I can scarcely recall us EVER tuning in to NBC. Maybe occasionally a SUSPENSE THEATER or a BOB HOPE special, but even those were pretty rare. Don't know why, but NBC seemed to hold very little fascination for our family back in the fifties and early sixties.

Starting around the time of STAR TREK, NBC became a third destination network. I remember watching OCCASIONAL WIFE and MY MOTHER THE CAR and GET SMART on NBC, but I believe it was always AFTER eliminating what was on CBS and ABC. But from that point on, it was more about the show than the network is was on.

Now, as a retired adult, I find myself back in the clutches of CBS. Neither of the other two old networks hold much interest for me. Heh. Even CBS is only on a few times a week - I'd rather watch stuff on DVD and Blu-ray.

My parents were partial to CBS in the 70s, but on Thursday nights, they'd watch "Hollywood Squares" on WYFF/4, then "The Waltons" on WSPA/7. When WSPA aired "The Waltons" on one week delay for a little while, they'd watch that instead of "Hollywood Squares" usually. when i got older in 1989, i'd watch "American Gladiators" on WLOS/13 at midnight instead of "Saturday Night Live" on WYFF/4. Now while my dad liked "Hee Haw" on WSPA/7, as he was a big country music fan on Saturdays, i liked "On Scene: Emergency Response" on WYFF/4 better. We developed an idea one week(might have been before "On Scene" premiered); I'd watch "On Scene" on the main TV in the living room with my mom, while my dad would watch "Hee Haw" on the TV we had in the kitchen. It worked out fine that way. "Wheel" and Jeopardy" was automatic every night on WLOS/13 too; We had to watch WLOS's news, then Peter Jennings before "Wheel." I liked NBC's game show lineup but we'd also watch "Tic Tac Dough"(with Patrick Wayne) on WYFF/4 before the network shows started. Sometimes there was reruns of "St. Elsewhere" on channel 4 before the game shows started. There were some exceptions; I'd watch "Sisters" on NBC before switching to WLOS's news, and "St. Elsewhere" was another exception when it was in first run. My mom was fan of ABC's soaps. My grandmother was also a big "GH" fan too. I'd change the channel after "General Hospital" to watch "The Joker's Wild"(with Pat Finn) on WSPA/7 then "The Challengers"(with Dick Clark). Sometimes, WLOS would have "Trump Card(with Jimmy Cefalo) after "Nightline" back then too, then Rick Dees, who had his late night show back then. 4 always had Johnny Carson, David Letterman then Bob Costas for late night back then; sometimes i'd watch Costas after "Trump Card."; his interviews were really good back then.

bpatrick said:

In Dallas we used to have some pitched battles over local
news; I liked WFAA (ABC) with what I still consider the greatest
front four in the history of local news: Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson,
Troy Dungan, and Verne Lundquist; my parents preferred KDFW (CBS
at the time), mostly due to meteorologist Warren Culbertson. Fortunately,
with two TVs they could watch Channel 4 and I could watch Channel 8,
but I never could convince them to give WFAA a try--even after the
Columbia Journalism Review ranked it and WCCO as the two best local
news operations in the country. (Also, my dad said he couldn't stomach
Troy Dungan because he didn't like anybody who wore bow ties.)

As I said I was partial to ABC, both for news (especially in the Smith/
Reasoner era and in the early years of "World News Tonight" when Frank
Reynolds was still with us) and for primetime; my two favorite ABC stations
(this could make a new thread in itself) were WFAA and WXIA before it went
to NBC. I had one favorite CBS station: KENS San Antonio (I liked weatherguy
Maclovio Perez), but I don't know if I ever had a favorite NBC station pre-WXIA,
and definitely no favorite Fox station.

And I was also partial to ABC's space coverage simply because of Jules Bergman.

Click to expand...

I used to have the same issue with "On Scene: Emergency Response" on WYFF/4 and "Hee Haw" on WSPA/7; my dad wanted to watch "Hee Haw", but my mom and i convinced him that he could watch that on the TV that was on the kitchen table, so that i'd watch "On Scene" on the larger one that was in the living room. However with the NFL it was no contest; it was NBC, because their announcers were far superior to CBS, since CBS was always "When in doubt, Dallas" where as NBC put the best game from the AFC, even if it meant getting lower ratings.

onairb said:

My dad was very partial to KGO, and eventually to ABC network shows. In the '50s and 60s, he preferred NBC for news, but after returning to the bay Area from a brief stay in Chicago, he apparently wanted a change of pace from Chet and David. Since he never cared for Cronkite, he gave that new kid Peter Jennings a chance on ABC, and stayed with that network as his first choice for decades afterward. By the '70s, he watched 'Newscene 7' with Van Amburg and Jerry Jensen, and rarely looked elsewhere for local news. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, most of the non-news programs I remember were on ABC(It wasn't until the 'Must See TV' era that we watched NBC for more than one program in one night; we didn't bother with much of anything on CBS other than 'MASH' and later, 'Newhart'.)

Click to expand...

My favorite shows were all ABC; it wasn't until 1990, that we watched NBC for more than one program; "Quantum Leap" was the first NBC show i regularly watched(I did watch NBC's football games back then) and soon after, "Sisters". If "Wheel of Fortune", "Jeopardy" and "American Gladiators" all count as ABC shows(because they aired on WLOS/13) then it was all ABC for most dayparts(i did watch NBC's game shows, and "Santa Barbra".)

I don't watch ABC much, outside of college football and the NBA; their shows, like "Grey's Anatomy" are for women. I don't watch "Grey's Anatomy", but my mom will sometimes have it on after "Jeopardy"

Umm in my family we are not attached to a brand or network that much though in the USA. But my parents favors one of the Philippine TV Networks though given that my parents and my late grandparents came from there though.
I was born here in the USA and im not as attached to one network though as the OP is saying though.

My grandmom was an NBC person for daytime- her favorites included "Concentration," "Jeopardy," "The Doctors," "Another World," "Days of Our Lives" and "Hollywood Squares." For news though, she watched Walter Cronkite- she felt she hadn't seen the news until she watched WSPA's local news, then Cronkite. I could add "Wheel of Fortune" since she watched that one too.

I got into "Another World" and watched ""Wheel of Fortune" when i was a child; "Sale of The Century" was another NBC daytime show i watched with regularity.