Richard E. Caplan The University of Akron 8. Television Christopher Burnett California State, Long Beach

Widespread Presence Huge social impact Average viewing 8 hrs/day –Per household Blamed for –Decline in literacy –Rise in crime –Trivialization of politics Praised for –Window to the world –Sense of unity in time of crisis AP/Wide World Photos

A Complex Program Delivery System Programs delivered by antenna, cable and satellite 1600 TV stations in U.S. –75% commercial –25% non-commercial Programming exists to connect the largest possible number of people to advertising An advertising medium –$2 million for 30 sec. on the Super Bowl Kevin Winter/Getty Images “American Idol”

Time spent viewing TV Illustration 8.1

“Visual Radio” becomes “Television” Nipkow disk, 1884 –“electrical telescope” General Electric broadcasts first dramatic TV production, 1928 Vladimir Zworykin –Visual electronic signals Philo T. Farnsworth –Cathode ray tube 1939 World’s Fair –TV’s commercial debut NBC and CBS, first networks

Television Takes Over Radio TV jumped from 19%-41% audience in one year, 1949 News with Pictures –Edward R. Murrow, CBS –David Brinkley, NBC Entertainment Programming –Quiz Shows –Variety Shows –Situation Comedies –Drama –Westerns –Detective Stories –Movies –Soap Operas –Talk Shows 7pm-11pm: Prime Time Edward R. Murrow John Springer Collection/Corbis

Quiz Show Scandals Quiz show craze, 1958 $64,000 Question –Many imitators Programming produced by the advertising sponsors themselves Charles Van Doren –Played on Twenty-One –Won $129,000 –Admitted he was fed the answers Ended advertiser programming Charles Van Doren (right) on “21” ©Bettmann/Corbis

TV Ratings A.C. Nielsen Ratings –Percentage of the total number of households watching a particular television station Share –Percentage of households watching television that are watching a particular television station Sweeps –Sweeps months February, May, July and November –Broadcasts showcase the best programs Demographics –Specific information on age, occupation and income of audience

The TV “Ratings” Illustration 8.2a

TV “Share” Illustration 8.2b

TV Dominates the Airwaves 1960s produced questions about TV –Uncritical viewing –Scandals aftermath Newton Minow –FCC Chairman, 1961 Encouraged responsibility Broadcasters are public trustees The Television Age Called TV programming a “vast wasteland” The New Yorker Collection 2005/ cartoonbank.com

Public Television National Educational Television, 1963 Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 –Corporation for Public Broadcasting - CPB –Public Broadcast Service PBS.org Sesame Street Masterpiece Theater –Federal funds and Corporate donors –Decline in Funding Claro Cortes IV/Reuters/Corbis

Satellite Color TV –Dominant by Apollo moon broadcast Telstar I –1st trans-Atlantic satellite TV broadcast July 10, 1962 Geosynchronous orbit –22,000 miles –30,000 phone calls, 3 TV channels CNN and DirectTV

Television and National Politics John F. Kennedy –1st TV President –1960 Nixon-Kennedy Debates –Assassination coverage Nixon v. the press –Watergate –Hearings and resignation Ronald Reagan –The Great Communicator –C-Span –Iran-Contra

TV and the 21st Century Images of Grief Diana, Princess of Wales –Traffic death, 1997 Terrorist Attacks –World Trade Center and Pentagon, 2001 Live from Iraq –First war broadcast live, 2003 –“Embedded” reporters 9/11/01 Ground Zero Doug Kanter/AFP Photo/Getty Images

Working In Television Sales –Advertising Programming –Content Production –In-house programs Engineering Traffic –Airing the ads Promotion Public affairs Administration Jobs Link

Stations O&O –Network owned and operated Affiliates –Network programming, but not network owned Independents –About 1/3 of commercial television stations –Mostly UHF –Old movies, reruns, syndicated programs Syndication –Independently produced programming

The Business of Television Station Ownership –Telecommunication Act of 1996 –New rules of ownership –Concentration Networks’ Shrinking Role –1986 revenue decline –1978, 90% primetime audience –Down to 50% Ratings Accuracy –Nielsen’s “people meters” –Measurement issues National Association of Broadcasters

Network Share of Primetime Audience Illustration 8.3

Cable Industry Community antenna television (CATV), late 1960s 2500 CATV systems by 1970 FCC regulations Home Box Office (HBO) 1972 TNT, 1976 and CNN % U.S. homes have basic cable From cable to satellite, 1994 –Direct Broadcast Satellite Over 200 choices available

Where people watch TV at home Illustration 8.4

Spending on Cable & Satellite Illustration 8.5

TV’s Changes TV’s Impact on Sports –1964, CBS paid $28 million for NFL rights –1990, cost of $3.6 billion Even higher today –TV funds much of professional sports –Expansion to cable (ESPN and others) Spanish-Language TV –New audience –Univision draws more viewers than all English language networks –Telenovelas ©2006 NBAE/Fernando Medina/NBAE/Getty Images

TV and the Future Digital Television –Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) –Set-top box –Time-Shifting –Total viewer control High-Definition TV –HDTV –Twice the resolution Forecasting the Future –Merging telephone and cable (fiber optics) AP/Wide World Photos

Critical Discussion 1.As times and technologies have changed, is it possible for TV news people to make the same kind of impact as Edward R. Murrow did? 2.What is motivating The Neilsen Company to start ratings of viewers outside their homes? What impact will the change have, short- and long-term? AP/Wide World Photos