Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite carrier."^[1] FCC redirects here. ...

United States

Early superstations

In the early days of broadcasting, most large media markets had, by standards of the day, a large number of TV stations. Generally, these markets had three VHF stations affiliated with NBC, ABC, and CBS (the then dominant television networks), one or more PBS public broadcasting stations, and several UHF stations without network affiliation. These independent stations relied on reruns, old movies and local news, weather, or sports to fill their broadcast days. Smaller media markets, however, often had only the basic three channels. Cable television systems in smaller areas sought a foothold by "importing" signals from the city for their customers. The stations, anxious for more viewers, assisted by relaying their signals by wire or microwave signals to these towns. These stations became the first "superstations," on a regional basis. A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area, DMA or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content. ... Very high frequency (VHF) is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz (wavelength 10 m) to 300 MHz (wavelength 1 m). ... This article is about the television network. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... This article is about the radio frequency. ... Cable TV redirects here. ...

WTCG: The first national superstation

With the advent of C-Band satellites, Ted Turner had the idea of distributing his WTCG in Atlanta, Georgia via C-Band to the entire country (and beyond). This was the first national superstation, and his idea was soon copied by companies who applied for satellite connections to distribute other stations, including WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois. C band (compromise band) is a portion of electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies ranging from 4 to 6 GHz. ... For other persons named Ted Turner, see Ted Turner (disambiguation). ... WTBS is an American TV station, broadcast on channel 17 (DTV channel 20) in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area. ... Atlanta redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ...

One key legal point is that Ted Turner's contracts with content providers charged him for content as if his station were reaching only a local market. No one had thought of adding contract language to deal with satellite broadcast to a much larger market. This loophole was eventually closed, so other local stations that could get a satellite spot were charged appropriately. The term loophole could refer to a number of things: See Embrasure; a slit in a castle wall Loophole (1954 movie) Loophole (1981 movie) for other meaning see Loophole at Wikionary Cash Loopholes ...

Conflicts

This eventually caused conflict between these stations and providers of similar, or identical, programming in local markets. Eventually TBS, the successor to WTCG, gave up its status as a superstation and became a regular cable television channel (outside of Atlanta). The FCC placed tight restrictions on the remaining superstations (excluding Superstation WGN), allowing no new ones and limiting the distribution of the five grandfathered ones to rural areas without distributors of similar programming. TBS also stands for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a Japanese television network. ... Superstation WGN is a Chicago-based American superstation, owned by Tribune Broadcasting Company. ... A grandfather clause is an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. ...

The remaining "true" superstations

In addition to WGN-TV, the five remaining true superstations, WSBK-TV in Boston, Massachusetts and WWOR-TV in Secaucus, New Jersey (part of the New York City area), and CW Television Network affiliates WPIX-TV in New York, KWGN-TV in Denver, Colorado, and KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California, are carried on some rural cable systems, and on the DISH Network direct broadcast satellite system has also managed to keep customers happy by keeping the superstations. But syndicated exclusivity blackout requests have led DISH Network to stop selling one or more stations in some markets. As of 2006, Superstation WGN boasts over 68 million households on cable and satellite.^{[citation needed]} Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... WSBK-TV, channel 38, is an independent television station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, owned by the CBS Corporation. ... Boston redirects here. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... WWOR-TV, channel 9, is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, and serving the New York City metropolitan area. ... Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 15,931. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... “The CW” redirects here. ... WPIX (WB 11) is a television station in New York City. ... KWGN-TV, channel two, is the CW Television Network affiliate in Denver, Colorado, USA. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 2 (55. ... Denver redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Largest metro area Denver-Aurora Metro Area Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... KTLA-TV, channel 5, is the WB affiliated television station in Los Angeles. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... DISH Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television and audio programming to households and businesses in the United States, owned by parent company EchoStar Communications Corporation. ... Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to as direct-to-home signals. ... DISH Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television and audio programming to households and businesses in the United States, owned by parent company EchoStar Communications Corporation. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Superstation WGN is a Chicago-based American superstation, owned by Tribune Broadcasting Company. ...

TBS Superstation is now simply known as TBS. WGN continues to bill itself as Superstation WGN. However, while the FCC defines "superstation" as a term, it does not prohibit its use by others such as KIMO in Anchorage, Alaska, which has a network of repeater stations in other parts of that state and calls itself The Alaska SuperStation. The term is used by many other TV and radio stations, however, none of these operations is a superstation as defined by the FCC. TBS also stands for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a Japanese television network. ... TBS also stands for Tokyo Broadcasting System, a Japanese television network. ... Superstation WGN is a Chicago-based American superstation, owned by Tribune Broadcasting Company. ... KIMO-TV (Channel 13) in Anchorage, KATN (Channel 2) in Fairbanks and KJUD (Channel 8) in Juneau, all in Alaska, are a trio of ABC affiliates covering the The Last Frontier under the Alaskas Superstation banner. ... This article is about the city in the U.S. state of Alaska. ... For other uses, see Alaska (disambiguation). ...

Canada

Canada does not have any television stations that operate as "superstations" in the official sense of the term. Technically, almost every station in Canada is a superstation, as any station that is available on satellite (and almost all of them are), can be carried by any Canadian cable system. The closest Canadian equivalent to the "superstation" model is the television system. Moreover, Canadian providers are able to distribute American television stations in their digital package, regardless of whether or not they are licensed superstations. A television system is a Canadian term for a group of television stations which shares common ownership, branding and programming, but is not considered a full television network. ...

Beginning in the late 1980s, Canadian Satellite Communications began distributing BCTV from Vancouver, ITV from Edmonton, and CHCH from Hamilton, primarily for distribution by smaller cable systems throughout Canada. Coincidentally, these stations were, like Cancom, owned (or later acquired) by Western International Communications. As a result of their early availability, which predated most Canadian specialty channels, these stations, now owned by CanWest Global, continue to have a superstation-type status on analog cable in many smaller Canadian communities, as well as in American border cities, such as Buffalo, New York. Canadian Satellite Communications, or Cancom, is a Canadian consortium of cable television companies, which is responsible for providing and managing the distribution of television channels to cable companies via satellite. ... CHAN-TV is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, broadcasting over-the-air on channel 8, and available via cable providers in the area on channel 11. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... This article is about CITV, the Canadian television station. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... CHCH-TV, channel 11, is a television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with additional transmitters throughout Ontario. ... Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: , Country Province Incorporated June 9, 1846[1] Government  - Mayor Fred Eisenberger  - City Council Hamilton City Council  - MPs List of MPs Dean Allison Chris Charlton David Christopherson Wayne Marston David Sweet  - MPPs List of MPPs Sophia Aggelonitis Andrea... You may be looking instead for the User:Wikipedia is Communism vandal Western International Communications, or WIC, was a Canadian media company, which was acquired by CanWest Global Communications in 2000. ... A specialty channel or specialty service is a television channel, generally not available through conventional broadcast television, which consists of programming focused on a single type or targeted at a specific demographic. ... CanWest Global Communications Corp. ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State Coordinates: , Country State County Erie Government  - Mayor Byron Brown (D) Area  - City 52. ...

CJON-TV in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador has used the slogan "Canada's Superstation" in recent years, although, again, the station has no special regulatory status conferring that title. CJON-TV is a Canadian television station broadcasting on channel 6 (cable channel 5) in St. ... Nickname: Motto: Avancez (Go forward) Coordinates: , Country Province Established August 5, 1583 by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I Government  - City Mayor Andy Wells  - Governing body St. ...

Mexico

Much like Canada, Mexico has almost all its stations available on satellite and carried on select Mexican cable systems. And just like Canada, Mexican providers can obtain American television stations in their digital package, even if they aren't licensed superstations.

Radio superstations

Radio stations in North America are permitted to uplink to satellite. WSM (AM) got a lot of attention in the 80s as it was delivered via c-band alongside The Nashville Network. Very few stations actually distribute themselves through c-band, as there's not much reason to do so and stations' audio can be dialed in through either ISDN lines, or listened to via an audio stream over the internet (if the station offers such). Ones that do, like WEEI, often do so to feed their station to others which simulcast it. This is the case with several stations in Mexico, as radio in Mexico is very nationalized and most local stations are merely 24-hour-a-day affiliates of a national network. WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. ... Spike TV logo Spike TV is a cable television network. ... ISDN is also short for isosorbide dinitrate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a type of circuit switched telephone network system, designed to allow digital (as opposed to analog) transmission of voice and data over ordinary telephone copper wires, resulting in better quality and higher speeds, than available with analog... Streaming media is just-in-time delivery of multimedia information. ... WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts. ...

Some local radio stations are, or have been distributed on satellite radio throughout the United States, and Canada in select cases. Stations once distributed on satellite radio include WLTW New York (XM), KHMX Houston (XM), KIIS-FM Los Angeles (XM), KNEW San Francisco (XM), WTKS-FM Orlando (XM), and WSM Nashville (Sirius). Stations currently distributed on satellite radio include WLW Cincinnati (XM), WSIX-FM Nashville (XM), WBBR New York (XM and Sirius), and WCSP-FM Washington DC (XM, no longer on Sirius). Another station is syndicated nationwide through terrestrial radio stations, KPIG Freedom CA, distributed by Dial Global. WLTW, known on-air as 106. ... KHMX-FM or Mix 96. ... KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a rhythmic leaning top 40 musical format. ... KNEW, are the call letters of 910 AM in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, CA, USA. KNEW is the newest of the Bay Areas conservative talk radio stations, and is the flagship station of syndicated talk host Michael Savage. ... WTKS-FM 104. ... WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. ... For the California airport with this IATA airport code, see Willows-Glenn County Airport. ... WSIX-FM is an FM radio station broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee on a frequency of 97. ... WBBR is a radio station, broadcasting at 1130 AM in New York City. ... WCSP-FM, C-SPAN Radio, is a radio station that services the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Westwood One logo Westwood One, Inc. ...

Notes