NTA Film Network

NTA Film Network

Type	Defunct broadcast television network
Country	United States
Availability	United States (1956–1961)
Owner	National Telefilm Associates Twentieth Century Fox
Key people	Charles C. Barry Oliver A. Unger
Launch date	October 1956; 68 years ago (October 1956)
Dissolved	November 1961; 63 years ago (November 1961)

The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956 that operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios. Despite attracting more than 100 affiliate stations and securing the financial support of Twentieth Century-Fox (which purchased a 50% share of NTA in November 1956), the network proved unprofitable and was discontinued by 1961. The NTA Film Network's flagship station WNTA-TV is now WNET, one of the flagship stations of the Public Broadcasting Service.

Origins

Parent company National Telefilm Associates was founded by producers Ely Landau and Oliver A. Unger^[1] in 1954 when Landau's film and television production company Ely Landau, Inc. was reorganized in partnership with Unger and screenwriter/producer Harold Goldman.^[2] NTA was the successor company to U.M. & M. TV Corporation, which it purchased in 1956.^[3]

In October 1956, the NTA Film Network was launched with more than 100 affiliate stations.^[4] It was a syndication service that distributed films and television programs to independent television stations and stations affiliated with NBC, CBS or ABC. The network's flagship station was WNTA-TV Channel 13 in New York.^[5] Trade papers called the NTA Film Network a new television network.^[6]

Unlike the Big Three television networks, the local stations in the NTA Film Network were not connected via coaxial cable or microwave relay. Instead, NTA Film Network programs were mailed to each station, a method used by other television syndicators in the 1950s and 1960s. However, many local stations agreed to broadcast NTA Film Network programs simultaneously. Landau's claim to network status was based on the simultaneous airing of the programs.^[7]

In November 1956, Twentieth Century-Fox announced its 50% purchase of the NTA Film Network and its plans to produce original content for the network.^[4] The film network grew to 128 stations.^[8] In September 1957, the network purchased KMGM-TV (now KMSP-TV) in Minneapolis.^[9]

Affiliates

Main articles: List of former NTA Film Network affiliates in the United States and List of former NTA Film Network affiliates in Canada

The following is a list of NTA Film Network affiliate stations in November 1956.^[10]

Ada, OK: KTEN	Grand Junction: KREX-TV	Oklahoma City: KGEO
Allentown-Bethlehem, PA: WGLV	Green Bay-Marinette, WI: WBAY-TV	Peoria: WTVH
Anchorage: KTVA	Harrisburg: WCMB-TV	Phoenix: KPHO-TV
Amarillo, TX: KGNC-TV	Hattiesburg: WDAM-TV	Portland, ME: WCSH
Asheville, NC: WLOS	Henderson-Las Vegas: KLRJ-TV	Portland, OR: KPTV
Atlanta: WAGA	Houston: KTRK-TV	Providence: WJAR
Austin, MN: KMMT	Indianapolis: WFBM-TV	Raleigh-Durham: WTVD
Bakersfield: KERO-TV	Jackson, MS: WLBT	Richmond: WTVR-TV
Bangor, ME: WABI-TV	Jefferson City, MO: KRCG	Roanoke, VA: WDBJ
Birmingham, AL: WBRC	Johnstown, PA: WARD-TV	Rock Island: WHBF-TV
Bismarck ND: KBMB-TV	Juneau: KINY-TV	Rockford, IL: WREX-TV
Carlsbad NM: KAVE-TV	Kansas City: KMBC-TV	Salt Lake City: KSL-TV
Cedar Rapids-Waterloo: KWWL	Kearney, NE: KHOL-TV	San Angelo, TX: KTXL-TV
Charleston, WV: WCHS-TV	Knoxville: WBIR-TV	San Antonio: KENS-TV
Charleston, SC: WUSN-TV	West Lafayette, IN: WFAM-TV	San Diego: XETV
Chattanooga: WDEF-TV	Lafayette, LA: KLFY-TV	Savannah: WSAV-TV
Chicago: WGN-TV	Lincoln: KOLN	Seattle-Tacoma: KTNT-TV
Cincinnati: WKRC-TV	Little Rock-Pine Bluff: KATV	Sioux City: KTIV
Cleveland: WJW-TV	Los Angeles: KTTV	South Bend-Elkhart, IN: WSJV
Columbus, GA: WDAK-TV	Lubbock: KDUB	Spokane: KREM-TV
Columbus, OH: WTVN-TV	Madison: WISC-TV	Springfield, MA: WHYN-TV
Columbus, MS: WCBI-TV	Memphis: WMCT	St. Joseph, MO: KFEQ-TV
Dallas-Ft Worth: KFJZ-TV	Miami: WGBS-TV	Sweetwater, TX: KPAR-TV
Decatur, IL: WTVP-TV	Milwaukee: WITI	Tampa: WSUN-TV
Decatur, AL: WMSL-TV	Minneapolis: WTCN-TV	Tucson: KVOA
Denver: KTVR	Minot: KCJB-TV	Tulsa-Muskogee: KOTV
Des Moines-Ames: WOI-TV	Mobile: WALA-TV	Twin Falls, ID: KLIX-TV
Dickinson, ND: KDIX-TV	Monroe, LA: KNOE-TV	Washington: WMAL-TV
Dothan, AL: WTVY	Montgomery: WCOV-TV	Waterloo-Ft Wayne, IN: WINT
Duluth-Superior: KDAL-TV	Muncie: WLBC	Watertown, NY: WCNY-TV
Eau Claire: WEAU-TV	Nashville: WSIX-TV	Wichita Falls, TX: KSYD-TV
El Paso: KROD-TV	New Jersey-New York: WATV, later WNTA	Wichita-Hutchinson: KTVH
Fairbanks: KTVF	Norfolk: WVEC-TV	Wilkes Barre-Scranton: WILK-TV
Fargo-Valley City: KXJB-TV	Oak Hill, WV: WOAY-TV	York, PA: WNOW-TV

Later affiliates included KOOK-TV in Billings, Montana (c. 1958–1959),^[11] KONO-TV in San Antonio (c. 1958–1959),^[12][13] WISH-TV in Indianapolis (c. 1958–1959)^[14] and KTVU in San Francisco (c. 1959–1960).^[15] The network purchased KMGM-TV in Minneapolis in September 1957.^[9]

Programs

The NTA Film Network broadcast both films and television programs. NTA publicized its feature films as "Spectaculars". Seen here is the 1957 advertisement for the first TV airing of Suez, starring Tyrone Power and Loretta Young.

The NTA Film Network aired both films and television series. Among its 1956–1957 offerings were 52 Twentieth Century-Fox films.^[5] Premiere Performance, a prime-time block of Twentieth Century-Fox films, aired from 1957 to 1959. Other film blocks included TV Hour of Stars^[16] and The Big Night (both 1958–1959).^[17]

The network's television programs included:

• How to Marry a Millionaire (1957–1959), based on the popular 1953 film of the same name.
• Man Without a Gun (1957–1959), a Western series about a newspaper editor who brings criminals to justice without the use of guns.^[18]
• This Is Alice (1958–1959)
• The Play of the Week (1959–1961), a series of 67 televised plays.

Other lesser-known NTA series included:

• The Bill Corum Sports Show (1957)
• Man's Heritage (1957)
• The Passerby (1957)^[19]
• Official Detective (1957–1958)
• Open End (1958–1961)
• William Tell (1958–1959)
• Assignment: Underwater (1959–1960)
• Q. T. Hush (1960–1961)
• The Sheriff of Cochise (1956–1958)^[20]
• Alex in Wonderland (1959)^[21]
• Newsbeat (1959–1961)^[22]
• Juke Box Jury (1958–1959)
• The Best of Bishop Sheen (1958–1963)
• Danger Is My Business (1958)
• Divorce Court (1958–1961)
• Glencannon (1959)
• Grand Jury (1959)
• Mantovani (1959)
• Henry Morgan and Company (1959)
• George Jessel's Show Business (1959)
• The Mike Wallace Interview (1959–1961)
• The Third Man (1960–1961)
• The Oscar Levant Show (1960)^[23]
• Confidential Portrait (1962)
• Crime Reporter (1962)^[24]
• Probe (1962)^[23]

In October 1956, the NTA Film Network also announced provisional plans to telecast live sporting and special events (using network relays) by the 1959–1960 television season.^[25]

Friday night NTA Film Network schedule for the 1958–1959 television season

7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
—	Man Without a Gun	This Is Alice	How to Marry a Millionaire	Premiere Performance (20th Century Fox movies)

Up to 17 television stations followed this schedule for the 1958–1959 television season; other affiliates aired the programs out of pattern.^[26]

End of network

In January 1959, Ely Landau was succeeded by Charles C. Barry, who assumed the role of president of network operations. Landau continued to chair National Telefilm Associates.^[27] Despite Twentieth Century-Fox's 50% ownership, the film network never developed into a major commercial television network on a par with the "Big Three" television networks. Several modern television historians regard the NTA Film Network as a syndication service rather than a major television network.^[28][29]

By 1961, WNTA-TV was losing money, and the network's flagship station was sold to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation that November. WNTA-TV became WNDT (later WNET), flagship station of the National Educational Television network, a forerunner of PBS.^[30] NTA network operations did not continue without a flagship station, although parent company National Telefilm Associates continued syndication services. Four television series (Probe, Tintin, The Fair Adventure and A Day with Doodles) were syndicated by NTA between 1962 and 1966.^[23]

See also

Other early failed American television networks:

• DuMont Television Network
• Fourth television network
• Overmyer Network (1966)
• Hughes Television Network (1960s–1970s; occasional broadcasts)
• Mizlou Television Network (1968; occasional broadcasts)
• Paramount Television Network (1949–1956)

Further reading

• "New Film TV Network to Start Mid-October". Boxoffice. September 15, 1956. p. 15.^{[dead link‍]}
• "Coast TV Station Wins Top NTA Network Prize". Boxoffice. August 24, 1957. p. 13.^{[dead link‍]}
• "Fourth TV Network, For Films, is Created". Boxoffice. July 7, 1956. p. 8.^{[dead link‍]}

References

1. "Oliver Unger Quits NTA; Charles Glett Successor". BOXOFFICE. May 29, 1961. Retrieved March 9, 2009. ^{[dead link‍]}
2. "U.M.&M. and NTA, a brief history". Archived from the original on August 6, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
3. "Short subjects film library sold again". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, NM. May 16, 1956. p. 25.
4. "Fox Buys Into TV Network; Makes 390 Features Available". Boxoffice. November 3, 1956. p. 8.
5. Golembiewski, Dick (2008). Milwaukee Television History: The Analog Years. Marquette University Press. pp. 280–281. ISBN 978-0-87462-055-9.
6. "Fourth TV Network, for Films, is Created". Boxoffice. July 7, 1956. p. 8.
7. "New Voice on Channel 13". Time. May 19, 1958. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007.
8. Boddy, William (1990). Fifties Television: The Industry and its Critics. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 138. ISBN 0-252-01699-8.
9. "NTA Buys Second TV Station in Month". Boxoffice. October 5, 1957. p. 21.
10. "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956.
11. "Friday TV Schedule". The Daily Inter Lake. Kalispell, MT. December 26, 1958. p. 3.
12. "How to Marry a Millionaire Tonight at 9:30 PM KONO-TV Channel 12 NTA Film Network". San Antonio Express and News. San Antonio, TX. March 14, 1959. p. 23.
13. "Details, Previews of Tonight's TV". San Antonio Express and News. San Antonio, TX. January 10, 1959. p. 21.
14. "Complete TV Programs for the Week". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. Logansport, IN. October 5, 1958. p. 21.
15. "What's on TV: Wednesday". The Daily Review. Hayward, CA. January 19, 1960. p. 17.
16. "TV Hour of Stars Top daytime drama". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, AZ. November 10, 1958. p. 20.
17. "To Withhold Shirley Temple Films From Television". Boxoffice. March 17, 1958. p. 16.
18. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Shows, 1946–Present. New York: Ballantine. pp. 642–643, 847–848. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
19. Production Radio and Television, pg 942^{[permanent dead link‍]}
20. "National Telefilm Associates (NTA)". IMDb.com. 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
21. "TV Notes". Record-Eagle. Traverse City, MI. March 21, 1959. p. 4.
22. "Wallace, Mike: U.S. Broadcast Journalist". Museum of Broadcast Communications. 2008. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
23. Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company. pp. 17–181. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8.
24. Broadcasting. Vol. 66. Cahners Pub. Co. 1964. p. 74. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
25. "New 'Network' Planning Debut". The Progress-Index. Petersburg, VA. October 30, 1956. p. 5.
26. Kleiner, Dick (May 3, 1958). "Thin Man Mystery Show May Add Baby to Cast". The Lima News. p. 19.
27. "Barry Named President of NTA Film Network". Boxoffice. January 26, 1959. p. 17.
28. McNeil, Alex (1980). Total Television (4th ed.). New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
29. Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
30. "Joseph S. Iseman Papers". University of Maryland Libraries. 2007. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

External links

• Ask Mr. Pop History (Contains short history of the NTA Film Network)
• "New Voice on Channel 13" Time article about NTA Film Network, from 1958)