Local television stations: what next?

[dsrtao]

There are 1750 television stations in the US, almost all of whom are affiliated with one of the following networks:

* ABC
* CBS
* Fox
* NBC
* PBS

The affiliate relationship means, basically, that the network supplies N hours of programming a week, and the affiliate supplies 168-N hours. (Yes, PBS is an exception, because it's a non-profit alliance and weird.) For most -- sometimes all -- of those N hours, the network also dictates when the programs air. As a result, you can go across the country and expect that you can find an NBC affiliate that is showing Law and Order at 10PM on Wednesday.

Generally, 7PM until midnight is nailed down. Sometimes there's an hour in there for a local news show. There's always room for two local news shows: one early in the morning, before a national show (Today, Good Morning America, etc) and one at or around early dinner time.

So. Local customization consists solely of the local news show, and what syndicated shows one might buy to air in the midafternoon, after the network-supplied soap opera and before the news.

Clearly there are opportunities here.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

You could broadcast "YOU NEWS! News about YOU!"

Oh, wait. LJ.

this is relevant to my interests

[thesaucernews.livejournal.com]

When I worked for PBS a few years ago I asked our GM why we didn't put more public-access content on the air, and I was told (sensibly) that any time you get the public anywhere near a camera it's just bound, eventually, to result in either a public relations debacle, or a lawsuit.

Add to this (with commercial stations) the likelihood that package shows are pretty much just filler for the news anchors' contracts and never generate much ad revenue anyway. Nobody watches the local stuff, so advertisers aren't willing to pay as much for the time. The last thing an affiliate wants is more of that in the pool.

The sort of content you're talking about, I think, is much more likely to be found on station websites, which tend to be far more public-accessible... because the FCC isn't watching and the less work for the station, the better. Stations are just starting to get really paranoid about the Internet Killing Everything, anyway.