Big Three

Big Three is a term used colloquially to refer to the three most prominent entities in any given grouping or subject. It may refer to:

Business and education

• Big Three (automobile manufacturers), describing major manufacturers in different countries
• Big Three (colleges): Harvard, Yale, and Princeton
• Big Three (management consultancies): McKinsey, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group
• Big Three (credit rating agencies): Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch Group
• Big Three television networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC
• Big Three (law), a term used in New Zealand to refer to its three largest law firms: Bell Gully, Chapman Tripp, and Russell McVeagh
• Big Three U.S. telephone companies, AT&T Inc, Verizon, and CenturyLink
• The world's three largest airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines; by passengers carried, passenger-kilometres flown, and fleet size.
• The Big Three; Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during The Second World War.
• The three major cable television companies: Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable

Film

• The Big Three international film festivals: Cannes, Venice, and Berlin^[1][2][3]
• The Big Three film studios considered most dominant in Hollywood between 1910-20: Paramount Publix, Lowe's MGM, First National

Music

• The Big Three (English band), a Merseybeat band of the early 1960s
• The Big 3 (folk group), a folk trio of the early 1960s composed of Cass Elliot, Tim Rose, and James Hendricks
  • The Big 3 (The Big 3 album)
• The Big Three Trio, a blues trio composed of Willie Dixon, Leonard Caston, and Bernardo Dennis
• The Big 3 (Milt Jackson album), 1975

Sports

• Big Three (Netherlands), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in the Netherlands
• Big Three (Portugal), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Portugal
• Big Three (Turkey), the nickname for the three most successful association football clubs in Turkey
• Big Three (Miami Heat), trio of basketball stars for the Miami Heat from 2010–2014: Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
• The trio of players for the Boston Celtics NBA franchise during the 1980s: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish
• The trio of players of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise from 2007–2012: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce
• The trio of players of the Chicago Bulls NBA franchise since 2011: Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, and Derrick Rose
• The trio of players of the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA franchise since 2014: Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and Kevin Love
• The trio of players of the Golden State Warriors NBA franchise since 2012: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green
• The trio of players of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise since 2011: Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul
• The trio of players of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise through the 1980s: Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• The trio of players of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise from 2008–2011: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom
• The trio of players of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA franchise since 2009: Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley
• The trio of players for the Milwaukee Bucks NBA franchise from 1998–2002: Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson
• The trio of players of the San Antonio Spurs NBA franchise since 2003: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker
• The trio of players of the Melbourne Storm NRL Franchise consisting of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, and Cooper Cronk
• The trio of players of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise from 1999–2005: Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, and Marvin Harrison
• The trio of starting pitchers for the Atlanta Braves MLB franchise from 1993–2002: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz
• The trio of starting pitchers for the Oakland Athletics MLB franchise from 1999–2006: Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito
• Big Three (cricket) India, England, Australia close to becoming International Cricket Council's 'Big Three'
• The trio of defensemen for the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise from 1973–1980: Guy Lapointe, Larry Robinson, and Serge Savard

Technology

• Rule of three (C++ programming), or The Big Three, a rule of thumb in programming
• The trio of video game consoles of varying eras, see also console wars
  • 2nd generation: Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and Intellivision
  • 3rd generation: Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Master System
  • 4th generation: TurboGrafx 16, Sega Genesis, and Super NES
  • 5th generation: Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64
  • 6th generation: PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube
  • 7th generation: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii
  • 8th generation: Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

Other

• The star characters of the cult classic film Windy City Heat
• The three biggest television comedians in Japan; Beat Takeshi, Sanma Akashiya and Tamori
• In infectious disease, Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis are called this, sometimes in contrast to neglected tropical diseases
• The three most notorious serial killers: Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy
• A term given to the three flagship television series of AMC: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead
• The three major American professional wrestling companies of the 1990s: the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling
• The three current major American professional wrestling companies: World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Ring of Honor Wrestling
• The three most important authors of Dutch literature: Willem Frederik Hermans, Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve.
• The three most important authors of Japanese literature: Junichiro Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima.
• The three most important authors of science fiction literature: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein.
• The three most important authors of French literature: Molière, Jean Racine and Pierre Corneille.
• The three most important Greek tragedy playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
• The three most important directors of Italian cinema: Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.
• The three most important video game companies: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
• The three most important comedians of Dutch cabaret: Toon Hermans, Wim Kan and Wim Sonneveld.
• The three most important opera tenors: Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras.
• The three most important chansonniers: Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré.
• The three most important singers of Flemish kleinkunst: Willem Vermandere, Zjef Vanuytsel and Wannes Van de Velde.
• The three most important and influential composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• The three most important jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis.
• The three most important Chicago blues musicians: Muddy Waters, B.B. King and John Lee Hooker.
• The three most important comic book superheroes: Superman, Batman and Spider-Man.
• The three most important Dutch comics artists: Pieter Kuhn, Marten Toonder and Hans G. Kresse.
• The three most important Belgian comics artists: Hergé, Edgar P. Jacobs and André Franquin.
• The three most important Flemish comics artists: Willy Vandersteen, Marc Sleen and Jef Nys.
• The three most important companies of the American car industry: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
• The three most important companies of the French car industry: Renault, Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
• The three most important companies of the German car industry: Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
• The three most important companies of the Japanese car industry: Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
• The three television networks aimed at African-Americans: Aspire, BET, and TV One.
• The three television networks aimed at children: Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon.
• The three television networks aimed at women: Lifetime, Oxygen, and WE tv.

See also

• Big One (disambiguation)
• Big Two (disambiguation)
• Little Three
• Big Four (disambiguation)
• Big Five (disambiguation)
• Big Six (disambiguation)
• Big Seven (disambiguation)
• Big Eight (disambiguation)
• Big Ten (disambiguation)
• Big 11
• Big 12

References

1. Bordwell, David (2005). Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging. University of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780520241978. Because reputations were made principally on the festival circuit, the filmmaker had to find international financing and distribution and settle for minor festivals before arriving at one of the Big Three (Berlin, Cannes, Venice).
2. Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780748617999. The 'Big Three' competitive festivals are Cannes, Venice and Berlin, which offer as their top prizes the Palme d'Or, Golden Lion and Golden Bear respectively.
3. Filmmaker, Volumes 7-8. Independent Feature Project/West (Independent Feature Project & Independent Feature Project/West). 1998. p. 88. American independent filmmakers also tend to feel more comfortable in Berlin than in its colleagues in the "Big Three" — Cannes is way too overwhelming, and Venice is too baffling; both are way too expensive.