Between July 1956 to around November 1961, the National Telefilm Associates (NTA) operated the NTA Film Network, an early television network and syndication service that operated in the United States and Canada had syndicated television programs to individual stations since the early 1950s. The film network effort was an attempt to launch a viable "fourth television network" that would compete directly with CBS, NBC, and ABC, the three largest television networks in the United States. Although the program service was intended to attract independent television stations, many CBS, NBC, and ABC affiliates also aired NTA programs.