Can PBS stations ever invoke exclusivity rules to keep out-of-market PBS stations off cable/dish?

[IM42A]

I have in mind, for instance, a PBS station that does not want viewers contributing to an out-of-market PBS station, possibly one with a stronger programming lineup. An example might be SCETV not wanting viewers in border areas to watch and contribute to PBSNC or GPTV. Can they do that?

I do know that back in the day, some cable companies would import PBS stations from outside their viewing area, evidently to bulk up their channel lineup. This happened in Huntington WV with WSWP-9 Beckley (then a separate station from WMUL/WPBY-33 with a different schedule) and WOUB-20 from Athens OH, which cannot normally be received in Huntington with a rooftop antenna --- the terrain is just too bogus. I am assuming that carriage of Columbus and/or Cincinnati major-network affiliates was a no-no, the C-H stations have always been prickly about that kind of thing. (But the system in neighboring Barboursville carried WBNS-10 Columbus, go figure.)

The system in Shelbyville KY, though by no means starved for channel offerings (Louisville/Lexington/Cincinnati/Bloomington), also carried PBS from Cincinnati, Bloomington, and Oxford OH (Miami U).

 

[Mikey Radio]

FWIW, where I'm located there's a PBS station here, and another in an adjacent market. Both are available to me via Comcast and both have slightly different programming styles. I've contributed to both financially and yes, constantly get hounded with stuff in the mail from both stations to give more. At least one of them semi-regularly airs programming that was created by other PBS stations in other parts of the country, especially around the holidays - and it's not uncommon to see the logos of the PBS stations that created the programming, regardless which PBS station is airing it (I recall seeing WGBH's logo a fair amount on other PBS stations, for instance).

 

[Gregg.]

I'm sure PBS stations wanted to protect their territory in terms of viewers and donations. But I don't think the rules were as strict as for commercial stations. In fact, I used to think if a cable system did NOT import a PBS station from another region, it wasn't doing its job. Who only wanted one PBS choice?

Plenty of markets had secondary PBS stations. Those secondary stations would often schedule the PBS News Hour (or McNeil-Lehrer Report) at a different hour than the main PBS station, knowing that it was providing an alternative service. If the other guys have the News Hour at 6pm, we'll run it at 7pm.

 

[NYAZSporty]

Here in NYC, for those with DIRECTV, we have this situation with Connecticut Public Television via WEDW Stamford, being available unlike other providers in the area, with WNET, WLIW, & NJ PBS.

 

[gr8oldies]

In the Celina, Ohio market, the cable system carried WBGU, channel 57, from Bowling Green State University near Toledo. At the time Channel 16 from Wright State University (then WOET) built a translator on channel 17 across from Wright State University's branch campus, which, of course wanted enrollments at the branch and main campus in Dayton...as someone from the University told me "to take the emphasis off a certain institution to the north". As of the time I left the area in the 80s it had not been included on cable. Now, in Dayton, and Cincinnati, WPTD-virtual 16, WPTO, virtual 16 branded together as ThinkTV, and WCET, virtual48, Cincinnati have master control in Dayton. I'm sure some areas carry all 3.
Lafayette, IN...we got both WFYI Indianapolis and WTTW Chicago on cable.

 

[Kelly A]

Market overlap, even for PBS affiliated stations, isn't unusual.

 

[Red Plume]

Cable systems with more than 36 channels are required to carry at least 3 NCE-TV stations. If there are less than 3 must-carry NCE stations in a market, they need to import from another market. Cable systems can decline must-carry for stations that duplicate too much programming. Link: 47 CFR 76.56(a)(1)(iii)

Satellite doesn't have a minimum number of channels to carry. They can decline duplicating NCE's. Link: 47 CFR 76.66(h)(7)

 

[TheBigA]

On the radio side, there is no market exclusivity for NPR programming. So I imagine PBS operates with the same rules.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

I have in mind, for instance, a PBS station that does not want viewers contributing to an out-of-market PBS station, possibly one with a stronger programming lineup. An example might be SCETV not wanting viewers in border areas to watch and contribute to PBSNC or GPTV. Can they do that?

I do know that back in the day, some cable companies would import PBS stations from outside their viewing area, evidently to bulk up their channel lineup. This happened in Huntington WV with WSWP-9 Beckley (then a separate station from WMUL/WPBY-33 with a different schedule) and WOUB-20 from Athens OH, which cannot normally be received in Huntington with a rooftop antenna --- the terrain is just too bogus. I am assuming that carriage of Columbus and/or Cincinnati major-network affiliates was a no-no, the C-H stations have always been prickly about that kind of thing. (But the system in neighboring Barboursville carried WBNS-10 Columbus, go figure.)

The system in Shelbyville KY, though by no means starved for channel offerings (Louisville/Lexington/Cincinnati/Bloomington), also carried PBS from Cincinnati, Bloomington, and Oxford OH (Miami U).

Well in Southern California the Los Angeles PBS affiliates also serve markets where a PBS affiliate does not exist. Case and point KOCE Los Angeles even serves the Palm Springs and Santa Barbara TV markets.

In the Central Coast of California aka Monterey-Salinas TV market their PBS station is from KQED-TV/KQEH-TV San Francisco.

Also Bakersfield has no local PBS affiliate. Theirs comes from KVPT Fresno.

I know in Solano County, CA there's KVIE-TV Sacramento on Solano-W even though it's in the San Francisco TV Market. However this is a case where the county is split in two TV Markets. Solano-E is where Vacaville, Dixon, and Rio Vista are located within the Sacramento TV market. Solano-W is where Vallejo and Benicia are located inside the San Francisco TV Market. However there's Fairfield and Suisun City they are on the border of two TV markets.

 

[IM42A]

Cable systems with more than 36 channels are required to carry at least 3 NCE-TV stations. If there are less than 3 must-carry NCE stations in a market, they need to import from another market. Cable systems can decline must-carry for stations that duplicate too much programming. Link: 47 CFR 76.56(a)(1)(iii)

Satellite doesn't have a minimum number of channels to carry. They can decline duplicating NCE's. Link: 47 CFR 76.66(h)(7)

There would be very few cable systems anymore with 36 or fewer channels. This rule gets broken all the time, unless subchannels of PBS stations count towards the required 3 stations. If it is three separate broadcasting entities, there are parts of the US where you wouldn't have three PBS stations with usable OTA signals available at the cable head-end, in which case they'd have to import stations via microwave or satellite. Moreover, many states have statewide public TV networks where the programming is duplicated 100% (or close enough to it), such as Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and others --- statewide simulcasted PBS networks seem to be historically a Southern thing. So even if, for instance, a cable system in Kentucky carried KET affiliates from Lexington, Hazard, and Pikeville, it'd be the exact same programming. It's very rare for cable systems in such states to do that, and where it does exist --- you'll see it from time to time --- evidently the cable provider is uninformed, and thinks there is some variety in the various stations' programming.

 

[gr8oldies]

There would be very few cable systems anymore with 36 or fewer channels. This rule gets broken all the time, unless subchannels of PBS stations count towards the required 3 stations. If it is three separate broadcasting entities, there are parts of the US where you wouldn't have three PBS stations with usable OTA signals available at the cable head-end, in which case they'd have to import stations via microwave or satellite. Moreover, many states have statewide public TV networks where the programming is duplicated 100% (or close enough to it), such as Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and others --- statewide simulcasted PBS networks seem to be historically a Southern thing. So even if, for instance, a cable system in Kentucky carried KET affiliates from Lexington, Hazard, and Pikeville, it'd be the exact same programming. It's very rare for cable systems in such states to do that, and where it does exist --- you'll see it from time to time --- evidently the cable provider is uninformed, and thinks there is some variety in the various stations' programming.

If those Kentucky systems are on the borders, they could still pick up East Tennessee PBS or the Cincinnati or Nashville PBSs

 

[Mr Tony]

Satellite the rules are simple. If the station is in the DMA it can be carried. So your NC/SC PBS does happen as Charlotte and Greenville/Spartanburg DMA's cross state lines. Usually when a state run PBS is involved they kinda want everyone in the state to get that PBS which can be done on satellite via zip code setup.

So here in the Minneapolis DMA (which is huge by the way) sat subs get 4 PBS's
TPT & TPT Life from Minneapolis (TPT=Twin Cities Public Television)
KAWE from Bemidji (Lakeland PBS..northern part of the DMA)
KWCM Appleton (Western part of the state/DMA)

and **technically** WHWC Menomonie, WI (Wisco PBS) could have qualified as Menomonie is in the Minneapolis DMA but years ago they declined.

Cable here is kinda hit and miss. Cable in the outstate portion will carry KWCM or KAWE/KAWB instead of KTCA but in some areas there is duplication (mainly of KTCA and KWCM) near the SW border of the Minneapolis DMA

 

[IM42A]

If those Kentucky systems are on the borders, they could still pick up East Tennessee PBS or the Cincinnati or Nashville PBSs

Indeed they could. West Virginia PBS, WNIN Evansville, and probably PBS from Illinois or Missouri would also be options, depending on location. I was just referring to a clueless cable operator who, for whatever reason, carried two (or even three) different KET repeater stations. That said, WKPC-15 and WKMJ-68 Louisville are separate and distinct KET stations running two different schedules. And there is also WKYU-24 in Bowling Green, not part of KET but run by Western Kentucky University.

 

[IM42A]

Satellite the rules are simple. If the station is in the DMA it can be carried. So your NC/SC PBS does happen as Charlotte and Greenville/Spartanburg DMA's cross state lines. Usually when a state run PBS is involved they kinda want everyone in the state to get that PBS which can be done on satellite via zip code setup.

So here in the Minneapolis DMA (which is huge by the way) sat subs get 4 PBS's
TPT & TPT Life from Minneapolis (TPT=Twin Cities Public Television)
KAWE from Bemidji (Lakeland PBS..northern part of the DMA)
KWCM Appleton (Western part of the state/DMA)

and **technically** WHWC Menomonie, WI (Wisco PBS) could have qualified as Menomonie is in the Minneapolis DMA but years ago they declined.

Cable here is kinda hit and miss. Cable in the outstate portion will carry KWCM or KAWE/KAWB instead of KTCA but in some areas there is duplication (mainly of KTCA and KWCM) near the SW border of the Minneapolis DMA

There is no place in South Carolina where there is no SCETV affiliate within an out-of-state DMA. In Kentucky, none of the counties inside the Knoxville or Tri-Cities (Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson City) markets have in-market KET affiliates, though in the case of Tri-Cities, WKHA-35 Hazard is only one county over from both Leslie and Letcher counties. Southeastern Kentucky is a patchwork of DMAs anyway.

In North Carolina, though, there was the situation of WUND-2 which was licensed to Columbia (NC), which fell just inside the Greenville-Washington-New Bern DMA. PBSNC (then UNCTV) wanted it to be carried in the Norfolk DMA which takes in several far northeastern NC counties. They were able to move the city of license to nearby Edenton which fell just inside the Norfolk DMA, thereby invoking must-carry for both cable and dish (especially the latter, they wanted a space on the birds). There are a couple of counties in far western NC that are in the Atlanta DMA (Clay County) and Chattanooga DMA (Cherokee County). I'm pretty sure the satellite providers don't carry PBSNC in those two markets.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNPB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVPT

Here is another case KVIE Sacramento used to be carried in the Fresno and Reno markets at one point when Fresno and Reno had no PBS affiliates at that time.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Satellite the rules are simple. If the station is in the DMA it can be carried. So your NC/SC PBS does happen as Charlotte and Greenville/Spartanburg DMA's cross state lines.

And in the case of Charlotte, there is even a local PBS station. That's three in the market.

 

[IM42A]

And in the case of Charlotte, there is even a local PBS station. That's three in the market.

Actually, if you are speaking of the xx.1 main subchannel, there are four. WUNE-17 Linville carries The Explorer Channel on 17.1. They originally did this to force both WUNG and WUNE to be must-carry, with WUNE 17.1 being PBS Kids, but then they moved PBS Kids to 17.3 and put The Explorer Channel on 17.1, don't ask me why. The PBSNC stations in Jacksonville, Roanoke Rapids, and Canton follow the same alternate subchannel pattern, no doubt due to being the second PBSNC station in the Greenville-Washington-New Bern, Raleigh-Durham, and Asheville (i.e., GSAA) markets respectively.

 

[Robnoxious]

Also Bakersfield has no local PBS affiliate. Theirs comes from KVPT Fresno.

KCET Los Angeles still operates a low-powered repeater/translator K04SB-D for purposes of serving the Bakersfield market. Before the advent of KVPT, PBS was served in Bakersfield by KCET. When KCET went rouge and dropped their PBS affiliation it was replaced with KVPT on cable. However, even during that time KCET was an independent non-comm it could and can still be received OTA with a good antenna array.

 

[IM42A]

I have a hard time understanding how a city the size of Bakersfield couldn't support its own PBS affiliate, however, the pancake-flat terrain of the SJV makes even a low-power repeater easily accessible. Given the right terrain, an LPTV can provide coverage that is not all that different from a full-power station.

At one time, KQED had an extensive translator network throughout the central third of California, including IIRC points as far south as Atascadero and possibly beyond. I suppose if you could watch a high-quality station such as KQED, having a local affiliate would be kind of pointless.

 

[Megatron]

Where I lived Cablevison now Charter Spectrum had 2 PBS stations WGVU the local PBS for West Michigan and WTTW out of Chi which in the fall was taken off Charter channel 11 was no more until they moved WXMI Fox17 to channel 11 in June 2014 which was moved from channel 17. My grandparents didn't like the move as they liked to watch the programs at a different time than what WGVU had them on. Adelphia Comm now Comcast only had WGVU when I had them at my very first house I lived in.