Big Three (American television)

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The "Big Three" major United States broadcast networks: NBC, CBS, and ABC, arranged in order by the year each network began regular television broadcasting in the U.S.

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In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — NBC (the National Broadcasting Company, "the Peacock Network"), CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System, "the Eye Network"), and ABC (the American Broadcasting Company, "the Alphabet Network") — that due to their longevity and ratings success are informally referred to as the "Big Three". They dominated American television until the 1990s^[1] (especially during the network era of the late 1950s to mid-1980s) and are still considered major U.S. broadcast companies to this day.