How do TV stations work?
 

Is there a guy who puts the shows in a VCR and presses play so that the folks at home can watch? I assume the commercials are edited-in in advance.

I believe the commercials run on a different frequency. Like, they do not have a say tape of the Friends episode and a tape of commercials and then make a copy with Friends + COmmercials. Friends airs then they switch over something to air the commercials. I don't know if they use VHS tapes...... don't they use a form of Beta or something?

Actually this is an interesting question.

Network programming is sent out via satellite, which is then relayed to transmitters by local stations. The stations know ahead of time how much blank space is in the network feed for local commercials, promos, etc. In the engineering department, a broadcast switcher drops the commercials in at the right moment. Smaller stations probably still do this manually, but I'm sure it's computerized at larger stations.

Syndicated programming is sent out over the satellite at various times, and can be taped by the locals to run as scheduled. Major programs (Oprah, etc) which need to run at specific times are aired off the satellite.

i've been to a newsstation before and they have this huge machine that stores all the commercials and they play from there. i don't know what they use to run the commercials, but it could differ from newstation to newsstation.

2 years working as a photojournalist for the CBS affiliate comes in handy :)

I don't know everything about the way the system works, since that was a different department, but I asked some questions and paid attention.

Local TV stations are "affiliates" of, in my example, CBS. CBS sends a signal that is, I think, both recorded and relayed live. I think the syndicated shows are recorded, and things like "CSI" and "Survivor" are just relayed through. There is a system that swaps in the local commercials. This is usually an automated deal, using BetaSP which is the industry standard. This is how you see a mix of both local and national commercials.

If you pay attention, you can sometimes tell when they overlay a local commercial. Commercials are standard lengths (:30, 1:00, 1:30, etc.) but if it's 28.9 seconds instead of :30, you might see the tail end of the national commercial. Or a long(er) period of black between commercials. Pretty much any hiccup you see is some sort of operator error or a problem with the commercial.

I think this is fairly accurate. As I said, I didn't work in that department, so if anyone else knows better, please help out :)

Woooo I was right hehehe.

Anyway, I notice that commercial thing all the time, I figured the same thing you said. What hate is when I see a national commercial coming on that I want to see (such as a promo for a show) and they overlap it with a stupid local one. Angers me!

What I wish is that stations would start and end programs on time. My NBC affiliate consistently begins shows 2 minutes early, while ABC? is on time or slightly late. So if I want to watch back-to-back programs from the two different stations, I have to miss the end of one or the beginning of the other. Doesn't this annoy PVR folks? Why can't stations syncronize with UTC so we can all be happy? It must be a marketing conspiracy....

I work in the production department at my station, butI did spend a good deal of time as an intern in master control. The news is produced live, but a lot of other things come down on the satellites. for example, we get Judge Judy via Satellite a while before its broadcast, we run it from 1 inch tape. 1 inch tape is cool, it's like 2 big reels and the way you fast forward is to put your hand on the front of the reel and spin it around. Anyway, we just finished doing Fiesta Bowl coverage too (Go Ducks) and that was live. As for commercials, we have a cool system that stores the commercials as MPEG2 files on this huge server and we run them from that. I don't want to give too many secrets away, but that's basically how it works.

I myself, because I work in production and not master control, the only recording and sending I do is to and from our nearby sister station via microwave. All the satellite is done through master control.

I feel your pain. My FOX station starts shows like 5 minutes early! They were repeating a Frasier episode I wanted on tape so I told my Tivo to tape it. Oops, I didn't tell Tivo to start recording 5 minutes early so I missed the first five minutes of the episode. It sucks too because I will watch Home Improvement on the WB station (which is on time) and when I switch over to Fox for Friends they are just about into the opening credits.

Not to mention that some station has their time wrong or something. I have a Toshiba VCR that auto sets the clock and I can't figure out how to set it manually for some reason, and it keeps setting the time an hour earlier than what it is suppose to be. :(

For those statations that do it manually why is there rarely a gap between the show and the commercials? Is it like a film reel where there just going from one image to another but might lose a moment or two on either end?

Me! I'm that guy. I work as a Broadcast Operations Technician at a PBS station. Before coming to work here I was at a Fox O&O for 3 1/2 years. Here's how it works:

At a commercial station program lineups are e-mailed a few days before a show airs. These tell the people in operations and traffic how long programs are, when they will be fed, what the commercial break times are, and how much time is left for local commercials. (Many national spots may not be preempted for local commercials.) After this information is received two logs are generated, one is a record schedule and the other is a playback schedule. The networks let stations know before a program is fed when the approximate break times are. Most network programming is then fed via satellite up to three hours before it is to air. There are multiple feeds of this programming to accomidate the different time zones. I believe that most network programming is fed three times. It can be can be aired hot, but most staitons prefer to record in advance so they know they have the show on tape. The stations that I have worked at have used both 1 inch tape and various Betacam formats (SP or SX). The shows are recorded by Air Tape and played back through the Master Control switcher. From Master it is sent via microwave to the transmitter where it is then sent out to your homes using a combination of both FM and AM signals. If you have cable then the cable co just takes the transmitted signal and sends it down the pipe to you.

The Master Control Director (or Operator, depending on where one works) does the actual switching between various machines for the airing of programs, commercials, and promos. It used to be that commercial breaks needed to be edited together (before my time), but now most stations use either a video server (just like a file server) or a BetaCart. Both of these machines work in the same way, you load up your clips and create a playback shcedule complete with a start time for the commercials. The file server that my current station uses plays on its own wether it is on the air or not, but a BetaCart needs a play command from an operator before it begins playing tapes. Tapes are usually rolled two seconds before they hit the air in order for them to get up to speed before the video starts.

That is pretty much how it works at most stations, if anyone wants to know anything else just post a question and I'll try to answer it if I can.

Forgot to mention:

As far as networks starting programming 1-2 minutes early or late, it is a marketing strategy. It is meant to carry viewers over from one program into the next. It is done for the sole purpose of increasing ratings.

It was cool when TBS did that to everyone on every show all the time. But the random nature of it now just serves to piss people off (at least it does to me :)). In fact, when I'm bored and flip over to my local FOX during an hour break, and a show has already started, I simply move on. I'm sure I'm not the typical typical television viewer, as I watch shows that I enjoy (novel concept) and hold grudges. :) But they lose my tiny bit of ad revenue each time they pull that nonsense.

das

I remember that, every was like "7:05, 7:35....". I guess they don't do that anymore.

It is my FOX station that is doing it also. I am angered at them, maybe I should write a nasty letter - nah probably won't do anything hehe. I am happy that they took Just Shoot Me off the evening lineup and put it on late night and moved Frasier. Now we have Friends, Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld. Plus, before that, WB moved Home Improvement so I can watch that before FOX. Never turn your television off! Even if you are not in the room... ;)

Actually it's not your local Fox station that is doing this. During prime time it is the network that is doing it. If it is being done at other times of the day then that is the local station, but for the most part all shows start on the hour or the half hour. The big exception is local news. Most stations will start their news about 1 minute early so that they don't lose the lead in from shows like Oprah, Judge Judy, or whatever they run before the news. The theory is that by avoiding a commercial break between the end of your lead in and the news, you hold all of the people over for at least your first news segment. The first segment is usually the longest, thus people are generally watching long enough to be counted for ratings points.

I was speaking of the shows my Fox station airs from 6 - 8pm (Friends, Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld), not their prime time lineup. I only watch one Fox prime time show, and it is always on time.