Intro to Mass Communication Chapter 9 - Television

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

An electronic display device in which a beam of electrons is focused on a glass viewing screen to create an image 

Scanning Disk

A large, flat metal disk with perforations arranged in a spiral pattern used as a rotating camera in early television models 

Mechanical Television

A television system that used mechanical moving parts to capture and display images. Mechanical television was phased out during the 1930s in favor of electronic television 

Electronic Television

All-electronic television system that scanned images using an electronic camera and received images by cathode ray tube. Electronic television replaced mechanical television in the 1930s 

Analog Signal

Broadcast signal made of varying radio waves. Analog signals were used to broadcast television programming for 60 years. They were replaced by digital signals in 2009 

Digital Signal

Signals transmitted as binary code. Digital signals replaced analog signals as the universal method of transmitting television broadcasts in 2009 

Cable Television

A system of providing television and other media services to consumers via coaxial cable. Subscribers are connected through a central community antenna, which picks up satellite signals for distribution 

Pay TV

Subscription-based television service in which consumers pay a fee to the program provider 

Broadband

A high-speed network connection that can carry data, voice, television, and video at higher speeds and in greater quantities than traditional connections 

Digital Television

Television that uses signals that translate television images and sounds into binary code. Digital television replaced analog television in 2009 

High-Definition Television

Wide-screen television system with a much higher resolution than standard televisions, creating a cinematic experience for the viewer 

Domestic Comedy

Generic family comedy popular in the 1950s that was identified by its character-based humor and was usually set within the home 

Situation Comedy

Comedy genre, also known as a sitcom, that features a recurring cast of characters who resolve zany situations based on their everyday lives 

Sketch Comedy

A series of short comedy scenes or vignettes that are often featured on variety shows, talk shows, or comedy shows. During the 1970s, comedy sketches that parodied American popular culture and politics grew in popularity 

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Public television network established in 1969. The service was intended to enable universal access to television for viewers in rural areas and viewers who could not afford to pay for private television services 

Network Era

The period between 1950 and 1990, during which network television dominated the airwaves and accounted for more than 95 percent of prime-time viewing 

Affiliated Station

A local television or radio station associated with a particular broadcast network that carries some or all of that network’s programming 

Netlets

A term coined by Variety magazine for minor-league networks that lack a full week’s worth of programming 

Deregulation

The removal of government regulations from an industry. Government deregulation of the cable industry in the 1980s enabled its extensive growth throughout the next two decades 

Television

Replaced radio as the most popular mass medium in the 1950s 

• Played such an integral part of modern life that it would be hard to imagine life without it 

• Reflected and shaped cultural values 

• Criticized for alleged negative influence on children and young people 

• Lauded for its ability to create a common experience for all its viewers 

Famous World Events Played Out Over Television

• John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr assassinations 

• Vietnam War in 1960s 

• The Challenger shuttle explosion in 1986 

• 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center 

• 2005 aftermath and impact of Hurricane Katrina 

• Dramatic presidential elections of 2016 and 2020 

• COVID-19 pandemic 

George Carey

As early as 1896, Boston civil servant _______ _____ envisioned complete television systems, putting forward drawings for a “selenium camera” that would enable people to “see by electricity” a year later 

Karl Ferdinand Braun

Invention of the cathode ray tube (CRT) by German physicist ____ _________ _____ in 1897 played a vital role as the forerunner of the television picture tube 

• Initially created as a scanning device (cathode ray oscilloscope) it combined principles of the camera and electricity 

Paul Nipkow

Mechanical scanner system

• Scanning disk created by German inventor ____ ______

• As disk rotated, light passed through the holes, separating pictures into pinpoints of light that could be transmitted as a series of electronic lines 

• Number of scanned lines equaled the number of perforations, and each rotation of the disk produced a television frame 

• Mechanical disk served as the foundation for experiments on the transmission of visual images for several decades 

Boris Rosing

1907 Russian scientist _____ ______ used the CRT and the mechanical scanner system in an experimental television system 

• CRT in receiver, he used electron beams to display images, transmitting crude geometrical patterns onto the television screen 

• Mechanical disk system was used as a camera, creating a primitive television system 

Mechanical Television and Electronic Television 

Two types of television systems

Mechanical Television

• Developed out of Nipkow’s disk system and was pioneered by British inventor John Logie Baird 

• Used mechanical rotating disks to scan moving images to scan moving images into electrical impulses, which were transmitted by cable to a screen 

• Baird's first television program showed the heads of two ventriloquist dummies, which he operated in front of the camera apparatus out of the audience’s sight 

• In 1928, he extended his system by transmitting a signal between London and New York 

Television System

1926 John Logie Baird gave the world’s first public demonstration of a __________ ______ at Selfridge’s department store in London 

Commercially Viable Television System

Following year the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) adopted his mechanical system, and by 1932, Baird had developed the first __________ _____ ________ ______ and sold 10,000 sets 

• Had initial success but had several technical limitations 

• Could get no more than 240 lines of resolutions 

• Images always slightly fuzzy 

• Use of spinning disks limited the number of new pictures that could be seen per second resulting in excessive flickering 

Electronic Television

• Idaho teenager Philo Farnsworth (working on his father’s farm), realized that an electronic beam could scan a picture in horizontal lines, reproducing the image almost instantaneously 

• Having coexisted for several years, electronic television sets eventually began to replace mechanical systems 

• Better picture quality, no noise, a more compact size, and fewer visual limitations, the electronic system was far superior to its predecessor and rapidly improving 

Television Broadcasting

_________ __________ began in 1928, when the Federal Radio Commission authorized Charles Jenkins to broadcast from W3KK, an experimental station in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC 

NBC

1939 RCA subsidiary ___ (National Broadcasting Company) became the first network to introduce regular television broadcasts, transmitting its inaugural telecast of the opening ceremonies at the New York World’s Fair 

Privileged Few

TV only initially available for the __________ ___ 

• Sets ranged from $200-$600 which was a hefty sum in the 1930s when average annual salary was $1,368 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

So that viewers would not need a separate television set for each individual network, the _______ ____________ __________ (FCC) outlined a single technical standard 

• 1941 panel recommended a 525-line system with an image rate of 30 frames per second; also recommended all US TV sets to operate using analog signals 

• Analog signals eventually replaced by digital signals in 2009 

World War II

Outbreak of ____ many companies like RCA and General Electric turned attention towards military production 

• Began to churn out military electronic equipment instead of commercial TV sets 

• War also halted nearly all tv broadcasting (many tv stations reduced their schedules to 4 hours per week or went off air altogether) 

Color Television

• Did not become available until 1950s or popular until 1960s 

• Technology for producing color television was proposed as early as 1904, and was demonstrated by John Logie Baird in 1928 

• As with his black and white tv system, he adopted the mechanical method using a Nipkow scanning disk with three spirals, one for each primary color (red, green, blue) 

• 1940 CBS researchers led by Hungarian television engineer Peter Goldmark used Baird’s designs to develop a concept of mechanical color television that could reproduce the color seen by a camera lens 

National Television System Committee (NTSC)

Following WWII, the ________ ________ ______ _________ (NTSC) worked to develop an all-electronic color system that was compatible with black-and-white television sets, gaining FCC approval in 1953 

NBC

1954, ___ made first national color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade 

Network Radio Shows

Many early television program formats were based on _______ _____ _____ and did not take advantage of the potential offered by the new medium 

• Ex: newscasters simply read the news as they would during a radio broadcast and network relied on newsreel companies to provide footage of news events 

• During 1950s, television programming began to branch out from radio broadcasting, borrowing from theater to create acclaimed dramatic anthologies such as Playhouse 90 (1956) and The US Steel Hour (1953) and producing quality news film to accompany coverage of daily events 

Magazine Format and Television Spectacular

Two types of news programs (_________ _______ ___ _________ _________) played an important role in helping the networks gain control over the content of their broadcasts 

Single Sponsor

Early tv programs were developed and produced by a ______ ______ which gave the sponsor a large amount of control over the content of the show 

Magazine Programs

__________ ________ like the Today Show and The Tonight Show (premiered in early 1950s) featured multiple segments and ran for several hours 

• Screened on a daily, rather than weekly basis which increased advertising costs 

• As a result, networks began to sell spot advertisements that ran from 30 to 60 seconds 

Television Spectacular

_________ __________ (television special) featured lengthy music-variety shows that were sponsored by multiple advertisers 

Quiz-Show Genre

Mid-1950s the networks brought back the radio ____-____ _____

• Inexpensive and easy to produce 

• Trend caught on and by end of 1957-1958 season, 22 quiz shows were being aired on network television including CBS’s $64,000 Question 

• Quiz shows enabled single corporate sponsors to have their names displayed on the set throughout the show 

• Popularity of quiz-show plunged at the end of decade when it was discovered that most of the shows were rigged 

• Producers provided some contestants with the answers to the questions in order to pick and choose the most likable or controversial candidates 

• Slew of contestants accused the show Dotto of being fixed in 1958, the networks rapidly dropped 20 quiz shows 

• New York grand jury probe and 1959 congressional investigation ended prime-time quiz shows for 40 years until ABC revived the genre with launch of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 1999 

Cable Television

_____ ________ (formerly known as Community Antenna Television or CATV) was originally developed in the 1940s in remote or mountainous areas including Arkansas, Oregon, and Pennsylvania to enhance poor reception of regular television signals 

Microwave

Late 1950s cable operators began to experiment with _________ to bring signals from distant cities 

Service Electric

When gradual deregulation began to loosen the restrictions, cable operator _______ ______ launched pay tv, the service that would change the face of the cable television industry 

First Successful Pay Cable Service

1972 Home Box Office (HBO) venture was the nation’s _____ ________ ___ ______ ________

• Would people pay for tv that for decades they got for free (with advertising)? 

• Answer is yes 

• HBO customers paid subscription fee to access premium cable television shows and video-on- demand products

• HBO used satellite to distribute its programming and made its network available throughout the US 

• Gave it an advantage over microwave-distributed services and other cable providers followed suit 

• HBO began producing its own shows and had significant impact with the most influential of these series 

• The Sopranos (1999-2007) focused on mafia boss Tony Soprano who struggled with rival bosses, panic attacks, and his own family 

1984 Cable Act

Further deregulation by the ____ _____ ___ enabled the industry to expand even more, and by the end of the 1980s, nearly 53 million households subscribed to cable television 

Fiber-Optic and Coaxial Cable

1990s cable operators upgraded their systems by building higher-capacity hybrid networks of _____-______ ___ _______ _____ 

• Broadband networks provide a multichannel television service, along with telephone, high-speed internet, and advanced digital video services using a single wire 

How Analog Signals Reached TV Sets

• Over the airwaves 

• Through a cable wire 

• By satellite transmission 

Analog System Disadvantages

• Prone to static and distortion that resulted in poor picture quality 

• As tv sets grew larger, limited resolution made scan lines painfully obvious which reduced the clarity of the image even more 

Digital Television

• More efficient and flexible form of broadcast technology 

• Works similar to a computer which means they require much less frequency space and also provide a far higher quality picture 

High-Definition Television (HDTV)

Around same time US government was reviewing the options for analog and digital television systems, companies in Japan were developing technology that worked in conjunction with digital signals to create crystal-clear pictures in a wide-screen format 

• ____-_________ ________ (HDTV) provides viewer with an almost three-dimensional experience 

• Has much higher resolution than standard television systems, using around five times as many pixels per frame 

• By 2010, nearly half of American viewers watched television in high definition making it the fastest adoption of technology since the introduction of the VCRs in the 1980s 

Early Tech Companies

_____ ____ _________ were the first to realize the attraction of television over the internet 

• YouTube, Apple iTunes and Amazon soon had old television of programs available as well 

• Not long after television networks began creating their own websites where shows and programs could be streamed online 

• Netflix moved from DVD rentals to streaming and inspired competitors such as Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Disney+ to do the same 

New

Compared to other media, television is relatively ___

• Joined the ranks of America’s mass media in the 1950s 

• When it arrived, its impact was immediate and quickly influenced American culture decade after decade as generations of people gathered each night around “the tube” taking in its light and lessons 

Nuclear Family

During the booming postwar era – a period of optimism and prosperity for many - the traditional _______ ______ flourished – for white people 

• Many people of color faced discrimination in education, unemployment, and housing, and remained poor and under pressure 

• TV celebrated white families and ignored the rest 

Prime-Time Shows

The three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) developed _____-____ _____ that would appeal to a general family audience 

Popular Domestic Comedies

Popular Examples included Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet 

Edwin R. Murrow

_____ _ ______ broadcast an unflattering portrait of US Senator Joseph McCarthy who was a member of the Senate Investigation Committee which had launched inquiries regarding potential communist infiltration in US institutions; Murrow thought his aggressive tactics were a potential threat to civil liberties; portrait pointed out contradictions in his speeches which led to a reaction that McCarthy was formally reprimanded by the Senate 

Gunsmoke

________ (aired on CBS from 1955-1975) flourished in a Cold War society where US Marshall Matt Dillon stood up to lawlessness in defense of civilization 

• Characters and community in the show faced relevant social issues including the treatment of minoritized groups, the meaning of family, the legitimacy of violence, and the strength of religious belief 

• During 1960s show became increasingly aware of and sympathetic to ethnic minorities in tune with the national mood during the civil rights era 

• Adaptability helped show to become the longest-running western in television history 

CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite

___ ________ ____ ____ _____ _______ (debuted in 1962) became the country’s most popular newscast, and by the end of the decade Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America 

Agonies

News filled with the ______ of the 1960s

Situation Comedy (sitcom)

Because of the harsh news in the 1960s, nighttime television offered an escape with the _________ ______

Popular Situation Comedies

• I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched 

• The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island 

All in the Family

• (January 1971 and ran for 8 years) 

• One of the greatest television series in American history 

• Show revolved around a cantankerous, conservative working class father and his family as they confronted, from various perspectives, and with a deft comic touch, some of the most sensitive issues in American life, such as racism, civil rights, gender rights, antisemitism, same-sex relationships, rape, religion, abortion, cancer, and the ongoing Vietnam War 

Maude

• CBS aired sitcom (1972-1978) 

• Featured a middle-aged feminist living with her fourth husband and divorced daughter 

• Show exploded the dominant values of the white middle-class domestic sitcom and its traditional gender roles 

• Tackled social and political issues such as abortion, menopause, birth control, alcohol abuse, and depression 

• During first four seasons, show was in the top 10 in Nielsen ratings 

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

1970s sitcom; Reflected changing attitudes toward women’s rights by featuring television’s first never-married independent career woman as the central character 

The Brady Bunch

Sitcom (1969-1974); Featured a non-nuclear family, reflecting the rising rates of blended families in American society

Saturday Night Live (SNL)

• Sketch comedy show that premiered on NBC in 1975 (still is on air today) 

• Featured a different celebrity guest host every week and often relatively unknown comedy regulars, the show parodies contemporary popular culture and politics, lambasting presidential candidates and pop stars alike 

Niches

Broadcast companies confronted the multitude of channels by beginning to secure ______, such as in news, sports, weather, music, history, and more 

Three

Until the mid-1980s the top ____ networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) dominated television broadcasting in the United States 

Specialization

Trend towards _____________ reflected a more general shift within culture, as companies catered increasingly to smaller, more targeted consumer bases 

Fragmentation

Was even seen in networks themselves

Fox

Network (started in 1986) was looking for ways to differentiate itself from the other three, more established networks 

• Ran a prime-time cartoon geared for older audiences (The Simpsons which first aired in 1989 and won critical acclaim and numerous Emmy Awards) 

• Simpsons is longest running animated series and sitcom of all time 

• Other Fox hit shows include The X-Files and Beverly Hills 90210 

Fox News

One important development in this age of fragmentation was the 1996 creation of ___ ____

• Owner of Fox network Rupert Murdoch felt that the network needed a news channel if it was to compete with the other three networks 

• At first, it wasn’t even seen in most American big cities 

• Fox News is now a force in American politics and culture 

Popular Long-Running TV Series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1990s; dominated in 2000s), The Sopranos (1990s; dominated in 2000s), The West Wing (1990s; dominated in 2000s), Six Feet Under (2001), 24 (2001), The Wire (2002), The Shield (2002), Deadwood (2004), Battlestar Galactica (2004), Friday Night Lights (2006), Mad Men (2007), Breaking Bad (2008) 

News and Politics

Fragmentation also continued especially in the realm of ____ ___ ________

• Fox News steered toward a more conservative niche, arguing that once-trusted mainstream media were actually biased against conservatives and Republicans and offering Fox News as “fair and balanced” 

• MSNBC (created in 1996) occupied an opposing position on the liberal side 

• CNN tried to straddle a middle ground 

“Changed Television Forever”

For some observers, the 2010s were the years that

Binge-Watching

All-night watching of tv shows and movies

Radio

When television was in its infancy, producers modeled the new medium on _____ in almost every way 

• In terms of financing, television would be a commercial venture, sponsored by advertisers, not a public entity supported by license fees 

• In terms of ownership, it was dominated by three major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) 

“The Magazine Concept”

Television experts such as NBC’s Slyvester L. “Pat” Weaver, advocated instead for ___ ________ _______ in which advertisers purchased one- or two-minute blocks rather than the entire program, just as magazines contained multiple advertisements from different sponsors 

• Presence of multiple sponsors meant that no one advertiser or sponsor controlled the entire program (television uses this financial program today) 

Influence

Although sponsors and their advertising agencies relinquished control of production to the networks, they can and have retained some _________ over the content of the programs they sponsor; Sponsors influenced program content indirectly by financially supporting shows they supported and pulling funding from shows they did not 

• 1995 pharmaceutical giant Procter & Gamble (the largest tv advertiser) announced it would no longer sponsor daytime talk shows that were too sexual or provocative 

• AT&T took a similar path, reviewing shows after they were taped but before they aired in order to make decisions about corporate sponsorship on an individual basis 

Subscriptions

One of the most important developments in television sponsorship was the decision by Netflix and other streaming services to find financial support through _____________, not sponsors 

Public Broadcasting Service

The ______ __________ _______ (PBS established in 1969) developed out of a report by the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, which examined the role of educational, noncommercial television in society; Report recommended that the government finance public television in order to provide diversity of programming during the network era – a service created “not to sell products” but to “enhance citizenship and public service” 

Corporate Sponsorship

• PBS has become increasingly dependent on _________ ___________ to stay on air 

• Sponsorship has saved many programs that would otherwise have been lost, critics have bemoaned the creeping commercialism of public television 

Network Era

Period between 1950 and 1990 is recognized as the _______ ___

Rupert Murdoch

Things changed in 1986 when ______ _______ launched Fox network to challenge the Big Three 

• In its infancy, Fox was at best a minor irritation to the other networks 

• Fewer than 100 affiliated stations reaching just 80% of nation’s households 

• Started with just one original show (The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers) 

• During 1990s this dynamic began to change 

• Targeted young viewers and black audiences with shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, In Living Color, The Simpsons 

• Began to establish itself as an edgy, youth-oriented network 

American Football

Murdoch knew enough about his new country to recognize Fox might never be considered a “real” network unless it broadcast _________ ________

• 1994, Fox acquired the rights to the NFL games ($1.58 billion for four years of games) 

• Fox used much of the advertising time during the games to build interest in its other programming 

Smaller Networks

• Success of Fox also prompted the launch of several ________ ________ in the mid 1990s 

• UPN (owned by Paramount) and WB (owned by Time Warner) both debuted in 1995 

• Networks initially broadcast programs 2 nights a week, expanding to a 6-day format by 2000 

• Targeted young and minority audiences with shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Moesha, Dawson’s Creek, The Wayans Bros 

• New networks hoped to draw stations away from their old network affiliations 

CW Network

Time Warner agreed to merge UPN and WB resulting in the creation of the __ _______ in 2006 

• Targeted desirable 18-34 age group, the network retained the most popular shows from before the merger (America’s Next Top Model, Veronica Mars (from UPN) and Beauty and the Geek, Smallville (from WB)) 

• Also launched new shows (Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries) 

Industry deregulation and Use of satellites to distribute local television stations around the country

Two key factors that influenced the rapid growth of cable television networks 

FCC

During 1970s growth of cable television had been restricted by ___ regulations, which protected broadcasters by establishing franchising standards and enforcing “anti-siphoning” rules that prevented cable from taking sports and movie programming away from the networks 

• Late 1970s, a court ruled that the FCC exceeded its authority and the anti-siphoning rules were repealed 

Cable Communications Policy Act

Further deregulation of cable in the 1984 _____ ____________ ______ ___ removed restrictions on cable rates, enabling operators to charge what they wanted for cable services as long as there was effective competition to the service 

National Satellite Distribution System

Growth of cable television was assisted by a _________ _________ ____________ ______

• Time Inc., which founded cable network company HBO, the corporation used satellite transmission in 1975 to beam the “Thrilla in Manila” (boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier) 

• Shortly after, Ted Turner (owner of independent Atlanta station WTBS) uplinked his station’s signal onto same satellite as HBO enabling operators to downlink the station on one of their channels 

• Initially provided free to subscribers to encourage interest (showed television reruns, wrestling, and live sports from Atlanta) 

• Having created first “superstation” Turner jumped into cable and founded 24-hour news network CNN in 1980 

Monopolies

Deregulation intended to encourage competition within the overall television industry but instead enabled cable companies to establish local __________ all over the country 

• Americans often found that they were at the mercy of just one cable company 

Mass Markets

In age of increasing fragmentation, niche markets, specializations, and “narrowcasting,” network television offers one of the few “____ _______” left to national and international advertisers 

Popular Network TV Shows/Series

• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 

• NCIS (CBS) 

• Blue Bloods (CBS) 

• The Walking Dead (AMC) 

• The Bachelor (ABC) 

• Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 

• The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Bravo) 

• Bob’s Burgers (Fox) 

• Family Guy (Fox) 

• The Simpsons (Fox) 

Babies

Individual programs, networks, cable companies, and streaming services need to worry about their futures, but the future of television itself will be assured in the 2020s by its ______