Clearance
Clearance
U.S. Broadcasting Policy
The term “clearance” as applied in the context of U.S. broadcasting refers to the acceptance by a local station of a program provided by a broadcasting network or a supplier of syndicated programming. Ideally, an affiliate will carry a program when the network specifies. The number of clearances determines the potential audience size of a program. Networks hope to clear their programs with as many stations as possible. This will ensure greater advertising revenues. Clearance of a network program by an affiliate is thus crucial to the network’s profitability. Likewise, affiliates that frequently reject network offerings risk their survivability if they are dropped by the network. Networks provide programming certain to compete successfully with programs provided by the other local stations. Moreover, the networks compensate affiliates for carrying their programs. The practice of program clearance best illustrates the symbiotic nature of the network-affiliate relationship, a relationship established in law as well as in economic practice.
Bio
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recognized the problems inherent in “chain broadcasting” as early as 1943, when the Supreme Court attempted to clarify the role of networks as program suppliers in the “Network Case” (NBC, Inc. et al. v. United States et al.). To further prevent anticompetitive practices, the FCC implemented rules such as clearance and the Prime Time Access Rule. These regulations grant programming autonomy to affiliate stations, while in practice the stations are dependent on other program suppliers.
Clearances vary according to the part of the day to which they apply. Prime time commands the highest number of clearances by affiliates. The stations can charge high rates for advertising time during top-rated network programs. Low-rated programs run a greater risk of being rejected by stations. Because more commercial spots are available in a film, for example, than in a low-rated network offering, it might be more lucrative for an affiliate to substitute the movie for the network program.
An affiliate station will also sometimes reject a prime-time network program because of controversial subject matter. To appease the tastes and attitudes of their local communities, affiliates may not air particular programs, despite their potential for high ratings. In 1993, for example, the program NYPD Blue was rejected by 57 ABC affiliates before it aired because of objectionable material. It is an affiliate’s legal right to reject any program in an attempt to serve the public interest. The choice to reject a program may prove most profitable to independent stations that opt to carry the “taboo” programs.
Preemption occurs when an affiliate cancels a program it has agreed to carry, or when a network interrupts a “cleared” program to broadcast a special event or breaking news story. Because of lost advertising time, such preemptions can prove costly to both parties.
Affiliates give low clearances to network programs during morning, late-afternoon, early-evening, and late-night segments of the day. During these times, the predominant source of programming is syndicated material, often consisting of older network programs with proven audience appeal.
Clearance of a syndicated program involves acceptance through purchase. To be truly profitable, syndicators must “clear” (sell) a program in enough markets to represent at least 70 percent of all television households.