Television in the United States Gray Television, whose 131 stations cover mostly smaller metropolitan areas reaching only 10% of the population. The five major U.S. broadcast television networks are the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), CBS (formerly known as the Columbia Broadcasting System), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and the CW Television Network. The first and elder three (which are colloquially known as the "Big Three") began as radio networks: NBC and CBS respectively began operations in 1924 and 1927, while ABC was spun off from NBC to Edward J. Noble in 1943 as the Blue Network during FCC inquiries over
Altimax Broadcasting Company used to propose a 10 kilowatt-UHF pay TV station using Channel 19 as its frequency. However, there is no word yet on the planning. Altimax Broadcasting Company Altimax Broadcasting Company (Altimax) is a media company co-owned by The Velarde Group and Bethlehem Holdings, Inc. (BHI, a subsidiary of the Globe Group Retirement Fund). Altimax's media businesses are direct-broadcast satellite (DBBS) and Multipoint Multichannel Distribution Service (MMDS) wireless cable TV and broadband. In 1999, The Velarde Group and its holding investment firm Velarde, Inc. (VI), led by former SkyCable executive vice president Mel Velarde, acquired Altimax Broadcasting Company and its broadcast