HNB Television

Hopelandian Public Television (HPT) is the government-funded public television broadcaster of Hopeland. Of the major networks it's the only one to be non-commercial. It also has a predominantly educational remit, inherited from the former Hopelandian Educational Television.

History

Hopelandian Public Television's history traces back to the freeze imposed on television licenses when HWIR-TV, Hopeland's first television station, signed on in 1948. At the time, Hopeland became the second country in the Sierras to introduce television, and it was a commercial service. The national federal government had a desperate need to set up its television stations, not as means of competition but as means of education.

In 1953, Hopelandian Educational Television went on air. Initially the new service was limited and focused primarily on distance education. The government provided a number of assigned teachers to set on the task of educating cities, however the initial format began to fail. Unlike the existing television networks, there were no plans for a microwave network, so stations had to fend for themselves.

In an attempt to diversify its schedule, HET was forced to add a news operation. It was initially supported by fellow government body Voice of Hopeland. Programming in Spanish was added in the same year on a few stations.

Conversion to Hopelandian Public Television

A Federal Act was passed in 1973, converting HET into HPT, as a state-owned corporation. In March 1974, the rebranded Hopelandian Public Television launched. Initially HPT still had flaws inherited from the former HET, including limited schedule, but still took on the advantage of having a wide network of transmitters carrying its signal. Eventually the new formula worked.

Sister channels

• HPT Kids
• HPT News Channel
• HPT World
• HPT Life

Former

• Premiere Television Network
• ThinkBright (carried in Arvonia, sold to the state's government and switched to Tier 2 stations)
• It had a 20% stake in the Hopelandian version of People+Arts, acting as a local intermediator between NBS and Discovery Networks. It sold its stakes in 2004.

Programming

HPT's schedule differs from the commercial networks as it broadcasts high quality television series from Nashland, the Michillies and its Sierran partner PBS. Fine arts programming is also a staple of the network, primarily on weekends.

Most of HPT's programming is run over a national feed, known as HPT National.

Structure

HPT has a complex structure. Up to sixteen hours of the daily schedule are from the national feed while the rest must be generated by the station. Most programs are produced by the local stations, including HWPT and HXPT in Albany and Palmerston, respectively. Some programs, including newscasts, are produced by HPT.

HPT is funded by the federal government and operates the national feed. Some regions have affiliates controlled by non-profit organizations.

Due to its non-commercial structure, HPT frequently organizes pledge drives, yet most of these ate made by the stations themselves. In a similar way to PBS, underwriters appear at the start and end of programs, and these are all funded by the independent funding agency Hopeland On Air.

Funding

A quarter of its funding is controlled by the government. The remaining 75% is a mixture of fees collected by viewers and later gathered by Hopeland On Air.