I love history, and like television so I have looked at the TV ratings of days on gone past. I have noticed that in the lion share of the 1960’s that CBS just absolutely dominates the ratings. In about 1964 or so CBS had about fifteen plus shows in the top 20. NBC didn’t have a chance. ABC and NBC had a few shows, but CBS was so dominant during this period, and this era really reached from the 1950’s to the 1980’s when there was more parity between the Big Three. But especially during the 1960’s CBS really couldn’t do wrong.

Why was this? ABC was an upstart like a 1980’s FOX but NBC was an old established network in the 1970’s and should have been able to compete a bit with CBS. But CBS was kicking ass with their shows while NBC was just almost a fail. Seems like there would be more parity between CBS and NBC.

Even when it came to news CBS was just dominant. Even now, I really like and trust CBS news, because of heir tradition. Even with retrospectives of John F Kennedy, there is always the famous video of Walter Cronkite holding back tears on camera. Very little is shown of the Huntley/Brinkley report. Many. Ideas of media from the Vietnam War has CBS correspondents in the line of fire. Again, there has seemed to be no parity in the networks in news until the 1980’s.

CBS has to have made a lot more money Han the other two networks. Wasn’t really a competition. When you have 15 out of 20 shows in the top 20, this seeps into the news report. Which is why somewhat why Cronkite was an icon and not Chet Huntley or Brinkley or whomever was on ABC.

So what was CBS’s success? Why didn’t NBC get done of the shows CBS got? CBS seems to have been somewhat lucky or better yet, had their business model much more polished than NBC. Until the 1980’s CBS had a much better ground game, why? Because William Paley was genius.

In the 1960's CBS was #1 but NBC had it's share of popular shows too. For one thing, NBC had ratings juggernaut Bonanza. NBC also had The Wonderful World Of Disney which was popular also. Man From UNCLE was a popular show for a few seasons, then after UNCLE was cancelled Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In went on the air which was a big hit also. In those days, Bob Hope was probably NBC's biggest star, he would do those Bob Hope specials a few times during the year which always drew good ratings. ABC had a hit in 1966 when Batman went on the air.

CBS continued at #1 during most of the 1970's, but in the late 1970's ABC became #1. The 1980's was the decade for NBC, they were #1. Sometime in the 1990's, CBS took over the #1 spot again and they've more or less stayed there ever since.

In the 1960's CBS was #1 but NBC had it's share of popular shows too. For one thing, NBC had ratings juggernaut Bonanza. NBC also had The Wonderful World Of Disney which was popular also. Man From UNCLE was a popular show for a few seasons, then after UNCLE was cancelled Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In went on the air which was a big hit also. In those days, Bob Hope was probably NBC's biggest star, he would do those Bob Hope specials a few times during the year which always drew good ratings. ABC had a hit in 1966 when Batman went on the air.

CBS continued at #1 during most of the 1970's, but in the late 1970's ABC became #1. The 1980's was the decade for NBC, they were #1. Sometime in the 1990's, CBS took over the #1 spot again and they've more or less stayed there ever since.

Let's not forget daytime. Among the hits NBC had in daytime were popular soap operas such as Another World and Days of Our Lives as well as popular game shows such as Jeopardy!, The Hollywood Squares, The Match Game, Sale of the Century, and Concentration.

My understanding is that, during the early days of television (the 1940s and 1950s), with a maximum of three VHF stations in every media market, In markets where there were only two VHF stations on the air, many CBS affiliates also carried some DuMont programming, while NBC affiliates often carried some ABC programs. When the DuMont Network folded in 1956, this left CBS with many full-time affiliates, while NBC was still forced to share some affiliates with ABC, leading to slightly lower NBC ratings, when their local stations occasionally chose to carry the ABC program instead of NBC's. It wasn't until the 1970s, or even later, that ABC had their own affiliates in nearly every market.

For example, in Fargo, ND, KFYR-TV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFYR-TV) was the NBC affiliate, but they also aired ABC shows until 1985, because there were only two TV stations in Fargo until then.

Let's not forget daytime. Among the hits NBC had in daytime were popular soap operas such as Another World and Days of Our Lives as well as popular game shows such as Jeopardy!, The Hollywood Squares, The Match Game, Sale of the Century, and Concentration.

I was thinking more along the lines of the evening/prime time shows but I agree the network weekday morning schedules from the 1960's & 70's were fun with all the game shows that were on during that time. I miss those days.

Get Smart and I Dream Of Jeannie were popular sitcoms for NBC in the 1960's. Get Smart ended up on CBS for it's final season in 1969-70.

CBS had the stronger affiliates from the beginning. Also, for several years, their head of programming, Jim Aubrey was in charge and he was the most successful programmer in TV history. His order for shows was broads, bosoms and fun. A few quality shows slipped on the air during his reign but those were due to William Paley. But if you look at his shows, and particularly the bra sizes, you saw Donna Douglas, Tina Louise, Dawn Wells, Julie Newmar, Pat Woodell, Jeannine Riley, Connie Hines, etc. The man was a slimeball but a genius slimeball.

But if you look at his shows, and particularly the bra sizes, you saw Donna Douglas, Tina Louise, Dawn Wells, Julie Newmar, Pat Woodell, Jeannine Riley, Connie Hines, etc. The man was a slimeball but a genius slimeball.

Ahh, the good old days..... :D

CBS had the stronger affiliates from the beginning. Also, for several years, their head of programming, Jim Aubrey was in charge and he was the most successful programmer in TV history. His order for shows was broads, bosoms and fun. A few quality shows slipped on the air during his reign but those were due to William Paley. But if you look at his shows, and particularly the bra sizes, you saw Donna Douglas, Tina Louise, Dawn Wells, Julie Newmar, Pat Woodell, Jeannine Riley, Connie Hines, etc. The man was a slimeball but a genius slimeball.

His tenure was '59 to '65, and those few included The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Andy Griffith Show, three shows that definitely weren't broads, and bosoms. Well, TDVDS did have Mary Tyler Moore...

However, The Dick Van Dyke Show benefited from his broads, bosoms, and fun philosophy, since it went from canceled after a horribly rated season 1 to the top 10 in season 2 since it was scheduled after The Beverly Hillbillies.

For ABC it's easy to explain why they didn't catch up with CBS until the 70s--not enough affiliates. Even in the late 60s, ABC's president admitted every show on his network started with a 5% disadvantage to CBS (94% of the nation vs. 99%).
Why NBC couldn't top CBS is more complicated. NBC owner David Sarnoff was considered the tech expert (playing a vital part in developing electronic and color TV), while CBS owner William Paley was the expert in programming. Remember NBC only led CBS in the early days of TV, because NBC believed in TV a lot sooner than CBS. Once CBS caught up in the number of stations, it led and wouldn't give up that lead until 1976.

Let's not forget daytime. Among the hits NBC had in daytime were popular soap operas such as Another World and Days of Our Lives as well as popular game shows such as Jeopardy!, The Hollywood Squares, The Match Game, Sale of the Century, and Concentration.

my granny would watch Another World and Days of Our Lives as well as Concentration and The Doctors.

Let's not forget daytime. Among the hits NBC had in daytime were popular soap operas such as Another World and Days of Our Lives as well as popular game shows such as Jeopardy!, The Hollywood Squares, The Match Game, Sale of the Century, and Concentration.

Daytime in general had a far better mix of program offerings than it does today.