TV Unit Exam

TV in Culture

Functions that television serves in our culture: Commercial industry, Democratic institution, Textual form, Site of representation, Part of everyday life, Technological medium.

textual form

sports broadcasts use a set of formal and even narrative conventions sports tell stories!

part of everyday life

viewing and discussing Packers games is a part of the weekly routine for many Wisconsinites and Packers fans worldwide!

commercial industry

professional sports are saturated with advertising; Super Bowl ads sell for millions of $!

Classical network era

First era of TV, lasted from mid-1940s until the early-mid- 1980s. Modeled on the format of radio; Programming started with live broadcasts, and advertising was heavily worked into the broadcasts.

Multi-channel era

1980s – 1990s; Viewing habits changed due to technology: cable, vcr, and narrowcasting (targeting narrow and specific audiences). Viewers had more options, more choices meant more specific content tailored for specific audiences.

Convergence era

approx. 2000 – present; in this era, tv is one of, and maybe the centerpiece, of video-based technologies viewers are no longer restricted to seeing content when it was Broadcast! television experienced across platforms this has changed the relationship between programming and advertising, and that’s why the industry freaked out!

Goal of Television

To create performances that compel viewers to return for the next episode. Viewership must be created and sustained so advertising can reach it. Advertising and the $ determine what makes it on air.

Exchanges of Programming

TV industry creates and distributes shows to be transmitted to viewers’ homes/devices

Exchanges of Advertising

Sponsors and ad agencies create commercials and purchase airtime. This funds most of American TV.

Exchanges of Audiences

Ratings system(s) create a currency of imagined attention (more precise now than ever before with clicks, views, etc.) to be sold to advertisers, who thus fund the creation of programs

Showrunners

They are also often the show’s creator. They coordinate production.

TV Production

Production companies actually make the shows. They develop and produce ongoing series. J.J. Abrams’s “Bad Robot” is one example.

Distribution

this is the most crucial of the entire TV apparatus. this group determine which shows make it onto the air; this group schedule programming.

Networks

NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox; local affiliates

Channels

Cartoon Network, Food Network; no affiliates; they are single national or regional channels often aimed at smaller audiences

Syndication

License/sell programs to individual local stations or a national cable channel. Stations decide how to schedule.

Transmitters/Transmission

They take shows from Networks and Producers and make it available to audiences. In the Classical Network Era, broadcast stations did this; In the Multi-Channel Era, the cable system emerged, satellite as competitor to cable systems.

Viewer

individual television watcher. Individuals may watch programs the tv industry doesn’t believe they would want to watch. Any individual viewer may watch anything.

Audience

massive groups measured and categorized by the TV industry which then sells info. To advertisers who create ads based on age, gender, race, lifestyle, etc. programs are often created to target demographics because they’ll be more receptive to certain advertising.

Ratings

measure the percentage of households with a TV tuned into a program at a given moment. A “15” estimates that 15% of all TV households are watching that program.

Share

The percentage of households actually watching TV that are viewing a specific program, so the total of all these in each time slot always equals 100. This number ignores TVs not being used at a given moment.

Flow

TV is dependent on the natural movement of programs, ads, PSAs, and promos with constant interruption and disparate units. This interruption defines the experience of watching TV.

Naturalistic Televisual Presentation

aims to represent the world without any manipulation. Examples include reality TV and the news, but this style follows highly artificial conventions that we consider realistic.

Presentational Televisual Presentation

not trying to present the world as it is, but rather it’s attempting to create a compelling story world.

Grid System

Networks developed this in order to keep viewers watching their programming for as long as possible. They do this by presenting the “anchor” shows at the top of the hour during prime time, so that you keep watching through the evening.

Staging

this is the equivalent of film’s Mise-en-scene. Every kind of television genre has these conventions.

Multi-camera Live Studio Production

This reflects tv’s attempt to replicate the format of radio during the early classical network era. These programs were shot in a studio with minimal setup. The camera feeds were sent to a control booth, where it was edited and broadcast live.

Single-camera Telefilm Production

This came about after the conventions of the factory-style classical network era were established. This is shot just like a movie. The quality is better, but it takes longer to make. Edited recording; not live.

Multi-camera Telefilm Studio Production

This maintains the live element of the studio production with the editing of a single-camera telefilm production. Programming is shot live in front of an audience, then recorded and edited later for broadcast. You can edit around mistakes and do re-takes this way. This became the standard way to film most sitcoms, etc.

Range of story information

refers to how much information the plot presents to the viewer.

Unrestricted/Omniscient narration

Any story material can be presented without regard to what main characters know or experience. Most soap operas use this kind of narration, but also many sitcoms and dramas use it, too. The viewer is given 100% access to everything going on in the story world.

Restricted narration

Story information is filtered through the experiences of one or two main characters, so the audience doesn’t know everything all the time. The book cites shows like Dragnet, House M.D., and Medium as examples. Sometimes narration is impacted by space rather than characters like the bar in Cheers. Presumably, stuff happens outside of the bar, but the viewer is only privy to what happens there.

objective narration

The TV show presents the external world via what the characters do and say. We don’t hear and see their inner thoughts, dreams, memories, etc. This is on the shallow end of “depth of story information.”

subjective narration

Story information is presented from the perspective of a particular character. this may be achieved through shots representing the character’s vision (point of view shots), flashbacks to their memories, or dream sequences.

Anthology series

Stand-alone narratives. The characters and story-worlds change from episode to episode. Each episode’s events are independent from the episodes that come before or after it. It’s a fairly rare kind of series now, but sort of making a comeback. It was much more popular in the early decades of tv. Example: Twilight Zone

Episodic series

These shows feature “a consistent story world, but each episode is relatively independent.” This series has a regular cast of characters and sets, but self-contained narratives. The viewer would not have to view any other episodes of the series in order to comprehend what happens in any given episode. This is the format for most sitcoms. There is little or no growth or change in the characters across the series; the sequence of episodes isn’t all that important. Example: The Dick van Dyke Show

Episodic serials

feature a recurring story world, characters, settings, etc. but have narratives that typically stretch over multiple episodes before being resolved. They might be as brief as a two-part episode or an entire season, but the plotting of narrative material from episode to episode has greater significance. A viewer could probably follow what’s happening for most of a random episode, but there are portions of the narrative that only make sense when episodes are watched in the order they were intended. Example: Parks and Rec

Serial narratives

The most extreme form of shows featuring narratives that continually build from episode to episode. There are recurring characters, sets, and story worlds. However, most viewers would be unable to jump into the middle of a season and watch a random episode because nearly everything depicted is dependent upon what has already been shown. Example: Breaking Bad

Genre Conventions

these are a set of expectations governing a show’s mode of production and storytelling strategies

genre cycles

When a group of similar shows achieves popularity at a given moment, these emerge, and particular types of shows saturate the airwaves. 

soap opera

Took format from radio. particularly long serial narratives; require slow forward movement of plots, repetition, and nuanced interactions between characters.

game show

these shows came from a radio tradition, but became very popular in the 1960s after the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. These shows fall into subgenres based on their mechanics.

Sitcom

Often derided as repetitive, ridiculous, and formulaic, but these have also been some of the most beloved and innovative shows. These emerged from radio variety shows and stand-up comedy/vaudeville. Two types; domestic comedy & workplace comedy.

talk shows

these are defined by their dialog between people; These are low-cost, usually shot multi-camera studios with live editing to videotape or sometimes broadcast live; the roots reach back to radio.

Representation

takes facets of the real world and presents them on-screen, but alters their meanings through the act of televising them.

Satire

broad term indicating critical commentary on a topic using pointed and often ironic humor. Example: The Simpsons

Parody

A kind of satire, it directly mimics the form of another text, often changing or exaggerating the content to make fun of the original genre, style, or story. Example: Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons.

Escapism

TV’s meanings have little to do with the real world we live in.

Reflection

if it’s on screen, it must be true to viewers’ lives, or that’s the way we as Americans live.

Refraction

like a funhouse mirror, tv programs alter the appearance of lived experience; a middle ground.

Cultural norm

ideological theory suggests that by making a position appear to be commonsense and natural, it becomes this

Hailing

TV programs are one part of a dialog with the viewer. Shows open conversations, and TV programs call out to viewers by getting our attention and let us know we’re being addressed. This means viewers recognize something about the program as speaking to them personally.

Ideology and Hegemony

a dominant set of ideals is accepted by the populace at large. These ideals are part of everyday life. A set of shared values and beliefs held by a group of people/society.

Ideological Critique

People who analyze TV as promoting ideology engage in this of tv to reveal its meanings.

Consent

as ideologies resonate with how people view their world, the ideologies become accepted and embraced, which creates this for the ruling class’s belief systems and positions.

Cultural Forum

It’s not just a place where the ruling class imposes its ideology upon you, but rather an ongoing debate with varying viewpoints contesting issues and ideas. In this theory, TV programs may contain ideological messages or viewpoints, but those messages and viewpoints are presented with critique and conflict.