How well is your TV station doing?

[mel]

An interesting article in Erika Engle's Buzz column today.

How well is your TV station doing

FEDERAL LICENSES for more than 18 Hawaii television stations and repeaters are up for renewal. Local media watchdog Chris Conybeare says that makes this an important time to ruminate whether the public is getting a fair return for local broadcasters' use of television airwaves.

FCC rules also allow anyone to inspect a station's public file during regular business hours and, in accordance with the rules, stations have been broadcasting that fact.

Public inspection files must contain several elements including the station's license, ownership information, materials relating to the station's dealings with the FCC, equal opportunity employment records and a political file pertaining to candidates' requests for air time and how the requests were addressed.

The article also mentions whether or not the public is getting adequate coverage of local news and issues. What is the more important job of commercial broadcast TV? News and public affairs programming or entertainment? I think that question can be easily answered in the fact that entertainment programming including sports rules. This is what most people turn to TV for. You can have 4 channels simulcasting a political debate, but in the end the public will probably turn to an entertainment program vs. news/politics unless the latter item is extremely interesting... or maybe threatening, like the coverage we had on 9-11.

Still the open period to comment to the FCC on local TV operations give people a chance to comment, and perhaps those people who are missing the CW Network in Hawaii another outlet to air their complaints of "no coverage".

Lastly, those public inspection files... In these days of the WWW, why aren't the public inspection files online at TV station websites?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: How well is your TV station doing?

Lastly, those public inspection files... In these days of the WWW, why aren't the public inspection files online at TV station websites?

That's the easy one to answer: because they aren't required to be. No station will pay the expense to make them web-available and maintain them, unless they have to. The FCC won't require it, because the lobbying efforts of the NAB will stop them.

Stations generally see "public files" as a nuisance that they have to maintain, by law - kinda like having to do a certain percentage of money-losing community-affairs shows, which they can shove into the Sunday morning ghetto.

[CanadianGuy]

Re: How well is your TV station doing?

The FCC won't require stations to post it online because not every TV Station in the country has a website. Websites are not required, and some smaller market stations just don't have the man power to host one.

As for the CW, the issue is renewing licenses for existing stations. Not ones that are not available. That you would have to complain to the CW themselves to apply for a new license.

Ah, the good old FCC......always making headaches!

[pzarquon]

Re: How well is your TV station doing?

How large are these files? And if they're public by law, are there any copyright concerns? Why wouldn't a civic minded geek go out, collect them all, and publish them on the web as a public service?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: How well is your TV station doing?

How large are these files? And if they're public by law, are there any copyright concerns? Why wouldn't a civic minded geek go out, collect them all, and publish them on the web as a public service?

They contain all kinds of correspondence from listeners/viewers, legal documentation of the station, results from surveys/focus groups on what community topics should be covered by the station, some financials, etc. They are kept at the stations, and must be made available to the public to review on the station premises during normal business hours. The files can be very small or very large, depending on a multitude of factors, and the materials may not leave the station (no one would be able to take them and put them on their own web sites.)