Understanding Network Affiliates

Some people might think a local channel can do whatever they want. They are wrong. What they don't understand is that they can't do things on a whim or impulse. Otherwise, it could hurt their chances as a channel and the network that they are affiliated with. What exactly do people not understand?

For one thing, a budget. These affiliates have to figure out what shows to air and what can get them ratings. They have to be careful because not everything is a guaranteed hit for them. There is expectations and potentially if that show were to have low numbers, it could disappear after a season in syndication. Not every affiliate is the same. What does that mean? It means that different tastes are seen throughout a country in this world. What you might have on TV at home might be different in another county or area code.

Local affiliates act on their own. There might be some control by the network that has them, but they have to figure everything by themselves. Whatever mistakes they make is on them. They have control on what they air and whatever else appears on their channel.

As far as show selections go, it's the same thing with the budgeting. However, some shows from 20 years ago can still be on a local affiliate. For one channel where I live, Seinfeld was on it until at least 2011. They also look for the hot new stuff that enters syndication and hope it catches on. Otherwise, you're stuck with that program until the next season where you hope other new shows readied for syndication can do much better. To be honest, it's slim pickings with mainly CBS shows. Maybe the occasional Fox or ABC show, but that's it. However, they can't just instantly go for the show that is very expensive to get.

I'll discuss a theory I have regarding The Simpsons. Until 2014, it was only on local affiliates for syndication. People whined that the older episodes from the 90s weren't airing. For one thing, it is a very expensive show to procure. And two, it has gotten so big in episode numbers that my theory is there is packages of specific seasons that they can air.

Anyway, tangent aside, local affiliates can't just do stuff in a flash. They have to be very careful with what they do.  At the end of the day, they are fighting for ratings and survival is the name of the game. People need to understand that to be profitable, they have to do things that even if they disagree with, will keep a network happy and make them last a long time on the air.