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Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry (especially in North America), an '''owned-and-operated station''' (frequently abbreviated as '''O&O''') usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the television network|network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate, whose ownership lies elsewhere other than the network it is linked to.
For example: in the Boston television market, CBS Corporation-owned WBZ-TV carries CBS programming, while News Corporation-owned WFXT-TV carries programming from Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox, another News Corporation subsidiary. Therefore, both WBZ and WFXT are considered owned-and-operated stations. On the other hand, WCVB-TV and WHDH-TV carry American Broadcasting Company|ABC and NBC programming respectively, but neither shares ownership ties with its parent network. As such, these two stations are considered affiliates.
The concept of O&O is more clearly defined in North America (and to some extent, several other countries such as Australia and Brazil), where network-owned stations had historically been the exception rather than the rule. In such places, broadcasting licenses are generally issued on a local (rather than national) basis, and there is (or was) some sort of regulatory mechanism in place to prevent any company (including a broadcasting network) from owning stations in every market in the country. In other parts of the world, many television networks were given national broadcasting licenses at launch; as such, they have traditionally been mostly (or entirely) composed of O&Os, rendering a separate notion for such a concept redundant.
Usage of the term
In the broadcasting industry, the term ''owned-and-operated station'' refers exclusively to stations that are owned by television and radio networks. On the other hand, the term ''affiliate'' only applies to stations that are not owned by networks, but instead are contracted to air programming from one of the major networks. While in fact there may be an affiliation agreement between a network and an owned-and-operated station (as suggested under "Ownership Info" on the FCC TV Query search for WABC-TV), this is not necessarily required, and may simply be a legal technicality formalizing the relationship of separate entities under the same parent company. In any event, this does not prevent a network from effectively dictating an O&O's practices outside the scope of a normal affiliation agreement; for instance, network programming is very rarely preempted by O&Os, despite individual affiliates' rights to do so.
The term ''station'' correctly applies to the ownership of the station. For example, a station owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company|ABC network is referred to as an ''ABC station'' or an ''ABC O&O'', but normally should not be referred to as an affiliate. Likewise, a station not owned by ABC but contracted to air ABC’s programming is correctly referred to as an ''ABC affiliate''; that is, the station is affiliated with ABC.
However, informally or for promotional purposes, affiliated stations (or non-O&Os) are sometimes referred to as a network ''station'', as in ''“WJLA is an ABC station”'' even though that ABC affiliate is owned by Allbritton Communications Company. Correct formal phrasing could be, ''"ABC affiliate WJLA is an Allbritton station."'' Similarly, one may informally refer to "ABC affiliates" in regards to all stations (including O&Os) that air ABC programming, or to "the ABC affiliation" in regards to the transfer of rights to ABC programming from an affiliate to an O&O.
Some stations that are owned by networks but air another network’s programming are referred to as an affiliate of the network they air. For example, WBFS in Miami, Florida|Miami is owned by the CBS network's CBS Corporation|parent company but airs programming from MyNetworkTV; it is a ''MyNetworkTV affiliate.'' Prior to the Fall 2006 shutdown of the CBS-owned UPN television network, WBFS aired that network's programming; therefore, WBFS was a ''UPN O&O.''
The stations airing The WB television network were another exception. The ownership of The WB was shared between Warner Bros. (a subsidiary of Time Warner), the Tribune Company and, for a portion of The WB's existence, ACME Communications. While Tribune-owned stations such as WGN-TV Chicago, WPIX-TV New York and KTLA-TV Los Angeles aired programming from The WB, they did not fit the standard definition of an ''O&O''; they were nonetheless often referred to as ''WB O&Os''. A similar exception existed when the UPN network launched in 1995 by co-owners Chris-Craft Industries|Chris-Craft and Viacom (1971-2005)|Viacom. Each of the companies owned a number of stations that aired the network. However, the stations were also not considered O&Os under the initial standard definition. This ambiguity ended with Viacom's buyout of Chris-Craft's share of the network in 2000, which came not long after its merger with Westinghouse Electric (1886)|the previous CBS Corporation. The stations were referred to informally as ''UPN O&Os''. (Chris-Craft later sold its stations to Fox.)
Following the merger of the UPN and The WB networks, CBS Corporation (former owner of UPN) and Warner Bros. Entertainment became co-owners of the new CW Television Network. The network launched in September 2006 on most UPN stations owned by CBS Corporation, and most WB affiliates owned by Tribune (which exchanged its ownership of The WB for affiliation on most of its stations with the new CW network). Certain UPN/WB affiliates in markets with both Tribune and CBS ownership either picked up a MyNetworkTV affiliation or became independent stations. The standard definition of an O&O again does not apply to The CW, but the CBS-owned stations that carry the network may be referred to as ''CW O&Os''.
Some O&Os choose to refer to themselves as ''network-owned stations'' instead, reflecting the fact that while they may be ''owned'' by a national network, much of the actual ''operation'' is usually left to the discretion of the local station.
Distribution of O&Os
Asia-Pacific
Australia
In Australia, Seven Network and Network Ten own and operate their stations in the five largest List of cities in Australia|metropolitan areas (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Western Australia|Perth and Adelaide). These television markets together account for two thirds of the country's population.http://www.oztam.com.au/pdf/tv_ratings/Universe_Estimates_2007.pdf In addition, Seven also owns and operates its STQ|local station in regional Queensland.
Nine Network, on the other hand, has O&Os in three of the five metropolitan markets (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane), and two regional markets (Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin and Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle). Other than the affiliate in central Australia (Imparja Television), the rest of Nine's affiliates (including the stations in Perth and Adelaide) are owned by WIN Television.
The two national public broadcasters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC and Special Broadcasting Service|SBS, own and operate all of their local stations.
Philippines
In the Philippines, networks such as ABS-CBN, National Broadcasting Network|NBN and Radio Philippines Network|RPN own and operate almost all of their local television stations, although a few affiliates also exist. As regional stations mostly rebroadcast/relay programmes from their parent network's flagship station (usually based in Metro Manila), the terms ''network'', ''station'' and ''channel'' can in practice be used interchangeably to refer to either one. In addition, networks are often informally referred to by their flagship stations' broadcast channel numbers; for example, ABS-CBN is referred to as "Channel 2" or "Dos" for its Manila O&O DWWX-TV.
Latin America
Argentina
Argentina's public broadcaster Canal 7 Argentina|Canal 7 owns and operates all of its stations. However, commercial broadcasters like Telefe and Canal 13 (Argentina)|Canal 13 has private affiliates outside Buenos Aires.
Brazil
In Brazil, the major television networks (Rede Globo|Globo, Rede Record|Record, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão|SBT, Rede Bandeirantes|Bandeirantes) own and operate their local stations in the two major cities: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Other markets such as Brasilia and Belo Horizonte also have O&Os from one or more networks.
Chile
The major Chilean television networks currently own and operate all of their stations. Canal 13 (Chile)|Canal 13 had an affiliate in northern Chile, Telenorte, until it disaffiliated from Canal 13 in 1989.
Mexico
Due to the lack of an ownership cap in Mexico, some Mexican television networks own and operate all of their stations. However, there still exist privately-owned local stations which broadcast programming originating from the Mexico City stations.
Peru
In 1974, Telecentro was created as a division of ENRAD (Empresa Nacional de Radiodifusión), a state controlled company to operate all radio and TV stations. However, private broadcasters still owned the broadcast stations. When satellite link was introduced in Peru in 1989, many affiliates had become repeaters of the main stations based in Lima.
North America
Canada
In Canada, due to the population being concentrated to fewer urban centres (compared to the United States), as well as more lenient policies regarding media ownership (for example, an ownership cap on TV stations does not exist, except for within one media market), many television stations have become (or gone on air as) O&Os. For instance, CTV Television Network|CTV and Global Television Network|Global currently own and operate an overwhelming majority of their local stations (most of which are located in major urban centres); the few affiliates are located in smaller regional markets like Lloydminster and Thunder Bay.
The CBC Television|CBC, with its role as the publicly-funded broadcaster, has at least one O&O in every single Provinces and territories of Canada|province and territory, although the three O&Os in the territories are operated collectively as CBC North. While the majority of Canadians are served by CBC O&Os, the CBC also has by far the most private affiliates of Canada's three main English television networks.
The French arm of the CBC, Télévision de Radio-Canada, is the only French-language network in Canada to have O&Os outside Quebec. It has an O&O in each province except the Atlantic provinces, where CBAFT (based in Moncton, New Brunswick) serves the entire region via relay transmitters. The territories receive programming from Radio-Canada via translators relaying Montreal-based CBFT.
The other two French-language networks — V (TV network)|V and TVA (TV network)|TVA — only have O&Os (and, for that matter, affiliates) within Quebec. (Privately-owned Radio-Canada affiliates are only found within Quebec as well).
Along with the major networks, some media conglomerates also run second-tier television systems (e.g. Canwest's E! (Canada)|E! and CTVglobemedia's A (TV system)|A). These systems share the same parent companies as most of their local stations, and such stations can be considered O&Os as well. For example, all of A's local stations are owned by CTVglobemedia. On the other hand, E! added a few private affiliates not owned by Canwest in Western Canada prior to its demise in 2009.
United States
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently mandates that the total number of television stations owned by any company (including a television network) can only reach a maximum of 39% of the country.[FCC's Review of the Broadcast Ownership Rules. Accessed online May 28, 2009.] Given this restriction, television networks only have O&Os in a fraction of the 210 designated market areas around the country (the remainder of the markets are served by affiliates owned by other media companies). Periodically, networks may sell O&Os to comply with this FCC restriction.
O&Os tend to be found in large urban centers like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, although they have also been found in markets as small as Green Bay, Wisconsin (DMA #69, 2006-07) in the past.
Owned and operated stations used to be common in the old-time radio|days of network radio, but beginning in the 1980s, those radio networks began to be broken up. NBC no longer exists as a radio network, while for all intents and purposes ABC no longer does either, beyond a brand licensing agreement with later ABC Radio owner Citadel Media for ABC News Radio content. CBS's radio stations are now a separately company (CBS Radio) from its broadcast service (Westwood One). However, new radio networks have cropped up with their own owned-and-operated networks. Clear Channel Communications owns many stations in the top 100 markets of the United States and in turn feeds them with programming from its own Premiere Radio Networks, particularly on its talk radio stations and for voicetracking purposes. Citadel Broadcasting often does the same with its own stations and broadcast service known as Citadel Media. The Walt Disney Company owns two networks, ESPN Radio and Radio Disney; ESPN has only a few owned and operated stations in mostly major markets, but almost all Radio Disney outlets are owned by Disney itself. Most religious networks own and operate all of their stations.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the ITV plc|ITV network owns and operates many of the former independent ITV franchises across the United Kingdom. Currently they own-and-operate all of the franchises in England and Wales. The ITV franchises in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands are not owned-and-operated by ITV plc.
Both the BBC and BSkyB|Sky own and operate all their stations across the network.
Branding
[[File:Eyewitness News in New York City.jpg|thumb|250px|WABC-TV's news vehicle. The circle 7 logo seen here is also used on other ABC O&Os broadcasting on channel 7.]]
A network’s O&Os often share similar branding elements among themselves, reinforcing their common identity as stations owned by the same network. This kind of sharing may also present some savings to the parent network (ie. the owner), as its O&Os can use the same graphics and music rather than to each commission its own branding package. Examples include the circle 7 logo (originally designed in the early 1960s for ABC’s aforementioned O&Os, all of which broadcast on channel 7 at the time), the ''I Love Chicago (Chicago My Home)'' musical signature for local newscasts (originally used by WBBM-TV, later spread to other CBS O&Os), and the "CBS Mandate" (a set of branding guidelines currently used at several CBS O&Os). Fox also has a set of Fox Broadcasting Company#Network identity|branding guidelines for both its O&Os and affiliates. Supposedly, NBC and ABC also have branding guidelines for its affiliates, but not as extreme as CBS or Fox.
Networks in Canada took corporate branding to its logical conclusion; references to local callsigns and channel numbers have almost completely been eliminated from the O&Os except during station sign-on and sign-off sequences (although some O&Os may occasionally refer to their channel numbers in passing).
Currently, other television station groups (e.g. Hearst-Argyle) also implement common branding packages among its stations (even when affiliated with different networks). Some of the branding elements originally found only at the O&Os are now used by regular affiliates as well (e.g. the aforementioned circle 7 logo, and use of the ''I Love Chicago'' theme music by some CBS affiliates that are not O&Os, such as KPHO). Nonetheless, such practices and elements can still be traced back to the O&Os, which represented the earliest television station groups under common ownership, before the emergence and proliferation of nationwide station ownership groups in the subsequent decades.
Ties to the networks
[[File:May 2009 9 Channel Nine Court.jpg|thumb|250px|9 Channel Nine Court, home to both CTV's network operations and Toronto O&O CFTO-TV.]]
Positions at network O&Os are frequently sought after by those who wish to eventually work for a television network. Indeed, many O&Os have served as a stepping stone for television personalities at their parent networks. For example, Matt Lauer and Al Roker worked for NBC's flagship O&O in New York City, WNBC-TV, before becoming hosts on ''Today (NBC program)|The Today Show''[Matt Lauer, msnbc.com. Accessed online May 28, 2009.][Al Roker, msnbc.com. Accessed online May 28, 2009.]; Roker had begun his career with NBC at former O&O WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland, known as a 'farm team|farm station' which developed talent for the larger O&O stations and network (although this strategy left WKYC as a long-time also-ran in the Cleveland market due to heavy staff turnover). Whether or not one gets a job at a network obviously depends on one's abilities, and working at an O&O does not guarantee a network job down the line; however, the presenter does potentially receive additional exposure to the network.
Presenters at the O&Os also occasionally take on duties at the network level alongside their existing capacities at the local level. For example, several local anchors at CTV Television Network|CTV's O&Os have filled in for Lloyd Robertson in the past on the network's CTV National News|national newscast; and weathercasters from CTV's Toronto and Vancouver O&Os (CFTO and CIVT, respectively) present the weather segments on CTV News Channel (Canada)|CTV News Channel. A number of personalities at New York City radio and TV stations have also done assignments for both a station and a parent network at the same time, due to their proximity to network studios and offices.
Parts of a network's operations may also be co-located with one or more of its O&Os. For example, production of Global's Global National|national newscast is controlled from its CHAN-TV|Vancouver O&O, while CTV's network headquarters are co-located with CFTO at ''9 Channel Nine Court'' in Scarborough, Ontario (the address refers to CFTO's over-the-air channel number). NBC's national network operations in both New York and Los Angeles are housed in the same facilities as their local stations WNBC-TV and KNBC-TV, respectively, and both of these O&Os are considered flagship station|flagship stations of the network.
Ownership and network changes
In general, an O&O is very unlikely to experience changes in its ownership, since it is often a significant source of revenue for its owner; and since its owner is also its parent network, the chances for an O&O to ever switch networks are also rather low.
However, in instances where the network finds an O&O no longer financially viable, it may choose to sell the station to a new owner or simply close the station. Even profitable O&Os might be sold off, often as a result (or in anticipation) of mergers and corporate deals, especially ones which put the network over the ownership limit in its local jurisdiction (e.g. the aforementioned 39% ownership cap in the United States imposed by the FCC). In addition, a network might decide to sell some of its O&Os and use the money raised to (at least temporarily) alleviate financial problems. Depending on the new owner, the station might continue to carry programming from the same network, affiliate with another network, or even become another network's O&O.
The following are examples of transactions involving O&Os:
Australia
- Perth, Western Australia|Perth's STW-9 and Brisbane's QTQ-9 became Nine Network O&Os in 1987 when the stations' parent company, Bond Media (headed by Alan Bond (businessman)|Alan Bond), purchased the network.[Nine Network - Australian Television Archive] After the collapse of Bond Media, STW-9 was sold to Sunraysia Television[STW9 Perth - Australian Television Archive] (and remains as the Nine Network affiliate in Perth, currently under the ownership of WIN Television) while QTQ-9 remained a Nine O&O to this day.
- Perth's NEW-10 went on the air in 1988 as a Network Ten O&O. However, the station was sold off 1989|the next year as the network faced financial problems.[NEW10 Perth - Australian Television Archive] The network (under CanWest Global) re-acquired the station in 1995, and NEW-10 has remained a Ten O&O ever since.
Canada
- Vancouver’s CKVU-TV was originally a Global O&O. However, in 2000, its parent company CanWest Global purchased the television stations from the Western International Communications|WIC group, which included CHAN-TV in Vancouver and CHEK-TV in Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) does not allow any single company to own more than two stations in a Canadian television market, so Global had to sell one of the stations. It opted to keep CHAN due to its higher ratings and network of rebroadcasters that reaches 97% of British Columbia. CKVU was eventually sold to CHUM Limited, and has since been re-branded as a Citytv station. (See 2001 Vancouver TV realignment.)
- With regards to its E! (Canada)|E! television system, Canwest stated in 2009 that "a second conventional TV network was no longer key to the long-term success" of the company[Canwest announces strategic review of five conventional television stations, press release, February 5, 2009][Canwest considers possible sale of 5 TV stations across Canada, The Canadian Press via Google News, February 5, 2009], and the five E! O&Os subsequently faced various outcomes: CHCH-TV Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton and CJNT-TV Montreal were sold to Channel Zero Inc.|Channel Zero to be operated as Independent station (North America)|independent stations[Channel Zero Inc. agrees to purchase CHCH-TV Hamilton and CJNT-TV Montreal from Canwest ''CNW Group'' (2009-06-30)]; CHBC-TV Kelowna became a Global O&O; CHCA-TV Red Deer, Alberta|Red Deer closed down on August 31, 2009[Red Deer's CHCA signing off, Jack Wilson, Red Deer Advocate, August 28, 2009. Accessed online September 1, 2009.]; and CHEK-TV Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria was sold to a consortium of station employees and local investors for [Employees buy CanWest TV station in Victoria for , Grant Robertson, ''The Globe and Mail'', September 4, 2009. Accessed online September 19, 2009.], and has since been operated as an independent station.
United States
See also
- Owned-and-operated television stations in the United States
- Concentration of media ownership
References
External links
United States
- ABC-owned Television Stations - List of ABC O&Os
- CBS Television Stations Group - List of CBS and CW O&Os
- NBC Universal: Company Overview - List of NBC and Telemundo O&Os
- Fox Television Stations, Inc. - List of Fox and MyNetwork TV O&Os
United Kingdom
- ITV - Home of ITV and the ITV O&Os
Canada
- CTV.ca: Local Stations - List of CTV O&Os and affiliates
Category:Broadcasting
Category:Television terminology
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