affiliate n
1. a subordinate or subsidiary associate; a person who is affiliated with another or with an organization
2. a subsidiary or subordinate organization that is affiliated with another organization; "network affiliates" v
3. join in an affiliation; "They affiliated themselves with the organization"
4. keep company with; hang out with; "He associates with strange people"; "She affiliates with her colleagues" [syn: consort, associate, assort]
5. join in an affiliation; "The two colleges affiliated"

Affiliate \Af*fil"i*ate\, v. i. To connect or associate one's self; -- followed by with; as, they affiliate with no party.

Affiliate \Af*fil"i*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Affiliated; p. pr. & vb. n. Affiliating.] [LL. adfiliare, affiliare, to adopt as son; ad + filius son: cf. F. affilier.]
1. To adopt; to receive into a family as a son; hence, to bring or receive into close connection; to ally. Is the soul affiliated to God, or is it estranged and in rebellion? --I. Taylor.
2. To fix the paternity of; -- said of an illegitimate child; as, to affiliate the child to (or on or upon) one man rather than another.
3. To connect in the way of descent; to trace origin to. How do these facts tend to affiliate the faculty of hearing upon the aboriginal vegetative processes? --H. Spencer.
4. To attach (to) or unite (with); to receive into a society as a member, and initiate into its mysteries, plans, etc.; -- followed by to or with. Affiliated societies, societies connected with a central society, or with each other.

See more meaning on Affiliate...

In the broadcasting industry (especially in North America), a network affiliate (or affiliated station) is a local broadcaster which carries some or all of the program line-up of a television or radio network, but is owned by a company other than the owner of the network. This distinguishes such a station from an owned-and-operated station (O&O), which is owned by its parent network.

Notwithstanding this distinction, it is common in informal speech (even for networks or O&Os themselves) to refer to any station, O&O or otherwise, that carries a particular network's programming as an affiliate, or to refer to the status of carrying such programming in a given market as "affiliation".

In the United States, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations limit the number of network-owned stations as a percentage of total market size. As such, networks tend to have O&Os only in the largest media markets (e.g. New York City and Los Angeles), and rely on affiliates to carry their programming in other markets. However, even the largest markets may have network affiliates in lieu of O&Os. For instance, Tribune Broadcasting's WPIX serves as the New York City affiliate for the CW Television Network, which does not have an O&O in that market. On the other hand, several other TV stations in the same market — WABC (ABC), WCBS (CBS), WNBC (NBC), WNJU (Telemundo), WNYW (Fox), WWOR-TV (MyNetworkTV), WPXN (ION), WXTV (Univision) and WFUT (TeleFutura) — are O&Os.