The Hidden Screen: Low Power Television in America: Low Power Television in America by Robert L. Hilliard & Michael C. Keith

Author:Robert L. Hilliard & Michael C. Keith [Hilliard, Robert L. & Keith, Michael C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Media Studies, Social Science, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781315501802
Google: JXuTDAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30852478
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1999-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Sourcing the Resources

Where does the commercial station with, at least at first, an inadequate advertising base obtain the income to survive? Considering that some 70 percent of LPTVs are non-profit operations, where do they get the funds to stay on the air? Some non-profit licensees, such as colleges, high schools, and community organizations, buy or otherwise obtain their licenses from commercial stations that are not able to make it financially. In fact, some non-profits have an advantage over commercial stations because they are able to establish a larger base of viewers by being more readily carried by local cable companies, which do not see them as direct competitors to the cable stations’ local origination channels for the available advertising dollars in the community.

Noncommercial stations have a number of sources of income. Some non-profits obtain funding directly from their licensee organizations: the community organization; the college or university; the religious group or individual church, among others. Some receive tax moneys appropriated by state or municipal governments with LPTV licenses, such as a state public broadcasting system or a city educational television system. Some LPTVs do what their big-sibling full-power public TV stations do—solicit donations and memberships from viewers. Corporate grants and program underwriting provide some support. Some states and municipalities offer support for specific kinds of programming that serves their larger purposes, such as shows dealing with agricultural information or social services or health needs. Even Neighborhood Assistance programs sometimes have funds available for LPTV, if they serve the organizations’ informational and educational outreach purposes. For example, the states of Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, among others, have programs that offer tax credits to businesses that provide support for nonprofit organizations, which may include local LPTV stations.

Commercial LPTV stations also take some of the paths above to obtain revenue. For example, even some commercial LPTVs establish viewer membership clubs and seek viewer contributions. Both commercial and noncommercial stations that have adequate production facilities obtain additional funds by renting out their studios or equipment for local production outfits, including ad agencies that produce commercials for local merchants. Similarly, both types of stations can lease time on their channel to outside organizations, whether nonprofit public-interest groups or home shopping networks; a specified amount of air time is exchanged for a specified amount of money. Both types of stations also seek private grants and contracts in exchange for whatever services the station can provide.

According to LPTV consultant John Kompas, the average monthly income of a low-power commercial outlet in 1994 was in the vicinity of $21,000. Kompas also notes that the emergence of the new networks (UPN and WB) have helped generate income over the last few years.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.