Union Broadcasting System (UBS): The first TV network in the US, established in 1939. It was a pioneer in many fields: it was the first to have affiliates in all of the top 10 markets (1950), the first color broadcasts (1954), the first 24-hour cable news network (1981, with the launch of UBS News, to be followed by PTN News in 1989 and Dart24 in 1995), and the first digital broadcasts (2000). It is currently one of the top two TV networks in the Union, competing with Plymouth Television Network (PTN) for the top spot. Its news bureau is probably one of the most trusted in the world, long known for its strict policy of neutrality in political matters, although it has occasionally been accused of leaning in whatever direction the US government is facing, and its neutrality policy was attacked by newscaster Howard Beale in 1976, who delivered an infamous on-air rant lambasting both the Confederacy's Jim Crow system and UBS for refusing to challenge it. Its headquarters, studios, and production facilities are based in New York City.
Plymouth Television Network (PTN): The other of the Union's top two networks, having been established in 1942. Having long played second-fiddle to UBS, PTN's fortunes took off when it pioneered the "reality" television format in the 1970s. Today, it leads in the ratings, and its programming appeals to a more "low-brow" audience than that of its rivals, frequently pushing FCC boundaries. Its news bureau has become a bastion of conservatism in recent years, particularly after the network was bought by Confederate real estate baron Teddy Winstead in 1985. Like UBS, it is based in New York City.
American Public Television (APT): The Union's publicly-funded television network. Established in 1959 in order to provide television programming to places that were underserved by the three commercial networks, particularly in the Western United States, where many cities had only one TV affiliate. However, it would only become a major contender in the '80s, when the government started funding it in earnest. As it is not influenced by the concerns of advertisers, it airs programming that would otherwise never see the light of day on the commercial networks, including nature and science documentaries, the award-winning educational show Discovery [1], offbeat comedies, historical dramas, and since the '80s, a growing amount of science-fiction, horror, and other genre programming. It also gets away with edgier content more readily than the commercial networks, as it does not have to answer to advertisers, although it is still under the close watch of the FCC. From the beginning, APT was barred from having a news bureau, as it was feared that it would be used as a propaganda tool by the government. Its sister radio network is American Public Radio (APR). Its studios and production facilities are based in Philadelphia, the capital of the United States.
Deutsch-American Radio and Television (DART): This network, descended from the old Deutsch-American Radio (DAR) network, was established in 1946, and appealed to the Union's large German-American population. [2] Despite protests by nativists, who felt that the network would slow integration, the DART network was a success, particularly in its base in the Midwest, where there were many places that were unofficially bilingual. In the 1960s, as German-Americans became more integrated into Union society, DART started to add more English-language programming, and broadened its focus into becoming a general multicultural network instead of a German one, adding programming targeted at the Union's French, Dutch, Italian, Algerian, Chinese, Korean, Latino, Native American and black populations. Its news bureau is famously liberal, being among the most strident supporters of immigration, multiculturalism, and social democracy, while taking an anti-Confederate line more often than not. Its headquarters, studios and production facilities are based in St. Louis, which has often been called the "German Hollywood."
Western Television (WesTV): This network was established in 1961 by Global Pictures to fill the holes that many cities in the Western US had in their programming. DART was still largely a German-language network at the time, APT was still in its infancy and had little in the way of quality programming, and few cities had both a UBS and an PTN affiliate, leaving viewers throughout the West with precious little to watch. Being closely associated with a Hollywood studio allowed WesTV to fund big-budget, high-quality shows that quickly gained it a following, allowing it to add affiliates in the rest of the country through the '70s. However, in 1982, the disastrous flop of the bloated, 3-hour Wild West epic Hellfire bankrupted Global Pictures [4], leaving WesTV's future in doubt. The network was bought by a consortium of Silicon Valley [3] entrepreneurs, but without the backing of Global, it couldn't continue funding its lavish shows. WesTV responded to the shift by changing track, focusing on a younger audience than the competition. The teen drama Ewen High [5], which premiered in 1984 (and continues to air to this day), was a smash hit, launching the careers of such actors as Caitlin Mistysyn, Aubrey Brooks, Jason Ali, and Miriam Nelson, and earning both praise and controversy for its realistic depiction of high school life. Since then, WesTV has embraced its reputation as the "teen network."
Confederate Radio and Television (CRT): In the 1950s, radio and television broadcasts from the US would start reaching much of the Confederacy. The states of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, fearing that the broadcasts would spread "subversive" views on labor and race, pooled their resources and established CRT in 1960 in order to provide their people with an alternative to the Union stations. By the end of the decade, all of the other states except Texas [6] had signed onto the network. CRT has suffered from chronic underfunding for decades, and with the development of other national networks, there has been talk of pulling the plug on CRT altogether.
Gulf TV: This network was established in 1972 by Biscayne [7] real estate developer Teddy Winstead. Within ten years, it had affiliates in every Confederate state. Winstead's purchase of PTN in 1985 allowed Gulf TV exclusive rights to PTN's programming, which was often of higher quality than anything that had been produced in the Confederacy, allowing it to dominate the ratings -- as if it hadn't done that before, with its only real competition being TBN. Its headquarters, studios and production facilities are in Biscayne.
Texas Broadcasting Network (TBN): This network was established in 1961 as a subsidiary of the Apollo Oil Company, the largest energy company in Texas. In the '60s and '70s, it began to acquire affiliates in other Confederate states, particularly the western Confederacy, the Gulf Coast, Biscayne, and Virginia. It is the second largest network in the Confederacy (despite not even being based in the country) and the largest network in Texas, competing with TPT.
Texas Public Television (TPT): This network was established in 1956 by the Texas government to provide television programming to its people. It competes with TBN.
[1] TTL's Nova.
[2] ITTL, the US never entered World War I, which prevented the surge of anti-German sentiment that hastened integration for America's Germans. The German victory in World War I also created a massive surge in pride among German-Americans, further stalling integration.
[3] ITTL, Silicon Valley is the Willamette Valley of Oregon, particularly the Portland area. San Jose is much smaller than in OTL as a result of not having the tech boom, and much of the area is still farmland rather than suburban sprawl.
[4] This is based on the Heaven's Gate debacle that bankrupted United Artists.
[5] TTL's Degrassi.
[6] Texas began pulling away from the rest of the Confederacy in the 1920s, as the other states tried to press Texas to share its oil profits with the rest of the country. Texas felt that this was a betrayal of the ideal of states' rights. Instead, these oil profits were invested in Texas, leading to a boom in industry that led to immigration, urbanization, and liberalizing social views, driving a further wedge between Texas and the Confederacy. By 1982, when the Second Republic of Texas was declared, Texas had been de facto independent for quite some time.
[7] TTL's Miami.