FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What are interstitial programs?

Interstitial programs are “short form” editorials that are two to five minutes in length and are used to bridge the gap between longer Public Television programs. They air independently as standalone segments.

2. Are these interstitial programs created by our studio affiliated with any network?

No. Our production studio and programs are independently created and not affiliated with any particular network.

3. Does our programming or production studio have any affiliation with PBS, or any other independent program provider?

No. In fact, there is a typical misunderstanding that PBS and Public Television are one and the same. Many people make the mistake of assuming that PBS and Public Television are one and the same because they view PBS programs on Public Television stations. There are several major program providers that distribute content to Public Television. The major distributors are APT (American Public Television), NETA (National Education Telecommunications Association) and PBS (Public Broadcasting System). In addition to these major program providers, there are several independent production studios, such as ours, that provide programming to the local and regional individual Public Television station affiliates.

4. Will the segments air on Public TV?

Yes. Our programming department deals directly with the individual Public TV stations as a pre-approved content provider through American Artists. American Artists is a distributor of educational programs for Public TV and has been distributing programs to all of Public TV for over 42 years (including programs such as National Geographic and Major League Baseball). All programming on Public TV is aired at the discretion of each individual station. There are over 200 individual stations, geographically covering the entire United States, currently airing the interstitial programs during primetime distributed to them through American Artists.

5. Where else are the programs airing?

The segments are currently airing primetime on the major news networks (CNBC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC) and are also airing on demographically specific networks based on their storyline (such as the Outdoor Network, Versus, Fox Sports, Discovery Channel, TLC and others chosen by participating organizations). However, Hugh Downs' participation with our programming is strictly limited to the Public Television series.

6. Do individual organizations gain the licensing rights to the work once it is completed?

Each individual organization or company owns the segments at the end of the project and can use them on their website, distribute, them, etc., as they see fit.

7. What is the production cycle for completing the project?

The entire project and process is normally set at 90-120 days, though special circumstances that an organization may face (such as a specific harvest time, or a convention or event) may speed up the process. They may also set a specific shoot date for that special time. That is at the discretion of each company and organization.