COMM 180 SURVEY OF BROADCASTING AND CABLE

1
COMM 180 SURVEY OF BROADCASTING AND CABLE

• Dr. George W. Crawford

2
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT

• Start reading Chapter 5
• Hope you enjoyed your Fall Break
• Remember that today has a Monday schedule

3
Broadcast and Cable TV Today

• Quick Facts
• Network prime time share 75 90
• Network prime time share 99 45
• Number of networks in 75 3
• Number of networks in 99 7
• Homes with cable in 99 67
• Homes with HBO in 99 30

4
Broadcast and Cable TV Today

• TELEVISION NOW
• 98 of 100M homes have a TV
• 98 of those have a color set
• 75 of homes have more than one TV
• Average home TV is on for 7 hours/day
• Average home 45 channels of programming
• More TVs than indoor toilets

5
Types of TV Stations

• 1500 commercial(73) and non commercial
• Advertising or no advertising
• VHF and UHF stations
• VHF 525 commercial(35) and
  120
  non-commercial(8)
• UHF 615 commercial(41) and
  240 non-commercial(16)

6
Types of TV Stations

• Trends
• Cable has change the way stations are viewed
• Stations dont have the same revenue and
  non-commercial stations have little revenue
• Network TV ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and their
  affiliates
• Local TV revenue from the local area

7
Network TV

• Prime Time scheduling for affiliates ()
• Non-prime time links ()
• Only 45 of viewers in 1999
• New Networks like FOX, UPN, WB, and ???
• The future ?

8
Local TV

• Network Owned and Operated are most profitable.
  Independents are less profitable.
• Why ? Guaranteed programming and profits
• Profit margins are about 50 - cash cows.

9
Network Affiliates

• The big 4 have about 200 stations each
• All the advantages of the OO but with less
  profits 40 or so

10
Other Affiliates

• The newer three networks have affiliates, about
  100 each
• But profits are less 20 to 30
• Why? Less viewers and more purchased proramming

11
Independents

• Only 50 stations out of 1500
• Struggle for viewers and advertising
• Can survive as a niche player sports

12
Low Power TV Stations

• Power limits restrict area and viewers
• Mainly found in rural areas like Alaska
• Small viewership and revenues
• Mainly used for special interest programs

13
TV Station Ownership

• Groups not individuals are the real owners
• An owner can own as many stations as can reach
  35 of the total TV homes
• Fox is the biggest 23 stations and 35
• CBS is second 14 stations and 31
• Dial position and markets are key for success

14
Public TV

• PBS is over 30 years old
• Still having revenue problems
• Operates just like the other Networks with
  national distribution
• Ratings are poor but quality is high
• Pushing digital TV for quality

15
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

• Continue reading Chapter 5. Next session will
  look at pages 104 to 109.
• Take a look at the materials on the course web
  site.
• Take a look at the materials on the book web
  site.