The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

(

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 commonly ...

) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the

broadcast callsign Broadcast call signs are call signs assigned as unique identifiers to radio stations and television stations. While broadcast radio stations will often brand themselves with plain-text names, identities such as " cool FM", " rock 105" or "the ABC ...

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 federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

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 A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

), 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 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 and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

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 national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...

broadcasts when/if the need arises An LPTV station could also qualify for class-A status if it follows the FCC's "

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...

, 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 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

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 commonly " ...

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 A duopoly (or twinstick, referring to "stick" as jargon for a radio tower) is a situation in television and radio broadcasting in which two or more stations in the same city or community share common ownership. United States In the United States, ...

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...

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 programmes/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, simultane ...

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 Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

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 network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mi ...

References

{{reflist

External links

FCC Class A Television site
Broadcast law Television in the United States

Requirements

Limitations

See also

References

External links