TV Network Overview
CBS is an English-language commercial national broadcast television network in the United States. Its national schedule spans scripted entertainment, reality and competition programs, news, sports, daytime programming, late-night television, and specials. CBS provides a national program schedule for local television markets while maintaining a broad mix of entertainment, news, sports, and public-affairs programming.
CBS emerged from United Independent Broadcasters, a radio network established in 1927, and developed under the Columbia Broadcasting System name during the late 1920s. The network entered experimental television broadcasting in New York in 1931, and CBS television network operations began in 1948. This progression from radio to television established CBS as one of the long-standing national broadcast networks in American television.
A distinctive part of CBS’s programming heritage is its long association with television news and public affairs. Face the Nation began in 1954 and became one of the longest-running public-affairs programs in television history. 60 Minutes premiered in 1968, giving the television newsmagazine format a long-standing place in CBS prime-time programming. The CBS Eye, introduced in 1951, has also remained central to the network’s visual identity for decades.
Across the United States, CBS network programming is incorporated into the schedules of both CBS-owned stations and independently owned affiliates. Each station serves its own local market and combines network programs with locally selected or produced content. News, weather, public affairs, community information, and other regional coverage can therefore vary from one CBS station to another. This arrangement connects the national CBS schedule with individual local broadcasters, allowing each station to serve its community while carrying programming supplied by the network.
Basic Information
- Genre
- General (Entertainment, News, Sports)
- Language
- English
- Country / Location
- Home > Americas > USA > National Broadcast Networks
- Headquarters
- New York City, New York, United States
