Non-commercial educational station

Anon-commercial educational station(NCE station) is aradio stationortelevision stationthat does not accept on-airadvertisements(TV adsorradio ads), as defined in the United States by theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) and was originally intended to offer educational programming as part, or whole, of its programming. NCE stations do not paybroadcast licensefees for theirnon-profituses of theradio spectrum.Stations which are almost always operated as NCE includepublic broadcasting,community radio,andcollege radio,as well as manyreligious broadcastingstations. Nearly all Non-Commercial radio stations derive their support from listener support, grants and endowments, such as the governmental entityCorporation for Public Broadcasting(CPB) that distributes supporting funds provided by the congress to support Public Radio.

Reserved channels

On theFM broadcast band,theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) has reserved the lowest 20 channels, 201~220 (88.1~91.9MHz) for NCE stations only. This is known as thereserved band,sometimes known by the term "left of the dial" (taken from theReplacements' song of the same name), which refers to thecollegeand other non-commercial stations that broadcast from those frequencies.It also includes channel 200 (87.9 MHz), but only forclass DNCE stations unable to find another frequency; the frequency has been unused for its intended purpose in the United States sinceKSFHshut down in 2021.

Many of the reserved-band channels are used by stations bordering the United States, such as withbroadcasting in the San Diego/Tijuana metropolitan area.Additionally, neither theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissionnor theFederal Telecommunications Institutehave such a reserved band in Canada nor Mexico, respectively. (In Mexico, individual stations belonging to state and federal governments, educational institutions, and non-profit groups are licensed under permits orpermisos,which are non-commercial, non-profit licenses that do not permit advertising. Canada, in practice, generally keeps most of the U.S. NCE band as noncommercial or with limited advertising based on each individual licence, but there are exceptions, such asCIXL,a fully commercial station that operates on 91.7.)

NCE stations may also operate on a non-reserved channel. However this was rare in the United States due to the high cost of buying acommercial broadcastingstation, and because for years the FCC failed to maintain a process that would ensure that non-commercial applicants would have a chance against those who could afford tobidatspectrum auctions.Two such stations areWGPBFM inRome, GeorgiaandWNGH-FMinChatsworth, Georgia,former commercial stations purchased in 2007 and 2008 and operated byGeorgia Public Broadcasting(GPB), serving themountainsnorthwest ofAtlantawhich previously had no GPB radio service. In addition, there were at least four stations with commercial licenses that formerly operated asPBSmember stations (WNYC-TVinNew York City,WMHXinAlbany, New York,KAUT-TVinOklahoma City,andKCPQ-TVinSeattleare a few examples of this); most of those stations now broadcast as affiliates of commercially owned networks. This is also rare in Mexico, thoughXEIMT-TV,a cultural channel in Mexico City, andXEWH-TV,the main station of the state network of Sonora, operate under commercial concessions and not permits. A number of new low power FM (LPFM) NCE stations operating in the non-reserved part of the spectrum have been licensed by the FCC since theLocal Community Radio Actwas enacted in 2010.

Definition of "commercial"

The FCC defines several different activities as being commercial in nature.Sponsorshipof NCE stations is calledunderwriting,and stations may makeannouncementsof thesegrantson-air. However, they may not acceptmoneyfor such mentions, onlygoods and services,unless the sponsor itself is anon-profit,such as acharitable organizationorpublic college.Money can be accepted if there is no on-air mention of the sponsor. NCE stations may also not mention prices or qualities of commercial products or services in any situation which would be construed aspromotingorendorsingany company, regardless of whether it sponsors the station.

Underwriting spotsare brief and to-the-point, as they must not be disruptive to programming. Additionally, underwriting spots on public TV are at the beginning or end of theTV showrather than in the middle, as they have increasingly become on commercial stations.

Retransmission consenthas often been chosen over must-carry by the major commercial television networks.Under the present rules, a new agreement is negotiated every three years, and stations must choose must-carry or retransmission consent for each cable system they wish their signal to be carried on. Non-commercial stations (such as local PBS stations) may not seek retransmission consent and may only invokemust-carrystatus.

Multichannel obligations

Like commercial stations, NCE stations are allowed toleasesubcarriersin exchange formoney,essentially making the station acommon carrier.This may be for acommercialaudio,video,ordataservice, or a non-commercial one like aradio reading servicefor theblind.

NCE stations broadcasting indigital TVorHD Radiomay lease part of theirbandwidth(actuallybitrate) in a similar manner, however, the commercial use is limited. The main program must always be non-commercial, and must not have its quality diminished excessively by increasedlossy compressiondone in order to fit the auxiliary service within the allowablebit rate.NCEdigital television(DTV) stations do not pay the FCC a percentage of theirrevenuefrom these leases as commercial DTV stations do. No suchdatacastingfee is levied on any analog or FM/AM station, whether commercial or NCE.

See also

• Educational television

External links

• Commission Policy on the Noncommercial Nature of Educational Broadcastingby the FCC