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● Introduction & Index ● What is PR ● Job Expectations ● Types of Media ● Building Relationships ● Media, Hams & FCC Rules ● The Basic News Release ● Interviews and Live ● Making your own show ● Easy P.R. ● Public Service Events ● Piggy-back to Events ● Pictures NOW! ● P.R. Research Aids ● Making Friends ● ARES® PIO ● Final Exam Information Next Page

Cable Television Local Origination Programming Some cable companies produce their own local programming. In the cable industry this is called Local Origination, or LO, programming. In this case, the cable operator controls the content and the cablecast time of the program. These programs are usually produced locally by paid crews. The same production staff at the cable company may also produce local commercials for broadcast. This type of LO programming includes local news and sporting events. Some cable operators also run regional or national programming on these channels. The public access and LO facilities often share the same studio. If you are interested in having the cable operator assist you directly in producing programming, you need to make a compelling case with the program director of the LO channel. You may also be asked about providing commercial sponsors, since advertising can be run in LO programs. If the cable operator is running a local news program on the LO channel, the same rules apply when dealing with these journalists as when you deal with other reporters. Get to know the key contacts including the assignment editor before you need to use their services! Getting announcements on cable television Cable television companies carry many satellite networks on their channel lineup. They are called satellite networks because they are delivered to the cable operator via satellite. These include networks like TNT, Lifetime, ESPN, A &E, etc. As commercial networks, these channels carry (duh…) “commercials.” Cable networks run their own commercials most of the time but they permit the local cable operator to run between a few each hour for their own announcements. Cable operators sell these local inserts to local advertisers. Because they are made “available” to the local cable operator, they are usually called “avails” or “spots.” A run of avails is called a “flight.” If there is no local avail run by the cable operator, then the cable system continues to carry the national feed with the national announcements.