"Blocktime" redirects here. For other uses, see Block time.
Model where a show's producer pays a broadcaster for air time
Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot commercials. A brokered program is typically not capable of garnering enough support from advertisements to pay for itself, and may be controversial, esoteric or an advertisement in itself.
Common examples are religious and political programs and talk-show-format programs similar to infomercial on television. Others are hobby programs or vanity programs paid for by the host and/or their supporters, and may be intended to promote the host's personality, for instance in preparation for a political campaign, or to promote a product, service or business that the host is closely associated with. A live vanity show may be carried on several stations by remote broadcast or simulcast, with the producer paying multiple stations an airtime fee. Financial advisors and planners often produce this kind of programming.
Brokered commercial programs promote products or services by scripting shows made to sound similar to talk radio or news programming, and may even include calls from actual listeners (or actors playing the part of listeners). The programs are a specific type of infomercial, as they focus on a topic related to the product and repeatedly steer listeners and "callers" to a particular website and/or toll-free telephone number in order to purchase the product being featured. Although presented in the style of live programs, these are typically pre-recorded and supplied to stations on tape, disc, or digital downloadable formats, such as MP3 files.
Such programming is most common on talk radio stations and used to fill non-prime time slots and to augment income from spot-advertisement sales during normal programs.[1]
Most of these programs feature a disclaimer at either the beginning or the end of the program (or both), usually read by the program's host or (most often) by a separate announcer; some radio stations play a standard disclaimer before all such programs.
Certain mainstream sports and entertainment broadcasts may resort to buying brokered airtime to air on television if they cannot secure a deal that pays rights fees or a barter agreement. Examples include the last years of the Professional Bowlers Tour,[2]Major League Baseball's short-lived The Baseball Network venture in the mid-1990s, professional football leagues such as the United Football League[3] and Alliance of American Football,[4] and motorsports events produced and sponsored by Lucas Oil.[5] In the case of professional football, brokered programming has typically not been feasible in the long term, as the sport requires rights fees to make it viable; leagues that have relied on brokering television time have collapsed in short order due to financial losses.[3][4]Regional sports networks also pad their non-play-by-play schedule with brokered shows catering to niches like high school sports, poker, and all-terrain vehicles. With the importance of recruiting, the high school sports brokered programming are designed to showcase players to coaches which in the past had to watch game film or attend games.
Radio
Talk radio
Although some syndicators of multi-topic, ad-supported talk shows may pay a fee to stations with very large Arbitron-verified listenership, the same syndicator will normally charge a fee to small stations and may charge nothing to stations with moderate listenership. Each arrangement depends on whether the station can deliver enough listeners to allow the syndicator to earn money from ad sales. Syndicated programs normally carry a number of their own advertisements that must be played during commercial breaks, but set aside time for local stations to play their own advertisements.
Stations also frequently employ one or more of their own hosts, but at some small stations these hosts may be unpaid volunteers motivated by the chance to promote an agenda, gain personal exposure or get work experience.
The use of brokered programming varies by station -- some stations, mainly news radio and sports radio stations, use brokered programming to fill holes in some dayparts, especially during the late-night hours and weekends. The format of brokered programs varies; many sports radio stations will use brokered programs from sports handicappers and prognosticators to fit their format, while news and talk radio stations will often rely on brokered programs that sell vitamin or nutritional supplements, financial planning products and services, and alternative medical products, fitting those stations' older audiences.
Sometimes, even programs dealing with gardening and home improvement (usually presented on weekend mornings on many talk radio stations) are broadcast under a brokered arrangement, as was the case with KRLD gardening expert Neil Sperry before his show was canceled outright in 2010.[6]
Program time is often brokered to churches on Sunday mornings in a manner that parallels televangelism; there are also religious stations that rely primarily on brokered programs, and these stations often get the derisive title of "pay for pray," a play on the unethical practice of "pay for play" on music stations. There are also some AM radio stations that are dedicated to the brokered format, selling time for as little as 15 minutes or even selling the entire broadcasting day to a single entity, with the station holding the broadcast license and providing the facilities. That long-form type of brokered programming is especially popular among ethnic and religious broadcasters as well as with privately owned U.S.-based shortwave radio broadcasters.
Music radio programs
Brokered programs are not exclusive to talk radio; music radio programs can also be brokered. The brokered format, popular among specialty and niche music formats (e.g. polka music), usually involves the show itself lining up its own advertising and paying the station for its airtime. The idea reduces the risk for the station and assures the show remains on the air as long as the show's producers continue to pay the station's airtime fee.
Record companies
Record companies (through independent promoters) may also purchase brokered time on music stations to have the station play a new single as a "preview", which has the potential to be inserted onto a station's general playlist but has not received the traction to do so. These spots are often the length of the song with an introduction and disclaimer at the end of the song stating the artist, album title, and releasing label, and come under titles such as CD Preview. The segments must be carefully disclaimed by the record companies so as to not violate payola laws and the playing of the song, as it is paid for, cannot be applied to song popularity charts, as has happened in the early 2000s with some forms of this concept.[7]
Brokered time through agencies
Oftentimes broadcasters will seek the help of an ad agency to secure a brokered radio show. Agencies such as I Buy Time in Dallas, Texas or Bayliss Media Group in Los Angeles, California have the knowledge on how to negotiate a lower per-hour rate than what may be quoted by the radio station to the individual broadcaster.
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews with guests, and/or listener participation which may be live conversations between the host and listeners who "call in" or via voice mail. Listener contributions are usually screened by a show's producers to maximize audience interest and, in the case of commercial talk radio, to attract advertisers.
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program-length commercials, and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming. This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight, outside peak prime time hours for commercial broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime hours, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurred outside of the traditional overnight hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion.
VOCM is an AM radio station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, broadcasting at 590 kHz. Owned by Stingray Group, VOCM first went on the air on October 19, 1936. Through the "VOCM/Big Land FM Radio Network" of stations owned by Stingray, VOCM programming is carried throughout the province.
In broadcast programming, dayparting is the practice of dividing the broadcast day into several parts, in which a different type of radio programming or television show appropriate for that time period is aired. Television programs are most often geared toward a particular demography, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time.
KDWN is a commercial radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc.. The station pronounces its call letters as "K-Dawn". The station's studios are located in the unincorporated Clark County area of Spring Valley. Programming is now heard on 250-watt FM translator station K268CS at 101.5 MHz. KDWN airs a talk radio format. It runs several nationally syndicated conservative talk hosts, along with local shows, most of which are brokered programming. National hosts include Brian Kilmeade, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. Other hours are devoted to money, health, real estate and sports. In most cases, the local hosts pay for their time on the air and are permitted to run their own advertising. Most hours on weekdays begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio. A local staff provides Nevada news, weather and traffic. Weather coverage is supplied by NBC Network affiliate KSNV.
Salem Radio Network is a United States-based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group.
KSCO is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. The station is owned by Zwerling Broadcasting and is licensed to Santa Cruz, California. The radio studios and offices are on Portola Drive in Santa Cruz. The station can be heard over much of Central California during the day.
An independent station is a type of television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any broadcast television network; most commonly, these stations carry a mix of syndicated, brokered and in some cases, local programming to fill time periods when network programs typically would air. Stations that are affiliated with networks such as Ion Television or to a lesser degree, even MyNetworkTV and The CW, may be considered to be quasi-independent stations as these networks mainly provide programming during primetime, with limited to no network-supplied content in other time periods.
WTIC is a commercial AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios and offices are on Executive Drive in Farmington. The transmitter is a two-tower facility off Deercliff Road in Avon, Connecticut. WTIC is the primary entry point (PEP) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in Connecticut.
WTEL — branded "Philadelphia's BIN 610" — is a commercial all-news AM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, the station is currently operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. as part of their Philadelphia cluster under a long-term local marketing agreement. The station services the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area as the market affiliate of the Black Information Network.
World Business Review is an American television infomercial series that has been criticized for pretending to be a bona fide independent news program. The show typically features executives of mostly up and coming companies talking about their products and services. Haig’s chats with executives seen as ‘30-minute commercial’, Current, Feb. 25, 2002. The infomercial series purchases airtime in North America. The infomercial is formatted as a panel discussion in combination with segments about specific companies and their solutions. Supporting material and commentary is "provided" by leading industry experts. The series has aired more than one thousand episodes and more than 4,000 interviews.
WWDB is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its studios and offices in the "555 Building" on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group and broadcasts mostly paid brokered programming. Shows on health, money, gardening, home repair, real estate, religion and politics are found on the schedule. Some programs are broadcast in Hungarian, Ukrainian, Yiddish, Italian and other languages. Hosts pay for their time on the air and may advertise their services or products during their programs.
WILM is a news/talk AM radio station broadcasting in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. WILM is known as the station where radio and television talk show Joe Pyne developed the confrontational style now standard in radio and TV talk shows. Another well-known WILM personality was Tom Mees (ESPN) who worked at the station in the 1970s.
KRLD-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. KRLD-FM is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a sports radio format. The station's studios and offices are located along North Central Expressway in Uptown Dallas, and the transmitter site is in Cedar Hill.
KLIF is a commercial AM radio radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a talk radio format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The studios are in the Victory Park district in Dallas, just north of downtown.
Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoints of news and issues as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format has included syndicated and independent personalities such as Kyle Kulinski, Niko House, Tim Black (TBTV), Jamarl Thomas, Mike Figueredo, Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Norman Goldman, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, Bill Press, Alan Colmes (deceased), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio, Michael Brooks (deceased), Benjamin Dixon, David Pakman, Sam Seder, Leslie Marshall, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks, Brad Friedman, Arnie Arnesen and Ed Schultz (deceased).
WCBM is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by WCBM Maryland, Inc., and broadcasts a talk radio format, calling itself "Talk Radio 680 WCBM." The radio studios and offices are on York Road in Lutherville, off the Baltimore Beltway.
KBOI is a commercial AM radio station in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk radio format. Studios and offices are on Bannock Street in Downtown Boise, while its transmitter is located at a six-tower array southwest of the city.
WOKV-FM is a radio station in Atlantic Beach, Florida, United States, serving the Jacksonville metropolitan area. It airs a news/talk format branded as "News 104.5 WOKV". The station is owned by Cox Media Group and broadcasts from studios and a transmitter in the Southside district of Jacksonville.
Full service is a type of radio format; the format is characterized by a mix of music programming and a large amount of locally-produced and hyperlocal programming, such as news and discussion focusing on local issues, sports coverage, and other forms of paid religious and brokered content.
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