Television Studies Topic 3

Use of Medias

• Press: political and financial information

• Photography: family, personal life, community

• Cinema: curiosity and entertainment

• Telegraphy and Telephone: business, relevant message

• Broadcast (radio and TV): private mobilization

Technological Determinism

technological determinism argues that technologies arise accidentally and then automatically reshape society, so if something like television hadn’t been invented, the social changes linked to TV would never have occurred.

Symptomatic Television

Symptomatic technology says that TV didn’t create new social behaviors, it simply became the latest tool for needs and tendencies that already existed, so without TV, society would still manipulate and entertain people in other ways.

Private Mobilization

broadcasting allowed people to feel connected to the wider world from inside their homes, compensating for the loss of older community structures in industrial society

Radio Music Box

Sarnoff’s memo imagines radio as a cheap, mass‑produced household device that brings culture and information into the home, creates huge profits through receiver sales, and opens the door to national advertising

Berlin 1936

The first Olympic Games to be televised, in and around Berlin only, with a total of 138 viewing hours and 162,000 viewers. One of three cameras was capable of live coverage –only when the sun was shining.

London 1948

For the first time, select events are covered by multiple cameras (3-4). More than 500,000 viewers, most residing within a 50-mile radius of London, watch the 64 hours of Olympic programming.

Cortina 1956

The first ever Olympic Winter Games to be broadcast live and outside the host country, with the Italian public broadcaster distributing the signal for free to 61 broadcast organisations around the world.

Tokyo 1964

Satellite broadcast coverage is used to relay images overseas and the Games reach a worldwide audience for the first time. - -The first Olympics to be aired in colour (limited to a few select events and broadcast only in Japan)

Mexico City 1968

The Olympic Games are broadcast live fully in colour for the first time to the world. First use of hand-held colour cameras bring new intimacy to coverage.

Los Angeles 1984

The Host Broadcast operation as it is recognised today is introduced. ABC, the U.S. domestic rights holder, serves as the host broadcaster and provides the international signal which can be supplemented by broadcasters’ independently produced unilateral signals for the first time. Television and radio rights are acquired by 156 countries. More than 2.5 billion people watch the Olympic Games.

Albertville 1992

The first major sports event in Europe to be produced and transmitted in analogue HDTV in parallel to the standard coverage in PAL and NTSC. Reception is provided at about 150 special viewing sites throughout Europe

Barcelona 1992

Launch of a central broadcasting service, independent from any domestic broadcaster, providing the international signal for all events to the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). Coverage of additional events is sublicensed to other cable and satellite broadcasters, expanding the total sports coverage. Further HDTV testing takes place, with more than 40 HDTV cameras and their support systems deployed, providing 225 hours of Olympic programming.

IOC 2001

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announces the establishment of a permanent Host Broadcaster for the Olympic Games. The Host Broadcaster operations would be performed by a private company funded by and under the direct supervision of the IOC. Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is officially established in May 2001 with the mission to develop a more consistent, organised approach to the Host Broadcast operation.

The Components of Television

1. Technological Infrastructure: The systems that bring TV into homes, like cable networks, satellites, or broadband internet.

2. Technological Devices: The gadgets people use to watch TV. Two types: Viewing devices: TVs, laptops, tablets, phones. Add‑on devices: extra equipment like Apple TV, Roku, or DVRs

3. Television Services: The platforms that give access to TV content, such as TV channels, cable or satellite subscriptions, streaming services like Netflix or Hulu

4. Content: Everything you actually watch, including TV shows, movies, ads, short fillers between programs

5. Frames: The systems that organize how TV content is presented, such as, the TV schedule, the channel guide, streaming interfaces (e.g., Netflix homepage)

Binge-watching

• practice of watching multiple episodes of a television series in one sitting, often with minimal breaks.

• this trend has grown significantly with the rise of digital streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, which allow viewers to access entire seasons of original programming at once

• prior to this, binge-watching was facilitated by cable providers offering on-demand services and by DVD boxed sets that enabled viewers to watch entire series at their leisure.

Pros and Cons of Binge-watching

Pros: many viewers enjoy binge-watching for the continuity it provides in following storylines and characters,

Cons: others argue that it detracts from the overall viewing experience, particularly when it comes to the impact of cliffhanger endings

YouTube Technology

1. shifts media from broadcasting (one‑to‑many, controlled by big companies) to homecasting (many‑to‑many, created and shared by ordinary people). Anyone can upload, not just traditional media producers

YouTube Social Practice

Video Sharing

YouTube isn’t just a platform — it’s a set of social behaviors, including, liking and favoriting, commenting, replying with videos

It’s a community built around participation

YouTube Cultural Form

Snippets or Fragments

YouTube content is usually:

• short

• fast

• fragmented

• easily shareable

It creates a culture of quick, bite‑sized media rather than long, continuous narratives.

Launch Packaging

Bundling multiple services together (like Hulu + ESPN+) to make the offer more attractive and reduce the chance that customers cancel.

Ecosystem Monetization in Streaming

Using streaming to boost revenue in other parts of the company — like theme parks, merchandise, and licensing — because the platform strengthens the whole brand system.

Content Building in Streaming

Bringing different types of content and revenue streams under one roof, giving the company more control over distribution and stronger bargaining power.