From: streeter@cs.unca.edu (Tom Streeter)
Subject: Re: Blossom in Boston
Organization: University of North Carolina at Asheville
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:01:31 GMT

In article <HROSE.92Aug17184013@rocza.eff.org> hrose@eff.org (Helen Trillian Rose) writes:
>Well, I was looking through the TV Guide the other night, and noticed
>that WBZ TV 4 in Boston showed the Blossom season premiere at 3am on
>Sunday morning!!! I would not think that this is "prime viewing time".
>Can't the networks force their affiliates to show the shows during prime
>time? And why would WBZ show this at this time? (Channel 10 in Rhode
>Island showed it at the correct time, but since I get cable, I only get
>Channel 4). 
>

The network can't formally force an affiliate to show a program at a
particular time, or at all for that matter.  The affiliation agreements
between networks and affiliates are the subject of FCC regulations that
tip the scales in the direction of the affiliate.  The reason is
relatively straightforward: the affiliates are licensed by the
government and have public interest obligations that should not be
assigned to an unlicensed third party.  In other words, as long as it's
the station that has the obligation to serve its community, it's the
station that should have the final word. Remember that the rationale
behind broadcasting was based on a newspaper model:  local stations
serving local communities.  Stations were never meant to be mere
conduits for national programming.  

Of course, network preemptions rarely have anything to do with "serving
the public," they generally have far more to do with "serving the cash
flow by owning all the spot availabilities."  WBZ bumped Blossom from
its slot because it thought it could make more money showing whatever it
was that they did show (not neccesarily that more people would watch the
alternative -- the two don't have to go hand in hand).  A large market
affiliate's schedule is pretty tight -- that 3AM slot might have been the
only thing they had. You're absolutely correct that NBC isn't real happy
that they lost Boston for the season premiere of a show, but there's not
a lot they can do about it.  In theory, if WBZ were to do too many
preemptions, NBC could find another affiliate after the current
agreement expires (the term used to be limited to two years, it can be
longer now I believe). It rarely happens.  NBC could also "punish" them
by reducing the amount of money they pay to WBZ to be an affiliate,
called "network compensation," or just "network comp."  Network comp has
been reduced a fair bit over the past few years, and some attribute the
increase in preemptions to this trend.  It's a real chicken and egg
situation -- the affiliates increase preemptions to offset reduced comp,
the networks reduce comp to offset drops in audience levels due partly
to lower clearance levels, and the fingers are pointed back and forth.

I'm not quite sure where the person who just wanted to watch Blossom
fits into all this.  Neither does the industry, and that's its biggest
problem, IMHO.

>Any insight into this matter would be appreciated.

I don't know how much insight there was in this, but it sure beat
writing a syllabus!



-- 
Tom Streeter                                |   streeter@cs.unca.edu
Dept. of Mass Communication                 |   704-251-6227
University of North Carolina at Asheville   |   Opinions expressed here are
Asheville, NC 28804                         |   mine alone.