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Anindependent station is a broadcast station, usually atelevision station, not affiliated with a larger broadcastnetwork. As such, it only broadcastssyndicated programs it has purchased;brokered programming, for which a third party pays the station for airtime; and local programs that it produces itself.

In North American and Japanese television, independent stations with general entertainment formats emerged as a distinct class of station because their lack of network affiliation led to unique strategies in program content, scheduling, and promotion, as well as different economics compared to major network affiliates. TheBig Three networks in the United States —ABC,CBS, andNBC — traditionally provided a substantial number of program hours per day to their affiliates, whereas later network startups—Fox,UPN, andThe WB (the latter two were succeeded byThe CW and, to a lesser extent,MyNetworkTV)—provided substantially fewer shows to their affiliates. Through the early 1990s, Fox affiliates were often consideredde facto independents.

The term independent station most often is used to refer to stations with general entertainment formats. Historically, these stations specialized in children's programming, syndicated reruns or first-run shows, and sports coverage.

Some independent stations, mostly those once having been affiliated with a major network, produce substantial amounts of news and public affairs programming. The model for these stations wasWSVN inMiami, an NBC affiliate that switched to Fox in January 1989 and dramatically expanded its news output. Further affiliation changes and news expansions from the 1990s onward have produced a number of additional stations, such asKTVK inPhoenix (an ABC affiliate until 1995);WJXT inJacksonville, Florida (a CBS affiliate until 2002);WHDH inBoston (an NBC affiliate until 2017);WPLG inMiami (an ABC affiliate until 2025); andWANF inAtlanta (a CBS affiliate until 2025), as well as stations such asWGN-TV inChicago andKUSI-TV inSan Diego that never held a major network affiliation.

However, in a broader sense, there are independent stations that focus on a specific genre of television programming. For instance, religious independent stations buy and schedule, or produce locally, evangelism and study programs, and ethnic independent stations purchase or produce programs in specific languages or catering to specific communities.

During the 1950s and 1960s, independent stations filled their broadcast hours with movies, sports, cartoons, filmedtravelogues, and somelocally produced television programs, including in some instances newscasts and children's programs. Independents that were on the air during this period wouldsign-on at times later than that of stations affiliated with a television network, some not doing so until the early or mid-afternoon hours. Another source of programming became available to independent stations by the mid-1960s:reruns of network programs which, after completing their initial runs, were sold intosyndication.

As cable television franchises began to be incorporated around the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, independent stations from large and mid-sized markets were imported by these systems via wire ormicrowave relay to smallermedia markets, which often only had stations that were affiliated with theBig Three television networks (ABC,NBC and CBS); these independents became the first "superstations," which were distributed on a statewide or regional basis. In December 1976,Ted Turner decided to uplink his strugglingAtlanta, Georgia stationWTCG tosatellite for national distribution. Soon, other companies decided to copy Turner's idea and applied for satellite uplinks to distribute other stations;WGN-TV in Chicago,KTVU inOakland-San Francisco, andWPIX andWOR-TV in New York City would begin to be distributed nationally during the late 1970s and early 1980s (in the case of KTVU, it would revert to being a regional superstation by the early part of the latter decade).

By the start of the 1970s, independent stations typically airedchildren's programming in the morning and afternoon hours, and movies and other adult-oriented shows (some stations aired paidreligious programs) during the midday hours. Theycounterprogrammed local network-affiliated stations' news programs with syndicated reruns – usuallysitcoms and hour-long dramas – in the early evening, and movies during prime time andlate night hours. In some areas, independent stations carried network programs that were not aired by a local affiliate.

In larger markets such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, independent stations benefited from a ruling by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) that barred network-affiliated stations within the top 50 television markets from airing network-originated programs in the hour preceding prime time. This legislation, known as thePrime Time Access Rule, was in effect from 1971 to 1995, and as a result independents faced less competition for syndicated reruns. Some stations in larger markets (such as WGN-TV in Chicago;KTLA,KHJ-TV,KTTV andKCOP-TV in Los Angeles;KWGN-TV inDenver; and (W)WOR-TV, WPIX andWNEW-TV in New York City) ventured into local news broadcasts, usually airing at 10:00 p.m. in theEastern andPacific time zones, and 9:00 p.m. in theCentral andMountain time zones. Network stations aired their late newscasts an hour later.

From the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, independent stations in several U.S. cities, particularly those that had yet to receive a cable franchise, carried a form of a network affiliation throughsubscription television networks (such asON TV,Spectrum andSelecTV); these services – which were formatted very similarly to their pay cable counterparts – ran sports, uncut and commercial-free movies (both mainstream andpornographic, broadcasts of the latter often created legal issues that were eventually largely cleared up due to an FCC regulation that legally allowed the broadcast of programs featuring content that would otherwise be deemed indecent when broadcast "in the clear" if the encrypted signal was not visible or audible to nonsubscribers), and on some services, television specials. Independents usually ran the services during the evening and overnight hours in lieu of running movies and other programs acquired off the syndication market by the station, although a few eventually began to carry these services for most of the broadcast day. The services required the use of decoder boxes to access the service's programming (some of which were fairly easy to unencrypt due to the transmission methods stations used to scramble the signal during the service's broadcast hours); some required the payment of an additional one-time fee to receive events and adult films. As cities added cable franchises, thus allowing people to subscribe to conventional premium television networks likeHBO andShowtime, nearly all of the over-the-air subscription services had shuttered operations by the end of the 1980s.

Until the late 1970s, independent stations were usually limited to the larger American television markets, due to several factors. Most smaller markets did not have a large enough population to support four commercial stations. Even in markets that were large enough to support a fourth station, the only available license was often on aUHF channel allocation. During the analog television era, the reception quality of UHF stations was not nearly as good as stations on theVHF band, especially in areas with rugged terrain (the reverse is true in the present day with the transmission ofdigital signals) or in markets that cover large geographic areas. Since independent stations had to buy an additional 16 hours of programming per day – a burden not faced by network-affiliated stations – these factors made prospective owners skittish about signing on a television station as an independent. By the 1970s, however, cable television had gained enough penetration to make independent stations viable in smaller markets. This was especially true in markets that were either located in rugged terrain or covered large areas; in these regions, cable (and later satellite) are all but essential for acceptable television. Nearly 300 independent stations existed in the United States by the mid-1980s, in markets of varying sizes,^[1] up from fewer than 100 in 1980. They could buy new shows without cash usingbarter syndication.^[2] Many stations belonged to the Association of Independent Television Stations (INTV), a group similar to theNational Association of Broadcasters, and which lobbied the FCC on behalf of independents.

In the 1980s, television syndicators began offering original,first-run series such asSolid Gold,Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,Star Search,Independent Network News andStar Trek: The Next Generation (as well as canceled network series revived for first-run syndication such asFame,Too Close for Comfort,Charles in Charge,It's a Living andBaywatch), andmade-for-television movies andminiseries likeSadat. This trend primarily benefited independent stations. Independents scheduled these first-run programs during prime time and on weekends.

In the United States, many independent stations were commonly owned. Companies that operated three or more independents included:

• Chris-Craft Industries, and its subsidiaryBHC Communications
• Christian Broadcasting Network
• Clear Channel Communications
• Cox Enterprises
• Gaylord Broadcasting
• Grant Broadcasting System
• Kaiser Broadcasting, and its successorField Communications
• Meredith Corporation
• Metromedia
• Pappas Telecasting Companies
• Renaissance Broadcasting
• RKO General
• Scripps-Howard Broadcasting
• Sinclair Broadcast Group
• Taft Television and Radio Company
• Tribune Broadcasting
• TVX Broadcast Group, and its successorParamount Stations Group

In 1986 several independent outlets, led by the Metromedia stations, formed theFox Broadcasting Company,^[3][4] the first major venture at afourth U.S. broadcast television network since theDuMont Television Network shut down in August 1956 (which resulted in some of its affiliates, including those owned by Metromedia, becoming independents). Fox made efforts, slowly at first, to have its affiliates emulate a network programming style as much as possible; but in turn, Fox only carried alate-night talk show at its launch in October 1986, and beginning in April 1987, offered one night of prime time programming a week (on Sundays). The network only programmed two hours of prime time programming each night (and, beginning in the 1990s, some children's programming throughFox Kids), but gradually expanded its prime time lineup to all seven nights until January 1993. Fox's owned-and-operated stations left INTV in March 1992.^[5]

The lack of programming in other dayparts forced most Fox affiliates to maintain the same programming model as independent stations during non-prime time slots, and during its early years, on nights without prime time programming from the network. Fox coerced most of its affiliates to airprime time newscasts (there were some holdouts as late as 2013, while many others opted to run outsourced local newscasts from a competing network affiliate) as well as news programming in other dayparts common with other major network affiliates. Whena complicated six-station affiliation switch in South Florida sawWSVN in Miami switch from NBC to Fox in 1989, the station adopted a news-intensive format unlike any independent station or Fox affiliate prior, a scheduling choice initially ridiculed in local media but which quickly attracted industry attention and saw ratings success. This model was copied by stations owned byNew World Communications andSF Broadcasting thatswitched to Fox in the mid-1990s, and to other news-producing Fox and minor network affiliates, and independent stations, by the 2000s.

In September 1993, many independents began carrying thePrime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), an ad-hoc programming service that emulated a network model, which featured drama series and made-for-TV movies intended for first-run syndication. In January 1995, many remaining independents, including those that carried PTEN, joined upstart networksThe WB^[6] and the United Paramount Network (UPN). The WB, UPN and their affiliates used a very similar programming model to that initially used by Fox and its stations during their first four years of existence (although neither network would expand their prime time lineups to all seven nights); the launch of those networks resulted in PTEN's demise in 1997, as most stations that became affiliates of UPN and The WB (whose respective founding parents, Chris-Craft Industries andTime Warner, jointly owned PTEN) either dropped the service or moved its lineup out of prime time when those networks launched. Other stations banded together to become charter outlets of the Pax TV (nowIon Television) network in August 1998, although some of the stations that aligned with Pax had earlier affiliated with its predecessor, the Infomall TV Network (inTV), two years before.

The launches of these networks drastically reduced the number of independent stations in the United States; some mid-sized markets would not regain a general entertainment independent until the early 2000s, through sign-ons of unaffiliated stations and disaffiliations by existing stations from other commercial and noncommercial networks. In 2001,Univision Communications purchased several English language independents in larger markets (which mostly operated asHome Shopping Network affiliates until the late 1990s) fromUSA Broadcasting to form the nuclei of the upstart Spanish language network Telefutura (nowUniMás), which launched in January 2002. Several stations affiliated with The WB and UPN became independent again when the respective parent companies of those networks (Time Warner andCBS Corporation) decided toshut them down to formThe CW, which launched in September 2006 with a schedule dominated by shows held over from and an affiliate body primarily made up of stations previously aligned with its two predecessors.^[7] Some of the newly independent stations subsequently found a new network home throughMyNetworkTV, itself created out of the prospect that the UPN affiliates of corporate sisterFox Television Stations would become independents due to The CW choosing to affiliate withCBS Television Stations and Tribune Broadcasting stations in overlapping markets.^[8]

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As a result of the various network launches that have occurred since the 1986 launch of Fox, true independent stations have become a rarity. The smallest stations, which in the past would have been forced to adopt a locally originated independent program schedule, now have other options – 24-hour-a-day networks that require no local or syndicated programming for the station to carry; some of these networks, such as AMG TV orAmerica One, follow a full-service variety format, while others are devoted primarily to classic television (such asMeTV) and/or films, or carry mainly niche programming. Many stations that are affiliated with the larger post-1980s networks still behave much like independents, as they program far more hours a day than a station affiliated with one of the Big Three networks.

This is especially the case with MyNetworkTV, whose efforts to offer first-run programming were largely unsuccessful. By 2010, the network had abandoned its first-run programming efforts and became a syndication service, with its programming now focused upon off-network reruns of drama series originating from broadcast networks and cable channels.^[9][10] After this transition, many of MyNetworkTV's affiliates began to downplay their affiliation with the network and move the programming to alternate timeslots (such as late-night or overnight); network ownerFox Television Stations rebranded most of its MyNetworkTV stations as offshoots of their parent Fox stations (such as "Fox 11 Plus" forKCOP-TV)^[11]

Current independents follow a very different program format from their predecessors. While sitcom reruns are still popular, expanded newscasts and other syndicated programs such as talk shows; courtroom shows; reruns of recent scripted comedy and drama series; and no-costpublic domain programming are common. Another type of content being added to many independent station lineups in recent years has beenbrokered programming, includinginfomercials,home shopping andtelevangelist programs; the Federal Communications Commission did not allow infomercials to be broadcast on American television until 1984, but since then, it has proven to be a lucrative, if somewhat polarizing with viewers, way to fill airtime. During the 1990s when infomercials gained popularity, many stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day rather than signing off at night. By filling the overnight hours with infomercials, the station would be able to generate extra revenue where they had previously been off the air. Home shopping programs (mainly simulcasts of cable services that also have over-the-air distribution such asQVC and the Home Shopping Network) or syndicated programs fill overnight time periods on stations that do not run infomercials during that day part.

Since the FCC revised its media ownership rules to permit stationduopolies in August 1999, independents that operate on a standalone basis have become quite rare in the United States and, in turn, independents that are senior partners in duopolies are fairly uncommon. With the proliferation of duopolies andlocal marketing agreements since that point, most independent stations are operated alongside a major network affiliate (more commonly, one of either ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox), which may share syndicated programming with and/or produce newscasts in non-competitive timeslots for its unaffiliated sister. This is because in most markets, independents tend to have lower viewership than that of a network affiliate, and usually fall within part of the FCC's duopoly criteria (which allows a company to own two stations in the same market if one is not among the four highest-rated at the time of an ownership transaction).

• Partial listing:bold text denotes an independent station.

While independent stations were not as common in Canada, there were several notable examples of such:

Since the mid-1990s, most independent television stations in Canada have merged intotelevision systems (such asCTV Two) by adopting common branding and/or programming, or have become fullyowned-and-operated stations of networks with which they had previously had more informal programming arrangements as with CIHF, CICT and CITV, which are all nowGlobal stations. However, this trend was partially reversed in 2009 with the demise ofCanwest'sE! system, which resulted in three of its stations, with CHCH inHamilton, CJNT inMontreal and CHEK inVictoria, withCHCH-DT becoming independent;CJNT-DT becoming subsequently affiliated withCity in 2012 (later becoming a full-time O&O in 2013) andCHEK-DT becoming independent as well (Although having a secondary affiliation withYes TV).

CHCH and CHEK are the only television stations in Canada currently operating as independent stations in the American sense of the term. However, since the fall of 2010, these two stations (previously along with CJNT) have resumed sharing some common American programming.

CJON in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, while officially unaffiliated with a network, in practice airs a mix of programming sublicensed from two of Canada's main commercial networks,CTV (which it was formally affiliated with until 2002, with only CTV'snews programming being carried on the station since then) and Global, rather than purchasing broadcast rights independently.

CFTU and CFHD in Montreal also operate as independents. However, each of these stations has a specific programming focus: educational programming in the case of the former, andmulticultural programming in that of the latter.

Three independentreligious stations also exist in Canada: CHNU in theFraser Valley Regional District, CIIT inWinnipeg, and CJIL inLethbridge. CIIT and CHNU formerly served as part of the two-stationJoytv religious television system from 2005 until the system's dissolution in 2013.

Apart from these, some additional independent stations exist in Canada ascommunity-oriented specialty stations. These stations, such asCFTV-DT inLeamington, Ontario andCHCO-TV inSt. Andrews, New Brunswick,transmit at low power.

In Japan, independent television stations are generally those not affiliated with one of the national networks based in Tokyo, which supply the vast majority of their affiliates' programs. Independent stations in Japan primarily serve heavily urbanized areas and frequently band together in the purchasing of programs and sale of advertising.

• List of independent television stations in the United States
• List of programs broadcast by independent stations
• List of United States television networks
• Operation Prime Time
• Prime Time Entertainment Network
• Superstation

• Independent television stations
• Television in North America
• Television syndication

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