# Primetime 24

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{{unreferenced|date=September 2015}}
'''Primetime 24''' (PT24) was a special package offered on [C band](/source/C_band_(IEEE)) satellite sent out to viewers who mainly live in remote and distant locations. The package consisted of local [ABC](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company), [CBS](/source/CBS), [NBC](/source/NBC) and [Fox](/source/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) affiliates on the East Coast. The service was broadcast via the [AMC-3](/source/AMC-3) satellite, encrypted using [DigiCipher 2](/source/DigiCipher_2). Until 2012, the service was owned by Lorac Communications, based in [Collingwood, Ontario](/source/Collingwood%2C_Ontario), [Canada](/source/Canada).

==History==
When Primetime 24 first started in 1992, the group originally consisted of:

* [WABC-TV](/source/WABC-TV), [New York City](/source/New_York_City) (ABC)
* [WBBM-TV](/source/WBBM-TV), [Chicago](/source/Chicago) (CBS)
* [WXIA-TV](/source/WXIA-TV), [Atlanta](/source/Atlanta) (NBC)
* [WFLD](/source/WFLD), Chicago (Fox)

In 1994, however, the two Chicago stations were replaced with [WRAL-TV](/source/WRAL-TV) from [Raleigh, North Carolina](/source/Raleigh%2C_North_Carolina), for CBS and [WSVN](/source/WSVN) from Miami for Fox; by 1997, PT24 dropped Fox, and WRAL, due to many pre-emptions of CBS programming, was replaced with [WSEE-TV](/source/WSEE-TV) from [Erie, Pennsylvania](/source/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania), which was PT24's CBS affiliate for the remainder of the package's existence. WABC and WXIA still remained the ABC and NBC (respectively) affiliates for PT24 through 2008; however, for a time, WABC was replaced with [WJLA-TV](/source/WJLA-TV) of [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) and later [WKRN-TV](/source/WKRN-TV) of [Nashville, Tennessee](/source/Nashville%2C_Tennessee); WXIA was replaced with [WNBC](/source/WNBC) of New York City, and later was replaced by [WTVJ](/source/WTVJ) in Miami. WABC was dropped in favor of [WPLG](/source/WPLG) on January 1, 2009, and Fox was restored by adding [WUTV](/source/WUTV) of [Buffalo, New York](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York).

==Other time zones==
At one point, PT24 offered a package called "The [Denver](/source/Denver) 5", featuring that city's [KMGH-TV](/source/KMGH-TV) (ABC), [KCNC-TV](/source/KCNC-TV) (CBS), [KUSA](/source/KUSA_(TV)) (NBC), [KDVR](/source/KDVR) (Fox), and even a [PBS](/source/PBS) station, [KRMA](/source/Rocky_Mountain_PBS). At one point, [WB](/source/The_WB) affiliate [KWGN-TV](/source/KWGN-TV) was added to the mix.

Stations on the West Coast were also included in the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring [Seattle, Washington](/source/Seattle)'s [KOMO-TV](/source/KOMO-TV) (ABC), [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco)'s [KPIX-TV](/source/KPIX-TV) (CBS), and [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles)' [KNBC](/source/KNBC) (NBC).

==Similar packages==
* Netlink offered a network package called "A3" for a time that included WPLG (ABC), [WUSA-TV](/source/WUSA-TV) in Washington (CBS), and [WBZ-TV](/source/WBZ-TV) in Boston for NBC (later replaced with [WHDH-TV](/source/WHDH-TV), following the 1995 affiliation change).
* Before PT24 began, a package called "Atlantic Coast" was used, which included WPLG, WUSA and WBZ-TV, plus [WTXF-TV](/source/WTXF-TV) from [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) for Fox.
* In the early days of [direct broadcast satellite](/source/direct_broadcast_satellite), many companies offered local channels on a nationwide basis, subject to FCC restrictions: [PrimeStar](/source/PrimeStar) offered [WSB-TV](/source/WSB-TV) from Atlanta for ABC, plus WUSA, WHDH, WTXF and a national PBS service. West Coast channels included [KABC-TV](/source/KABC-TV) from Los Angeles for ABC, [KOIN](/source/KOIN) from [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), for CBS, [KCRA-TV](/source/KCRA-TV) from [Sacramento](/source/Sacramento%2C_California) for NBC, and [KTVU](/source/KTVU) from [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco) for Fox. [DirecTV](/source/DirecTV) offered WRAL-TV and KPIX-TV for CBS, WNBC and KNBC for NBC, KOMO-TV and WJLA-TV for ABC, and [WNET](/source/WNET) (New York) for PBS.<!--They had east coast NBC affiliates too, I just can't recall them right now.-->
* In the US, [Dish Network](/source/Dish_Network) and [DirecTV](/source/DirecTV) still offer local channels nationally as well, where local service is not available terrestrially or on satellite. In Canada, [Bell Satellite TV](/source/Bell_Satellite_TV) and [Shaw Direct](/source/Shaw_Direct) offer US networks on their services, as do most cable systems, though American commercial stations are subject to [simultaneous substitution](/source/simultaneous_substitution) regulations.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060111161759/http://www.primetime24.net/ Primetime 24 (official site)]

Category:Direct broadcast satellite services

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Primetime 24](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_24) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primetime_24?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.