and special events over a live network, the network remained distributed almost entirely on film. One notable exception, the public affairs program Open End, was broadcast live from New York City to a network of 10 stations; the rest of the affiliates received the program on videotape. Although NTA's program service was fairly popular, occasionally attracting up to 22 percent of the viewing audience, the NTA Film Network was never a serious competitor to the "Big Three" television networks. The company had only three O&Os, while the larger networks had five apiece. Executives considered purchasing KTVR in Denver and WITI in Milwaukee, but those stations were never acquired. NTA and its parent company sold the Minneapolis station in November 1959, the Kansas City station in August 1960, and its flagship New York City station in November 1961. NTA continued syndication services even after its flagship station was sold, however, and a few new television series debuted between 1961 and 1965. NTA also re-ran its older filmed programs during this era. All affiliate television stations are listed below, whether they carried many NTA programs or only a single series. Television stations listed here aired NTA programs between the launch of the network in 1956 and the end of the 1961–1962 television season. Stations An asterisk (*) denotes stations that affiliated at the launch of the network. A dagger (†) indicates stations that aired NTA's few live broadcasts. A diesis (‡) indicates stations that identified as NTA affiliates in the 1957–1958 Broadcasting/Telecasting Yearbook. Owned and operated stations of other networks A number of CBS, ABC, and NBC owned-and-operated stations (O&Os) also aired NTA programs. Among these were: Radio simulcast One of the more unusual broadcast agreements during the 1950s was a deal with radio station KSBK (later JORO, now Defunct) in Naha, Okinawa, during the era when Okinawa was a U.S.-administered territory (1952 to 1972). KSBK simulcast the audio portion of the program for U.S. servicemen and their families. A video feed came from mainland Japan. Among the NTA programs broadcast in this way were Divorce Court, George Jessel, and Sheriff of Cochise. See also List of former NTA Film Network affiliates in Canada Notes References Sources NTA Film Network affiliates NTA Film Network