Television station

Last updated

A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.

Contents

Overview

The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow (TV Station Paul Nipkow) in Berlin, Germany, was the first regular television service in the world. [1] [2] It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, the inventor of the Nipkow disk. [3] Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate, respectively.

Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around the world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel, but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines the broadcast range, or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages.

Another form of television station is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting. To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs. In those countries, the local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news.

Transmission

Cerro de Punta, Puerto Rico's highest peak, and its TV transmission towers Cerro de Punta as seen from Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico (DSC03460).jpg
Cerro de Punta, Puerto Rico's highest peak, and its TV transmission towers

To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna, which is often located at the highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit, the top of a high skyscraper, or on a tall radio tower. To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1/E1. A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of the main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air, or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry.

VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength, but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output, also saving on the electricity bill and emergency backup generators. In North America, full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video (VSB) and 10 kW analog audio (FM), or 45 kW digital (8VSB) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1.

UHF, by comparison, has a much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown. Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes.[ citation needed ]

Program production

Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in a variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials. They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network, or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies.

Many stations have some sort of television studio, which on major-network stations is often used for newscasts or other local programming. There is usually a news department, where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV. Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks, or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters, who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live.

To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years.

Some stations (known as repeaters or translators) only simulcast another, usually the programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries. Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide.

Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications. TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations, particularly co-owned sister stations. This may be a barter in some cases.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Public Broadcasting</span> PBS/NPR member network in Georgia, United States

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the Georgia state government which holds the licenses for most of the PBS and NPR member stations licensed in the state. The broadcast signals of the nine television stations and 19 radio stations cover almost all of the state, as well as parts of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWNY-TV</span> TV station in Carthage, New York

WWNY-TV is a television station licensed to Carthage, New York, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Watertown area. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Fox affiliate WNYF-CD. The two stations share studios on Arcade Street in downtown Watertown; WWNY-TV and WNYF-CD's transmitters are located on the same tower along NY 126/State Street on Champion Hill.

KHET, branded PBS Hawai'i, is a PBS member television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands. Owned by the Hawaii Public Television Foundation, the station maintains studios on Sand Island Access Road in Honolulu, and its main transmitter is located on Palehua Ridge, north of Makakilo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGTV</span> PBS member station in Athens, Georgia

WGTV is a PBS member television station licensed to Athens, Georgia, United States, a legacy of the station's early years as a service of the University of Georgia (UGA). Owned by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, it is the flagship station of the statewide Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) television network, serving the Atlanta metropolitan area from a transmitter atop Stone Mountain just east of Atlanta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HD Radio</span> Digital radio broadcast technology

HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for a so-called in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used primarily by AM and FM radio stations in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines, with a few implementations outside North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRGB</span> CBS affiliate in Schenectady, New York

WRGB is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CW affiliate WCWN. The two stations share studios on Balltown Road in Niskayuna, New York ; WRGB's transmitter is located on the Helderberg Escarpment west of New Salem.

A television transmitter is a transmitter that is used for terrestrial (over-the-air) television broadcasting. It is an electronic device that radiates radio waves that carry a video signal representing moving images, along with a synchronized audio channel, which is received by television receivers belonging to a public audience, which display the image on a screen. A television transmitter, together with the broadcast studio which originates the content, is called a television station. Television transmitters must be licensed by governments, and are restricted to a certain frequency channel and power level. They transmit on frequency channels in the VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves of these frequencies travel by line of sight, they are limited by the horizon to reception distances of 40–60 miles depending on the height of transmitter station.

Arkansas PBS is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkansas government operated through the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which holds the licenses for all of the public television stations based in the state. The commission is managed by an independent board of university and education officials, and gubernatorial appointees representing each of Arkansas's four congressional districts. Along with offering television programs supplied by PBS and various independent distributors, the network produces public affairs, cultural and documentary programming as well as sports events sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).

This glossary of terms used in broadcasting is a list of definitions of terms and concepts related to both radio and television broadcasting, along with the industry in general.

KAUU is a television station in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside dual NBC/CBS affiliate KTUU-TV. The two stations share studios on East 40th Avenue in Anchorage; KAUU's transmitter is located in Knik, Alaska.

The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television (LPTV) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" (analog) or "-CD" (digital), although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD suffix used by regular (non-class-A) digital LPTV stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KMOH-TV</span> TV station in Kingman, Arizona

KMOH-TV is a television station in Kingman, Arizona, United States, airing programming from MeTV. Owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting, the station has studios on Kingman Avenue in Kingman, and its transmitter is located atop Oatman Mountain, near Oatman, Arizona.

In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual program stream, and multiplexing to combine them into a single signal. The practice is sometimes called "multicasting".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZOE Broadcasting Network</span> Philippine television channel

ZOE Broadcasting Network, Inc. is a Philippine broadcast media arm of the Jesus Is Lord Church. Based in Ortigas Center, Pasig, it operates a network of television and radio stations in Mega Manila, Baguio, Bacolod, Calamba, Laguna, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Zamboanga and Puerto Princesa. The company also owns its first television station in Metro Manila, DZOE-TV 11 and its DTT companion UHF channel 20, which currently airs the A2Z network, a joint-venture partnership between ZOE and ABS-CBN Corporation through its blocktime agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DZOZ-DTV</span> Television station in Metro Manila, Philippines

DZOZ-DTV is a digital-only television station in Metro Manila, Philippines, serving as the flagship of the Light TV network. It is owned and operated by ZOE Broadcasting Network alongside A2Z flagship DZOE-TV, which is operated by ABS-CBN Corporation under a blocktime agreement. The station's studios and broadcast facilities is at the 22nd floor, Strata 2000 Bldg., Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig, and its transmitter is located at Crestview Heights Subdivision, Barangay San Roque, Antipolo, Rizal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcast relay station</span> Repeater transmitter

A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats the signal of a radio or television station to an area not covered by the originating station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital television transition in the United States</span> 2009 switchover in the U.S. from analog to digital broadcasting of TV programming

The digital television transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of terrestrial television programming. Under the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, full-power broadcasting of analog television in the United States was initially planned to have ceased after February 17, 2009, but this was delayed to June 12, 2009, after the passage of the DTV Delay Act on February 4, 2009. This date was a further delay from the original date of December 31, 2006, as stipulated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The delay to June 12 was to assist households on a waiting list for coupons for digital converter boxes, funding for which was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UHF television broadcasting</span> Ultra high frequency radio to transmit TV

UHF television broadcasting is the use of ultra high frequency (UHF) radio for over-the-air transmission of television signals. UHF frequencies are used for both analog and digital television broadcasts. UHF channels are typically given higher channel numbers, like the US arrangement with VHF channels (initially) 1 to 13, and UHF channels (initially) numbered 14 to 83. Compared with an equivalent VHF television transmitter, to cover the same geographic area with a UHF transmitter requires a higher effective radiated power, implying a more powerful transmitter or a more complex antenna. However, the additional channels allow more broadcasters in a given region without causing objectionable mutual interference.

KGHD-LD is a low-power television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The station is owned by Obidia Porras.

References

  1. 1 2 "22.3.1935: Erstes Fernsehprogramm der Welt". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "Es begann in der Fernsehstube: TV wird 80 Jahre alt". Computer Bild. 22 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "Das erste deutsche Fernsehpatent von Paul Nipkow". PC Magazin. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.