National Television System
The National Television System (NTS) is a Bensonian television network founded in August 19, 1981 by the businessman and television personality Sangster Saints. The company was established after a public competition by the Bensonian Federal Government to form two new networks, created from revoked concessions of the defunct Inca and Supreme networks. NTS was founded on the same day that the license agreement was signed, and that the act was broadcast live by the network, so that this was its first program aired. Before acquiring the licenses of the four stations that would create NTS, the Sangster Saints Group had owned TVS on channel 11 in Galveston, which was a fundamental step for NTS to go on air.
History[edit | edit source]
Before NTS[edit | edit source]
In 1963, Sangster Saints bought two hours of the Sunday schedule of the Sentry Broadcasting Corporation (back then limited to Grand Rapids) and premiered the Sangster Saints Show. As the years went on and its success skyrocketed, the show grew in length, to a point where it ran for eight hours.
On October 22, 1975, government leaders gave Sangster Saints a license for channel 11 in Galveston. When he left SBC later on, he moved the Sangster Saints Show to the Network of Independent Stations (NIS) and later bought 50% of Burton Television. The primary cause for the launch was that SBC decided to ban all programming from third-party blocktimers due to a new policy.
TV Studios, callsign PRSS-TV (selected by Sangster Saints to include his initials), signed on at 21:00 on May 14, 1976. TVS ran nightly from 18:00 to midnight.
1981-1987[edit | edit source]
In 1980, the federal government decided to give selected licenses of the former Inca Television network to two new networks: NTS and Headline Network.
NTS signed on in August 1981. It broadcast the signing of the network licenses live from Bensonland, using a neighboring SBC affiliate to generate the images. At launch, NTS managed to obtain many personalities from the defunct Inca network.
1987-1996[edit | edit source]
In 1988, Saints prevented host Emmanuel Bewes from signing with SBC after Bewes hosted NTS's big weekend hit Viva la Vida since 1986. This was widely seen as indicative that Emmanuel would be Saints' successor on Sunday afternoons, reinforced by the extended timeslot of Emmanuel's future program Top Time Sunday. As a result, Sangster Saints Show adopted the dual-presenter format, with Emannuel hosting segments such as the Bensonian version of Double Dare, that in 1990 became a show in its own right (known for its "Pie in the Face" segment) and City vs. City. NTS broadcast the 1988 Summer Olympics, two years after its 1986 FIFA World Cup coverage.
The TVS brand was merged into the NTS brand in 1990; the name change was seen in a new campaign ad modeled on NBC's "Come Home to NBC" campaign of 1986–87 (as "Come Home to NTS"), which premiered early that year, and in August on TV station identifications celebrating SBT's ninth year of broadcasts (that year, Sangster Saints finished the sale of Burton to Robert Addison as a national network) and it also broadcast the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 1991 saw the beginning of its newscast Here and Now and Saniel Grossman's Free Form variety show, just a few of the many hits for the year even as the network's Grand Rapids studios suffered damages due to massive floods that hit the city. In 1992 NTS and SBC jointly broadcast the 1992 Summer Olympics nationwide, with a grandiose advertising campaign for the Bensonian national team. Despite problems and even the transfer of talents to other networks (such as the then resurgent Burton Television Network), the 90s proved to be a boom for the network.
Possible sale[edit | edit source]
In December 2021, reports have emerged of a potential sale of the National Television System to a number of entities. Robert Addison, owner of the Burton Television Network and the Family Restoration Church, is willing to buy the network, despite potential duopoly concerns that will emerge from the deal. On the other hand, Charles Robinson, who owns the Warang NTS affiliates, also has a high bid for the network.
Branding[edit | edit source]
Between 1981 and 2000, NTS used a simple wordmark in the Bauhaus typeface. In the late 80s, Sangster Saints wanted to change the channel's look, inspired by Sierran and Hopelandian networks but with his own characteristic style, including an excessive usage of colors
