Righi Broadcasting Company

The Righi Broadcasting Company is an Ivanlandian commercial television network based in El Valle, Ivanlandia
== History ==
=== The building blocks ===
In 1957, after the success of independent television station WPHR (now WRBC), the owner of the station, Giovanni Righi, wanted to broadcast the station nationally, but wasn't able to increase the power of the station due to interference by other television stations. Giovanni proposed setting up a system of cables to repeat the signal across multiple television stations, but time zone differences would hurt this plan. They had huge backing from the runner of the cables, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), in which they would approve anything for the at-the-time Righi Television Service network that would let the network to get in motion. Giovanni did keep the "Righi" part of the name for future use. Then in 1960, plans were found in Righi Pictures headquarters in Los Angeles to launch a television network, this time called the Righi Television Network. Righi contacted the FCC and the FCC said they could launch anytime in the next fifteen years from that point. They secured the licenses for the five owned-and-operated stations and contacted the owners of independent stations in several markets to affiliate with the Righi Broadcasting Network (the third name in use) when it launched. It launched as the Righi Broadcasting Company on January 1, 1969.
=== The first years ===
The 1969-70 season was a surprising start for the new network, getting the #5 slot, which was rare, especially for the fact that RBC was new at the time. They soon found out that it was RBC's news coverage. They expanded news coverage in 1970, making 3 national news programs, The Morning Program, RBC News Evening Edition, and RBC News Late Edition. Late Edition ended it's run in 1973. In 1971, RBC's first drama, Philadelphia Nights, premiered and was a major hit for the new network. RBC introduced late night programming in 1972, with the network reaching number 1 in late night on September 9, 1972, with the premiere of "The RBC Late Program".
=== Sustainability ===
From 1973 to 1986, the network was relatively profitable. Some companies like Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures wanted to buy the network and RighiCorp's entertainment division as a whole. The network kept releasing hit after hit, constantly getting the second-to-top spot in the minor game. In 1973, they launched in Ivanlandia. In 1979, all of this reached an all time high as RBC aired a World War II movie (made by Righi Pictures) called "The Invasion of Poland" on the anniversary of the start of WWII. On June 23, 1980, the RBC News division renamed RBC News Evening Edition to RBC Nightly News, which boosted the ratings as people got confused because they thought Late Edition was still running, with them tuning to the timeslot to only find RBC's late night programming. In 1984, the network tried to run a 24-hour schedule on WRBC, but failed to do so. RBC was so big, they were looked as a potential company to merge with Capital Cities, but ABC merged with CC instead.
=== The decline ===
Starting with the 1987 season, RBC noticed that the ratings were going down for them. They found out that Fox was bringing viewership down. They didn't mind this, however, not minding it was a decision that almost ended them. They noticed that 25 stations didn't have a newscast, so they made a mandate demanding that all stations air a newscast. They could either share one with another station in the DMA or make their own. By 1993, they were seeking a merger with either Willis Communications or CBS. By 1996, however, they rebounded back into a second golden age.
=== The modern era ===
Starting in 1999, all RBC stations were required to use similar branding, though at-the-time O&O WMXR could use custom branding due to citizens of Mixopolis trusting them for local news. In 2003, RBC expanded news to a subchannel required on all of RBC's stations as they expanded into digital television. Also in 2003, they expanded into 24-hour television. In 2005, network CEO Giovanni Righi died at age 94. The network celebrated their 40 year anniversary in 2009 with a special documentary called "RBC: 40 Years of Great Television". They launched RBC Weather as well as RBC News in 2013. In 2016, another 1987-like dip in the ratings happened and they feared this one would end them, so they seeked a merger with Big 3 network CBS. They were approved by the FCC. After fears of RBC becoming a Viacom puppet over the CBS-Viacom remerger proposal, RBC and CBS merged in 2017 to form CBS/RBC Corporation. CBS Corporation and Righi Entertainment Holdings own the company.
=== Move to Ivanlandia-only operations ===
Due to it's funds being reallocated, RBC shut down it's US operations. A majority of it's O&Os will be converted into America One affiliates. CBS/RBC was shut down as a result. It is moving into El Valle, the largest city in Ivanlandia.
Logos of RBC
== Slogans ==
* "Full color for full time" (proposed for launch)
* "We are America's newest network" (1969)
* "The spirit of the 70s!" (1969-1970)
* "The best network for the 70s" (1970-1979)
* "America's network" (1980, used again after 9/11 to 2002)
* "Excellence is only on RBC!" (1981-9/11)
* "Your TV home" (2002-2017)
* "Obsessable" (2017-2017)
* "Goodbye America" (May 6, 2017; US only)
* "The Ivanlandian Spirit" (May 7, 2017-present)
== Related services ==
=== RBC.tv ===
RBC's web portal in the US was www.rbc.tv, as rbc.com was taken by the Royal Bank of Canada. It holds pages for all RBC programs as well as news.
=== RBC Kids ===
Formerly Fox Kids and DBN Kids, RBC Kids was owned and operated by Hearst Television and RBC. It broadcasted E/I compliant content on OTA subchannels, but on cable, since the FCC doesn't require E/I content, it doesn't do that on the cable feed. It is the only cable channel to not shut down.
=== RBC Weather ===
RBC Weather was the weather reporting division of RBC News. It's cable channel launched in 2013.
=== RBC Sports ===
RBC Sports was the sports division of RBC. It had the TV rights to the AHL on weekends, International League MiLB, and the Symerta Tour.
Category:Fictional television networks
Category:Fictional major networks
Category:RBC
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1969
Category:El Valle
Category:Oxford, Ivanlandia
Category:Ivanlandia