Education
Hey, COMM122 Podcast listeners, in this episode, let’s chat a bit about the broadcast network here in the US, its structure and what the business transactions within look like. First, let’s just say that broadcast TV is a type of continuous media. It is continuous because the content is always on and constantly supported by a stream of revenue from advertising, subscriptions, public funding, and donations. Broadcast TV is also a networked entity meaning that it is a vast network of local and national stations. There are two types of stations in the broadcast TV network. First, the kind of stations operated and owned by the big TV networks, which are CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. This type of stations is called Operated and Owned. They are directly controlled by the big TV networks with much of its programming controlled and provided by the TV network. The Operated and Owned stations tend to be in large media markets such as New York and Chicago. For instance, the ABC station in New York, WABC, is operated and owned by ABC. Hey, what about WGGB, which is an ABC station in Springfield? Well, WGGB is different from WABC. While WGGB is affiliated with the ABC network, it is NOT owned by ABC. For those stations that are only affiliated with but not owned by a TV network, we call them regular network affiliates. The network affiliations tend to be owned by media conglomerates such as Meredith, Nextstar, and Sinclair broadcasting group. Lastly, we have independent stations who are not affiliated with any TV network.