NTA Film Network

Type	Defunctbroadcasttelevision 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; 69 years ago (1956-10)
Dissolved	November 1961; 64 years ago (1961-11)

TheNTA Film Network was an early Americantelevision network founded byEly 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 100affiliate stations and securing the financial support ofTwentieth 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 nowWNET, one of the flagship stations of thePublic Broadcasting Service.

Parent companyNational Telefilm Associates was founded byproducersEly Landau andOliver 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 toU.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 asyndication service that distributed films and television programs toindependent television stations and stations affiliated withNBC,CBS orABC. The network's flagship station wasWNTA-TV Channel 13 in New York.^[5] Trade papers called the NTA Film Network a new television network.^[6]

Unlike theBig Three television networks, the local stations in the NTA Film Network were not connected viacoaxial cable ormicrowave 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 (nowKMSP-TV) in Minneapolis.^[9]

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

Later affiliates includedKOOK-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] andKTVU in San Francisco (c. 1959–1960).^[15] The network purchasedKMGM-TV in Minneapolis in September 1957.^[9]

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

The network's television programs included:

• How to Marry a Millionaire (1957–1959), based on the popular 1953 filmof the same name.
• Man Without a Gun (1957–1959), aWestern 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 the1959–1960 television season.^[25]

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

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 theNational Educational Television network, a forerunner ofPBS.^[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 andA Day with Doodles) were syndicated by NTA between 1962 and 1966.^[23]

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)

• 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)

• Defunct television networks in the United States
• Television channels and stations established in 1956
• 1961 disestablishments
• 1961 disestablishments in the United States
• Television channels and stations disestablished in 1961
• 1956 establishments in the United States
• 20th Century Studios
• NTA Film Network

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