Coat range

A main program (also known as a supporting program ) is a radio or television program that is usually used by small and local radio or television stations to supplement their own programs.

Smaller broadcasters are often financially unable to offer their own programs around the clock. In order to fill the airtime with attractive programs, some of these take over the program of a corresponding broadcaster program provider.

There are anonymous programs that the listener or viewer cannot identify by name. Radio moderators of these providers, for example, start the jingles of the customers of the main program remotely, so that the listeners have the impression of hearing a regional station. SWR and SR produce such a cover program for the third television programs . Or "our station" is used neutrally instead of naming the broadcasting area or the station name. This principle is z. B. in Germany with the local radio stations in North Rhine-Westphalia by the program provider Radio NRW , in Saxony by the provider SLP and in Bavaria by the provider BLR .

Alternatively, it is also possible to take over a program that also appears as an independent transmitter via other distribution channels . In the German state of Brandenburg , BB Radio does this as a broadcaster for its local partners. The local TV channel TVAL broadcasts half an hour a day and during the rest of the time broadcasts the national TV channel RTL .

In the USA , many regional television stations act as affiliates of television networks . The concept used here is the exact counterpart to the shell programs: the affiliates are responsible for their supporting program themselves ; the program made available by the networks is only taken over during prime time .

An alternative way of taking over content is what is known as content syndication , which in the USA is the main source of the program of the network affiliates' supporting program.