Television in the United Commonwealth
Throughout much of North America, television is a major mass media. The United Commonwealth is no exception, with as much as 95% of the total population owning at least one television set. Unlike in Western Anglo-America, commercial broadcasting in virtually unheard of in the Continental States. Instead, most channels are state funded and/or state subsidised, with only a handful of premium channels based in Manhattan.
Television channels and networks
Terrestrial television
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The United Commonwealth's terrestrial television industry is dominated by four networks. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a national public television service owned and operated by the federal government, headquartered in New York City. PBS was formed after the federal government became convinced that the private radio networks were getting too powerful; it would become the first radio network to expand to television. It owns all of it's stations and has its own production division for news and entertainment. Much of the network's schedule is uniform, but local variations exist for the various stations in the country. There are three main PBS channels available in terrestrial broadcasting, PBS 1, PBS 2 and PBS Educational; PBS News and PBS Kids are also available digitally.
The National Broadcasting Cooperative (NBC) is the oldest broadcaster on the continent. It is a cooperative of radio and television stations based in Chicago. It has its own news and production divisions, and frequently accepts productions from independant co-ops. It was made a de-facto subsidiary of PBS, helping to operate their PBS Local Radio and PBS 3 channels, and inherited the channels after Callahan's death. NBC is noted for its corporate war of espionage with the Antillean CBS, this has been dubbed the Broadcasting Cold War by observers.
The Mutual Broadcasting System is the largest network in the country in terms of affiliates. A loose federation of tv and radio stations, even by the standards of the Continental States, the network has been headquartered in Atlanta since 1962. The network does not produce national news programming, with stations instead sharing news programs with each other. The network has provided the most programming aimed at ethnic minorities, most notably African-Continental audiences.
Continental Television (CTV) is a newer network based in Toronto. Having no basis in radio, CTV began as a means of letting VHF independants compete with the established three networks. It would quickly establish itself among the other major broadcasters.
Most television stations are independents on the UHF channels. They produce their own programming and syndicate them to other independants. Many of theses stations are members of the Associated Broadcasting news agency, which provides them with news programming. This system of syndication and AB membership has created a loose "fifth network".
With the rise of digital television, many specialty channels have become available as digital subchannels, most prominently, PBS Kids and PBS News.
Cable and satellite
Unlike in Western Anglo-America, cable and satellite television never took off as a paid service. In fact, they couldn't, as the Continental government refused to legalize pay television outside of Manhattan. For cable, community antenna television, or CATV for short, remains the norm; in areas where over-the-air TV reception is limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large community antennas are constructed by the local government, and cable is run from them to individual homes. For satellite, potential viewers can purchase or construct their own dishes to receive the channels for free.
Cable and satellite are used to receive the main terrestrial channels. In addition, many cable and satellite channels are also available; these include speciality channels, most of which are run by PBS, and PEG-TV, which refers to the following:
- Public-access television – Channels where ordinary people can create television programming content. Generally quite free of editorial control, compared to over-the-air television. The content is developed for communities, and is developed by individuals and nonprofit organizations. Typically on channel 1, which is otherwise unused on OTA.
- Educational-access television – A curated form of educational television, used primarily for distance education. Many schools have adopted educational access channels to enhance their curriculum. The channel number is typically near a PBS Education channel.
- Government-access television – Channels reserved for local government bodies and other legislative entities to televise public affairs and other civic meetings. Typically located somewhere between channels 3 and 10.
- Municipal-access – Typically refers to other access channels, such as "religious access" or the TV programming of a local institution, such as a college or a library.
Pay television is legal in Manhattan. Here, it comes in the form of individual subscription channels. The largest provider of these are Atlantic Media and Metropolia Group.
Internet services
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) has emerged as an alternative to cable and satellite. The networks have launched their own OTT services. PBS Online offers simulcasts of it's stations and channels on their website. They also provide archive content and some original content as well. NBCi is an online version of NBC, offering simulcasts of stations and exclusive behind the scenes footage; Mutual Web and CTV Plus offer similar content.
Programming
The United Commonwealth has had a variety of successful programming over the years.
News
The major networks all offer a morning news program: PBS's Opening News, NBC's Today, Mutual's Sunlight Report, and CTV's Your Morning, alongside AB Morning Television.
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