{{Short description|Television station carried by satellite}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{other uses}} thumb|A typical communications satellite depicted in orbit over Earth. Satellites like these were used to uplink superstations beginning in the late 1970s. In North American broadcasting, a '''superstation''' is a terrestrial television station that has its broadcast range extended outside of their originating media market via communications satellite to multichannel television providers, including cable and direct broadcast satellite. These stations, which had no network affiliation and operated as independents, were popularized from the late 1970s to the early 1990s with offerings of reruns, movies, local play-by-play sports coverage and, in some cases, local newscasts. These signals were also popular among C-band satellite subscribers in rural areas where broadcast signals could not be picked up off-air.
Superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a television station that is additionally transmitted via satellite.<ref>{{cite web|title=§119. Limitations on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions of distant television programming by satellite|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2017-title17/html/USCODE-2017-title17-chap1-sec119.htm|website=U.S. Government Publishing Office|access-date=April 29, 2019|archive-date=January 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121013913/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2017-title17/html/USCODE-2017-title17-chap1-sec119.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Further legislation, in particular the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, narrowed this definition further to specify the station must not have a network affiliation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Code of Federal Regulations 47 CFR 76.120|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2017-title47-vol4/xml/CFR-2017-title47-vol4-sec76-120.xml|website=U.S. Government Publishing Office|date=October 1, 2017|access-date=April 29, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING: Implementation of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999|url=https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/Notices/2000/fcc00004.txt|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=January 7, 2000|access-date=April 29, 2019}}</ref> Superstations either have an active or passive classification: active superstations intentionally seek retransmission via an outside provider, while passive superstations are involuntarily retransmitted without the station's consent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Superstation|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/superstation.htm|website=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=April 29, 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203161106/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/superstation.htm|archive-date=February 3, 2014|first=Megan|last=Mullen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The state of the superstations|id={{ProQuest|1014692976}}|magazine=Broadcasting|date=July 23, 1979|page=29|issue=4|volume=97}}</ref> Superstation can also refer to major network affiliates uplinked by satellite to providers like Primetime 24 and Netlink USA.<ref name="Broad19861208">{{cite magazine|title=Affiliate superstations on the way|magazine=Broadcasting|page=52|date=December 8, 1986|issue=23|volume=111|id={{ProQuest|1014734844}}}}</ref>
The television stations commonly recognized as superstations are the following: {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * KTLA Los Angeles * KTVT Dallas–Fort Worth (1984–1994) * KTVU San Francisco (1978–1980) * KWGN-TV Denver * WGN-TV Chicago (1978–2014) * WOR-TV/WWOR-TV New York (1979–1996) * WPIX New York City * WSBK-TV Boston * WTCG/WTBS Atlanta (1976–2007) * CHAN-TV Vancouver, British Columbia * CHCH-TV Hamilton, Ontario * CITV-TV Edmonton, Alberta {{div col end}}
"Superstation" is most closely associated with the concept's progenitor, WTCG in Atlanta. After previously extending their reach to cable systems in the southeastern United States through microwave relay, WTCG became the first television station to be uplinked to a satellite in 1976. Renamed WTBS in 1979, it promoted itself as "the Superstation" and later as "Superstation WTBS". The availability of superstations began to decline after 1990, when the FCC reinstated syndication exclusivity rules, forcing superstations to license content for national distribution or seek alternate programming from their parent stations. The distributor for WWOR's superstation feed began operating it separately as the WWOR EMI Service, WGN's feed gradually evolved into WGN America, and WTBS's feed was relaunched as TBS.
== Cable television and distant signals == thumb|Microwave relay stations, like this AT&T station in Wyoming {{Circa|1951}}, were used to amplify distant television signals. The concept of extending a television station's range via pay television was not new. Early community antenna television (CATV) systems were restricted from retransmitting distant signals to communities no more than approximately {{convert|100|mi|km}} from the closest signal; this was a detriment to many small communities too distant from any receivable signal.<ref name="mbc-distantsignals">{{cite web|title=Distant Signals|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/distantsigna.htm|website=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=April 30, 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203221219/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/distantsigna.htm|archive-date=February 3, 2014}}</ref> As a result, several communities in the Western United States began incorporating CATV systems using microwave relay systems that made it possible to retransmit broadcast signals over great distances. Starting in 1955, Inland Empire Microwave Co. began importing Spokane, Washington, station KHQ-TV (NBC) to a cable system in Richland via microwave relay; this was regarded as a technical feat given Richland's topography.<ref name="Tri-C19550920">{{cite news |date=September 20, 1955 |title=Other Areas Eyeing Richland TV Operation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tri-city-herald-other-areas-eyeing-richl/197565652/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |location=Pasco, Washington |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The following year, Inland Microwave imported KREM-TV (ABC) to the same Richland system and imported KHQ, KREM and KXLY-TV (CBS) to a Pendleton, Oregon, system.<ref name="Tri-C19560320">{{cite news |date=March 20, 1956 |title=TV Cable Firm Plans Application |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tri-city-herald-tv-cable-firm-plans-appl/197566404/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |location=Pasco, Washington}}</ref><ref name="Regis19560907">{{cite news |date=September 7, 1956 |title=Microwave Station |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-register-guard-microwave-station/197566243/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=The Register-Guard |location=Eugene, Oregon |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
Carter Mountain Transmission Corp. was a microwave relay firm in Cody, Wyoming, that started importing distant signals for CATV systems.<ref name="Billi19561220">{{cite news |date=December 20, 1956 |title=Cody, Worland Get 'Live' TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-billings-gazette-cody-worland-get/197598797/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=The Billings Gazette |location=Billings, Montana |page=21 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1959, Carter Mountain sought to retransmit KTWO-TV (NBC) in Casper, Wyoming, along with KOOK-TV (CBS) and KGHL-TV (ABC) in Billings, Montana, to CATV systems in Riverton, Lander and Thermopolis, all within the signal range of KWRB-TV in Riverton.{{r|Broad19620219}} While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initially granted the permit without a vote, KWRB owner Chief Washakie TV protested to the FCC, which issued a stay in 1960 pending an evidentiary hearing after determining KWRB was at risk of folding. This stay extended to five other CATV systems, including one in Helena, Montana, that imported Spokane stations, which caused the city's lone television station, KXLJ-TV, to go dark.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=FCC grants five microwave protests|magazine=Broadcasting|page=85|date=May 23, 1960|issue=21|volume=58}}</ref><ref name="Inde590202">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96537396/helena-television-station-suspends-opera/|date=February 2, 1959|page=5|title=Helena Television Station Suspends Operations Sunday|newspaper=The Independent-Record|location=Helena, Montana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 27, 2022|archive-date=February 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227182328/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96537396/helena-television-station-suspends/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Indep19590626">{{cite news |date=June 26, 1959 |title=Helena Television Viewers May Lose Programs From Spokane Under FCC Order |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-record-helena-television/96537694/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=The Independent-Record |location=Helena, Montana |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The FCC rejected the Carter Mountain permit by majority vote in December 1961; dissenting commissioner John S. Cross called the decision a "bad law" and "sets an undesirable precedent".<ref name="Broad19620219">{{cite magazine|title=Microwave Denial Cites Economics|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=126–127|date=February 19, 1962|issue=8|volume=62}}</ref> This denial was unanimously affirmed by the D.C. Court of Appeals<ref name="Caspe19630523">{{cite news |date=May 23, 1963 |title=Court Denies Expansion Of Cable Video Systems |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/casper-star-tribune-court-denies-expansi/197599585/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=The Casper Tribune |location=Casper, Wyoming |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=FCC Upheld in CATV Case|magazine=Broadcasting|page=64|date=May 27, 1963|issue=21|volume=64}}</ref><ref>{{Cite court|litigants=Carter Mountain Transmission Corporation, Appellant, v. Federal Communications Commission, Appellee. Joseph P. Ernst and Mildred V. Ernst, d/b/a Chief Washakie TV, Intervenor.|vol=321|reporter=F.2d|opinion=359|court=DC Cir.|date=1963|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/321/359/303097/}}</ref> which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear<ref>{{cite magazine|title=High Court Backs FCC|magazine=Broadcasting|page=60|date=December 23, 1963|volume=65|issue=26}}</ref> and became known as the "Carter Mountain Doctrine".<ref name="Daily19641217">{{cite news |date=December 17, 1964 |title=Carter Mountain Doctrine Curbs CATV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel-carter-mountain-doctr/197599274/ |access-date=May 15, 2026 |newspaper=The Daily Sentinel |location=Grand Junction, Colorado |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com|last=Gross|first=Leslie}}</ref>
Two separate lawsuits helped enable the expansion of "proto-superstations". The first was filed in July 1961 by United Artists and WSTV in Steubenville, Ohio, over Fortnightly Corp. importing television stations from Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia, to systems in Fairmont and Clarksburg, West Virginia;<ref>{{cite magazine|title=At Deadline: WSTV Inc. challenges CATV use of signal|magazine=Broadcasting|page=9|date=July 10, 1961}}</ref> the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1968 in ''Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.'' that distant signal retransmission did not constitute a "performance" and was not subject to copyright liability.<ref>{{ussc|name=Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.|volume=392|page=390|pin=|year=1968}}.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Is CATVs future in FCC's hands?|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=19–22|date=June 24, 1968}}</ref> The second lawsuit was filed by CBS in December 1964 over similar importation of larger-market stations by TelePrompTer Corporation to their small-market systems.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=CBS files suit on CATV copyright clearance|magazine=Broadcasting|page=9|date=December 14, 1964}}</ref> Judge Constance Baker Motley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in 1972 in favor of TelePrompTer based on the Supreme Court's framework in ''Fortnightly v. United Artists''.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=All signals, local or far, up for grabs by CATV's|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=19–20|date=May 8, 1972}}</ref>
The FCC instituted a broad package of cable industry regulations in February 1972. Cable systems in the top 100 markets were now allowed to carry distant signals "as a matter of right" and could import as many as two out-of-market stations; systems in smaller markets, excluding undefined markets, were restricted to carry three network affiliates and one independent. Also implemented were syndication exclusivity (syndex) rules compelling cable systems to blackout any and all syndicated programming on imported distant signals if they were also aired on an in-market station.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite magazine|title=The FCC delivers on cable|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=17, 18, 40, 44|date=February 7, 1972|issue=6|volume=82}}|{{cite magazine|title=In full text: The FCC's basic rules for CATV|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=21–36|date=February 7, 1972|issue=6|volume=82}}}}</ref> The FCC adjusted these rules in August 1975, allowing systems to import signals in the overnight hours or after a local must-carry station's nightly sign-off, effectively operating as a timeshare.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=In Brief|magazine=Broadcasting|page=30|date=August 25, 1975|issue=8|volume=89}}</ref> By December 1975, the FCC repealed "leapfrogging rules" limiting cable systems to select distant signals based on closeness to the respective system; the FCC's Cable Television Bureau argued superstations were unlikely to form due to a lack of evidence that television stations economically benefited from cable carriage.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cable gets boost with deletion of leapfrogging rule|magazine=Broadcasting|page=23|date=December 22, 1975|issue=25|volume=89}}</ref>
Section 111 of the Copyright Act of 1976, passed by Congress on October 1, 1976, provided cable systems and satellite carriers with a compulsory license allowing them to retransmit copyrighted programming from any over-the-air stations across the country, regardless of the station's consent.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Copyright is out of Congress|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=24–25|date=October 4, 1976|issue=14|volume=91}}</ref> To administer these royalty fee payments and rates, the U.S. Copyright Office established the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT).<ref>{{cite web|title=Title 37: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights: PART 256—ADJUSTMENT OF ROYALTY FEE FOR CABLE COMPULSORY LICENSE|url=http://www.copyright.gov/title37/258.html|website=United States Copyright Office|access-date=January 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220711/http://www.copyright.gov/title37/258.html|archive-date=May 27, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rate Adjustment for Satellite Carrier Compulsory License|url=http://www.copyright.gov/history/mls/ML-574.pdf|website=United States Copyright Office|access-date=January 11, 2015|archive-date=January 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106020652/http://www.copyright.gov/history/mls/ML-574.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== The proto-superstations == Eastern Microwave Inc. (EMI) was established in 1961 in Oneonta, New York, both to import distant signals and connect network affiliates in Upstate New York.<ref name="Oneon19611017">{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1961 |title=State-Wide Hookup: Caslam Plans Television Link |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oneonta-star-state-wide-hookup-casl/197632301/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |work=The Oneonta Star |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518025806/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oneonta-star-state-wide-hookup-casl/197632301/ |url-status=live }}|{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1961 |title=New Firm Seen Separate Entity |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oneonta-star-new-firm-seen-separate/197632355/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |work=The Oneonta Star |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 17, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260517045208/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oneonta-star-new-firm-seen-separate/197632355/ |url-status=live }}}}</ref><ref name="Oneon19650319">{{cite news |date=March 19, 1965 |title=Oneonta, Sidney, Delhi Video Systems Sold to Newhouse: Transaction Also Includes Eastern Microwave Sale |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oneonta-star-oneontasidneydelhi-vi/197629601/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |newspaper=The Oneonta Star |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Democ19810330">{{Cite news |last=Bickel |first=Bob |date=March 30, 1981 |title=Tall surprise riles Lima group |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-tall-surprise-ril/197629654/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |pages=1B, 3B |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The following year, EMI began relaying WPIX in New York City, chosen due to their heavy sports presence, to CATV systems in Oneonta and surrounding areas.<ref name="Press19621018">{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite news |title=WPIX Signals In Tier Soon Via TV Cable |newspaper=Press and Sun-Bulletin |location=Binghamton, New York |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |date=October 18, 1962 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-wpix-signals-in-t/197629446/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 }}|{{cite news |title=Cable TV To Seek Rate Boost |newspaper=Press and Sun-Bulletin |location=Binghamton, New York |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |date=October 18, 1962 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-cable-tv-to-seek/197629537/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |archive-date=May 17, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260517040223/https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-cable-tv-to-seek/197629537/ |url-status=live }}}}</ref> In March 1965, EMI started distributing WPIX, WNEW-TV and WOR-TV to systems in Canajoharie and Carthage.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=For the Record|magazine=Broadcasting|page=100|date=February 15, 1965}}</ref> Newhouse Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Advance Publications, acquired EMI with five Upstate New York cable systems in 1965.{{r|Oneon19650319}}<ref name="Press19650319">{{cite news |date=March 19, 1965 |title=Newhouse Buys 5 TV Cable Firms |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-newhouse-buys-5-t/197629482/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |newspaper=Press and Sun-Bulletin |location=Binghamton, New York |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518033628/https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-and-sun-bulletin-newhouse-buys-5-t/197629482/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Largely attributed to the station's acquisition of Minnesota Twins games, WTCN-TV in Minneapolis–Saint Paul found cable carriage by 1963 throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin.<ref name="Var630522">{{Cite magazine|date=May 22, 1963|pages=27, 48|magazine=Variety|id={{ProQuest|964059933}}|title=WTCN's Advice to Indie Stations: Bring Professional Ball Club Into Town, Then Grab Up All TV Rights|issue=13|volume=230}}</ref> In the early 1970s, WTCN was available in North Dakota and Iowa.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 19, 1975 |title=Cable TV Here to Offer Twin City Station |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-forum-cable-tv-here-to-offer-twin-ci/198153251/ |access-date=May 24, 2026 |work=The Forum |last=Larson|first=Virgil|page=D8|via=Newspapers.com|location=Fargo, North Dakota}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 23, 1974 |title=Minneapolis Station Now On Cable TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/des-moines-tribune-minneapolis-station-n/198153561/ |access-date=May 24, 2026 |work=Des Moines Tribune |page=5|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> KBMA-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, had a cable footprint in 1972 that spanned 200,000 cable households in seven states.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 12, 1972 |title=KMBA-TV [sic] (Channel 4 in Salina) to carry KC Royals baseball games |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salina-journal-kmba-tv-sic-channe/198182749/ |access-date=May 24, 2026 |work=The Salina Journal |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By 1981, KBMA's cable reach was 600,000 homes in six states.<ref name="Kans810827">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117535904/spacious-building-awaits-kbmas-growth/|date=August 27, 1981|page=C-2|first=Steve|last=Nicely|title=Spacious building awaits KBMA's growth|newspaper=The Kansas City Times|location=Kansas City, Missouri|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=January 31, 2023|archive-date=February 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202004732/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117535904/spacious-building-awaits-kbmas-growth/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1962, H&B Microwave began importing WGN-TV in Chicago to Dubuque FM-TV Cable in Dubuque, Iowa, owing to the station's local sports presence;<ref name="Couri19620708">{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Ken |date=July 8, 1962 |title=Screens TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-screens-tv-p2/197625342/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |newspaper=The Courier |location=Waterloo, Iowa |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-screens-tv/197625169/ 16], 15 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518155818/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-screens-tv-p2/197625342/ |url-status=live }}</ref> WFLD, also in Chicago, was added by Dubuque FM-TV after that station added the Chicago White Sox.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=June 9, 1969 |title=A 'good cause' permits leapfrogging: FCC allows CATV's in New York, Iowa and Indiana to pick up more-distant stations |magazine=Broadcasting |pages=46–47 |volume=76 |issue=23}}</ref> WGN soon began to be imported via microwave to other cable systems throughout the Midwest, and by 1978, enjoyed carriage on 574 systems and a footprint of 8.6 million subscribers.{{r|Broad19781009}} Christian Broadcasting Network's WYAH-TV in Virginia Beach enjoyed significant regional coverage as their emphasis on religious fare, alongside reruns and classic movies, qualified it as a specialty channel and exempt from "leapfrogging rules".<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 27, 1977|title=New Religious Station Also To Offer Comedies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/aiken-standard-new-religious-station-als/197687965/|access-date=May 17, 2026|work=Aiken Standard|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/aiken-standard-new-cablevision-stati/197687947/ 16A]|last=Walker|first=Ruth|location=Aiken, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=February 15, 1981|title=Viewing TV: Television Listings Exhibit a New Look|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-television-listi/197687932/|access-date=May 17, 2026|work=Richmond Times-Dispatch|last=Durden|first=Douglas|page=K7|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=May 19, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260519154800/https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-television-listi/197687932/|url-status=live}}</ref> WYAH and CBN's KXTX-TV in Dallas–Fort Worth continued to be available extensively on cable into the early 1980s,<ref>{{Cite magazine|id={{ProQuest|1014701042}}|magazine=Broadcasting|title=Cable industry mounting counterattack on CRT|date=November 22, 1982|pages=24–25|volume=103|issue=21}}</ref> years after CBN uplinked a cable channel of their own to satellite.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 17, 1976|title=Gospel To Reach to Ends of Earth: Satellite Is Key to Worldwide Communications|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-gospel-to-reach-to-ends-of-e/197688212/|access-date=May 17, 2026|work=Daily Press|page=5:Special Section|location=Newport News, Virginia|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=May 18, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518221618/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-gospel-to-reach-to-ends-of-e/197688212/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 20, 1977|title=Earth Station Transmits TV Signal: Martians Have Not Landed In Taylor|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-taylor-daily-press-earth-station-tra/197688075/|access-date=May 17, 2026|work=The Taylor Daily Press|page=1|location=Taylor, Texas|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Gaylord Broadcasting also began allowing its independents to be distributed to cable systems in their respective regions.
Two Cleveland independents, WKBF-TV and WUAB, attained regional coverage on cable systems; when WKBF shut down in 1975, WUAB and WKBD-TV in Detroit<ref name="NewsM19750418">{{Cite news |last=Hine|first=M.J.|date=April 18, 1975|title=North Central Cable asks FCC for station replacement|page=13|newspaper=The News-Messenger|location=Fremont, Ohio|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109521615/north-central-cable-asks-fcc-for/|access-date=September 14, 2022|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=September 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914153258/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109521615/north-central-cable-asks-fcc-for/|url-status=live}}</ref> inherited much of WKBF's footprint.<ref name="Daily19750603">{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1975|title=Cable TV gets okay to add 43|page=B1|newspaper=The Daily Reporter|location=Dover, Ohio|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109521991/cable-tv-gets-okay-to-add-43/|url-status=live|access-date=September 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914153305/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109521991/cable-tv-gets-okay-to-add-43/|archive-date=September 14, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Times19750425">{{Cite news |date=April 25, 1975|title=WKBF Ceases Broadcasts, WUAB Substitutes Locally|page=1B|newspaper=The Times Recorder|location=Zanesville, Ohio|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109488198/wkbf-ceases-broadcasts-wuab/|url-status=live|access-date=September 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914071639/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109488198/wkbf-ceases-broadcasts-wuab/|archive-date=September 14, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1970, KTXL in Sacramento, California, extended its reach to systems in Reno, Nevada;<ref name="Nevad19700329">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/nevada-state-journal-cable-system-improv/177342956/|date=March 29, 1970|page=45|title=Cable System Improved By Community Antenna|newspaper=Nevada State Journal|location=Reno, Nevada|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 24, 2025|archive-date=August 15, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250815124936/https://www.newspapers.com/article/nevada-state-journal-cable-system-improv/177342956/|url-status=live}}</ref> by 1975, KTXL was available in Salt Lake City<ref name="Ogden19750122">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ogden-standard-examiner-18-channels/177343585/|date=January 22, 1975|page=15|title=18 Channels Enough? Cable TV Begins S.L. Broadcasts|newspaper=The Ogden Standard-Examiner|location=Ogden, Utah|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 24, 2025|archive-date=August 16, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816014417/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ogden-standard-examiner-18-channels/177343585/|url-status=live}}</ref> and—at night—as far away as Rapid City, South Dakota, the following year.<ref name="Rapid19760314">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/rapid-city-journal-were-celebrating/177361375/|date=March 14, 1976|page=7|title=We're Celebrating!|type=Advertisement|newspaper=Rapid City Journal|location=Rapid City, South Dakota|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 24, 2025}}</ref>
== WTCG, the first national superstation == {{Further|Ted Turner|WPCH-TV}}thumb|Ted Turner, {{Circa|1976}} WTCG, an independent station in Atlanta, began expanding its reach to cable systems via microwave in 1972 when owner Ted Turner was approached by Andy Goldman, marketing director for TelePrompTer's systems in Alabama that boasted 200,000 subscribers; Goldman regarded WTCG's fare—including Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks telecasts, reruns and movies<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 26, 1974 |title=Rates Boosted By Cable TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-huntsville-times-rates-boosted-by-ca/197652465/ |access-date=May 17, 2026 |work=The Huntsville Times |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>—as "a product worth someone putting up $4.95 for".{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|p=135}} While WTCG did not receive compensation from these systems, it did profit substantially from direct response advertising, whose revenue grew alongside WTCG's cable footprint. WTCG was eventually distributed to other parts of the Southeastern United States including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|pp=135–136}} The station had been billing itself as "Super 17" since Turner took ownership in 1970, originally as a tongue-in-cheek reference as the station had, until 1973, consistently lost money.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|p=168}}<ref name="Colum19770619">{{Cite news |last=Woodford |first=Carol |date=June 19, 1977 |title=WTCG Is Fast-Growing Station |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbus-ledger-wtcg-is-fast-growing/197106077/ |access-date=May 17, 2026 |work=The Columbus Ledger |page=1:Green Sheet |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
Goldman, who became TelePrompTer's vice president of marketing, informed Turner in 1975 of premium cable service Home Box Office (HBO)'s plans to transmit nationwide using communications satellites, elevating it from a regional pay television channel.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|p=161}}{{Sfn|Auletta|2004|pp=33–34}} Turner learned through research that WTCG could be uplinked via their transmitter to satellite and made available to cable and C-band satellite services across the country, providing cable operators desiring additional channels with his programming,{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|p=162}}{{Sfn|Auletta|2004|p=34}} all while being a cost-effective alternative from microwave and telephone landlines.{{Sfn|Williams|1981|pp=79–80}} HBO was uplinked for the first time to carry the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match on October 1, 1975.<ref>{{cite web|title=Communications History – Home Box Office|url=http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1960-1989.html|author=FCC Internet Services Staff|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=October 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202210308/http://www.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1960-1989.html|archive-date=February 2, 2007}}</ref> The following month, at the 1975 Western Cable Show in Anaheim, California, Turner announced that WTCG was looking at a satellite uplink of their own; KTXL owner Jack Matranga also disclosed his station's interest in being uplinked.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Broadcasters eye satellite feed to distant cables|magazine=Broadcasting|page=47|date=December 1, 1975|issue=22|volume=89}}</ref>
After signing a deal with RCA American Communications for transponder space, Turner established Southern Satellite Systems (SSS) as a common carrier uplink provider to serve as WTCG's redistributor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Frederick |date=October 28, 1976 |title=WTCG Kicks Off Its 'Satellite Age' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wtcg-kicks-off/197124530/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |pages=1G |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518095756/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wtcg-kicks-off/197124530/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Turner raised enough capital to support SSS through loans by First Chicago Bank, Chase Bank and Chemical Bank, and pension funds like TIAA.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|p=162}} To bypass FCC rules requiring a common carrier need to be a middleman between WTCG and cable providers, Turner sold SSS in March 1976 to former Western Union vice president of marketing Edward L. Taylor for $1.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|pp=163–164}} After the deal closed, Turner and SSS signed an agreement to uplink WTCG to Satcom 1, while SSS leased a Series 8000 Satellite Earth Terminal from Scientific Atlanta.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Turner cranks up for satellite feed|magazine=Broadcasting|page=118|date=March 22, 1976}}</ref> In making the announcement, Turner suggested WTCG could potentially become the impetus for a fourth television network,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hopkins |first=Sam |date=March 18, 1976 |title=What's Next? New Braves Owner Eyes Fourth National TV Net |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-braves-owner-ey/35894989/ |access-date=May 16, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |pages=3D |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518215633/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-braves-owner-ey/35894989/ |url-status=live }}</ref> an idea he continued to hold into the early 1980s.{{Sfn|Williams|1981|p=11}} While testifying before the House Subcommittee on Communication in June 1976, Turner advocated for cable systems to be able to import additional signals to benefit the consumer, and saw WTCG as a safe, family-friendly alternative leaning on classic movies and sports.{{Sfn|Goldberg|Goldberg|1995|pp=167–169}}
WTCG first used a satellite uplink on October 27, 1976, to feed an Atlanta Hawks–Los Angeles Lakers game back to the station via a newly constructed earth station in North Atlanta.{{r|Colum19770619}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Frederick |date=October 28, 1976 |title=WTCG Kicks Off Its 'Satellite Age' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wtcg-kicks-off/197124530/ |access-date=May 17, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |page=1G |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 18, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518095756/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wtcg-kicks-off/197124530/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After winning approval from the FCC to serve as a common carrier for WTCG on December 17, 1976,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 18, 1976 |title=FCC allows CATV satellite |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-star-fcc-allows-catv-satelli/197726872/ |access-date=May 17, 2026 |work=The Morning Star |page=B5 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> SSS uplinked the station to four cable systems in Grand Island, Nebraska, Newport News, Virginia, Troy, Alabama, and Newton, Kansas, at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT).<ref name="Broad19761220">{{cite magazine|title=Atlanta TV goes national via satellite|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=24–25|date=December 20, 1976}}</ref> In its approval, the FCC praised the uplink proposal by SSS as "an innovative combination of new technology and established practices".{{Sfn|Tigerman|1982|p=52}} SSS initially charged cable systems 10 cents per subscriber to transmit WTCG full-time and 2 cents per subscriber to carry it as an overnight, post-sign-off timeshare,{{r|Colum19770619|Broad19761220}} which WTCG itself did not earn any profit from.<ref name="Holly19781027">{{Cite magazine |last=Fabrikant |first=Geri |date=October 27, 1978 |title=Turner's WTCG obtains cable tie in New York City |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |pages=1, 3 |volume=253 |issue=46 |id={{ProQuest|2598156336}}}}</ref> By June 1977, WTCG was available to 800,000 homes in 17 states,{{r|Colum19770619}} and was available on TelePrompTer's New York City systems in October 1978.{{r|Holly19781027}} At that time, WTCG's rate card was adjusted to better reflect the national cable audience;<ref name="Broad19781030">{{cite magazine|title=Superstation breakthrough|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=25–26|date=October 30, 1978|issue=18|volume=95|id={{ProQuest|1014698151}}}}</ref> by 1982, the station had sales offices in Atlanta, New York and Chicago.{{Sfn|Tigerman|1982|p=53}}
{{Quote box | quote = His station was already one of only a few stations offering programming 24 hours a day, and it was sending out 30 movies a week from a 2,700-film library he had quietly built up, along with reruns that now range from ''Leave It to Beaver'' to ''All in the Family'' to a recently purchased block of 174 hours of high class BBC and Time-Life programming. The sports teams were secure -- he owned them.
No wonder the sudden network flowered: Turner was exporting Atlanta like Holland exports tulips, with one big difference. You have to pay for the tulips. | author = Christian Williams | source = on Ted Turner{{r|Washi19790211}} | width = 325px }}
WTCG's growing availability on cable led the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), concerned about potential financial losses on programs distributed by MPAA members that aired on superstations, to petition the FCC in 1977 for an investigation.<ref name="Broad19770829">{{cite magazine|title=MPAA out to stop WTCG-type spread via cable, satellite|magazine=Broadcasting|page=20|date=August 29, 1977|issue=9|volume=93}}</ref> The MPAA was supported by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) along with Kelly Broadcasting, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting and Taft Television & Radio Company; WHIZ-TV in Zanesville, Ohio, considered superstations as "threatening" and the FCC's approval of them as "unconstitutional".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Battle lines form as expected on petition against super stations|magazine=Broadcasting|page=|date=October 24, 1977|issue=17|volume=93|pages=40, 42}}</ref> The MPAA also lodged an effort to deny SSS's application to grant an expansion of WTCG's service to Puerto Rico, Alaska and Canada.{{r|Broad19770829}} In turn, Turner vowed to air increased amounts of highbrow and educational programming over WTCG and institute twice-hourly news updates beyond the bare minimum of news the station had been notorious for.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 24, 1979 |title=Turner Chides Networks, Vows to Do Better |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-turner-chides-networ/197234838/ |access-date=May 18, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Journal |page=4C |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
By May 1978, WTCG was being received by 1.5 million households in 45 states, increasing by 100,000 households per month;<ref name="Washi19790211">{{cite news|title=Super Station's Super Man|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/02/11/super-stations-super-man/416b0082-6659-45ad-a1af-5bc77e84895e/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 11, 1979|access-date=April 29, 2019|first=Christian|last=Williams|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506194447/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/02/11/super-stations-super-man/416b0082-6659-45ad-a1af-5bc77e84895e/?utm_term=.68ff3f595e10|archive-date=May 6, 2019|url-status=live|author-link=Christian Williams}}</ref> by the end of that year, the station was available through cable systems in all 50 states.{{r|Broad19781030}} WTCG changed its call sign to WTBS on August 27, 1979, alongside with a corporate name change to Turner Broadcasting System.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 8, 1979 |title=WTCG To Become WTBS On Aug. 27 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wtcg-to-become/197235595/ |access-date=May 18, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |last=Zeglin|first=Richard|page=7B|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Turner also registered a trademark on "Superstation".<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 26, 1979 |title=WTCG Changes Call Letters |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbus-ledger-wtcg-changes-call-le/197236062/ |access-date=May 18, 2026 |work=The Columbus Ledger |location=Columbus, Georgia |page=24:TV Book |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 22, 1979 |title=Superstation name approved |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-superstation-name-approved/197235400/ |access-date=May 18, 2026 |work=The Times |location=Gainesville, Georgia |page=3D |via=Newspapers.com |agency=United Press International}}</ref> With the renaming, reports surfaced that the personnel Turner hired to launch CNN in the summer of 1980 were also considering a nightly newscast over WTBS.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Denberg |first=Jeff |date=August 31, 1979 |title=Turner's Cable News Team Considering an 11 P.M. Report |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-turners-cable-news/197237446/ |access-date=May 18, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Journal |page=9D |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In both 1982 and 1983, Turner Broadcasting garnered half of the advertising revenue generated by the entire cable industry.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Salmans|first=Sandra|date=August 14, 1983|title=Television's 'Bad Boy' makes good|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/14/business/television-s-bad-boy-makes-good.html|access-date=May 21, 2026|work=The New York Times|page=1:3|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 1, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801053950/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/14/business/television-s-bad-boy-makes-good.html|url-status=live}}</ref> WTBS remained the most widely distributed superstation throughout the 1980s: in 1987, WTBS was available to 41.6 million cable and satellite subscriber households nationwide.<ref name="Broad19871130">{{Cite magazine |date=November 30, 1987 |title=The Superstations |magazine=Broadcasting |pages=47–50 |volume=113 |issue=22 |id={{ProQuest|1014723903}}}}</ref>
Aside from Turner's use of WTBS to help launch his other cable ventures, SSS used the WTBS signal for the national distribution of teletext. By 1982, SSS was distributing services from United Press International, Reuters, Dow Jones, and View Weather for extraction by cable operators to be displayed as their own channels.<ref>{{cite news|page=144|title=Cable teletext service will be fed by satellite|work=Broadcasting|date=March 15, 1982|id={{ProQuest|962703184}} }}</ref> In 1982, Keyfax, a national teletext magazine from Field Enterprises, debuted on the WTBS vertical blanking interval (VBI)<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 1, 1982|page=47|work=Variety|id={{ProQuest|1438355559}}|title=National Teletext Service Preems}}</ref> using the British teletext standard, World System Teletext.<ref>{{Cite news|page=104|title=NCI joins with Keyfax|date=March 7, 1983|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|963245927}} }}</ref> In 1985, SSS switched to offering Electra, a service of Taft Broadcasting.<ref>{{Cite news|pages=51, 54|title=Taft Offers Natl. Teletext Service To WTBS Viewers|work=Variety|date=January 30, 1985|id={{ProQuest|1438430406}} }}</ref>
== Other emerging superstations == [[File:Satellite_dish_1_C-Band.jpg|thumb|A typical c-band satellite dish]] On October 25, 1978, the FCC implemented an "open entry" policy for satellite carriers wanting to uplink local television stations, and began reviews on existing applications. The next day, the FCC gave approval to four different carriers to uplink WGN-TV: United Video Satellite Group, Inc., SSS, American Microwave & Communications and Midwestern Relay Company. The FCC's decision to grant all four applications was based off of wanting to bring "a diversity of service" to the public.{{r|Broad19781030}} The "open entry" policy elicited "anger to passive resistance" among program distributors, who were concerned about not being properly compensated for shows airing on superstations.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Closed Circuit: Spreading the product|magazine=Broadcasting|page=7|date=November 6, 1976|issue=19|volume=95}}</ref> The FCC also repealed a requirement for cable systems to request waivers to carry distant signals, instead compelling local stations who would object to submit proof of economic harm; this policy change was seen as a significant deregulation move allowing additional superstations to be created.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Distant signals closer and closer|magazine=Broadcasting|page=24|date=November 6, 1978}}</ref>
Satellite Communication Systems (SCS), a joint venture of Holiday Inns and SSS, sought to retransmit KTVU in Oakland–San Francisco.<ref name="Broad19781009">{{cite magazine|title=WGN-TV, KTVU may be the next super stations|magazine=Broadcasting|page=30|date=October 9, 1978|issue=15|volume=95}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 4, 1978 |title=KTVU, WGN said becoming superstations from Nov. 1 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |page=18 |volume=253 |issue=18 |id={{ProQuest|2598192156}}}}</ref> SSS also applied to uplink KTTV in Los Angeles and WPIX in New York City, while both EMI and United Video applied to uplink WOR-TV and WSBK-TV in Boston; EMI planned to rebroadcast WCBS-TV whenever WOR would sign-off in the overnight hours.{{r|Broad19781030}} SSS withdrew from uplinking WGN-TV after falling into a lease dispute with RCA over their assigned Satcom transponder, prompting United Video to assert uplink responsibilities.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=SSS tangles with RCA over transponder for WGN-TV|magazine=Broadcasting|page=30|date=November 6, 1978|issue=16|volume=95}}</ref> WGN-TV was uplinked to Satcom-3 by United on November 9, 1978, and within one week, was available to an estimated 200 cable systems and 1.5 million subscribers throughout the country.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cable Briefs: Ready customers|magazine=Broadcasting|page=76|date=December 18, 1978|issue=25|volume=85}}</ref> After learning WGN would be uplinked, Turner said, "Hallelujah, I'm looking for them".{{r|Broad19781030}} Despite the added exposure the station was provided, WGN-TV sought to market itself to the Chicago market, deriving no money from United Video; this stance was also to avoid the risk of paying national advertising rates to program syndicators.<ref name="Broad19830627">{{Cite magazine |date=June 27, 1983 |title=Superstations: an independent phenomenon |magazine=Broadcasting |pages=68, 70 |volume=104 |issue=26 |id={{ProQuest|963223656}}}}</ref> The uplink resulted in the NCAA withdrawing a package of college basketball games from WGN, which were offered to a competing Chicago station.{{Sfn|Tigerman|1982|p=54}}
KTVU was uplinked next on December 16, 1978, by SCS onto a Satcom-1 transponder.<ref name="Broad19781218">{{cite magazine|title=Up in the air in more ways than one|magazine=Broadcasting|page=60|date=December 18, 1978}}</ref> Holiday Inns Inc. withdrew from the SSS partnership by April 1979, leaving the latter to handle uplink and promotional responsibilities for KTVU.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Holiday network|magazine=Broadcasting|page=7|date=April 16, 1979}}</ref> SCS was unsuccessful in marketing KTVU at the level of WTBS or WGN-TV,{{r|Broad19830627}} and by April 1980, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment purchased SCS specifically for KTVU's transponder space. Warner-Amex sought the satellite space for its own cable channels, including Star Channel, Nickelodeon and MTV.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Beerman |first=Frank |date=September 12, 1979 |title=Warner Cable Buys Satellite Firm That Carries Superstation KTVU |magazine=Variety |pages=62, 80 |volume=296 |issue=6}}</ref> United uplinked a Chicago classical music radio station, WFMT, to Satcom I in May 1979 as a cable radio feed; this allowed WFMT to be available throughout the United States and over two dozen countries overseas including the Soviet Union and China. Other than some limited revenue from a scant number of national advertisers, WFMT earned no extra revenue from its expanded distribution.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=NCTA's cable programing pot pourri|magazine=Broadcasting|page=51|date=May 28, 1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Little Station That Grew|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-07-14-8502150715-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=July 14, 1985|access-date=April 29, 2019|first=Eric|last=Zorn|archive-date=November 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111153240/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-07-14-8502150715-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 1979, Metromedia filed an objection to the FCC over ASN Inc.'s request to uplink KTTV as an "involuntary superstation" and sought to halt any further proceedings on superstation signals. Metromedia claimed such retransmission violated the Communications Act which required the station owner's consent, even though Section 111 of the 1976 Copyright Act allowed such importation.<ref name="Broad19790325">{{cite magazine|title=Metromedia and NAB hit the FCC panic button over superstations|magazine=Broadcasting|date=March 25, 1979|pages=62–63}}</ref> The NAB filed a concurrent petition (joined by the MPAA, the NBA, the NHL, MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Tribune and ABC) urging the FCC to conduct an expedited rulemaking limiting the reach of superstations, claiming they threatened to undermine local stations by taking away the exclusivity of syndicated programming.{{r|Broad19790325}} ASN ceased operations over financial issues, rendering the KTTV petition moot.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Battle rages at FCC over reluctant superstation|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=28, 33, 44, 45|date=July 23, 1979}}</ref>
{{Bar chart|title=Superstation cable penetration in the United States{{r|Broad19871130}}|label_type=Channel|data_type=Total cable households, 1987|data_max=45,000,000|col2_data_max=30,000,000|col2_data_type=Total cable households, 1983|label1=WTBS|col1_data1=41,600,000|col2_data1=27,000,000|label2=WGN-TV|col1_data2=22,000,000|col2_data2=11,000,000|label3=WOR-TV|col1_data3=10,000,000|col2_data3=6,000,000|label4=WPIX {{sup|{{dagger}}}}|col1_data4=2,000,000|col2_data4=|label5=KTVT {{sup|{{dagger}}}}|col1_data5=2,000,000|col2_data5=|caption={{sup|{{dagger}}}} WPIX and KTVT were both uplinked to satellite in 1984.|float=right}} EMI, who had already distributed WOR-TV via microwave throughout much of the Northeastern U.S., uplinked the station to transponder 17 of Satcom I in April 1979 for nationwide distribution.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=In Sync: Superstations|magazine=Broadcasting|page=110|date=March 25, 1979}}</ref> EMI also received approval to retransmit WSBK pending a future Satcom launch later in 1979<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=March 26, 1979 |title=WOR-TV, WSBK to join ranks of U.S. superstations |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |page=1 |volume=255 |issue=48 |id={{ProQuest|2598136241}}}}</ref> but upon learning they could only access one transponder, EMI selected WOR over WSBK following an internal survey.{{r|Broad19820322}} As EMI was a part of Advance's cable division, 22 out of the 23 cable systems Advance operated carried the WOR superstation feed.{{Sfn|Tigerman|1982|p=58}} WOR's distribution, while broad, was still regionally scattered and paced far behind WTBS and WGN into the 1990s.<ref>{{cite news|title=A Channel Innovates and Moves Up|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/16/arts/a-channel-innovates-and-moves-up.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 16, 1989|access-date=April 29, 2019|first=Jeremy|last=Gerard|archive-date=November 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122202812/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/16/arts/a-channel-innovates-and-moves-up.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
After acquiring WPIX's retransmission rights from Southern Satellite Systems, United Video uplinked WPIX on May 1, 1984, over Westar V.<ref>{{cite news|title=WPIX to Join 'Superstations'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/04/arts/wpix-to-join-superstations.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 4, 1984|access-date=April 29, 2019|first=Steve|last=Knoll}}</ref> United also uplinked KTVT over Satcom IV on July 1, 1984, with Gaylord Broadcasting's support; Gaylord believed cable systems could be persuaded to upgrade from receiving KTVT over microwave.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Another station aloft|magazine=Broadcasting|page=10|date=April 30, 1984|issue=18|volume=106|id={{ProQuest|1014713172}}}}</ref> KTVT's transponder was relocated to Spacenet III in December 1988.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Changing birds|magazine=Broadcasting|page=49|date=October 24, 1988}}</ref> EMI uplinked KTLA and WSBK on February 15, 1988, for regional distribution via Satcom I-R; both stations were selected for their local sports coverage and were scrambled from the onset using the Videocipher II encryption system.<ref name="Broad19880215">{{cite magazine |title=Two more join superstation ranks |magazine=Broadcasting |page=60 |date=February 15, 1988 |issue=17 |volume=114 |id={{ProQuest|1016912183}}}}</ref> Tribune, which also owned KTLA, opposed the uplink when notified by EMI but had no legal recourse. An EMI representative told KTLA station manager Michael Eigner, "we understand your reluctance, but we're going to do it anyway".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sanders |first=Steve |date=February 23, 1988 |title=KTLA opposes superstation status |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |page=8 |volume=301 |issue=13 |id={{ProQuest|3303417600}}}}</ref> United Video took over for marketing KTLA's superstation feed by that April.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Satellite Footprints: United they stand|magazine=Broadcasting|page=63|date=April 25, 1988|issue=17|volume=114}}</ref> By 1993, United Video accounted for two-thirds of parent company UVSG's cash flow, aided by Tribune receiving compensation by the cable systems via copyright fees.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Foisie |first=Geoffrey |date=October 18, 1993 |title=United Video: making money as middleman |magazine=Broadcasting & Cable |pages=36–37 |volume=123 |issue=42 |id={{ProQuest|1014759707}}}}</ref>
The lack of legal recourse by television stations led two different companies, Primetime 24 and Netlink USA, to uplink network affiliates for cable systems and home dish markets in areas without a, or any, network affiliate.{{r|Broad19861208}} Primetime 24 was a package of WABC-TV (ABC), WBBM-TV (CBS) and WXIA-TV (NBC), while Netlink distributed KUSA (ABC), KCNC-TV (NBC), KMGH-TV (CBS), KRMA (PBS) and KWGN-TV, all in Denver; WNYW-TV (Fox) was also uplinked to gauge cable company and subscriber interest.<ref name="Holly19861215">{{Cite magazine |date=December 5, 1986 |title=Cable Show Notes |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |page=7 |volume=295 |issue=3 |id={{ProQuest|3303349851}}}}</ref> Netlink replaced KWGN with KDVR (Fox), then re-uplinked KWGN by October 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cablecastings: Denver addition|magazine=Broadcasting|page=101|date=October 26, 1987|issue=17|volume=113|id={{ProQuest|1014722922}}}}</ref> Both services uplinked these stations without any permission or consent.{{r|Holly19861215}} In the early 1990s, the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau began running advertisements on the Netlink-uplinked stations, resulting in rise in international tourism; a 1994 mail-in contest with a grand prize of a trip to Denver yielded entries from Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Connor |first=Chance |date=November 12, 1994 |title=Denver TV has far-flung reach: Costa Rica woman wins Colo. trip |work=The Denver Post |page=D1}}</ref>
== Deregulation and copyright law == The FCC repealed their remaining distant signal importation and syndex rules by a 4–3 majority vote on July 22, 1980, determining local stations "are not adversely affected" out-of-market stations imported on cable. Malrite Broadcasting sued the FCC in the Eastern District of New York, claiming the repeals would "endanger young independents".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=FCC now all but out of cable business|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=25–27|date=July 28, 1980|issue=4|volume=99}}</ref> The NAB and Field Communications also filed stay motions to the commission,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Washington Watch: Naturally.|magazine=Broadcasting|page=104|date=August 25, 1980|issue=8|volume=99}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=NAB seeks FCC stay of repeal of last big cable rules|magazine=Broadcasting|page=46|date=September 29, 1980|issue=13|volume=99}}</ref> which were denied.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=NAB request for stay in cable case denied by FCC|magazine=Broadcasting|page=46|date=October 27, 1980|issue=17|volume=99}}</ref> The Eastern District unanimously affirmed the repeals on June 19, 1981,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Appeals court upholds FCC repeal of distant-signal, exclusivity rules|magazine=Broadcasting|page=29|date=November 24, 1980|issue=21|volume=99}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Distant signal rule goes into effect as NAB heads for Supreme Court|magazine=Broadcasting|page=42|date=July 6, 1981|issue=1|volume=101}}</ref> which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cable: It can't lose for winning|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=27–29|date=January 18, 1982|issue=3|volume=102}}</ref>
In April 1981, Tribune Broadcasting filed a copyright infringement suit against United Video in the Northern District of Illinois, charging United inserted teletext content from its Dow Jones business news service over the satellite feed's vertical blanking interval (VBI) during WGN's newscasts and other local programs in place of teletext listings data the station was relaying to United's Electronic Program Guide (EPG) service, in violation of the Copyright Act's passive carrier rules.<ref name="Broad19810504">{{cite magazine|title=Interpreting the copyright act|magazine=Broadcasting|page=57|date=May 4, 1981|issue=18|volume=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Sticky issue in WGN-United Video case|magazine=Broadcasting|page=89|date=September 7, 1981}}</ref> In October 1981, District Court Judge Susan Getzendanner denied an injunction and dismissed the case, determining United was not required to carry the station's teletext transmission.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=In Brief|magazine=Broadcasting|page=312|date=October 12, 1981}}</ref> The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Northern District of Illinois disagreed, ruling in August 1982 that United Video must retransmit WGN-TV's VBI teletext where directly related to and part of the 9 p.m. news simulcast, noting that United had no grounds to claim the unseen teletext exempted it from copyright liability as the Copyright Act's definition of what constitutes as a public performance was broad enough to encompass indirect transmission through cable affiliates.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Appeals court offers protection to WGN-TV's teletext signal|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=29–30|date=August 16, 1982}}</ref>
By the fall of 1981, the MPAA, the NAB, sports leagues and copyright holders requested the Copyright Office raise royalty rates to compensate for losses incurred by distant signals and syndex deregulation.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Washington Watch: Copyright request|magazine=Broadcasting|page=58|date=September 21, 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Washington Watch: NAB backs MPAA|magazine=Broadcasting|page=74|date=October 12, 1981}}</ref> The CRT responded on October 22, 1982, by enacting a 3.75 percent royalty fee of cable system's gross receipts for each distant signal{{Efn|This fee only applied if the cable system's semi-annual revenue exceeded $214,000.}} along with a syndex surcharge on distant signals. Cable industry executives, lobbyists, and NCTA president Tom Wheeler objected to the increases, on concerns superstations would be removed from systems and independent stations benefitting from the extended audience would be harmed.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cable industry mounting counterattack on CRT|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=24–25|date=November 22, 1982}}</ref> The NCTA estimated about 6.3 million subscribers nationwide lost one or more distant signals from their cable system when the fees were imposed on March 15, 1983.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Black Tuesday descends on cable industry|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=61–62|date=March 21, 1983}}</ref> Prior to this, various distant signals lost a combined 493 system clearances, with WTBS, WGN-TV and WOR-TV accounting for half of the losses. Many systems opted to replace distant signals with Cable Health Network, which added 1.2 million subscribers.<ref>{{cite news|title=How Copyright Fees Affect Cable TV|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/19/arts/how-copyright-fees-affect-cable-tv.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 19, 1983|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Sally|last=Bedell|archive-date=May 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524141310/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/19/arts/how-copyright-fees-affect-cable-tv.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Later estimates showed WTBS lost 320,000 subscribers, Eastern Microwave recouped around 200,000 subscribers for WOR, and United Video recouped around 600,000 of its CRT-related losses of 1.2 million subscribers by May.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Closed Circuit: False alarm?|magazine=Broadcasting|page=7|date=May 2, 1983}}</ref>
== Impact on professional sports == While professional sports teams benefited heavily from exposure on superstations—namely, WTBS with the Braves and the Hawks, and WGN-TV with the Cubs, White Sox and Bulls—such coverage met resistance from both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB). In particular, MLB regarded superstation carriage as detrimental towards the revenue from their national TV contracts.<ref name="Orlan19850407">{{cite news|title=Ueberroth: Superstations are hazardous to baseball's health|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-ueberroth-supersta/197390879/|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|date=April 7, 1985|access-date=May 12, 2026|first=Russ|page=D5|via=Newspapers.com|last=White}}</ref>{{efn|In 1992, ESPN televised 175 baseball games as part of a broader $100 million per year deal at a per-game cost of $571,428, approximately 12 times more than what WTBS, WGN, WWOR and WPIX paid cumulatively that year (435 games for an annual fee of $20 million or a per-game cost of $46,000).{{r|Chica19920621}}}} Former Tribune vice president John Madigan argued superstation telecasts actually helped attendance and that the leagues were using them as a scapegoat.<ref>{{cite news|title=Superstation issue hasn't been solved|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-superstation-issue-hasnt-bee/197456966/|agency=United Press International|newspaper=Daily News|date=April 19, 1987|access-date=May 13, 2026|page=48|location=New York, New York|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
The only federal restriction on sports events shown on superstations and other imported signals was the "same-game rule", enacted by the FCC in June 1975. This rule prohibited cable systems from retransmitting sporting events through a distant signal within a {{convert|35|mi|km|0}} zone around the city of the home team's arena if the game is not airing on local television. A subsequent amendment required the broadcast rights-holder to inform local cable systems of any deletions no later than Monday of the preceding calendar week.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=FCC on course for adopting same-game rule for importation of distant sports|magazine=Broadcasting|page=30|date=June 30, 1975|issue=26|volume=88}}</ref> The National Hockey League (NHL) suggested the protection zone be across a team's home market, while the National Football League (NFL) and MLB advocated for a {{convert|75|mi|km|adj=on}} zone. MLB also sought a {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=on}} zone around the cities of minor league franchises and a {{convert|35|mi|km|adj=on}} zone around a team's local television rightsholder.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Same-game rule is out of bounds, say sports, broadcasters|magazine=Broadcasting|page=63|date=September 1, 1975|issue=9|volume=89}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=For the Record|magazine=Broadcasting|page=73|date=November 17, 1975|issue=20|volume=89}}</ref>
In April 1981, Mets owner Doubleday Sports Inc. informed EMI the team was exercising all rights to Mets telecasts outside New York City, and WOR's superstation feed needed to prerecord all Mets telecasts for time-delay rebroadcast. EMI sued in United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, claiming WOR's superstation feed telecasts were not copyright infringement and thus should be exempt from any royalties.<ref name="Broad19810504"/> District Judge Neal P. McCurn ruled on March 12, 1982, that EMI and other satellite carriers were liable for royalty payments to program suppliers,<ref name="Broad19820322">{{cite magazine|title=Judge's ruling in Eastern Microwave case muddies copyright waters|magazine=Broadcasting|date=March 22, 1982|issue=12|volume=102|id={{ProQuest|962728285}}|pages=29–30}}</ref> but this ruling was reversed by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals that May, affirming EMI's stance as a "passive" carrier seeking to retransmit "a marketable station", thereby exempt from royalty fees under the Copyright Act; the U.S. Supreme Court declined review.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite magazine|title=Court reverses Eastern Microwave|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=73–74|date=May 24, 1982|issue=21|volume=102}}|{{cite magazine|title=Eastern Microwave cleared by Supreme Court|magazine=Broadcasting|page=73|date=May 24, 1982|issue=21|volume=102}}}}</ref>
=== MLB vs. superstations === Under MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the league imposed a tax on superstation telecasts through a 24–2 vote, with the Braves and Cubs dissenting. Kuhn's successor, Peter Ueberroth, implemented the tax as a revenue sharing plan; WTBS was the first to agree to this tax, with WGN, WPIX, WOR-TV and KTVT following suit.{{r|Orlan19850407}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Turner and baseball come to terms|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=33–34|date=January 28, 1985|issue=4|volume=108}}</ref> WGN participated out of reluctance as their passive superstation status meant they had no accounting in place for their national audience.<ref>{{cite news|title=What's good for Ted Turner may not be so super for WGN|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-whats-good-for-ted-turn/197390554/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 29, 1985|access-date=May 12, 2026|first=Skip|page=4:3|via=Newspapers.com|last=Myslenski|archive-date=May 18, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518125012/https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-whats-good-for-ted-turn/197390554/|url-status=live}}</ref> Ueberroth regarded superstations as "tearing baseball apart" infringing on other team's home markets and often outrating their local stations.{{r|Orlan19850407}} KTVT's agreement came alongside Edward Gaylord (president of KTVT owner Gaylord Broadcasting) purchasing a minority stake in the Texas Rangers; Ueberroth invoked a "best interests of baseball" clause to overturn a prior rejection by American League owners of Gaylord's purchase.<ref>{{cite news|title=Officials Feel Gaylord to Get OK on Rangers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-oklahoman-officials-feel-gaylo/197891869/|newspaper=The Oklahoman|date=January 12, 1985|access-date=May 19, 2026|first=Volney|pages=29–[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-oklahoman-officials-feel-gaylo/197891901/ 30]|via=Newspapers.com|last=Meece}}</ref><ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite magazine|title=Telecastings: Struck out|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=99–100|date=January 28, 1985|issue=4|volume=108}}|{{cite magazine |date=February 11, 1985 |title=In Brief |magazine=Broadcasting |page=96 |volume=108 |issue=6}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Commissioner Approves Rangers Purchase Proposal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-oklahoman-commissioner-approve/197392161/|newspaper=The Oklahoman|date=February 9, 1985|access-date=May 12, 2026|page=29|agency=Associated Press|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Gaylord had right of first refusal to purchase the Rangers outright,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rangers sale opens up question for Gaylord|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=51–52|date=September 5, 1988|issue=10|volume=115}}</ref> which he attempted to exercise once in 1986 and twice in 1989, all of which were rejected.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cablecastings: Ranger report|magazine=Broadcasting|page=68|date=April 10, 1989|issue=15|volume=116}}</ref> The revenue sharing tax reflected each superstation's reach; by 1992, WTBS and WGN paid $12 million and $6 million, respectively, reflecting WTBS's 58 million subscribers and WGN's 35 million subscribers. WWOR{{Efn|Renamed from WOR-TV in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |title=WOR-TV now is WWOR-TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-jersey-journal-wor-tv-now-is-wwor-tv/175955280/ |access-date=July 5, 2025 |newspaper=The Jersey Journal and Jersey Journal |date=May 1, 1987 |location=Jersey City, New Jersey |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>}} and WPIX, by comparison, each paid $1 million.<ref name="Chica19920621">{{cite news |last=Holtzman |first=Jerome |author-link=Jerome Holtzman |date=June 21, 1992 |title=Vincent tries some tenderness: Seeks middle ground in superstation dilemma |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-vincent-tries-some-tende/197389216/ |access-date=May 12, 2026 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=5:3 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=May 17, 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260517125442/https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-vincent-tries-some-tende/197389216/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Fay Vincent, who took over as MLB Commissioner, petitioned the FCC in 1990 to redefine their non-duplication rules to force cable systems to blackout sports broadcasts on superstations, drawing criticism from Turner, Tribune and the NCTA.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Baseball Asks FCC for Local Exclusivity Against Superstations|page=95|date=September 10, 1990|magazine=Broadcasting|issue=11|volume=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=In Brief|page=97|date=October 8, 1990|magazine=Broadcasting|issue=15|volume=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=NCTA, Superstations Take Swing at Baseball's Exclusivity Protection Pitch|page=83|date=October 15, 1990|magazine=Broadcasting|issue=16|volume=119}}</ref> Vincent asked Congress in 1992 to repeal the compulsory copyright license and insert an amendment to the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act forcing superstations to enforce blackouts of sporting events if a conflict occurred with a local telecast of the same game.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Press Box: Vincent blasts superstations|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-the-press-box-vincent-b/197425256/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=April 30, 1992|access-date=May 12, 2026|page=3:4|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> This spurred an on-air campaign by Turner that saw responses mostly in opposition by over 17,000 viewers.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV: Vincent's two-way problem|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-tv-vincents-two-way-pr/197425088/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=August 28, 1992|access-date=May 12, 2026|first=Steve|page=8:4|via=Newspapers.com|last=Nidetz}}</ref><ref name="Broad19920810">{{cite magazine|title=It's Root, Root, Root for the Out-of-Town Team|magazine=Broadcasting|page=24|date=August 10, 1992|last=Brown|first=Rich|issue=33|volume=122}}</ref> Vincent implemented an MLB rule change to local broadcast agreements allowing ae team to terminate the contract if the station was retransmitted to more than 200,000 households outside of the team's territory.{{r|Broad19920810}} In July 1992, Vincent proposed to realign the National League (NL) by moving the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to the National League West, along with the Braves and Cincinnati Reds to the National League East, for the 1993 season. Tribune filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Vincent, claiming the proposal would dilute team rivalries, and force WGN-TV to carry an increased number of West Coast games with start times after 9 p.m. CT, threatening to depress advertising revenue.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cubs Balk at Vincent Move|page=10|date=July 13, 1992|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=29|volume=122|first=Steve|last=McClellan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=TV SPORTS; Chicago (Not in Standings) Now in First|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/25/sports/tv-sports-chicago-not-in-standings-now-in-first.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 25, 1992|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Richard|last=Sandomir|page=14:B|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401191540/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/25/sports/tv-sports-chicago-not-in-standings-now-in-first.html|url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Tribune and the Cubs.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Judge Backs Up Cubs in Dispute Against Baseball|page=4|date=July 27, 1992|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=31|volume=122}}</ref> Vincent lost a no confidence vote among MLB owners on September 4, 1992, and resigned as commissioner three days later.<ref>{{cite news|title=Too many small-market owners are being shortsighted|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-too-many-small-market-ow/197891007/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=September 6, 1992|access-date=May 19, 2026|first=Jerome|last=Holtzman|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-too-many-small-market-ow/197891208/ 14]:3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Vincent quits; may be last baseball czar|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-vincent-quits-may-be-la/197891464/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=September 8, 1992|access-date=May 19, 2026|first=Jerome|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-vincent-quits-may-be-la/197891500/ 22]:1|via=Newspapers.com|last=Holtzman}}</ref> Due to his departure, the proposed blackout amendment Vincent advocated for failed to advance in the Senate.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Vincent Departure Impacts MLB's Washington Agenda|magazine=Broadcasting|page=68|date=September 14, 1992|first=Joe|issue=38|volume=122|last=Flint}}</ref>
=== The NBA vs. superstations === The NBA also undertook actions to limit superstation telecasts of the league's games. In 1982, the NBA prohibited telecasting by stations reaching at least 5 percent of all out-of-market cable households that conflicted with those shown on ESPN and USA Network. By 1985, the league imposed a 25-game per season limit on superstations, sixteen fewer than the 41-game maximum under existing NBA local broadcast rules.<ref>{{cite news|title=N.B.A. Expansion Unlikely for 1986–87|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/sports/nba-expansion-unlikely-for-1986-87.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 27, 1985|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401182331/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/sports/nba-expansion-unlikely-for-1986-87.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Then-NBA Commissioner David Stern issued a further reduction for superstations to a 20-game limit under concerns telecasts of the Bulls on WGN and the Hawks on WTBS would impact the league's contracts with NBC and ESPN. Tribune Broadcasting and the Bulls jointly sued the NBA over this reduction, claiming the limit was intended to phase out NBA telecasts over superstations completely, pushed by Stern without any owner input.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WGN-TV Takes NBA to Court Over Superstation Rule|page=42|date=November 5, 1990|magazine=Broadcasting|issue=19|volume=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=TV SPORTS; Bulls, Superstations And Power Moves|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/16/sports/tv-sports-bulls-superstations-and-power-moves.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 16, 1991|access-date=May 6, 2019|author-link=Richard Sandomir|last=Sandomir|first=Richard}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bulls, WGN Sue NBA for Telecast Cut|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-10-27-9003310965-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 27, 1990|access-date=May 6, 2019|first1=Steve|first2=John|last1=Nidetz|last2=Gorman|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401175413/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-10-27-9003310965-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="marquette-bullscase">{{cite web|title=The Economics of Sports Leagues – The Chicago Bulls Case|url=http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1441&context=sportslaw|website=Marquette Sports Law Review|year=1999|access-date=May 6, 2019|first1=Franklin M.|last1=Fisher|first2=Christopher|first3=Evan Sue|last2=Maxwell|last3=Schouten}}</ref>
Four separate rulings were issued in favor of Tribune and the Bulls by Northern District of Illinois Judge Hubert L. Will,<ref>{{cite news|title='Geraldo' Goes to Moscow|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-01-27-9101080557-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 27, 1991|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=James|last=Warren|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401175452/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-01-27-9101080557-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals,<ref>{{cite news|title=Bulls, WGN Big Winners in Court|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-04-15-9202030798-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=April 15, 1992|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=James|last=Warren|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401164317/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-04-15-9202030798-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the U.S. Supreme Court<ref>{{cite magazine|title=High Court Rules for WGN in NBA Case|page=54|date=November 9, 1992|first=Rich|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|last=Brown|issue=46|volume=122}}</ref> and again by Judge Will.<ref>{{cite news|title=PRO BASKETBALL; N.B.A. TV Limits Ruled Illegal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/07/sports/pro-basketball-nba-tv-limits-ruled-illegal.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 7, 1995|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Richard|last=Sandomir}}</ref> Consequently, WGN-TV was allowed to air at least 30 Bulls telecasts over its local and national feeds between the 1992–93 and 1995–96 seasons.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bulls Get OK for 30 WGN Games in '92–93|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-02-21-9201170182-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=February 21, 1992|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=James|last=Warren|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401164226/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-02-21-9201170182-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bulls Get More WGN Telecasts|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-01-07-9501070108-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 7, 1995|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Matt|last=O'Connor|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401164118/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-01-07-9501070108-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A Seventh Circuit judiciary panel overturned their prior ruling on September 10, 1996,{{r|marquette-bullscase}} forcing WGN-TV to relegate the 35 Bulls games it was scheduled to air during the 1996–97 season exclusively to the Chicago area signal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Appeals Court Reverses Call on Bulls Telecasts|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-09-11-9609110123-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=September 11, 1996|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Matt|last=O'Connor}}</ref> The embargoed Bulls telecasts were supplanted on the superstation feed with alternate programming, at times also pre-empting WGN's 9 p.m. news on nights when Bulls games overran into the time slot.<ref>{{cite news|title=WGN to Televise 35 Bulls Games—To Local Audience Only|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-10-15-9610150176-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 15, 1996|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401164141/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-10-15-9610150176-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=No Bulls; Cable TV can't carry Chicago games|url=https://www.postbulletin.com/no-bulls-cable-tv-can-t-carry-chicago-games-if/article_991403a5-3121-54a4-bec0-1045dfbef46b.html|newspaper=Post-Bulletin|date=October 19, 1996|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401151340/https://www.postbulletin.com/no-bulls-cable-tv-can-t-carry-chicago-games-if/article_991403a5-3121-54a4-bec0-1045dfbef46b.html|url-status=dead|location=Rochester, Minnesota}}</ref> A settlement reached between WGN, the Bulls and the NBA in December 1996 allowed the Chicago signal to carry 41 games for the remainder of the season while the superstation feed could air 12 games.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WGN-TV/NBA headed back to court in 6-year-old case|date=October 21, 1996|last=McConville|first=Jim|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=44|volume=126|page=45}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bulls Return to National Picture|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-12-13-9612130107-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 13, 1996|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Michael|last=Hirsley|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401180643/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-12-13-9612130107-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=WGN-TV gets Christmas present|page=34|date=December 30, 1996|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=53|volume=126}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Bulls Storm the Court(room): Chicago Professional Sports Limited Partnership v. The National Basketball Association|url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/sugarman/Sports_Stories_Bulls_Brian_Bell.pdf|publisher=UC Berkeley School of Law|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Brien C.|last=Bell|archive-date=October 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012004040/https://www.law.berkeley.edu/sugarman/Sports_Stories_Bulls_Brian_Bell.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The ruling against WGN and the Bulls led Tele-Communications Inc. to remove WGN's superstation feed outright in December 1996, affecting around 3.5 million subscribers;<ref>{{cite magazine|title=TCI move not so super for superstations|pages=92, 94|date=December 9, 1996|first=Jim|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|last=McConville|issue=51|volume=126}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Networks on chopping block; TCI makes mincemeat of programmers' lineups|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19044057.html|work=Multichannel News|date=December 2, 1996|access-date=February 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105151508/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19044057.html|archive-date=November 5, 2012|url-status=dead|first=Richard|last=Katz}}</ref> TCI later made a partial reversal and reinstated the superstation feed, but in Midwestern states only.<ref>{{cite news|title=WGN Looks to Soar After Difficult Period|url=https://www.multichannel.com/news/wgn-looks-soar-after-difficult-period-154013|work=Multichannel News|date=March 29, 1998|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Linda|last=Moss}}</ref>
=== WTBS and TNT Sports === {{Main|TNT Sports (United States)}} Through Turner's TNT Sports division, WTBS was able to supplement their Atlanta sports broadcasts with more national fare. WTBS acquired a package of regular season NBA games involving the league's other teams, early round conference playoff games and the NBA draft beginning with the 1984–85 season and continuing until 2002, when the NBA cable rights shifted to co-owned TNT.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV Sports Coverage Vaults to Profitability; NBC Wins Its Gold Before|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=H.01|date=September 11, 1988|first=Paul|last=Farhi}}</ref> Professional wrestling remained a staple over WTBS (and later also over TNT) until 2001, when World Championship Wrestling, a promotion Turner owned, was shut down.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WCW on the ropes|page=8|date=March 19, 2001|first=John M.|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|author-link=John M. Higgins|last=Higgins|issue=12|volume=131}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Turner to Drop Wrestling, Shed Jobs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/11/business/turner-to-drop-wrestling-shed-jobs.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 11, 2001|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Jim|last=Rutenberg|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922211528/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/11/business/turner-to-drop-wrestling-shed-jobs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> WTBS also aired NCAA college football from 1981 to 1992 and again from 2002 to 2007,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Turner buys NCAA cable rights for $17.6 million|magazine=Broadcasting|page=34|date=February 1, 1982|issue=5|volume=102}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Turner Cable TV Gets N.C.A.A. Football Pact|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/28/sports/turner-cable-tv-gets-ncaa-football-pact.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 28, 1982|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=October 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019212200/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/28/sports/turner-cable-tv-gets-ncaa-football-pact.html|url-status=live}}</ref> various NASCAR races through 2001<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3683462f69d76f6209815a/turner-moving-nascar-from-tbs-to-tnt|title=Turner moving NASCAR from TBS to TNT|website=Newson6.com|date=March 28, 2001|access-date=June 21, 2025|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=June 21, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250621233412/https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3683462f69d76f6209815a/turner-moving-nascar-from-tbs-to-tnt|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Goodwill Games.
== Syndex implementation == {{Further|Syndication exclusivity}} On May 18, 1988, the FCC re-enacted Syndication Exclusivity rules, this time granting local television stations the ability to claim exclusive rights to syndicated programs and compel cable systems to blackout any out-of-market stations, including superstations, that carried said programs.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Syndex redux: FCC levels the playing field|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=31–33|date=May 23, 1988}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=FCC Reimposes Rule On TV Exclusivity|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/05/19/fcc-reimposes-rule-on-tv-exclusivity/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=May 19, 1988|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Charles|last=Storch|archive-date=September 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919045759/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-05-19/business/8803180484_1_fcc-chairman-dennis-patrick-exclusivity-rules-superstations|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=FCC Reinstates Exclusive Rights|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-18-mn-2996-story.html|agency=Reuters|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 18, 1988|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=October 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017035638/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-05-18/news/mn-2996_1_exclusive-rights|url-status=live}}</ref> The law also closed a terrestrial loophole allowing superstations to pay local single market rates for programs while also selling their extended coverage to advertisers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Same reruns on too many channels? FCC says no more. Panel's ruling considered defeat for cable operators|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/0526/lfcc.html|author=Sweeney|work=Christian Science Monitor|date=May 26, 1988|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Louise|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224925/http://www.csmonitor.com/1988/0526/lfcc.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='SyndEx' Spells Confusion Over Future Programming|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1988/05/28/syndex-spells-confusion-over-future-programming/fb2a891d-a9a6-4095-9d44-98bd658d9d3c/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 28, 1988|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Norman|author-link=Norman Chad|last=Chad|archive-date=October 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019101013/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1988/05/28/syndex-spells-confusion-over-future-programming/fb2a891d-a9a6-4095-9d44-98bd658d9d3c/|url-status=live}}</ref> The satellite television industry was largely exempt from syndex via the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988, as they served households without a local network affiliate.<ref name="Broad19881024">{{cite magazine|title=Congress, in overtime, passes TVRO, children's ad bills|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=26–28|date=October 24, 1988|issue=17|volume=115}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Network-SBN litigation all but settled by superstation bill|magazine=Broadcasting|date=October 31, 1988|pages=60–61|issue=18|volume=115}}</ref> A 1991 FCC inquiry over extending syndex to home dish services ended with the commission deeming it "technically and economically infeasible".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=FCC Says No to Home Dish SyndEx|magazine=Broadcasting|page=56|date=January 28, 1991|issue=4|volume=120}}</ref> The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act in 1999 allowed satellite providers the ability to carry local broadcast signals;<ref>{{cite web|title=FCC Adopts Network Nonduplication, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout Rules for Satellite Carriers|url=https://www.dwt.com/advisories/FCC_Adopts_Network_Nonduplication_Syndicated_Exclusivity_and_Sports_Blackout_Rules_for_Satellite_Carriers_11_09_2000/|website=Davis Wright Tremaine LLP|date=November 9, 2000|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> the FCC was required to develop rules protecting them, much as had been the case with cable, and in 2000 approved network non-duplication, syndex, and sports blackout rules.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Local TV gets shield from DBS|url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv-gets-shield-dbs-95331|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|page=8|date=November 6, 2000|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Bill|last=McConnell|issue=46|volume=130|archive-date=October 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024020736/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv-gets-shield-dbs-95331|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=FCC's Rules Cut TV Offerings of 2 Satellite Firms|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-03-fi-46268-story.html|agency=Bloomberg News|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=November 3, 2000|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=October 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021105752/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-03-fi-46268-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FCC sets sat blackout rules; New law affects EchoStar, DirecTV programming|url=https://variety.com/2000/biz/news/fcc-sets-sat-blackout-rules-1117788684/|magazine=Variety|date=November 2, 2000|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Pamela|last=McClintock}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Commission Implements Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act Sports Blackout and Program Exclusivity Rule Provisions for Satellite Carriers|url=https://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/News_Releases/2000/nrcb0024.txt|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=November 2, 2000|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
Several superstations sought to indemnify cable systems over potential blackouts. WTBS was able to license the majority of programming for both the Atlanta and superstation feeds and called themselves "100% blackout-free".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Making WTBS 'blackout-free'|magazine=Broadcasting|pages=40–41|date=July 31, 1989|issue=5|volume=117}}</ref> United Video and Tribune made efforts to clear as much of WGN-TV's programming on the superstation feed as possible, and United Video had in place a contingency plan to lease a second satellite for any blacked-out shows. Conversely, WWOR carried popular reruns including ''Kate & Allie'', ''The Cosby Show'' and ''Knight Rider'' that were heavily susceptible to syndex claims.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=United Video and WGN-TV to keep station syndex-proof|magazine=Broadcasting|page=31|date=February 6, 1989|issue=6|volume=116}}</ref> EMI opted to purchase programs to replace those over WWOR that would be unavailable outside of the New York City market due to syndex, estimated at 15 to 20 hours of preemptions a week.<ref>{{Cite magazine|page=6|title=Safe syndex|date=August 28, 1989|magazine=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1016927742}}|volume=117|issue=9}}</ref> Many of the acquired programs were sourced from WWOR's then-owner MCA Inc. alongside shows from the ''Christian Science Monitor''{{'}}s television service.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 29, 1989|title=Is Axel in or out?|pages=63|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73918734/is-axel-in-or-out/|access-date=November 23, 2021}}</ref> When the WWOR EMI Service launched on January 1, 1990, fifteen programs on WWOR's lineup were not cleared.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 24, 1989|title=Rule pares the fare seen by cable viewers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-rule-pares-the/197293482/|access-date=May 10, 2026|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|pages=1-G, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-why-the-plug-w/197293520/ 9-G]|first=Lee|last=Winfrey|archive-date=May 19, 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260519145000/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-rule-pares-the/197293482/|url-status=live}}</ref> By 1991, EMI programmed seven hours a day on the WWOR EMI Service and handled all advertising during those hours; WGN's superstation feed had five hours of alternate programming per day, but were sourced by WGN itself.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=August 19, 1991 |title=Operators get avails on WWOR |magazine=Broadcasting |pages=39–40 |volume=121 |issue=8 |id={{ProQuest|1016942138}}}}</ref>
WGN and WTBS saw little negative impact to their distribution following the syndex implementation, with WGN benefiting from provider removals of other superstations during the early 1990s. WWOR both lost 500,000 subscribers and added 1 million households; while WWOR lost carriage on some cable systems in favor of TNT, other systems removed WSBK in favor of the WWOR EMI Service.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 8, 1990 |title=Returns coming in after week one of syndex |magazine=Broadcasting |page=137 |volume=118 |issue=2 |id={{ProQuest|1016935246}}}}</ref> In several cases, regional superstations which had no replacement feed for blackouts were removed outright due to syndex.<ref>{{cite news|title=That Dreaded Syndex Clause Guns Down Mavs, Rangers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tulsa-world-that-dreaded-syndex-clause-g/197319614/|newspaper=Tulsa World|date=December 15, 1989|access-date=May 11, 2025|first=Dan|page=B3|via=Newspapers.com|last=O'Kane}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Local Stations Undergo Format Switch|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-local-stations-undergo-forma/197319929/|newspaper=Daily Press|date=November 25, 1989|access-date=May 6, 2019|first=Joseph|pages=F1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-local-stations-undergo-forma/197319954/ F4]|location=Newport News, Virginia|via=Newspapers.com|last=Pryweller}}</ref> This resulted in complaints from cable subscribers over the loss of regional sports play-by-play. One Providence, Rhode Island, cable system removed WPIX upon the syndex rollout, but later set up a local channel to rebroadcast WPIX's Yankees telecasts in exchange for full-time copyright fees to United Video. This followed public pressure from Providence City Council and the Rhode Island Department of Public Utilities and Carriers.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cherrypicked Answer To Baseball Blackout|date=June 25, 1990|first=Andy|magazine=Channels|last=Grossman|issue=9|volume=10|page=10}}</ref>
The WWOR EMI Service and WPIX each saw their distribution erode during the early 1990s, as cable systems that carried either superstation began replacing them with WGN's national feed.<ref>{{cite news|title=WGN gains 2.2M subs; program appeal cited|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9267407.html|work=Multichannel News|date=July 16, 1990|access-date=January 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924165250/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9267407.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Midwest systems switch out WWOR; cable television operators sign up WGN|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11865391.html|work=Multichannel News|date=January 13, 1992|access-date=January 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105165631/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11865391.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 5, 2012|first=R. Thomas|last=Umstead}}</ref> KTVT lost its superstation status altogether in 1994 after affiliating with CBS as a result of a nationwide television affiliation realignment; 500,000 subscribers, mostly in Texas, were affected.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=September 26, 1994 |title=Headendings: Empty Space at United Video |magazine=Broadcasting |page=27 |volume=124 |issue=39 |id={{ProQuest|1014752499}}}}</ref>
== Evolution and decline == WWOR-TV and WGN-TV's superstation feeds were affected by the concurrent launches of UPN and The WB. In December 1993, Time Warner allowed Tribune and United Video to carry The WB over WGN-TV's national feed, and WGN-TV signed up as a WB charter affiliate.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WB network signs WGN-TV|page=14|date=December 6, 1993|first=Joe|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=49|volume=123|last=Flint}}</ref> WGN-TV's signing also resulted in The WB programming one night per week instead of two to accommodate WGN's sports commitments; WB shows over the superstation feed would be blacked out in any markets with an existing WB affiliate.<ref>{{cite news|title=WGN Affiliation for New Network|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-12-04-9312040167-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 4, 1993|access-date=April 30, 2019|first=J. Linn|last=Allen}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tribune's Network Tie Could Bench Its Sports|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4198193.html|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=November 3, 1993|access-date=July 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328132823/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4198193.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2015|first=Greg|last=Burns}}</ref> By August 1995, Tribune purchased an ownership stake in The WB.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Tribune buys into Warner Bros. Network|page=14|date=August 21, 1995|first=Steve|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=34|volume=125|last=Coe}}</ref> The superstation feed dropped The WB in October 1999 in favor of acquired programming after the network's affiliate base grew to a point the satellite feed was redundant.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WB affils cheer end of WGN feed|page=29|date=February 1, 1999|first=Michael|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=5|volume=129|last=Stroud}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=WGN Drops WB, Adds Movies, Sitcoms|url=https://www.multichannel.com/news/wgn-drops-wb-adds-movies-sitcoms-148648|date=September 20, 1999|access-date=June 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328150223/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55897252.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2015|website=Multichannel News|first=Linda|last=Moss}}</ref>
In direct contrast, WWOR-TV affiliated with UPN as then-owner United Television was also a co-owner of the network.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Salhany's back and U/P's got her|magazine=Broadcasting|page=18|date=September 19, 1994|first=Steve|last=McClellan|issue=38|volume=124}}</ref> However, the WWOR EMI Service was restricted from carrying UPN, leading it to run alternate shows in prime time. This restriction was not extended to WSBK, whose audience was limited to New England.<ref>{{cite news|title=Two networks not so easy to find locally|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-two-networks-not-so-eas/197320892/|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=January 9, 1995|access-date=May 11, 2026|first=Bill|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-two-networks-not-so-eas/197320859/ E1]–E2|via=Newspapers.com|last=Keveney}}</ref> The WWOR EMI Service was shut down on December 31, 1996, by Advance Entertainment Corporation (renamed from EMI<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Headendings|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|id={{ProQuest|1016943041}}|page=81|date=September 30, 1996|issue=41|volume=126}}</ref>) in response to a forthcoming increase in royalties fees from the CRT.{{r|Broad19970106}} By then, all of WWOR's popular shows were inaccessible on the EMI Service, with the replacement fare seen as "inferior" by comparison.<ref name="Varie19961230">{{cite web|title=Animal Eats WWOR|url=https://variety.com/1996/scene/vpage/animal-eats-wwor-1117436170/|date=December 30, 1996|access-date=April 30, 2019|website=Variety|first=John|last=Dempsey|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502051420/https://variety.com/1996/scene/vpage/animal-eats-wwor-1117436170/|url-status=live}}</ref> About 12.5 million cable subscribers were affected.<ref name="Broad19970106">{{Cite magazine|last=McConville|first=Jim|title=N.Y.'s WWOR loses super status; satellite distributor discontinues service contract with television station|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|date=January 6, 1997|page=118|id={{ProQuest|225343044}}|issue=1|volume=127}}</ref> The satellite transponder was sold to Discovery Networks for Animal Planet.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19193323.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105151531/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19193323.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |last=Paikert |first=Charles |title=Discovery dogs WWOR; Animal Planet gets leg up on Open Slots |work=Multichannel News |date=January 6, 1997}}</ref>
Tribune assumed responsibilities for WGN's superstation feed from Gemstar–TV Guide International, which acquired United Video, in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|date=August 15, 2004|title=Boylan-SEC Deal Cost $600K|url=https://www.multichannel.com/news/boylan-sec-deal-cost-600k-151207|access-date=April 29, 2019|first=Steve|website=Broadcasting & Cable|last=Donohue}}</ref> Aside from local newscasts and some sports play-by-play, WGN's superstation feed increasingly relied less on WGN-TV as fewer syndicated programs were able to be given national clearance. Following a bankruptcy and leveraged buyout-driven managerial change at Tribune in 2008, WGN's superstation feed was rebranded as WGN America amid plans to convert it to a basic cable channel.<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Phil Rosenthal|date=May 28, 2008|title=New eyes on new WGN America|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/05/28/new-eyes-on-new-wgn-america/|access-date=October 13, 2015|first=Phil|last=Rosenthal}}</ref> WGN America dropped all remaining WGN-TV simulcasts on December 15, 2014;<ref name="Crain20140530">{{cite news|title=WGN America to drop Chicago sports|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140530/NEWS01/140539978/wgn-america-to-drop-chicago-sports|newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business|date=May 30, 2014|access-date=June 27, 2014|first=Lynne|last=Marek|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111190255/https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140530/NEWS01/140539978/wgn-america-to-drop-chicago-sports|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=WGN news loses national platform|url=http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/02/05/wgn-9-p-m-news-loses-national-platform|date=February 5, 2014|access-date=February 7, 2014|first=Robert|website=Chicago Tribune|last=Feder|author-link=Robert Feder|archive-date=February 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209083532/http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/02/05/wgn-9-p-m-news-loses-national-platform/|url-status=live}}</ref> the following month, WGN America was introduced to Chicago-area cable systems for the first time.<ref name="Chica20141215">{{cite news|title=WGN America comes home to Chicago|url=http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/12/15/wgn-america-comes-home-to-chicago/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 15, 2014|access-date=January 11, 2015|first=Robert|last=Feder|author-link=Robert Feder|archive-date=December 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230210206/http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/12/15/wgn-america-comes-home-to-chicago/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Broad20141216">{{cite news|title=WGN America Converts to Cable in Five Markets|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/programming/wgn-america-converts-cable-five-markets/136444|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=December 16, 2014|access-date=January 11, 2015|first=Kent|last=Gibbons|archive-date=January 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132203/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/programming/wgn-america-converts-cable-five-markets/136444|url-status=live}}</ref>
Time Warner, by then the parent of WTBS owner Turner Broadcasting System, converted WTBS's superstation feed to basic cable channel TBS on January 1, 1998.<ref name="Broad19971208">{{cite magazine|title=Counting down to the new TBS|pages=100–101|date=December 8, 1997|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=50|volume=127|first=Donna|last=Petrozzello}}</ref> This conversion required approval from ESPN for TBS to retain broadcast rights to the Braves, only now as a national contract and without Turner paying superstation royalties;<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 4, 1997|title=Conversion factors fall into place for WTBS|page=10|first=Donna|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|last=Petrozzello|issue=32|volume=127}}</ref> Time Warner acquired broadcast rights to feature films for both TBS and TNT as a potential backup had an agreement not been reached.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=TBS to go basic, Braves or no|page=11|date=April 21, 1997|first=Steve|magazine=Broadcasting & Cable|issue=17|volume=128|last=McClellan}}</ref> As a basic cable channel, TBS could collect subscriber fees not available as a superstation; as this also required renegotiations among cable providers, a Cox Communications official projected "a total windfall" for Turner but at increased costs.{{r|Broad19971208}} WTBS continued simulcasting TBS outside of separate Atlanta-based advertising, public affairs and E/I programming, but separated from TBS on October 1, 2007, when its call sign was changed to WPCH-TV and adopted a different program lineup.<ref>{{cite news|title=WTBS to become Peachtree TV|url=http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/06/25/daily32.html?surround=lfn|newspaper=Atlanta Business Chronicle|date=June 27, 2007|access-date=January 11, 2008|archive-date=October 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180720/http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/06/25/daily32.html?surround=lfn|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Turner Pressroom<!-- Bot generated title -->|url=http://www.turnerinfo.com/newsitem.aspx?P=TBS&CID01=aa8051cc-f1f4-4b7f-ad1d-ce2809be3b6f|website=Turner Broadcasting System|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012050942/http://www.turnerinfo.com/newsitem.aspx?P=TBS&CID01=aa8051cc-f1f4-4b7f-ad1d-ce2809be3b6f|archive-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref>
==Canada== The emergence of superstations and pay television via satellite in the United States created a cross-border issue in Canada, where reception for home use in remote communities proliferated despite being illegal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 3, 1980 |title=Splashy Shows: Water plant is grabbing TV signals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-splashy-shows-water/197819306/ |access-date=May 19, 2026 |work=The Globe and Mail |page=T2 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Canadian Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hunter |first=Nick |date=January 4, 1980 |title=Dishing out Northern TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-dishing-out-northern-t/197821074/ |access-date=May 19, 2026 |work=The Vancouver Sun |page=23L |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Canadian Press}}</ref> When Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) chairman John Meisel threatened to prosecute people who owned an earth station, the British Columbian provincial government installed one of their own in defiance; British Columbia communications minister Pat McGeer considered the CRTC's demand "as bad as living behind the Iron Curtain".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oake |first=George |date=June 2, 1980 |title=B.C. gov't defies CRTC with illegal TV receiver |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sault-star-bc-govt-defies-crtc-wi/197835620/ |access-date=May 19, 2026 |work=The Sault Star |location=Sault St. Marie, Ontario |page=21}}</ref> After seeking applications from Canadian common carriers to uplink Canadian signals, the CRTC awarded permits on April 14, 1981, to Canadian Satellite Communications (Cancom), the Inuit Tapirisat for Eskimo-related programming, and the Dene for satellite radio. Cancom uplinked CHAN-TV (BCTV/CTV) in Vancouver, independent stations CITV-TV in Edmonton and CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, and several radio stations including the national CKO network.<ref name="Vanco19810415">{{Cite news |last=Barrett|first=Tom|date=April 15, 1981|title=CHAN-TV gets 'superstation status' in satellite decision|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-chan-tv-gets-supersta/197770369/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=The Vancouver Sun|page=A10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> TCTV, a feed of CFTM-TV in Montreal with some alternate programming, was also uplinked.<ref name="Toron19850323">{{Cite news |last=Adilman|first=Sid|date=March 23, 1985|title=CRTC ruling paves way for 'superstations' across Canada|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-crtc-ruling-paves-way-f/197770432/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=The Toronto Star|page=A8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Cancom was authorized in 1984 to uplink WDIV-TV (NBC), WJBK-TV (CBS), WTVS (PBS) and WXYZ-TV (ABC), all in Detroit;<ref name="Edmon19901215">{{Cite news |last=Bastien|first=Mark|date=December 15, 1990|title=CRTC widening window on U.S. TV|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-crtc-widening-window-on/197770496/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=Edmonton Journal|page=B2|via=Newspapers.com|agency=Canadian Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 2, 1984 |title=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Decision |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-canadian-radio-televisi/197851147/ |access-date=May 19, 2026 |work=Edmonton Journal |page=E2 |type=Public notice |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> in March 1987, United Video began marketing the Detroit uplinks to U.S. cable systems.{{r|Broad19871130}}
{{Quote box | quote = Some people say, 'But doesn't it shock you with all the murders and violence and stuff on their news?' and I say, 'Just because we live in the North in a small place doesn't mean we've never seen anything.' I mean, violence is all over the world, not just Detroit. | author = Debbie Raddi | source = a resident of Tuktoyaktuk, on viewing television stations in Detroit via Cancom{{r|Edmon19901215}} | width = 250px }}
By 1984, amid concerns satellite dishes and video tape recorders were driving television viewers away from Canadian content, the CRTC—now chaired by former Cancom head André Bureau{{r|Toron19850323}}—considered authorizing the Cancom stations to be available in cable systems across Canada.<ref name="Calga19841129">{{Cite news |date=November 29, 1984|title=TV signal expansion delay urged|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald-tv-signal-expansion-delay/197770405/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=Calgary Herald|page=D3|via=Newspapers.com|agency=Canadian Press}}</ref> The proposal was seen as a needed financial boost to Cancom, who initially expected to break-even by 1989.{{r|Vanco19810415|Toron19850323}} The CBC, CTV, TVA and the Global Television Network urged a delay amid concerns these stations would engage in bidding wars for imported U.S. programs.{{r|Toron19850323|Calga19841129}} The CRTC approved the proposal on March 22, 1985, with Bureau saying the move was necessary to help address the added influence of American superstations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Westell|first=Dan|date=March 23, 1985|title=Underserved areas to get TV options|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-underserved-areas-to/197770416/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=The Globe and Mail|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-crtc-approves-new-tel/197770425/ 2]|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By April 4, the CRTC authorized WTBS, WGN-TV, WPIX and WOR-TV for distribution on cable systems alongside BET and Satellite Program Network, a move meant to dissuade unlicensed satellite use.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Enchin |first=Harvey |date=April 5, 1985 |title=CRTC hearing to consider reform of cable TV rules |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-crtc-hearing-to-consi/197846895/ |access-date=May 19, 2026 |work=The Globe and Mail |page=B5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Public Notice CRTC 1985-72 – Optional Canadian and Non-Canadian Satellite Services |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/PB85-72.htm |website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission |date=April 4, 1985 |access-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214155325/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/pb85-72.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Atlanta feed of WTBS was authorized for uplink instead of the superstation feed,<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Notice CRTC 1985-72 - Optional Canadian and Non-Canadian Satellite Services |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/PB85-72.htm |website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission |date=April 4, 1985 |access-date=April 7, 2019 |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214155325/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/pb85-72.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> thus, when WTBS separated from TBS in 2007, the CRTC re-authorized WPCH-TV for distribution instead.<ref name="Globe20071004">{{cite news |date=October 5, 2007|title=TBS throws a curveball to Canadian baseball fans|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-tbs-throws-a-curvebal/197847043/|access-date=May 19, 2026|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|first=William|last=Houston|page=S3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-132 - Renaming of WTBS Atlanta as WPCH-TV Atlanta on the lists of eligible satellite services |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2007/pb2007-132.htm |website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission |date=November 19, 2007 |access-date=October 25, 2010 |archive-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417055945/http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2007/pb2007-132.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The Detroit network affiliates were also exclusively authorized for national distribution, resulting in cable subscribers in Winnipeg, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Regina, Saskatchewan, to view only them instead of local over-the-air U.S. network affiliates.{{r|Edmon19901215}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Austen|first=Ian|date=March 18, 1993|title=Superstations spark $8.5 million lawsuit|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-superstations-spark-8/197770467/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=The Toronto Star|page=B7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
After the Canadian government and the U.S. State Department agreed to a system for royalty fees, the FCC and CRTC jointly authorized WTBS and WGN-TV to be available on cable systems across Canada.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May 6, 1991|title=In Brief: Superstations Heading North|magazine=Broadcasting|page=72|volume=120|issue=18|id={{ProQuest|1014747583}}}}</ref> WSBK-TV was awarded authorization to be uplinked on April 29, 1991,<ref>{{cite web|title=ARCHIVED – Public Notice CRTC 1991-46|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1991/pb91-46.htm|website=Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission|page=3|format=PDF|date=April 29, 1991|access-date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> despite The Sports Network arguing WSBK's sports coverage would directly compete against them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siklos|first=Richard|date=May 1, 1991|title=Cable firms get superstations|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-cable-firms-get-superstati/197770504/|access-date=May 18, 2026|work=National Post|page=44 - Financial Post|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> KTLA was authorized on July 17, 1991,<ref>{{cite web|title=ARCHIVED – Public Notice CRTC 1991-72|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1991/pb91-72.htm|website=Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission|date=July 17, 1991|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506182945/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1991/pb91-72.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and KWGN was granted authorization on July 22, 1997.<ref>{{cite web|title=ARCHIVED – Public Notice CRTC 1997-96|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1997/pb97-96.htm|website=Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission|date=July 22, 1997|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506182948/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1997/pb97-96.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> When WJBK switched affiliations to Fox in December 1994, Cancom replaced it with WTOL, the CBS affiliate in Toledo, Ohio.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davitt|first=Patrick|date=November 30, 1994|title=Regina gets Toledo station Monday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-leader-post-regina-gets-toledo-stati/198005791/|access-date=May 21, 2026|work=The Leader-Post|location=Regina, Saskatchewan|page=B8|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> WJBK's removal came despite the CRTC allowed Fox stations to be imported on cable systems,<ref>{{cite news |date=September 12, 1994 |title=Canadian cablecos to do the FOX trot |newspaper=Alberta Report / Newsmagazine |page=43 |id={{EBSCOhost|9410267636}}}}</ref> as Fox was still deemed an "optional service" in larger markets.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 24, 1994|title=N.S. cable firms say hello to Toledo|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-transcript-ns-cable-firms-sa/198005042/|access-date=May 21, 2026|work=The Times-Transcript|location=Moncton, New Brunswick|page=21|via=Canadian Press|agency=Canadian Press}}</ref> In smaller markets, WUHF in Rochester, New York, was uplinked for Fox programming.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hutchinson|first=Jim|date=October 22, 1994|title=Hang in, football fans — Fox-TV arrives in 5½ weeks|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/north-bay-nugget-hang-in-football-fans/198005239/|access-date=May 21, 2026|work=North Bay Nugget|location=North Bay, Ontario|page=C1|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1998, WWJ-TV, which replaced WJBK as Detroit's CBS outlet, replaced WTOL on Cancom.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 23, 1998 |title=Public Notice CRTC 1998-64 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-globe-and-mail-public-notice-crtc-19/198054867/ |access-date=May 22, 2026 |work=The Globe and Mail |page=A14 |type=Public notice |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
The CRTC authorizes five of the six designated American superstations for carriage on domestic multichannel television providers. Under CRTC rules first implemented on October 26, 1983, all authorized American superstations typically are received mainly through a subscription to one or more domestic premium channels; this was to help domestic programming services, particularly independently-owned and specialty services. Superstations included in Section "B" of the CRTC's Part II eligible services list are mandated to be packaged with premium services; however, under a related rule that allows for one superstation of the provider's choice to be carried on a non-premium tier, some television providers have chosen to offer either TBS/WPCH-TV, WGN-TV or WSBK in a specialty tier.<ref>{{cite web|title=ARCHIVED – Public Notice CRTC 84-81|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/pb84-81.htm|website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission|date=April 2, 1984|access-date=April 1, 2019|archive-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420034031/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/pb84-81.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-312|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-312.pdf|website=Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission|page=3|date=May 27, 2010|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=October 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020225821/https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-312.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == {{Refbegin|}} * {{Cite book |last=Auletta |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Auletta |url=https://archive.org/details/mediamantedturne00aule |title=Media Man: Ted Turner's Improbable Empire |date=2004 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393327496 |edition=1st |location=New York}} * {{cite book |last=Bibb |first=Porter |url=https://archive.org/details/itaintaseasyasit00bibb |title=Ted Turner: It Ain't As Easy as It Looks: The Amazing Story of CNN |date=1993 |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=978-1555662035 |edition=1st |location=New York}} * {{Cite book |last1=Goldberg |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/citizenturnerwil00gold |title=Citizen Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon |last2=Goldberg |first2=Gerald Jay |author-link2=Gerald Jay Goldberg |publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company |year=1995 |isbn=0-15-118008-3 |location=New York}} * {{Cite journal |last=Tigerman |first=Stephen M. |date=Fall 1982 |title=The Growing Problem of Involuntary Superstations |journal=The Journal of Arts, Management and Law |publisher=Heldref Publications |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=51–66 |doi=10.1080/07335113.1982.9942057 |id={{ProQuest|1300534009}}}} * {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Williams |url=https://archive.org/details/leadfolloworgeto0000will/ |title=Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way: The Story of Ted Turner |publisher=Times Books |year=1981 |isbn=978-0812910049 |location=New York}} {{Refend}}
{{Superstations}}
Category:Television terminology Category:Superstations in the United States