APT Deliveries

There are roughly 350 individual public television stations in the USA. Some are branded as PBS stations*. Others are independent or university stations who handle much of their own content.

Do you have a documentary or other long-format show that you want "on the air"? (That could be via broadcast or streaming.)

APT (American Public Television) is a syndicator of programming, working with the public television stations in the United States. However, you cannot just send them what you have. It needs to be formatted a specific way, be sponsored by an approved advocate (called a "Presenting Station"), and then go through rigorous technical checks before APT will accept it.

This is where we can help you.

*Note: APT is a separate entity from PBS. While PBS is a nationwide network that collects dues from its member stations, APT is a syndicator that works with stations on a 1:1 basis with PBS stations to deliver content.

BTPM (Buffalo Toronto Public Media) owns the PBS public television station which covers the cities and surrounding communities of:

• Buffalo, New York, USA
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

BTPM has a very long history and terrific track record as a Presenting Station for APT. 

Chris Bové has worked for BTPM in many capacities for nearly 30 years, and is their top point person for the editorial work required to turn independently produced content into programs accepted by APT.

To begin the process, Chris can work with you to prepare you and your content for your first contact with BTPM's Vice President of Content Distribution. 

The more prepared you are, the better chance it will have to get a green light.

You'll send a low-res version of the full content for review, and then will receive approval or denial, based on whether the content can be made to qualify for APT's guidelines as well as BTPM's standards.

There might be a lot of editorial work needed, or there might be barely at all. Each program is different. We'll evaluate your content fully, and give you a report. If fully approved, we will work with you to create everything that is needed to deliver to APT. 

Other deliverables will be necessary:

• Graphics and marketing materials
• Video promos at varying lengths (:30, :20, and :15 seconds), as well as a vertical :30 promo for social media. (Chris has templates for this.)
• Imagery for the carousel (the interface that audiences will click on to watch content.
• Other needs may arise.

Copyright and other legal permissions are something that must also be considered. For example, do you have the rights for the music and visuals contained in your piece? BTPM will work with you to solidify all of these, and make it an easy, smooth process.

Example: a "music cue sheet" (a list of all your music sources). 

You'll need a list of any and all funders who contributed money to creating the piece. 

You'll need a list of credits for who worked on the piece, in any capacity.

Other needs may arise.

People need to look at it and approve it for content, for audio and video quality, and for granular information like length, whether it's in drop-frame, which resolution it is sent in, and so on. 

Chris Bové will work with BTPM's engineers to provide the finished TB program and all its promos for tech check. Their engineers are highly trained on exactly what to deliver to APT. It will be a wonderfully seamless process for you. 

APT reaches out to all 340+ public television stations. You'll be notified which stations have accepted the tv program. 

Sometimes a dozen stations will "pick it up". Sometimes a couple hundred will do so. It varies, based on each individual station's programming manager. Full acceptance across all stations is very rare.

Congratulations! Your documentary or television program is now "on the air". This can also mean it is able to be streamed on the BTPM+ streaming service, which allows your program to be seen on a computer, a phone, and a television through an app. 

Note: Each individual TV station across the USA has the ability to air it on the dates and times of their choosing. So you won't be able to tell all your friends of one specific day and time it will air universally. You'll have to let them know to "check local listings".