television

Philo T Farnsworth

invented electronic television, eventually prevailed to have the idea first, felt he had created a monster

Vladmir Zworykin

a Russian immigrant with a doctorate in engineering who was also trying to develop the television at RCA

NBC

first significant television broadcasts using all electronic services

Milton Berle

host of the Texaco Star Theater, called “Mr. Television,” known for funny costumes and physical humor

The Ed Sullivan Shiw

place to see new and innovative talent

I Love Lucy

biggest impact of the 1950s, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lucy was white, Arnaz was hispanic, most shows were broadcast live in New York, they wanted to stay in California, Solution: film show in front of studio audience in LA, edit like a movie, send to New York to be broadcast, pioneered 3 camera, studio audience, half hour comedy

Community antenna television

an early form of cable television used to distribute broadcast channels in communities with poor television reception

Ted Turner

no one has done more to create modern cable television, inherited a billboard company that was in financial trouble, bought channel 17 in Atlanta, bought the Atlanta Braves and Hawks, gave him exclusive rights to broadcast games, one of the first to turn local station into national powerhouse, created CNN

videocassette recorder

a home video tape machine that allows viewers to make permanent copies of television shows and thus choose when they want to watch programs

direct broadcast satellites

a low earth orbit satellite that provides programming via a small, pizza sized satellite antenna, DBS is a competitor to cable tv

high definition television

a standard for high quality digital broadcasting that features a high resolution picture, wide screen format, and enhanced sound

television networks

the companies that provide programs to local stations around the country; the local affiliate stations choose which programs to carry

public broadcasting service

a nonprofit broadcast network that provides a wide range of public service and educational programs, it is funded by government appropriations, private industry underwriting, and viewer support

Big Four Networks

the broadcast landscape we know today: the big three networks plus Fox

people meter

an electronic box used by the ratings company Nielson Media Research to record which television shows people watch

Nielson Media Research

the major provider of viewership data

Sweeps

the four times during the year that Nielson media research measures the size of individual television station audiences

rating point

The percentage of the total potential television audience actually watching a particular show, one rating point indicates an audience of approx 1.14 million viewers

share

the percentage of television sets in use that are tuned to a particular show, rather than how many households, measures how popular a particular show is compared to everything else that is broadcast at that time

C-SPAN

exists to provide live coverage of the US House of Representatives when it is in session, when house is not in session the majority party controls whether the cameras are on or off