Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model of radio (and later television) during the 1920s, in contrast with the public television model during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, which prevailed worldwide, except in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, until the 1980s.
Commercial broadcasting is primarily based on the practice of airing radio advertisements and television advertisements for profit. This is in contrast to public broadcasting, which receives government subsidies and usually does not have paid advertising interrupting the show. During pledge drives, some public broadcasters will interrupt shows to ask for donations.
In the United States, non-commercial educational (NCE) television and radio exist in the form of community radio; however, premium cable services such as HBO and Showtime generally operate solely on subscriber fees and do not sell advertising. This is also the case for the portions of the two major satellite radio systems that are produced in-house (mainly music programming).
Radio broadcasting originally began without paid commercials. As time went on, however, advertisements seemed less objectionable to both the public and government regulators and became more common. While commercial broadcasting was unexpected in radio, in television it was planned due to commercial radio's success. Television began with commercial sponsorship and later transformed to paid commercial time. When problems arose over patents and corporate marketing strategies, regulatory decisions were made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to control commercial broadcasting. [1]
Commercial broadcasting overlaps with paid services such as cable television, radio and satellite television. Such services are generally partially or wholly paid for by local subscribers and is known as leased access. Other programming (particularly on cable television) is produced by companies operating in much the same manner as advertising-funded commercial broadcasters, and they (and often the local cable provider) sell commercial time in a similar manner.
The FCC's interest in program control began with the chain-broadcasting investigation of the late 1930s, culminating in the "Blue Book" of 1946, Public Service Responsibility For Broadcast Licensees. The Blue Book differentiated between mass-appeal sponsored programs and unsponsored "sustaining" programs offered by the radio networks. This sustained programming, according to the Blue Book, had five features serving the public interest:
Commercial time has increased 31 seconds per hour for all prime time television shows. For example, ABC has increased from 9 minutes and 26 seconds to 11 minutes and 26 seconds. [2]
Programming on commercial stations is more ratings-driven— particularly during periods such as sweeps in the US and some Latin American countries.
Commercial broadcasting is the dominant type of broadcasting in the United States and most of Latin America. "The US commercial system resulted from a carefully crafted cooperation endeavor by national corporations and federal regulators." [3]
The best-known commercial broadcasters in the United States today are the ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC television networks, based in the United States. Major cable television in the United States operators include Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications. Direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services include DirecTV and Dish Network.
In an hour of broadcast time on a commercial broadcasting station, 10 to 20 minutes are typically devoted to advertising. Advertisers pay a certain amount of money to air their commercials, usually based upon program ratings or the audience measurement of a station or network. This makes commercial broadcasters more accountable to advertisers than public broadcasting, a disadvantage of commercial radio and television.
In Europe, commercial broadcasting coexists with public broadcasting (where programming is largely funded by broadcast receiver licenses, public donations or government grants).
In the UK, Sky UK is available and WorldSpace Satellite Radio was available.
The best and most known commercial broadcasters in Asia are the South Korean radio and television networks SBS, Hong Kong television networks TVB, Taiwanese television networks FTV and Philippine radio and television networks GMA Network.
Contemporary hit radio in bold.
& Borno Radio Television (BRTV)
The mass media in Poland consist of several different types of communications media including television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet.
TV5 is a major Philippine free-to-air television and radio network headquartered in Mandaluyong, with additional studios in Novaliches, Quezon City. It serves as the flagship network of TV5 Network, Inc., which is owned by MediaQuest Holdings, the multimedia subsidiary of the telecommunications conglomerate PLDT. TV5 is popularly known as "The 'Kapatid' Network", employing the Filipino term for "sibling", a branding that was introduced in 2010.
Astro Radio is a Malaysian radio network company which operates radio broadcasting services and more since 1996. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Astro Radio owns and manages 13 private radio stations which are transmitted through the FM radio spectrum. As of November 2021, Astro Radio still remains the number one and largest radio network company in Malaysia, with 77.7% of Peninsular Malaysians and 15.6 million listeners tuning in to its stations weekly, together with its Media Prima counterpart, Media Prima Audio, according to the GfK Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) Wave 1 in October 2021. Era being at top of the list with the most audience reach estimated at 6,000,000 listeners, followed by Sinar and Gegar.
This is a list of notable media outlets in Zamboanga City, a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula administrative region of the Philippines. Although geographically separated, and an independent and chartered city, Zamboanga City is grouped with the province of Zamboanga del Sur for statistical purposes, yet governed independently from it.
Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) is a Philippine radio and television Broadcast company established in 1963. As of December 2013, NBC is a subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. NBC's radio and television stations are operated by sister network TV5 Network, Inc.; its corporate offices and studios are shared with the latter at the TV5 Media Center, Reliance cor. Sheridan Sts., Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Era is a Malaysian Malay-language radio station operated by Astro Radio. The radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The radio station went on air on 1 August 1998. In the past few years, this station played a wider mixture of music from the 1980s to current-day, but now it plays Malaysian and international hit songs, including Korean songs. Radio stations in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching will be moved back to Kuala Lumpur following Astro Radio closure of operations in Sabah and Sarawak since 30 September 2023. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, Era FM maintained its position as Malaysia's leading Malay-language station with over 4.8 million listeners.
Aksyon TV was a Philippine free-to-air television network. It was a joint venture of Nation Broadcasting Corporation and TV5 Network, Inc., both under PLDT media arm MediaQuest Holdings. Its programs were primarily produced by TV5's divisions News5 and ESPN5. AksyonTV formerly broadcasts terrestrially through DWNB-TV in Metro Manila, as well as on UHF channel 29 in Cebu, Davao and other relay stations, and on a digital subchannel via channel 5.2 in Metro Manila. It occupies the frequency previously used by MTV Philippines, a subsidiary of MTV Networks Asia Pacific from 2001 until 2006.
TV5 Network Inc., commonly known as TV5, is a Philippine media company based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is primarily involved in radio and television broadcasting and encompasses a range of subsidiaries and affiliates engaged in various media-related businesses. TV5 is owned by MediaQuest Holdings, an investee company of Philippine telecommunications giant PLDT through its Beneficial Trust Fund. It is headed by business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan.
Cignal TV, Inc., also known by its legal trading name Mediascape Inc., is a Filipino media and telecommunications firm in the Philippines. A wholly owned subsidiary of the media company MediaQuest Holdings under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, the firm operates its pay television services, subscription television networks, television and film entertainment production, and fiber broadband internet.