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Program Deliverables

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Once you’re ready to submit your program to KET for broadcast consideration, please follow the guidelines below. We look forward to reviewing your program!

Requirements for initial program submission:

  • Working title/description
  • Approved underwriting language (if applicable)
  • Full screener copy of the program

Timeline after program acceptance:

  • AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – Acquisition Agreement
  • TWO MONTHS OUT – Final series and episode descriptions; publicity photos and thumbnails; a script/transcript for captioning
  • ONE MONTH OUT – Episode and on-air promo delivery

Once your program is accepted for broadcast or distribution, there are additional deliverables required prior to broadcast. The following information addresses several of those requirements including formal agreements, on-air promos, and sponsor information.

Acquisition Agreement:

If your program is accepted for broadcast, a Programming and Content Distribution Agreement will be sent to you. This is a signed contract explaining the ownership and relationship between the station and the producer. The contract grants KET broadcast and online streaming rights to accepted programs while guaranteeing the producer retains the copyright to the program.

Promotion

Series and Episode Descriptions:

You are required to submit all of the following:

  • Series or one-off title: 29 or fewer characters (including spaces)
  • Episode title: 29 or fewer characters (including spaces)
  • Long Description (<400 char inc. spaces for Media Manager, <500 for TV)
  • Short Description (<90 char inc. spaces for Media Manager, <249 for TV but should be <100)

On-Air Promos (:30/:20):

A good promo creates intrigue and highlights the main points of the program, without being overly sensational. Promos produced for use on-air should be created as a “generic” spot without specific time or date information so that KET and other stations can customize with their own information. They should be cleared for on-air and online use.

The end of the spot should leave at least :05 for time tag and VO. The show logo should appear in the middle of the screen for this entire duration. Lower audio -10db during :05 so that station tag VO is audible.

  • Generally, the beginning should set up the spot, either with voice-over or on-screen talent (e.g. “Next time on History Detectives”)
  • Graphic elements should be clear and on-screen long enough for an average reader to read twice through
  • Keep graphics out of the lower third of the end page
  • Keep the lower third clean the entire time
  • The head of the promo can cut or fade in at the producer’s discretion but cut all spots to black at the end.
  • Do not use the word “NEXT” by itself. This implies that the show being promoted will immediately follow the station break. If you use the word, make sure it is part of a tune-in phrase such as “next time on…” or “on the next episode of…”.

Do not include language that refers to any of the following in a promo:

  • The producer
  • The presenting station
  • The funder, unless the funder is included in the legal name of the program

Underwriting/Sponsors/Funding

PBS and KET have established specific standards and practices for underwriting/funding credits that all programs appearing on public television are required to follow. They are designed to reveal to the public all funding of a program and to show any relationship that exists between the funder and the editorial control of program content. All underwriters and sponsors of submitted programs must be reported and fully disclosed in the credits.

  • Who:
    ○ All entities contributing to a program/series on public television must be acknowledged. Those who contribute financially, by providing funds for the production, are called program underwriters. The FCC requires that they be identified in relation to the programs funded.
  • What:
    ○ The purpose of underwriter credits is to identify the entities that have provided funding for the production. Identification is limited to name, location, and business purpose. Established corporate slogans may be used to identify the funder.
    ○ The entity identified as the underwriter must be the actual contributing entity.
  • Where:
    ○ Underwriters must be identified at the conclusion of a program. Underwriters may be identified at the beginning of a program as well. If the program’s content is controversial, the underwriters must be identified at both the open and the close of the program.
    ○ Underwriters are not identified in the program production credits. Underwriters may not receive a “special thanks” credit. “Special Thanks,” which are part of the production credits, are reserved for those who provided in-kind goods and/or services, not program funding.
    ○ When one underwriter is identified, all must be identified, in an “underwriter pod,” separate and distinct in style from the program’s production credits.
  • When and for How Long:
    ○ By and large, all entities underwriting a series must appear on all episodes of the season they are underwriting.
    ○ The underwriting announcements (“the pod”) may not exceed one minute (1:00).
    ○ You may acknowledge as many underwriters in one minute as will comfortably fit, but no single underwriter’s credit may exceed fifteen seconds (0:15).
    ○ No underwriter should exceed 20 words past “this program is made possible by…”
  • Furthermore:
    ○ An underwriter credit may not contain qualitative claims, calls to action, comparisons, pricing information, or any other language that is deemed promotional.
    ○ A product manufactured by an underwriter may be mentioned once at the head of the underwriter, immediately following identification (example: “WidgetCo, maker of Widgets”). The brand name may not be repeated.
    ○ No menu list of products or services may be mentioned or listed (example: “SewCo, makers of yarn, thread, patterns, needles, and thimbles”).
    ○ The use of people in underwriter credits is strictly regulated by the FCC. Consult with us before including any underwriter credit featuring people.
    ○ An underwriter credit may not feature a sung jingle. Music is allowable; music with words is not.
    ○ Slogans that contain calls for action, qualitative claims, pricing information, or other objectionable language are not allowable even if they are established. (Example: “Get Met—it pays,” even though well-established as a slogan for the Metropolitan Life insurance company, is not allowed because it is a call for action.)
    ○ Product placement, or the perception of product placement, must be avoided.
    ○ “Pay-for-play” arrangements—i.e., featuring a location, product, or service in exchange for production funding—are forbidden. A more detailed explanation of KET’s Underwriter Guidelines can be downloaded.

On-air Offers

There is no compensation for broadcast on KET, KET2, or the Kentucky Channel. However, producers may include a video offer at the end of the program for home video sales, or sales of other program-specific material.

Producers may offer certain related goods and services for sale at the end of the program. Items such as DVDs, tapes, CDs, books, transcripts, or other program-specific material can be offered in an announcement at the end of the program. The producer is responsible for creating this announcement and for editing it onto the end of the program. This must be done prior to sending the master file to KET. The announcement can run as soon as the program content has ended and before the credits begin, or as soon as the credits have completed. Program offers can be no longer than 15 seconds.

The overall tone and appearance of the announcement must be informational rather than promotional. Both voice-over delivery and video treatment should be developed with the objective of providing a viewer service, not a commercial sales opportunity. Hosts or talent from the program may not be used in the offer announcement.

Suggested copy for offer announcement: “To order a DVD or Blu-ray of this program, call 800-XXX-XXXX or visit www.example.com.”

No credit cards, delivery services, or shopping services may be named.

Audio must include:

  • Title of item (preferably include program title)
  • Type of item
  • Phone number (may be voiced only once)
  • Website address (may be voiced only once)

Video must include:

  • Title of item (again, be specific and include the program title)
  • Type of item (product may be depicted or fonted; e.g., “Blu -ray”)
  • Phone number and website address
  • “Offer Made by XYZ” (This disclosure is required by law.)
  • The price of the item is helpful, but is not required.

If you have questions about program deliverables, please contact:

Karen Bell
Director of Programming
859-258-7377
kbell@ket.org

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