Radio and Television

important inventions, people, events as tv and radio grew in the US

Guglielmo Marconi

Invented the Radio

Philo Farnsworth

Helped invent the TV

Rod Serling

Best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and “The Twilight Zone”

Walter Cronkite

What TV anchor took over CBS News from Edward R. Murrow and became a trusted voice for decades?

Ed Sullivan

What variety show host introduced America to the Beatles and The Jackson 5?

RCA had NBC

What was the first major radio and television network?

Milton Berle

Who was an early TV host who was called “Mr. Television”?

Edward R. Murrow

Who first reported on the radio from Nazi camps and later took down Joseph McCarthy on TV?

Joseph McCarthy

Major part of Red Scare

Lucille Ball

Who produced and starred in ‘I Love Lucy’, a popular sitcom?

Dragnet

What was the title of the TV procedural shown in class, 1950s

Western Electric 104-B 5000-Watt transmitter

What device allowed networks to broadcast without a relay in Chicago?

Marshall McLuhan

“The medium is the message” - Television created a new way of thinking and of being

1968 DNC (August 26-29, 1968)

A major split in the Democratic Party between institutional liberals and leftists illustrated the limitations of network news media

PBS

Began operations on 10/5/1970, taking over many functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET).

FM Radio

By the late 1960s, FM was used for broadcasts of stereo Album-Oriented Rock

Color Television

In 1964 only 3.1 percent of households in the US had this, and in 1972, it was the first year that more than 50 percent of households in the US had this \

Cable TV

Founded in 1972, HBO became the first national Pay TV station in 1975. This would take control instead of the network television station and fragment audiences

TV Movies

streamed on TV 24/7 after release date of the film

CBS

Grew by buying other stations rather than building its own. Often called “The Tiffany Network” to promote its classy programming. Aired I love lucy, the twilight zone, etc.

Guerilla Television

A new type of videotape that allowed marginalized groups like women, people of color, queer people, youth, and poor people to create archives that show local issues, struggles, and triumphs.

The Portapak

The first commercially available camcorder allowed for non-professionals to create television imagery and programming.

Top Value TV (TVTV)

Collective of activists who wanted to make political television using portapaks

Norman Lear

Created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including shows that introduced political and social themes to the sitcom format.

CNN

Cable News Network launched June1, 1980

MTV

basically put Ed Sullivan out of his job because shows music videos

Gerald Ford

Oversaw the US withdrawal from Vietnam, presided over the worst economy since the Great Depression

Ronald Regan

40th President

What media theorist advocated for the idea that TV could be art?

Herbert Zettl

What cable network, launched in 1972, showed full, unedited movies?

HBO

How many channels did the average American have in 1970?

3 major networks, NBC ,ABC, CBS

What does AM stand for?

Amplitude Modulation

What does FM stand for?

Frequency Modulation

1800s

Wired Communication (Telegraph and Telephone), Electromagnetic Waves (Hertz & Maxwell waves), Wireless Communication (Marconi invents radio)

1900s

Radio used by amateurs (sold as kits), Radio used by professionals (Government/Military)

1910s

Radio becomes more widely used, radio for entertainment rises, and the Radio Corporation of America is formed (Soon run by David Sarnoff)

1st structure for radios

Point-to-Point

2nd structure of radio

Point-to-Multipoint

1920s

Radio becomes more commercialized, and amateur radio is diminished in favor of corporate broadcasting (shows like Amos n’ Andy become popular)

1930s

Radio becomes even more commercialized, Television is being developed by many inventors and companies, and President Roosevelt uses the radio to communicate with Americans during the Great Depression

1940s

WWII stops the development of Television. After the war, TV explodes in popularity, and stars like Milton Berle become nationally famous

1950s

Television becomes central to American Culture; Americans encounter popular music through live appearances on talk shows and variety shows. Shows like I Love Lucy and The Twilight Zone expand the medium’s possibilities. News ranges from the shallow Camel News Caravan to Edward R. Murrow’s hard-news program, See It Now. RCA and NBC experiment with color

1960s

Television remains central to American culture. TV’s presentation of imagery from the presidency and the assassination of President Kennedy galvanized the country. The Baby Boom generation and the counterculture led to massive changes in TV programming.

Rock n’ Roll music becomes prominent, Liberal/Left critique of the government and society emerges, and amateurs in the guerrilla television movement begin making programs for broadcast.

1970s

Television remains central to American culture. More than 50% of TVs are in color by 1972. Programs continue to push the envelope, addressing hot political issues like All in the Family, Maude, Sesame Street, and Saturday Night (Live).

Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal

Incredibly complicated and lurid sx scandal including Bill Clinton, the 49-year-old president of the United States, and Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern.

ClearChannel

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed ClearChannel to purchase more than 70 other media companies and individual stations in local markets, which caused a consolidation and homogenization of the product.

The "Latin Pop Explosion”

Ricky Martin, JLO, Santana

Reality TV in the 1990s

Made bc of the 199 writers’ strike. A cheap way to make TV (Small writing staff, no full scripts, few special effects, cast comes in units). EX: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1999), Survivor (2000)

Law & Order SVU

1999-Present, Police Procedural like Dragnet, Successful in reruns

Comedy Central

Began addressing young men who developed their sense of humor online. (South Park, The Daily Show)