American Television

Broadcasting

• transmission from one to many

• transmission over the air via naturally occurring frequencies

Radio Act of 1912

requires all the interstate radio stations to be licensed by the government

Radio Act of 1927

the government beings allocating spectrum space based on the “public interest”

Communication Act of 1934

creates the FCC to oversee broadcasting spectrum licenses

The public interest

• popularity

• technological superiority

• “liberal” approach to speech

• moral decorum

Broadcasting Networks

1. a broadcasting system consisting of a series of transmitters able to be linked together to carry the same program

2. a group of radio or television stations linked by such a system

3. a large broadcasting company which produces programs to be relayed to affiliated local stations

Early Broadcasters

• NBC Red (owned by RCA)

• NBC Blue (owned by RCA)

• CBS

• Mutual

Broadcasters Today

• NBC (comcast)

• ABC (Disney)

• the CW

• PBS

Broadcast Content

• family friendly

• target large, undifferentiated audiences

• lives or dies by ratings

• must follow set episode lengths and season lengths and make spaces for commericals

• least objectionable content

The Beulah Show

• adapted from radio

• TV series 1950-1952 ABC

• sponsored by Proctor and Gamble

Amos ‘N Andy

• 1951-1953 CBS

• adapted from radio show

• sponsored by Blatz Brewing Company

• cancelled despite very high ratings due to NAACP protests

• remained in syndication until 1966

Malapropism

the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect

Multicamera Setup

• 3 limited-movement cameras

• a traditional stage

• microphoned audience

• usually an MC to prep the audience

• unless broadcast live, sequences are often done multiple takes

“Golden Years” of TV (1955-1965)

• color TV goes live in 1956

• the most popular shows were quiz shows, sitcoms, and westerns

Quiz Show Scandal (late 1950s)

• revealed to be fixed

• led to a 1960 amendment to the Communications Act that banned the fixing of game shows

• resulted in increased network control of programs

• helped hasten the transition to “magazine-style” advertising and what is usually called the “classical network era” of broadcasting

Classical Network Era (late 1950s-mid1980s)

• oligopoly: only 3 networks

• vertical integration: networks control all aspects of business

• production

• distribution

• exhibition

Classical Network Era Production

produce their own shows, this radically limiting the market for hollywood studios and independent producers

Classical Network Era Distribution

networks took more control of affiliates’ schedules; networks controlled syndication rights

Classical Network Era Exhibition

networks brought up stations in metropolitan areas

Syndication

when a television series is sold to a local station for showing outside of the network’s schedule

The Donna Reed Show

• 1958-1966 ABC

• sponsored by Campbell Soup

• ratings started low but steadily improved throughout the 1960s

• single camera setup

Single-Camera Setup

• one camera filming at a time

• a soundstage

• no audience present

• a scene will be constructed from multiple shots, taken from different angles, stitched together in editing

• when audience laughter can be heard, it is always fake, added in post-production

Soundstage

usually a fully constructed four-wall set with no ceilings and fake outdoor space

The Dick Van-Dyke Show

• 1961-1966 CBS

• vaudeville links

• sponsored by Proctor and Gamble

• high ratings start in season 2

Broadcast News

• very early radio had no real news

• mid-1920s: national networks had short news bulletins

• 1930s: live coverage of national events begins to happen in limited form

• WWII formalized broadcast news as an institution

What was early broadcast news like?

• varies in scope, scale, and budget: Local news, national news, daily news vs. “special reports”

• differed from newspapers in that it avoided explicit political bias; attempted “neutrality” or “both sides-ed-ness”

• was run and staffed by educated, highly literate white men

• was highly professionalized; strict rules, procedures, standards of decorum

• did not make or intent ot make money

CBS Reports

• 1959-now CBS

• a successor to Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now

• documentary news series

• sometimes broadcast as specials, sometimes had a primetime spot

• held in very high esteem, then and now

TV News Broadcast Today

• broadcast news is local and national

• different from “cable” news: Fox News, CNN, MSNBC

• is rarely talked about or shared online

• is arguably more influential than cable news

Daily Viewing Modern News

• combined daily viewing totals for ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly news: 18-20 million

• daily viewing total for Fox News primetime lineup: 2-2.6 million

Julia

• 1968-1971 NBC

• first sitcom to star an African-American since the early 1950s

• produced and written by Hal Kanter, with a team of white and black writers

• highly rated in first season; by third season fell out of the top 30

The Prime-Time Access Rule (PTAR)

• passed in 1970

• required that one half hour of the daily prime-time schedule be returned to affiliate stations to use as they see fit

• goal: the affiliates would use this newly freed time for local and independently produced programming

• reality: the affiliates purchased syndicated programming produced and/or owned by the networks

The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (FIN-SYN)

• 1971

• rules limited the number of programs that a network could own to 15 hours a week of non-news shows

• stipulated that networks could buy independently produced programming only for a limited one-time run; after the network run, the rights returned to the producers, who were free to sell the program into syndication and keep the profits

FIN-SYN Goal/Reality

• Goal: break up the network’s financial control over programming and increase the viability of independent producers, thereby creating greater potential for new, innovative, and high quality programming

• Reality: generally seen as successful

The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

• 1970

• banned the advertising of tobacco products on television and radio

• Goal: begin to address the public health concerns around cigarettes by limiting their advertising

• Reality: successful

The Fairness Doctrine

• introduced in 1949 but not enforced until late 1960s

• required that broadcasters dedicate programming time to issues of public importance and do so in a manner that was “fair” and “balanced”

• Goal: increase socially relevant programming. prevent bias broadcasters OR threaten broadcasters who are too critical of the President

• Reality: generally regarded as misguided

Cable TV

• 1940s

• used wires to bring over-the-air signals to TV homes, usually in rural areas poorly served by broadcast stations

• 1968 Supreme Court upheld FCC’s authority to regulate cable in 1972 the FCC issued its first set of clear rules for the industry

• Goal: provide viability and order for a nascent industry

• Reality: cable has limited influence until the 1980s

Roots

• 1977

• based on novel

• score produced by Quincy Jones

• ABC anticipated the show would be a failure

• won 9 emmy awards

• final ep has high Nielson ratings

All in the Family

• 1971-1979 CBS

• developed and produced by Norman Lear

• multi-camera setup

• shot on video tape rather than film

• extraordinarily popular; number 1 show in the US from 1971-1976