However, by the mid- 1950s, the U.S. networks had successfully wrestled programming control away from commercial sponsors, and studios came to provide the link between programming and a new breed of independent producers and syndicators. The most significant of these early studios-which began as an independent production company-was Desilu, founded in 1951 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. On the strength of its hit sitcom I Love Lucy, Desilu became a production empire that, by the late 1950s, rivaled the size and output of the largest motion picture studios. The company also solidified the position of the telefilm and independent producer's role in the medium. Under the leadership of Arnaz, Desilu hosted numerous successful independent producers, including Danny Thomas and Quinn Martin.

     By this time, other studios were getting into the act, with Universal providing studio services for Jack Webb's Mark VII productions and MCA's Revue Studios filming such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and leave It to Beaver; although the Revue programs were quite diverse, they shared many studio qualities, including the same catalog of incidental and transitional music.

     With its string of hit westerns, including Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, and Bronco lane, Warner Brothers studio became central to the rise of the action-oriented telefilm. These shows were paired with a group of slick, contemporary detective shows, such as 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye. In many ways, Warner Brothers was instrumental in discovering the techniques, narrative strategies, and modes of production needed for a large film studio to shift into the production of series television.

     Another prolific 1960s independent producer/studio was Filmways, which began as a commercial production company. The studio's fortune grew when it joined with independent producer Paul Henning, creator and producer of such hits as The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction.

     As the corn-pone silliness of such rural sitcoms gave way to the 1970s new age of relevance, Filmways was eclipsed by another major studio that also began as an independent: MTM Enterprises. Fueled by the fame of actress Mary Tyler Moore and the business sense of her then-husband Grant Tinker, MTM became a major television studio that provided everything from writers and producers to stages and cameras. At the same time, the television divisions of 20th Century-Fox and Paramount Pictures were turning out such hits as M*A*S*H and Happy Days.

     Producer/studios such as Desilu and MTM have since faded, with most major television production provided by independents working in contractual relations with major studios such as 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, MCA-Universal, and Warner Communication. For example, The Simpsons, which is independently produced by James L. Brooks's Gracie Films, is filmed by 20th Century-Fox (which, in the case of The Simpsons, farms out much of its animation to overseas production houses). In the sea of production logos flooding the end credits of most contemporary series, the final credit is often that of a major film studio.

     Increasingly, however, mergers and acquisitions in the media industries have led to a system of vertical integration in which U.S. television networks own studios and rely on them to provide content for prime-time programming. Disney's purchase of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Viacom's purchase of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and, in 2003-04, the National Broadcasting Company's (NBC's) purchase of Vivendi-Universal sealed these relationships and provided the "big three" networks with in-house program suppliers. FOX was created when News Corporation's chief executive officer, Rupert Murdoch, and media mogul Barry Diller achieved a conglomerate comprising television stations and a studio. Add to this Viacom 's ownership of United Paramount Network (UPN) and Time Warner's major stake in The WB, and it is clear that most television content can now be provided by production entities owned by the distributors. The days of "independent producers" and smaller studios seem to be numbered.