Telecommunication Management
Broadcast stations
A commercial broadcast station:
• Holds a license from the federal government
• Transmits programs over the airways
• Carries commercial messages to promote products and services
• It gets a license to serve a specific community
Station groups
• Most stations are part of a group of stations owned by a corporation –station group owners
• Stations owned by broadcast networks are called “owned and operated stations”
• Government limits on group ownership have been relaxed over the past decades
• TV stations may reach no more than 39% of the national audience
• No more than two stations in a market (with some exceptions)
Broadcast Television Networks
• Networks partner with station to distribute programs
• Affiliates are the local stations that transmit programs to viewers over the airwaves.
• Most broadcast networks have around 200 affiliates
Network /affiliate contracts
• Network and affiliate negotiate the terms of their partnership through contracts
• Clearance affiliates clear time to air network programs
• “Adjacencies”: few minutes during network programs for affiliates to insert local commercials.
Compensation: Who gets the cash?
• “Network Compensation”: traditionally broadcast networks paid affiliates for the use of their
stations.
Amount varies based on their market size , station popularity…
