Class A Television
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The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
(
LPTV Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonl ...
) 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. The
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...
created this category of service as a result of the Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999. Support for this ruling came largely from the
Community Broadcasters Association The Community Broadcasters Association (CBA) was a trade organization representing low-power broadcasting interests, including LPTV and Class A television stations, in the United States of America. It ceased operations in 2009. History Key issues ...
, an industry group representing low-power TV station operators.FCC, April 21, 1998, Petition for rulemaking for "CLASS A" TV service
/ref> Unlike traditional LPTV stations, class-A stations were given primary status during the transition to digital television (DTV), meaning that a full-service television station could not displace a class A LPTV station from its broadcast frequency ( TV channel), except in rare cases. In contrast, traditional LPTV stations often found their frequencies assigned to full-service DTV operations, forcing them to relocate to another frequency. This was especially true in large cities, where available broadcast spectrum was scarce, and LPTV stations found themselves forced to cease operations due to no suitable spectrum. This was especially so with the taking of the 700 MHz band (channels 52 to 69) from the upper
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
TV band.


Requirements

In exchange for the added broadcast protections, class-A stations are required to be more responsible in covering the community they serve. Class-A stations must: * Broadcast a minimum of 18 hours per day * Broadcast an average of at least three hours per week of programming produced within the
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
area served by the station * Be in compliance with the Commission's requirements for both LPTV stations and full-power television stations * Broadcast on a core frequency (channels 2 - 36) * Broadcast the minimum required amount of Children's " E/I" core programming * Be capable of airing
Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a Emergency population warning, national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via Cable television, cable ...
broadcasts when/if the need arises An LPTV station could also qualify for class-A status if it follows the FCC's "
public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
, convenience, and necessity" standards.


Limitations

A class-A television station may obtain a license to broadcast digitally at not more than 15 kW UHF or 3,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s VHF, but is not required to do so. These are the same maximum power levels as for unprotected (secondary)
low-power television Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonl ...
stations. Unlike full-service stations, class-A television stations are not subject to limits on
common ownership Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise, or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...
which restrict full-power twinstick or
duopoly A duopoly (from Greek , ; and , ) is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, and most (if not all) of the competition within that market occurs directly between them. Duopoly is the most commonly ...
operations; they were required to cease analog broadcasting in 2015, as opposed to 2009 for full-power stations. They also were not required to
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
their programming in analog and digital format during the US digital transition, unlike most full-service stations. Despite the name of the act of law which created it, there is no requirement that a class-A station be an independent or community broadcaster, and some class-A stations are simply used as
broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
s for other stations. In some communities, existing full-service broadcasters have operated an analog class A station together with a simulcast as a
digital subchannel 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 compress ...
of a main full-service station, as a means to affiliate with two national
TV network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or, in the United ...
s.


See also

*
Low-power broadcasting Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more common ...
*
List of broadcast station classes This is a list of broadcast station classes applicable in much of North America under international agreements between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Effective radiated power (ERP) and height above average terrain (HAAT) are listed unless ...


References


External links


FCC Class A Television site
{{Federal Communications Commission Broadcast law Television in the United States