# When would FOX have become available in a typical small town? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [June 12, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363 "2023-06-12T12:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/1 "2023-06-12T12:09:56Z")
I thought about this when I was thinking about the decline of “lesson of the week” sitcoms. In my head I attribute the start of the decline to _Seinfeld_. Of course that fails to take into consideration _Married With Children_ which was on FOX rather than one of the big three networks. I don’t recall becoming aware of _Married With Children_, or even _The Simpsons_ until sometime in the early ‘90s. The thing is, I’m not sure if that’s due to my age (I was in 4th grade in ‘87 when _Married_ premiered) or because FOX was still unavailable in the late ‘80s for people in a typical small town. According to the wiki page, FOX launched on 10/9/1986. The question is when did it become broadly available, either over the air or for subscribers to basic cable? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/2 "2023-06-12T12:28:41Z")
I certainly can’t answer for small towns. Although my town wasn’t big we did get NYC over air broadcasts. Fox is channel 5 here. We had channel 5 long before it became Fox it just didn’t have original programming. Fox was definitely on basic cable from the beginning. I watched all their early shows including the first appearances of the Simpsons in _The Tracy Ullman Show._ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/3 "2023-06-12T12:30:52Z")
Original Fox programming didn’t start until the late 80s. The Simpsons started in late 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/4 "2023-06-12T12:31:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Original Fox programming didn’t start until the late 80s. The Simpsons started in late 1989. I am very aware. Just saying in my area it took over a station that we had for decades by then. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/5 "2023-06-12T12:34:22Z")
Sorry, didn’t intend that as a reply to your post. Fox made a rapid appearance through existing channels in the major markets, which covered almost all of the country by then. Liv Ulman was the highlight of their programming, critically acclaimed, but not picking up huge ratings. Married with Children started before the Simpsons and was limping along until the Simpsons took off like a rocket. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/6 "2023-06-12T12:34:42Z")
IIRC Fox had two hours of original programming at night but the rest of the day stayed the same as it was before they started. Mostly syndicated reruns. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/7 "2023-06-12T12:40:22Z")
Very reminiscent of the emergence of ABC in the 60s with little original programming. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/8 "2023-06-12T12:47:37Z")
I actually worked for a TV station in Ottumwa, Iowa, that was pretty much with the Fox network almost from the beginning. I think Ottumwa would be the epitome of the “small towns” you’re talking about, covering a broadcast area of mostly farms and smaller towns in southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri. I joined the staff of [KOIA-TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KYOU-TV) as a videographer and video editor in the late summer of 1987; this version of the UHF station had gone on the air that June. They were part of the Fox network from the station’s beginning … so while Fox first officially got off the ground in the fall of 1986, less than a year later it was available to farmers and rural villagers in southeast Iowa. This does bring back memories of those early Fox programs, with some epic failures like George C. Scott and Madeline Kahn in _Mr. President_, or _The New Adventures Of Beans Baxter_, or _The Wilton-North Report_ (or _Duet_, which I actually really liked); and then more successful shows, like the beginnings of The Simpsons in _The Tracey Ullman Show_, and _Married … With Children_, and _21 Jump Street_. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/9 "2023-06-12T12:49:39Z")
In 1990 FOX had a station in Washington DC, but in Roanoke VA, I don’t think there was a Fox station even in 1996. I’m pretty sure that in 1993 Richmond VA had a FOX affiliate. This is all over-the-air TV. I didn’t get cable until 1996. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/10 "2023-06-12T12:52:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Liv Ulman was the highlight of their programming, critically acclaimed, but not picking up huge ratings. You mean [The Tracey Ullman Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tracey_Ullman_Show)? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/11 "2023-06-12T12:53:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Liv Ulman was the highlight of their programming, critically acclaimed, but not picking up huge ratings I’m assuming you meant Tracy Ullman, since I don’t remember many Ingmar Bergman films on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/12 "2023-06-12T12:53:48Z")
I know I watched 21 Jump Street, Duet, and Tracy Ullman when they first appeared, but I wasn’t in a small town. (Though since I was in graduate school, I might as well have been in a cave.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/13 "2023-06-12T12:55:48Z")
Certainly. That is not a good omen for the day. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/14 "2023-06-12T13:21:50Z")
I wasn’t a small town resident then, but my recollection is that Fox appeared in nearly every major market almost simultaneously. They didn’t exist, then _ **boom** _, they were (nearly) everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/15 "2023-06-12T14:14:24Z")
I never saw it until early-to-mid 90s in my town (prior to that, we only had two channels, an ABC and an NBC). Very small town in western South Dakota, near Belle Fourche, TV stations were located in Rapid City, SD. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/16 "2023-06-12T14:53:48Z")
I grew up in a city of about 100,000 people and am just about the same age as the OP. Fox was available. I was aware of Married with Children pretty much from the beginning; perhaps I started watching it in its second season. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/17 "2023-06-12T15:07:30Z")
That’s what happened in Houston - local UHF channel 26 got bought out by Fox sometime in the 80s. In a broader sense, I would bet the availability of the Fox network probably tracks the availability of cable TV in small towns and rural areas outside the range of larger broadcast markets. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/18 "2023-06-12T15:08:31Z")
My area had it within the first year of broadcasting. I remember because there was constant hype about the upcoming _Star Trek the Next Generation_, and the runup they had a “Star Trekathon” where they showed around 24 hours straight (maybe more) of _STtOS_ episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/19 "2023-06-12T16:02:03Z")
ST:TNG wasn’t a FOX show. It was syndicated, so it might have aired on some FOX-affiliated stations. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363/20 "2023-06-12T16:14:44Z")
And yet, every single word of my post remains correct. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-fox-have-become-available-in-a-typical-small-town/985363.md?page=2)