Comments README Page
I receive many pieces of e-mail from UPN viewers that do not understand the
concepts of United States network programming and distribution.
This page will attempt to educate you, the UPN/television viewer,
regarding this topic.
First off, if you accessed this page from the UPN area of this web site,
you have NOT accessed the official UPN web page.
You have not reached anyone at UPN.
I do not work for UPN.
Here is the official UPN Web site.
Secondly, the UPN pages only cover programs that UPN distributes to its
affiliates and not any of the other programming that is aired by your
local UPN affiliate. The simple rule is this, if the program you see
is not one of those listed on the main UPN web page that I have or UPN
has, it is NOT a UPN program, it is a program that your local station
purchased to air when it is not airing any of the UPN shows.
OK, with those main points out of the way, let's dig into the main topic.
United States television stations fit into one of three main categories,
1) a primary network affiliate; 2) a secondary network affiliate or 3)
independent.
Network Programming
Syndicated Programming
There are more hours in a broadcast day than there are hours produced and
distributed via the networks. All of the remaining broadcast time is filled
with local programming (mostly news) and syndicated programs.
A syndicated program is a show that is produced and distributed
on its own. It is sold to TV stations directly. These programs are
called first-run syndicated shows. Old network shows are also sold via
syndication (in this case called secondary syndication, or off-net,
because the program originally aired via a network, or were originally
sydicated but no longer produced). An example of a first-run syndicated
show is Earth: Final Conflict. Examples of secondary
syndicated shows are Frazier and Star Trek: The Next
Generation. The first one is currently on a network (NBC), but the
older shows have been sold via syndication (also called off-net). The
second one was first produced for syndication, but no longer. A show
can be in first-run and secondary syndication at the same time. There
currently are no examples of this. The world of
syndication can be quite complex. A simple rule to remember is that if
it isn't aired via a network, it is probably syndicated.
No UPN Affiliate in Your Area?
There isn't much you can do about it.
UPN is constantly trying to get independent stations to sign primary
affiliate contracts and ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX primary affiliates to sign secondary
affiliate contracts.
The most you can do is talk to the General Manager of the stations in
your area about getting them to sign a contract with UPN.
If they get enough viewers in their market that are interested in UPN
programming, one of them just might sign a contract.
Cable TV and UPN
If you have a UPN affiliate in your area that is within a certain distance
from your cable company, they are required by law to carry that station
on the cable system. But, if you do not have a UPN affiliate in your
broadcast area, the cable company is not required to import a UPN station.
There are no UPN affiliates available via C-Band that can be used by the
cable company.
Satellites and UPN
Only one of the Pizza-Pan dish systems is carrying a UPN affiliate
for national distribution.
The Digital Sky Highway network (aka Dish Network,
(1-800-333-DISH) carries 2 East Coast UPN stations for national distribution,
WSBK/Boston and WWOR/New York, in their Superstations package.
With a change in the law, there will be UPN
affiliates on the pizza-pan dishes, but only for local-into-local, i.e.,
Chicago affiliates for the Chicago area.
Check with the satellite provider before signing a contract.
UPN is distributed to its primary and secondary affiliates via C-band
DCII 4:2:2 digital. No consumer receiver can get the UPN digital feed.
What to do if you have a comment/complaint about UPN programming
The first thing you don't do is send me e-mail bitching about a program that
was removed or moved to a different time-slot on your local station.
As mentioned above, I do not work for UPN and I specifically have nothing to
do with the programming on your local TV station.
Here are the steps to do to determine your course of action:
- Are you sure that it is a UPN program that has been affected?
Look at the list of current UPN shows listed on my main UPN web page.
If it isn't listed, (I will make note of cancelled UPN shows and place
links to the old shows further on in the main UPN web page), it isn't a UPN
program. Skip to the next step, otherwise read the rest of this step.
If it is a UPN show, you have to send your comments/complaints to UPN
via USnail mail. If there is an e-mail address, I don't know it.
The USnail mail address is as follows:
- United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9425
(310) 575-7000
You should also call your local UPN affiliate and talk to the program
director. Whatever you do, don't send me e-mail, it won't do any good.
- If it isn't a UPN program, do NOT send me e-mail.
Call the program director of the local TV station and talk to that person,
politely, about your complaint.
As mentioned above, all other programs are purchased by your local station
and programmed by your local station.
If the station has dropped the show, or moved it to a different location,
the local station did it, not UPN and definately not me.
What to do if you want to send an actor/actress some e-mail
Because I have no connection to UPN, I cannot forward e-mail to any actor
or actress (see exception below).
Your only choice is to send the actor/actress some USnail mail using the
following address:
- [Actor/actress name]
c/o United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9425
The exception is e-mail for
Lamont Bentley.
USnail mail for Lamont can be sent to the address listed on his page.
What to do if you want to send a Star Trek actor/actress/producer
some e-mail
Because I have no connection to Paramount, I cannot forward e-mail to any actor
or actress.
Your only choice is to send the actor/actress/producer some USnail mail
using the following address:
- [Actor/actress/producer name]
c/o Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197
Closing comments
After reading all of the above, you should come to the conclusion that you
should send all of your comments about UPN programs to UPN, via USnail mail,
UPN e-mail, or send all of your comments to the local TV station.
You NEVER send me e-mail complaining about a TV program,
because I have nothing to do with the program or the TV station that airs it.
You shouldn't send me e-mail that contains comments about UPN shows or e-mail
for stars of UPN shows, because I do not forward the e-mail to UPN.
After reading all of this and you still have a question, e-mail me.
This page downloaded on Tuesday, 03-Dec-2024 18:12:33 GMT
vidiot at vidiot dot com
Last modified on Sunday, 12-Sep-2010 23:22:20 CDT.