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
USS Edward J. McKeever Jr. (SP-684) M. F. Johnson in command. Assigned to the 4th Naval District, "Edward J. McKeever Jr." performed patrol, minesweeping, towing, and transport duties for the rest of World War I. On 21 May 1919, "Edward J. McKeever Jr." was decommissioned and sold to the Wilcox Fertilizer Company of Mystic, Connecticut. USS Edward J. McKeever Jr. (SP-684) USS "Edward J. McKeever Jr." (SP-684) was a United States Navy patrol vessel and minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919. "Edward J. McKeever Jr." was built as a commercial fishing vessel of the same name by Robert Palmer & Sons at Noank, Connecticut, in