a "network" is an operation whereby the programming of a station is controlled by a different company. As both CTV and Global now own stations serving virtually every Canadian market, a national network licence would be redundant. Nevertheless, such "station groups" are now regulated in much the same way networks were regulated in the past. Based on their national reach and the very limited differences in programming between stations, CTV and Global are both considered "networks" by the media and by the general public, notwithstanding the legal definition. For a time, in the few markets where CTV does not own its own stations, programming was provided through a network licence that applied only to the applicable markets. Global, meanwhile, simply sublicenses its broadcast rights to local stations (as such, stations pay for programming, as opposed to the once-traditional North American model of networks paying stations). The term can also be retroactively applied to American stations owned by groups that produced programming and had shared branding or appearances but were not networks, including Group W (which produced many programs at their stations, and often pre-empted programming from the networks their stations were affiliated with) and Metromedia (whose stations were mostly independent, and attempted a fourth network called "MetroNet" in the 1970s which never came to fruition); the former group became part of CBS in 1995, while the latter served as the foundation of the Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986. Current systems Primary CTV 2 Omni Television Yes TV indieNET Regional network subsystems CBC North CTV Atlantic CTV Northern Ontario Great West Television Former systems Defunct A-Channel (proposed under The Alberta Channel) Baton Broadcast System (successor to the Saskatchewan Television Network and Ontario Network Television) E! (formerly CH Television) Joytv Mid-Canada Television (MCTV) Northern Television Réseau Pathonic "Upgraded" to networks Citytv Global Television Network (formerly Canwest Global System) References Mass media regulation in Canada