It was launched in 1986, a year after News Corporation purchased TFC holdings, the parent company of the 20th Century Fox movie studio. The seed FOX stations were a chain of television stations purchased by News Corp. from John Kluge and his Metromedia Inc. in mid-1986.
Metromedia's television stations in turn derived from the stations owned by the long-defunct DuMont television network.
The network did not have a signifigant market share until the 1990s when News Corp. bought more TV station groups, including New World Communications, Chris-Craft Industries, BHC Communications and United Television, making it the largest owner of television stations in the country.
The Fox network is home to the longest-running animated series in history, The Simpsons. It is also credited with launching the careers of such Hollywood stars as Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller and David Duchovny.
See also Fox Networks, List of programs broadcast by Fox.