Television Station

Programming Strategies
 Sources of Television Programs

The networks
Television production studios of the movie studios
Independent producers
Local stations
 Kinds of Television Stations

Owned-and-operated stations: these are operated by

the networks.
Network-affiliated stations: these are the stations
that have agreed to run all the programs distributed
by one of the 10 commercial networks.
Independent stations: have no formal relationship
with a network and instead obtain programs from a
variety of sources.
 The Networks

ABC*
CBS*
CW (CBS/TW)
FOX**
ION
MNTV (FOX)
NBC*
______________________________________________
__
Telefutura (Universal)
Telemundo (owned by NBC)
Univision
The Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) became the Big Four
with the rise of the FOX network in the mid-1990s.
Also in the mid-1990s, the small three started and
focused on prime-time programming that attracts
young adults.
The Spanish-language networks overwhelm markets
that have a strong Spanish-speaking presence.
 The Network-Affiliate Agreement

The network agrees to provide its program service to

an affiliate on an exclusive basis.
The network agrees to pay the affiliate a fee called
network compensation, or just comp.
The affiliate promises to broadcast the network
programs as delivered by the network and to allow
the network to retain about three-quarters of the
commercial time within each network program.
The commercial breaks for the local station are
called station breaks or adjacencies.
In a half hour program, the affiliate’s commercials
come at the end of the program; the network’s
commercials fall within the more desirable real
estate—within the program itself.
In an hour-long program, half the affiliate’s
commercials fall at the end of the program, half
within, and (again) all the network’s commercials
occur within the program.
 The Advantages of Local News

Risk mitigation: News programs are rarely abject

failures, which is more than one can say about other
programs.
Exclusivity of product: No competitor can steal a
station’s newscast or copy the name of the newscast.
News personalities are also exclusive.
Brand-building: The newscast content and
production values can be styled so as to match the
stations desired market identity.
Customization of product: Stations can always alter
their newscast’s content and format.
Cost containment: The costs of a newscast can be
accurately estimated, which is not true of syndicated
programs where the law of supply and demand
causes fluctuations from year to year; moreover, the
cost of adding an additional newscast is
incrementally small: most expenses (equipment,
sets, talent) are fixed and therefore already covered.
Revenue enhancement: News programs can be enormously
profitable for stations for the following reasons:
-They own all of the newscast’s commercial inventory and can
easily expand that supply by shortening the newscast and adding
commercial time, which they cannot do for syndicated programs.
-Advertisers cannot object to their products being placed on
newscasts as they would if the products were placed during
controversial network or syndicated programs.
-News programs are considered the most prestigious category of
television programming by the advertising community.
Stations may also broadcast local programs in the form of
regularly scheduled shows and special events.
 Why so Little Local Programming?

Labor-intensive: A local program may demand too

much personnel to produce.
Cost-intensive: Too much money is needed to create
a local program comparable to a network program or
syndicated program.
Advertising considerations: The station may have a
hard time finding willing advertisers for a special.
Promotion intensive: The station has to promote a
local program on its own.
 Off-Network Syndication

Weekly license: The station pays a weekly rate for the

program (paid monthly) and has to air the program
every day. Barter is involved here in that the syndicator
has sold advertising within the program, and the station
has no say in the scheduling of the individual episodes.
Per episode: The station pays monthly for the program
but does not have to air the program every day or at all
(resting or shelving). No barter is involved here.
Some programs that are still running on the network
may also air in syndication. The station can benefit from
the national exposure, new episodes, advertiser access.
 Advantages of Syndicated Programs.

Syndication allows stations to keep more commercial

time.
Stations can schedule syndicated programs that give
their stations an identity.
Stations can schedule syndicated programs that
cater to the tastes of their local audience.

 Disadvantages of Syndicated Programs

A station still bears the cost if a syndicated program

fails.
A station bears the cost of promoting a syndicated
program.
A station has exclusive rights to a syndicated
program for up to three years—at most.
 Movies and Infomercials.

Movies are no longer as lucrative when they are

syndicated.
Infomercials are paid for in advance and can be
profitable where a low-rated program is not.
 On-Air Promotion of Programs

Fixed spot: A station reserves a position for a promo; very

generally, fixed spots are usually the equivalent of a 30-
second spot in each network hour or a 30-second spot in
each half hour of syndicated programs.
Combination spot: A promo that is dedicated to two
programs.
Cross-promotion: Similar programs or programs with
similar audiences should be promoted toward each other.
Topical spot: a promo about a specific story.
Image spot: a promo that creates a general impression of
the news product’s overall identity in viewers minds.