Overmyer Network
Encyclopedia
The Overmyer Network was a short-lived television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

. It was intended to be a fourth national network
Fourth television network
In American television terminology, a fourth network is a reference to a fourth broadcast television network, as opposed to the Big Three television networks that dominated US TV from the 1950s to the 1990s: ABC, CBS, and NBC....

 in the United States, competing with the Big Three television networks
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...

. The network was founded by self-made millionaire Daniel H. Overmyer, who built five UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...

 stations from 1965-67 (including Toledo's WDHO-TV (now WNWO-TV
WNWO-TV
WNWO-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station in Northwest Ohio that is licensed to Toledo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter northeast of Oregon. Owned by Barrington Broadcasting, the station has studios on South Byrne Road...

), which signed on the air on May 3, 1966). A social conservative ("I'm against smut," he declared), Overmyer began to produce his own programs, and decided to create a nationwide hookup, enticing existing stations with a 50-50 profit split with potential affiliates (something that the established network's affiliates had been trying to get from ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 for years). The ON was scheduled to debut in the fall of 1967 with anywhere from 75 to 125 affiliates with an 8 hour broadcasting day.

From ON to UN

The network planned to offer eight hours of programming per day, seven days per week, to its affiliate stations. A daily news service, from United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...

, would provide each station with news. Cultural and sports programming, including the games of the Continental Football League
Continental Football League
The Continental Football League was a professional minor American football league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to become the major force in professional football outside of the...

, were also planned. By July 1966, 35 stations had agreed to affiliate with the new network.

Before the network even went on the air, Overmyer was forced to sell a majority share to investors, although he remained the largest shareholder. Rechristened The United Network, which used a cartoon speaking balloon with an upper-case U as the network's logo, the net hit the air on May 1, 1967 with The Las Vegas Show
The Las Vegas Show
The Las Vegas Show is an American late night television program broadcast on the short-lived United Network. The two hour long talk show, hosted by comedian Bill Dana, was supposed to be the flagship program of a planned fourth television network....

on 106 stations. Hosted by Bill Dana from the Hotel Hacienda
Hacienda (resort)
The Hacienda was a Paradise, Nevada hotel/casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip from 1956 to 1996. It was one of four Hacienda properties owned by Standard Motels, Inc., with the other three being located in Fresno, Bakersfield, and Indio, California. The other Haciendas also featured the...

 in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...

, the two-hour late-night show featured regulars Ann Elder
Ann Elder
Ann Elder is an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter. She won Emmy awards also for comedy writing, . She also wrote for Mama's Family as well. Elder appeared several times on The Match Game during its run in the 1970s.-External links:...

, Pete Barbutti
Pete Barbutti
Pete Barbutti is an American comedian and musician . He made at least twelve appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, from 1971 through 1992...

, Danny Meahan, Joanne Worley, Cully Richards and Jack Sheldon
Jack Sheldon
Jack Sheldon is an American bebop and West Coast jazz trumpeter, singer, and actor. He is a trumpet player and was a comedian on The Merv Griffin Show, as well as the voice heard on several episodes of the educational music television series Schoolhouse Rock.-Biography:Sheldon was born in...

.

The network itself, except for a few independent stations in the larger markets, was mostly made up of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 stations who aired The Las Vegas Show at 11:30 local time, tape delayed from the 11:00 start seen on United-only east coast stations. The network called WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...

 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and KHJ-TV
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...

 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 their flagship stations, even though neither were owned by Overmyer/United. Additionally, the WPIX broadcast was often delayed until the weekend due to their commitment to New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 baseball. The network also lacked clearance in some large cities, including San Francisco (which was waiting for KEMO to be approved by the FCC) and Cleveland.

The end

The average viewership for The Las Vegas Show was 2.6 million. Despite the hype, initially good reviews and high-caliber guest stars, the network quickly started to bleed money; the transmission lines leased from the Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...

, which was the main carrier for television network transmissions at the time, proved to be too expensive. Both show and network disappeared after the June 1 (some sources say June 3 or June 5) broadcast.

A notice was sent to the network's 107 affiliate stations the first week of June. The notice stated:
At the time of the company's bankruptcy declaration, the United Network had accrued a nearly $700,000 debt.

Additional programming announced but never aired included Tales from the Great Book, an animated Bible series, plus regional coverage of the Continental Football League
Continental Football League
The Continental Football League was a professional minor American football league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to become the major force in professional football outside of the...

.

No new national commercial networks would be created until October 9, 1986, when Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 began transmissions and Channel America
Channel America
Channel America was the first United States terrestrial broadcast television network to be intentionally assembled out of LPTV, or low-power television licensees. The network was founded by David Post in 1987 and launched in 1988...

 began putting together its slate of low-power television (LPTV) stations the following year
1987 in television
The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987–88 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...

.

Overmyer / United affiliates

Station City
WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...

 11
New York, New York
WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

 9
Chicago, Illinois
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...

 17
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 (O&O
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

)
KEMO 20 San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 (O&O
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

; did not sign on until 1968)
WKBD 50 Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

WBMO-TV
WATL
WATL is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by the Gannett Company and is a sister station to WXIA-TV , Atlanta's NBC affiliate. WATL's callsign refers to ATLanta, the station's city of license, also known as "the A-T-L" for its airport code...

 36
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 (O&O
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

; did not sign on under Overmyer until 1969)
KLOC-TV 19 Modesto
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....

-Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

WDHO
WNWO-TV
WNWO-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station in Northwest Ohio that is licensed to Toledo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter northeast of Oregon. Owned by Barrington Broadcasting, the station has studios on South Byrne Road...

 24
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 (O&O
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

; network flagship)
KTNT-TV
KSTW
KSTW is a television station serving the Seattle, Washington media market. It is owned by CBS Corporation, and is a part of The CW Television Network. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 11...

 11
Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

-Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

KZAZ
KMSB-TV
KMSB is the Fox-affiliated television station serving Tucson, Arizona. The station broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 25 . Since it transmits from atop Mount Bigelow, there is no signal reception in the northern part of Tucson, Oro Valley and Marana....

 11
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 , is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network...

 2
Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...


  • CBS-affiliated stations that aired The Las Vegas Show: WHDH
    WHDH-TV (defunct)
    WHDH-TV was the callsign of the first station to use channel 5 in Boston. The station ceased operations March 18, 1972, after the station lost its license. The channel, but not the license, was taken over by WCVB-TV the following morning: March 19, 1972. It is of no relation to either WCVB or...

    -Boston, WISN
    WISN-TV
    WISN-TV, virtual channel 12.1 , is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin serving as an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha...

    -Milwaukee, KAUZ
    KAUZ-TV
    KAUZ-TV, digital channel 22 , is the CBS affiliate television station located in Wichita Falls, Texas. It also serves Lawton, Oklahoma. Its transmitter is located at the studio in Wichita Falls and has a low-power translator in Bowie...

    -Wichita Falls, WBAY
    WBAY-TV
    WBAY-TV is the ABC television affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin, broadcasting on UHF digital channel 23 from a transmitter located in the town of Ledgeview, Wisconsin, and master control based in its building in downtown Green Bay...

    -Green Bay, KOLO
    KOLO-TV
    KOLO-TV Channel 8 is the ABC affiliate serving Reno, Nevada and the surrounding areas. It is owned by Gray Television and operates on digital channel 8. Syndicated programing on KOLO-TV includes Dr...

    -Reno, KSL
    KSL-TV
    KSL-TV, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. KSL-TV is owned by Bonneville International Corporation, which is in turn owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

    -Salt Lake, WSEE
    WSEE-TV
    WSEE-TV, channel 35, is an CBS-affiliated television station located in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. WSEE-TV is owned by Lilly Broadcasting, and is operated by NBC affiliate WICU-TV through a local marketing agreement. The two stations both share studios on State Street in downtown Erie, and a...

    -Erie, WBEN
    WIVB-TV
    WIVB-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Western New York that is licensed to Buffalo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter on Center Street in Colden. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to CW...

    -Buffalo, WHEC
    WHEC-TV
    WHEC-TV, channel 10, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Rochester, New York, USA. WHEC-TV is owned by Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Hubbard Broadcasting, and broadcasts from a studio/office facility on East Avenue in Downtown Rochester...

    -Rochester (NY), WHEN
    WTVH
    WTVH is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Time Warner and Verizon FiOS channel 5. There is a high definition feed...

    -Syracuse, KXLF
    KXLF-TV
    KXLF-TV is a television station in Butte, Montana, broadcasting locally as a CBS affiliate on digital channel 4-1 . Various programs from CBS are broadcast in high definition at 1080i. Programming from The CW is broadcast on digital channel 4-2 in standard definition.The station operates a...

    -Butte, WSPA
    WSPA-TV
    WSPA-TV channel 7 is the CBS-affiliated television station for western North Carolina and South Carolina. It is licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina with its transmitter is located on Hogback Mountain southwest of Tryon, North Carolina. Owned by Media General, the station is sister to CW...

    -Spartanburg, WDBJ
    WDBJ
    WDBJ is the CBS television network affiliate station serving the Roanoke/Lynchburg television market. It transmits its digital signal on UHF channel 18. It is owned by Schurz Communications of South Bend, Indiana...

    -Roanoke, KFDM
    KFDM-TV
    KFDM, virtual channel 6, is the CBS affiliated television station in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas market. Licensed to Beaumont, it airs on cable channel 3 on systems in the immediate portion of the market...

    -Beaumont, KZTV
    KZTV
    KZTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Corpus Christi area of South Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter between Petronila and Robstown...

    -Corpus Christi, KCMO
    KCTV
    KCTV channel 5 is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area that is licensed to the Missouri side. Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV and the two share facilities on Shawnee Mission Parkway KCTV channel 5 is...

    -Kansas City, WTVR
    WTVR-TV
    WTVR-TV, virtual channel 6, is a CBS television affiliate based in Richmond, Virginia owned by Local TV, the broadcasting arm of Oak Hill Capital Partners...

    -Richmond (VA), KODE
    KODE-TV
    KODE-TV, virtual channel 12, is the ABC network affiliated television station serving all of Joplin, Missouri and its surrounding areas and Pittsburg, Kansas and its rural communities. Its transmitter is located in Joplin...

    -Joplin, WAGA
    WAGA-TV
    WAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

    -Atlanta, WKRG
    WKRG-TV
    WKRG-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the CBS-affiliated television station for Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida, and Pascagoula/Biloxi, Mississippi; and has been the network's affiliate in the area since its inception on August 29, 1955. The station was founded by the architect and movie theater...

    -Mobile, KDAL
    KDLH
    KDLH is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Iron Range area of Northeastern Minnesota that is licensed to Duluth. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter west of downtown in Hilltop Park. Owned by the Malara Broadcast Group, the station is...

    -Duluth, KENS-San Antonio, WJIM-Lansing, WTAR
    WTKR
    WTKR is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, officially known as the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News DMA. The station is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts on channel 40 . Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia...

    -Norfolk (VA), WFMY
    WFMY-TV
    WFMY-TV is a television station in Greensboro, North Carolina. Owned by the Gannett Company, WFMYis the CBS affiliate for the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem area...

    -Greensboro (NC), KAYS-TV Hays (KS), KTVH Wichita (KS), KSLA-TV
    KSLA-TV
    KSLA, virtual channel 12, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Shreveport, Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex region. Owned by Raycom Media, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 17. The sole transmitter is located in Mooringsport, Louisiana...

     Shreveport, KKTV
    KKTV
    KKTV, virtual channel 11 , is the CBS-affiliated television station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It serves the Colorado Springs/Pueblo market and is owned by Gray Television. Its transmitter is located on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs...

     Colorado Springs, WDBO-TV
    WKMG-TV
    WKMG-TV channel 6 is the CBS network affiliate for Central Florida . WKMG is licensed to Orlando and is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station refers to itself as "Local6". WKMG's transmitter is located in Bithlo, Florida...

    -Orlando, WHBF-TV
    WHBF-TV
    WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market...

     Rock Island.

  • NBC-affiliated stations that aired The Las Vegas Show: KPRC
    KPRC-TV
    KPRC-TV is the NBC affiliated television station based in Houston, Texas, and serving the Greater Houston television market. It has studios located in the Sharpstown district on the Southwest portion of the city, and has a transmitter site in unincorporated Fort Bend County near Missouri City...

    -Houston, KOB
    Kob
    The Kob is an antelope found across Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to South Sudan. Found along the Northern Savanna, often seen in Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda; Garamba and Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as grassy floodplains of...

    -Albuquerque, WIIC
    WPXI
    WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...

    -Pittsburgh KMTV-TV Omaha,

  • ABC-affiliated stations that aired The Las Vegas Show: WLWI
    WTHR
    WTHR, channel 13, is a full-service television station serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. An affiliate of the NBC television network, its studios at 1000 N. Meridian Street anchor the south end of Indy's Television Row...

    -Indianapolis WLCY
    WTSP
    WTSP is a CBS-affiliated television station in St. Petersburg, Florida . It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10....

    -Tampa, WVUE
    WVUE
    WVUE-DT, broadcasting on virtual channel 8, is a TV station in New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company. WVUE is owned by Louisiana Media Company, with studios in the Gert Town section of New Orleans and transmitter in Chalmette, Louisiana.- Digital television :WVUE-DT...

    -New Orleans,
  • Markets that did not air The Las Vegas Show: San Francisco, Lincoln, Omaha, Cleveland, Fort Wayne, Columbus (OH), Dayton Des Moines
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