Независимые телестанции: особенности и развитие

Television stations that are not affiliated with a television network

An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast network. As such, it only broadcasts syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered programming, for which a third party pays the station for airtime; and local programs that it produces itself. In North American and Japanese television, independent stations with general entertainment formats emerged as a distinct class of station because their lack of network affiliation led to unique strategies in program content, scheduling, and promotion, as well as different economics compared to major network affiliates. The Big Three networks in the United States — ABC, CBS, and NBC — traditionally provided a substantial number of program hours per day to their affiliates, whereas later network startups—Fox, UPN, and The WB (the latter two were succeeded by The CW and, to a lesser extent, MyNetworkTV)—provided substantially fewer shows to their affiliates. Through the early 1990s, Fox affiliates were often considered independents.

The term independent station most often is used to refer to stations with general entertainment formats. Historically, these stations specialized in children's programming, syndicated reruns or first run shows, and sports coverage. Some independent stations, mostly those once having been affiliated with a major network, produce substantial amounts of news and public affairs programming. The model for these stations was WSVN in Miami, an NBC affiliate that switched to Fox in January 1989 and dramatically expanded its news output. Further affiliation changes and news expansions from the 1990s onward have produced a number of additional stations, such as KTVK in Phoenix (an ABC affiliate until 1995); WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida (a CBS affiliate until 2002); and WHDH in Boston (an NBC affiliate until 2017), as well as stations such as WGN TV in Chicago and KUSI TV in San Diego that never held a major network affiliation. However, in a broader sense, there are independent stations that focus on a specific genre of television programming. For instance, religious independent stations buy and schedule, or produce locally, evangelism and study programs, and ethnic independent stations purchase or produce programs in specific languages or catering to specific communities.

In 1986 several independent outlets, led by the Metromedia stations, formed the Fox Broadcasting Company, the first major venture at a fourth U. S. broadcast television network since the DuMont Television Network shut down in August 1956 (which resulted in some of its affiliates, including those owned by Metromedia, becoming independents). Fox made efforts, slowly at first, to have its affiliates emulate a network programming style as much as possible; but in turn, Fox only carried a late night talk show at its launch in October 1986, and beginning in April 1987, offered one night of prime time programming a week (on Sundays). The network only programmed two hours of prime time programming each night (and, beginning in the 1990s, some children's programming through Fox Kids), but gradually expanded its prime time lineup to all seven nights until January 1993. Fox's owned and operated stations left INTV in March 1992. The lack of programming in other dayparts forced most Fox affiliates to maintain the same programming model as independent stations during non prime time slots, and during its early years, on nights without prime time programming from the network. Fox coerced most of its affiliates to air prime time newscasts (there were some holdouts as late as 2013, while many others opted to run outsourced local newscasts from a competing network affiliate) as well as news programming in other dayparts common with other major network affiliates. When a complicated six station affiliation switch in South Florida saw WSVN in Miami switch from NBC to Fox in 1989, the station adopted a news intensive format unlike any independent station or Fox affiliate prior, a scheduling choice initially ridiculed in local media but quickly attracted industry attention and saw ratings success. This model was copied by stations owned by New World Communications and SF Broadcasting that switched to Fox in the mid 1990s, and to other news producing Fox and minor network affiliates, and independent stations, by the 2000s. In September 1993, many independents began carrying the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), an ad hoc programming service that emulated a network model, which featured drama series and made for TV movies intended for first run syndication. In January 1995, many remaining independents, including those that carried PTEN, joined upstart networks The WB and the United Paramount Network (UPN). The WB, UPN and their affiliates used a very similar programming model to that initially used by Fox and its stations during their first four years of existence (although neither network would expand their prime time lineups to all seven nights); the launch of those networks resulted in PTEN's demise in 1997, as most stations that became affiliates of UPN and The WB (whose respective founding parents, Chris Craft Industries and Time Warner, jointly owned PTEN) either dropped the service or moved its lineup out of prime time when those networks launched. Other stations banded together to become charter outlets of the Pax TV (now Ion Television) network in August 1998, although some of the stations that aligned with Pax had earlier affiliated with its predecessor, the Infomall TV Network (inTV), two years before. The launches of these networks drastically reduced the number of independent stations in the United States; some mid sized markets would not regain a general entertainment independent until the early 2000s, through sign ons of unaffiliated stations and disaffiliations by existing stations from other commercial and noncommercial networks. In 2001, Univision Communications purchased several English language independents in larger markets (which mostly operated as Home Shopping Network affiliates until the late 1990s) from USA Broadcasting to form the nuclei of the upstart Spanish language network Telefutura (now UniMás), which launched in January 2002. Several stations affiliated with The WB and UPN became independent again when the respective parent companies of those networks (Time Warner and CBS Corporation) decided to shut them down to form The CW, which launched in September 2006 with a schedule dominated by shows held over from and an affiliate body primarily made up of stations previously aligned with its two predecessors. Some of the newly independent stations subsequently found a new network home through MyNetworkTV, itself created out of the prospect that the UPN affiliates of corporate sister Fox Television Stations would become independents due to The CW choosing to affiliate with CBS Television Stations and Tribune Broadcasting stations in overlapping markets.

As a result of the various network launches that have occurred since the 1986 launch of Fox, true independent stations have become a rarity. The smallest stations, which in the past would have been forced to adopt a locally originated independent program schedule, now have other options – 24 hour a day networks that require no local or syndicated programming for the station to carry; some of these networks, such as AMG TV or America One, follow a full service variety format, while others are devoted primarily to classic television (such as MeTV) and/or films, or carry mainly niche programming. Many stations that are affiliated with the larger post 1980s networks still behave much like independents, as they program far more hours a day than a station affiliated with one of the Big Three networks. This is especially the case with MyNetworkTV, whose efforts to offer first run programming were largely unsuccessful. By 2009, the network had abandoned its first run programming efforts and became a "programming service", with its programming now focused upon off network reruns of drama series. After this transition, many of MyNetworkTV's affiliates began to downplay their affiliation with the network, and move the block to alternate timeslots (such as late night). Current independents follow a very different program format from their predecessors. While sitcom reruns are still popular, expanded newscasts and other syndicated programs such as talk shows; courtroom shows; reruns of recent scripted comedy and drama series; and no cost public domain programming are common. Another type of content being added to many independent station lineups in recent years has been brokered programming, including infomercials, home shopping and televangelist programs; the Federal Communications Commission did not allow infomercials to be broadcast on American television until 1984, but since then, it has proven to be a lucrative, if somewhat polarizing with viewers, way to fill airtime. During the 1990s when infomercials gained popularity, many stations began broadcasting 24 hours a day rather than signing off at night. By filling the overnight hours with infomercials, the station would be able to generate extra revenue where they had previously been off the air. Home shopping programs (mainly simulcasts of cable services that also have over the air distribution such as QVC and the Home Shopping Network) or syndicated programs fill overnight time periods on stations that do not run infomercials during that day part. Since the FCC revised its media ownership rules to permit station duopolies in August 1999, independents that operate on a standalone basis have become quite rare in the United States and, in turn, independents that are senior partners in duopolies are fairly uncommon. With the proliferation of duopolies and local marketing agreements since that point, most independent stations are operated alongside a major network affiliate (more commonly, one of either ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox), which may share syndicated programming with and/or produce newscasts in non competitive timeslots for its unaffiliated sister. This is because in most markets, independents tend to have lower viewership than that of a network affiliate, and usually fall within part of the FCC's duopoly criteria (which allows a company to own two stations in the same market if one is not among the four highest rated at the time of an ownership transaction).

Partial listing: bold text denotes an independent station.