Fox Network at 25!

This is also my 500th post!

The date is April 5, 1987.

For the first time since Dumont went dark, a fourth broadcast network was needed to compete with CBS, NBC and ABC. And so it was.

Enter the Fox network. In its infancy, only on Sunday nights would you see Fox's primetime lineup. Then it grew. From Married With Children to COPS, America's Most Wanted and The Simpsons just to name a few, the network grew leaps and bounds. Great shows came and went. After some strong showings in some of its programming, it was time to make another step: the world of sport.

Fox took over CBS' NFL coverage after the 1994 National Conference Championship (Cowboys won that game, of course), and at Super Bowl XXXI (Packers beat the Pats at the Superdome), marked Fox's first Super Bowl since becoming an NFL broadcaster.

Fox Sports would soon get their hands on NHL (with the 'glowing puck'), Major League Baseball, and has now upgraded to Barclay's Premier League and UEFA Champions League final football (soccer), as well as the UFC and various motorsport coverage-including Sprint Cup and Formula 1.

Let's not forget news. I remember in the mid '90s, there were these "Fox News Updates" between Fox programming or during commercial breaks of one hour programs. Soon  a 24-hour cable channel was spawned, as well as other news programming such as Fox News Sunday and The Pulse with Shepherd Smith.

Cable channels-like FX and the Fox Sports Nets followed. That is pretty much some of how Fox network changed the way we all watch TV.

And since the network is 25 years old today, here are some ads from the network's first day on air!