Television Exam 2 Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the regulatory history, industrial shifts, programming concepts, and terminology for Television Exam 2.

problems with UHF

1. Most sets needed tuners to receive UHF, which led to converter boxes, or buying the in-demand Zenith set

2. few UHF tvs in the market: no viewers, no affiliates; networks are uninterested, no network programming; no viewers; no ads or ad revenue, no upgrades; and people are never convinced to buy UHF.

3. license freeze paused UHF development

"Fog Over Portland" (1953)

promotional film by Zenith used to compare UHF and VHF and address consumer confusion around UHF. advertised UHF as a clear, noise-free picture.

UHF fix

1963: The All-Channel ReceiverAct passes. It gave the FCC power to require all TV sets made in the U.S. to include built-in UHF tuners.

All-Channel Receiver Act (1963)

required all television sets manufactured in the United States to include built-in UHF tuners.

Early concerns with tv as a new medium

1. Stations had to operate at least 6 hours per day, not enough programming yet.

2. Audiences were expected to demand more of TV than radio.

3. Old radio tactics/fears carried on into this new medium (like avoiding reuns)

The Paramount Case (1948)

An antitrust lawsuit against major Hollywood studios for being vertically integrated, forced to sell off theater chains

Blind Buying

to lease and purchase films without being being able to view them beforehand. (television studio to stations)

Block Booking

to buy multiple films as a package deal rather than selecting titles individually.

Live Anthology Drama

Live, prestigious, writer-driven television dramas that presented an entirely new storyline and cast each episode, characterized by close-ups, small casts, and heightened intimacy.

What did television provide as a new medium?

combined theatrical immediacy with the broad geographic reach of radio

Sponsor Time Franchise

a single commercial sponsor purchases, owns, and controls an entire programming time slot.

Open Door Policy

allowing commercial advertisers to air commercials without network regulating content

Program Adjacency

placing two programs of similar genres, tones, or audience appeal side by side on a tv schedule.

Counter-Programming

programs with different appeals played at the same time slot across competing television schedules

Participating Sponsorship

multiple different sponsors are dispersed throughout a television broadcast, diminishing single-sponsor control.

Pat Weaver

NBC programming chief credited with creating the standard tv flow: morning, evening, and late-night schedules.

Telefilm

1950s-1960s, tv programming recorded on film. shifted power from producers to networks.

why telefilm?

Power dynamics, and it was considered cheaper. Low production value, could reuse and recycle storylines and cheap to license. It made TV watching "easy" in a derogatory way, in response to over-demand

for content.

networks vs. telefilm producers

Studios and independents assumed the risk and funded the shows. Networks scheduled programs and negotiated syndication, with producers having no say. They also sold overseas, as TV becomes a soft power with propaganda.

Monopsony

when a single buyer faces many sellers, putting producers and sellers in a weak bargaining position regarding pricing and programming genres.

I Love Lucy

Groundbreaking CBS telefilm sitcom shot on film with a multi-camera setup in Desilu Studios, demonstrated to networks the profitability of syndication reruns

Allegorical Anthology

A television genre characterized by self-contained or moral stories, exemple by Rod Serling's series The Twilight Zone.

TV and gender 1950s

The biggest concern was fitting TV into the housewife's routine, with strict gender rules applied to programs. Daytime TV was built around her routine which including soap operas for listening while cleaning

ads: from wartime to peacetime

During WWII people rationed for the war effort. The economy now needed people to buy, and TV was a major medium for this. TV acted as a showroom for products, offering display and mass reach.

three major shifts in the 1950s

1. From ad packaging production to networks licensing externally produced programs on their own.

2. From ad agencies controlling scheduling to networks controlling it.

3. From single sponsor to multiple sponsors.

the market for tv after switch from single sponsor to multi

1. network haggles your asking price down 25%, but you keep ownership

2. network offers half your price in exchange for a 9pm slot (long-term returns and exposure)

3. network won't schedule you unless you let them co-produce

4. network won't schedule you unless it buys half your production company.

Syndication

when studios and stations sell and license programs directly to each other without utilizing a central broadcast network.

First-Run Syndication

Original tv programs that never aired are sold directly to stations example star-trek

Off-Network Syndication

Previously broadcasted network programs sold as reruns to stations

"Whorehouse" Era

A period of FCC corruption during the late 1950s because of bribery, bias towards companies, and inappropiate contact with companies

Vast Wasteland

FCC Chairman Newton Minow's 1961 critique condemning the low cultural quality and hyper-commercialization of tv content.

Twenty-One quiz show scandal

An NBC quiz show sponsored by Geritol and hosted by Jack Barry that became the center of the 1950s quiz show scandals when contestant Herbert Stempel revealed the outcomes were rigged. The TV industry contained the scandal and blamed the sponsors. Hilmes notes it helped shift programming from ad agencies to networks.

Rule of 7s

A 1960s FCC regulation restricting any single entity to owning a maximum of 7 AM radio stations, 7 FM radio stations, and 7 television stations.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

A non-profit corporation created by the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act to receive federal funding and issue grants to public radio, tv, and independent producers.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

A non-commercial distribution org founded in 1970 that distributes programs to member stations rather than being a centralized commercial network.

Fin-Syn Rules (1971)

The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules implemented by the FCC to restrict network financial stakes in programming, requiring rights to revert to production companies after the initial run and barring networks from syndication profits.

Soul Train

A 1970s local Chicago musical variety program that achieved national success through first-run syndication, expanding Black and queer culture.

rules for paid tv

1. no movies released within 2 to 10 years (so no new movies)

2. no live sports

3. no continuing character series

4. no more than 90% of programming devoted to movies and sports,