No network has ever acquired the rights to so many future Olympics, making it possible to book commercial time far in advance.

Studio executives and producers were furious that the commission voted to let networks acquire resale rights to shows in foreign markets.

The network acquired a controlling interest in December 1991, after buying Time Warner's 19.5 percent stake.

In particular, they objected to allowing the networks to acquire the right to sell shows in the fast-growing foreign markets.

The new rules will allow networks to acquire full resale rights to shows accounting for as much as 40 percent of their prime-time schedules.

Then, rival network Channel 5 also acquired repeat rights for a full rerun of the series, starting in 1997.

Most networks acquire the rights to run programs at least twice, and it is not unusual for a successful show to be rebroadcast within a short period.

For a single license fee, networks acquire the right to use each episode at least twice, and increasingly three times.

Paying a license fee for a program is the standard way a network acquires a program.

Like tens of millions of viewers all over America, the Graftons got the news as the networks acquired it.