Television: Broadcast and Beyond Draft for Ed 6 Chapter 9

Anchor as Advocate Jorge Ramos speaks to huge audience (triple CNN's audience) as Univision anchor. Ramos is advocate for Latino and immigrant groups; part of shift on many cable channels to opinion journalism. Noted for controversy during 2016 presidential campaign with Donald Trump.

Invention of Television Philo T. Farnsworth 1922: Diagrams plans for television at age 16. 1930: Receives patent cathode ray tube. RCA attempted to promote its own Vladimir Zworykin as inventor of TV. 1947: Farnsworth’s television patent expires just before TV starts to take off.

Beginning of Broadcast Television 1939: NBC starts broadcasting, most sets in bars, restaurants. 1942: TV manufacturing suspended for duration of WW II; most stations go off air. Licensing of new TV stations suspended 1948-1952, leaving many cities without television.

Lucy & Desi End Live TV 1951: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz create I Love Lucy. First sitcom to be filmed, rather than live. Lucy and Desi hold onto syndication rights to the show, still being broadcast today.

Color Television 1950s: Early experiments in color television. 1965: Big Three networks broadcasting in color. NBC peacock logo designed to tell B&W viewers show was in color. Early color TVs cost equivalent of big screen TVs today.

Beginning of Cable Television Community Antenna Television (CATV) Early form of cable television used to distribute broadcast channels in communities with poor television reception Relatively expensive, was source of a good TV signal, not additional programming

Rebirth of Cable By mid-1970s, FCC began loosening rules on cable companies. 1975: HBO starts providing programming nationwide, sending signal to local cable companies via satellite. Key Point: HBO could send programming to 1,000 cable companies as cheaply as to one.

Ted Turner – Cable Pioneer 1963: Inherits failing billboard company from father. 1970: Buys Channel 17 in Atlanta. Buys Atlanta Braves and Hawks sports franchises to provide programming for channel. Turns Channel 17 into Superstation WTBS in 1976, takes local station national.

Ted Turner – Cable Pioneer 1980: CNN becomes first cable 24-hour news network. Developed idea of repackaging content across multiple channels. 1996: Turner Broadcasting faces financial trouble, is acquired by media giant Time Warner.

What’s on Cable? Affiliates of Big Four broadcast networks Independents and smaller network affiliates Superstations Local-access channels Cable networks Premium channels Pay-per-view Audio services

Home Recording Late 1970s: Videocassette Recorder (VCR) becomes household appliance. Movie studios fight spread of VCRs, but 1984 Supreme Court decision says consumers can make recordings for own use. 21st Century: DVRs, DVDs, on-demand replacing VCR technology.

Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Early satellite TV required large/expensive dish. Smaller pizza-sized DBS cheaper, easier to use than old systems; competing with cable. As of 2015, 33 million American households have DBS.

Conversion to Digital Broadcasting Farnsworth’s television technology was analog. Same technology for decades. B&W televisions could still receive new color signals. In 2009, all broadcast television converted to digital. Analog sets went dark without either conversion box or cable/satellite.

Digital Television High-definition television (HDTV) High-resolution, wide-screen format with enhanced sound Standard digital television Can broadcast up to six channels in airspace that carried one old-style channel

Networks & Affiliates Broadcast networks provide programming to local affiliate stations. Affiliates have license from FCC, equipment, and local staff. If affiliate carries programming from network, get limited ad revenue and (may) get carriage fee. Can also carry local and syndicated programming, keep all ad revenue.

Public Broadcasting 1967: Corporation for Public Broadcasting created. Public Broadcasting System (PBS) provides network- like programming to member stations. PBS initially known for children’s programming like Sesame Street. 1990s: PBS expands audience with programming like Ken Burns documentaries. 2015: Sesame Street moves to HBO for first-run episodes; PBS continues to air episodes after they are shown on HBO.

Big Three Becomes Big Four 1986: Rupert Murdoch launches Fox Network. Attracted independent stations by offering them free programming. Shows like NFL football, The Simpsons, Empire, Family Guy and Bones have made Fox top-rated broadcaster.

Audience Ratings Challenge of rating major and minor broadcast networks, major cable networks, and minor cable networks Problem of counting DVR audiences Nielsen Media Research is major rating company

Measuring Audiences People Meters used in larger markets Sweeps periods used to measure audience size of individual stations (4 times/year) Rating point Percentage of potential television audience actually watching the show Share Percentage of television sets in use tuned to a show

An Earthquake in Slow Motion 1976: Average viewer has 7 channels, Big Three networks have 90 percent of viewers. 1991: Average viewer has 33 channels, Big Three lose 1/3rd of viewers. 2011: ESPN most profitable part of Disney. 2013-2016: ESPN loses 7 million subscribers as viewers find alternatives to cable/satellite. Cable/Satellite more profitable because get subscription fees and ad revenue. Streaming services major new source of competition.

Diversity on Television Networks frequently criticized for ignoring people of color. Growth of non-English speaking characters Growth of shows with African American women as leads High level of diversity with competitors on Food Network

Spanish Language Broadcasting Univision is fifth largest broadcast network; often top rated in urban areas. Suffering from general downturn facing Spanish- language media Spanish-language telenovelas popular, produced in Mexico, Brazil. (Brazilian shows translated from Portuguese to Spanish.)

Black Entertainment Network 1980: Washington, DC area local station. First black-owned cable network Worth $2 billion at time it sold to Viacom

Television as a Social Force Television brings world into the home in an easy-to- consume format. Television becomes dominant source of shared experience. Television can dominate people’s leisure activity. Video from non-TV sources is growing in popularity.

Standards for Television 1950s: Married couples had to sleep in separate beds; Capri pants immodest. 1990s: Mild nudity appears on broadcast television. 1997: Broadcasters implement content ratings. Cable only stations are not subject to FCC rules on decency

Problem of Decency 2004: Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction”; decency rules become stricter. 2012: U.S. Supreme Court throws out fines for Jackson exposure, but doesn’t clarify decency standards. No fines for Nancy Grace exposure during Dancing With The Stars. No clear standard as of 2012.

Future of Television Video-on-demand Interacting with programming Convergence of television and Internet Rise of mobile streaming apps such as Periscope Changing definition of “television” Moving from broadcast/cable/satellite to “cord cutting”