1. Chapter 7 Television

2. Goals of this chapter We will discuss the history and progression of the television industry We will examine some social implications of television, and TV content

3. TV History TV Pioneers – 1922 – 15 yr. old, Philo Farnsworth (tractor, hay, Idaho) earned a patent for the television – Experimental transmissions (Jenkins and Baird) came in 1925 – The First home broadcasts arrived in 1928 – The BBC was the first TV service in 1936 – The U.S. started regular broadcasts in 1939 – FCC set standards in 1941, but development stopped during WWII – Following WWII, advancements in TV cameras, microwave technology and the invention of coaxial cable thrust TV into high gear

4. TV History (cont ’ d) The FCC Freeze 1948-1952 – With 108 stations and 1 million TV sets in the U.S., the FCC needed a frequency assignment plan – They put a ban on new channels from broadcasting wary of the perceived shortage of frequencies available – By 1952, 15 million sets (1 in 3 American homes) – In 1952 the Sixth Report and Order rules allotted VHF (very high frequencies) channels 2-13 –Prospered thanks to more power and integration of receivers into TV sets –Limited to a maximum of 3 licenses per major city—resulting in 3 national networks UHF (Ultra-high frequencies) channels 14-83 set aside channels for educational broadcasting

5. TV History (cont ’ d) The Golden Age (Late 1940s-Early 1950s) – TV was black and white – Most programs were broadcast live Recall in Back to the Future, they “tuned in” only to find static, waited and the broadcast began TVs didn’t have constant programming – TVs used Antennas that needed adjustment – Remote controls weren’t invented until 1955 – Dramatic programming typically had new casts every week (like Twilight Zone) – TV news began to significantly influence public affairs in 1954—with McCarthy’s televised public hearings

6. TV History (cont ’ d) The Big Three (NBC, CBS and ABC) – NBC stages the first network TV broadcast in 1946 and also the first prime-time lineup two years later – Network TV wasn’t profitable until 1951 – Network Content initially was imported from their respective radio programs – First Network TV “Star” was Milton Berle (on NBC’s The Texaco Star Theater) Popular enough that people reportedly bought TVs just to watch his show—movie theaters emptied on nights the show aired

7. TV History (cont ’ d) Introduction of Advertisements – Early programs would have only one sponsor Book gives example of a chorus resembling Texaco station attendants – Later, with longer programs, it was too expensive for only one sponsor Spot Advertisements were introduced in minute-long segments Expansion into more American homes – In 1956, 2/3 of American houses had television This created a more generalized audience than the initial group of more well-educated, affluent, urban individuals Programs such as drama anthologies and public affairs programs were no longer satisfying the audience Ratings took over, measuring the proportion of television households that watch a specific show – In 1951, in response to consumer and economic demand Sitcoms were introduced: I Love Lucy (Gave CBS dominance) Game shows (No scripts, no professional actors = cheap… reality TV?!) also became popular in the mid-50s

8. TV History (cont ’ d) TV courts Hollywood – I Love Lucy was the first TV show to be filmed in Southern California – ABC’s first series was Disneyland in 1954 (finally bringing ABC up to network parity with the other two) Show renamed: Walt Disney Presents (1959), Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961 on NBC), The Wonderful world of Disney (1967), Disney’s Wonderful World (1979), to CBS Walt Disney (1981-3), The Disney Sunday Movie (1985), The Magical World of Disney (1997) on ABC – By 1957 virtually everything except for soap operas and news programs relocated to Hollywood – Eventually (as discussed previously) movie studios began selling broadcast rights of their films to TV networks Beginning in 1961 with NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies

9. TV History (cont ’ d) Troubling Times and Public Disenchantment – 1958 game show scandal – loser complained that answers were supplied to the winner – 1960 – presidential debate (Kennedy vs. Nixon) – 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis – 1963 – Kennedy Assassination & Funeral – This period showed coverage on Vietnam, Civil Rights and antiwar protests and rallies Many blamed TV as being a counterculture device –Surgeon General Warning: Exposure to Television might be related to violence (seriously).

10. TV History (cont ’ d) Competition for the Big Three Emerges – Public Television: FCC’s Sixth Report and Order set aside educational channels Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 set aside funding with the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB) based on taxes – Cable Television: Expanded from initial rebroadcast of network programming, to premium cable networks (HBO) to advertising supported cable channels – Subscription TV: single pay-to-unscramble UHF channels that didn’t last beyond the introduction of cable – Satellite: enabled owners of the 6 ft. dish to get free programming from cable companies until they learned how to scramble the signal – Home Video: VCRs appeared in 1975 and video stores spread rapidly in the 1980s; onset of time-shifting

11. TV History (cont ’ d) Competition starts to take its toll – All of the Big Three get new owners in the 1980’s – New networks emerge as alternatives thanks to gov’t deregulation and improved prospects Fox-1987, UPN, WB-1993 – Big Three revert to old strategy (circa 1950’s) Cut production costs: Game shows, reality TV –Millionaire, America’s Funniest Home Video, Survivor They have managed to attain decent sized audience with the latest wave of reality tv – By 1998 they have less than 50% of prime time audience

12. TV History (cont ’ d) TV and the Information Age – Telecom Act of 1996 results in massive mergers Disney buys ABC; Viacom buys CBS – 1998 saw the first HDTV station go live – FCC says: All TVs digital by 2006 Industry moving too slowly, so… FCC says: All TVs sold after July 2004, 34 inches or bigger must be digital (smaller sets in 2007)

13. TV Technology: TV Sets 1884 – Paul Nipkow’s scanning principle – Persistence of vision and a linear progression of light spots 1925 – First TV sets are created by Jenkins and Baird Early “Tubes” electrical light and powder coating – CRT receivers (cathode ray tube) and the human eye 1941 – the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) sets American TV standards – 525 lines; 262 at a time—with interlacing Digital television uses progressive scanning (60 fps) – French and German engineers improved the technology in the 1960s and this resulted in Pal and Secam formats Modern high-def screens can be: – LCD – has 3 tiny solid state devices controlling light through three filters – Plasma – 3 miniature fluorescent lights at each pixel and are activated through wires running all over the screen – CRT – Also found in higher end projection equipment

14. TV Tech: Television Signals TV uses Radio frequencies to transmit information – Northeast vs. Illinois, Kansas – Images are sent via AM carrier frequencies Called “luminance signals”; color is attached to this same frequency (a form of multiplexing) – Sound is sent via FM frequency Two major ranges of TV signals: – VHF – Very High Frequencies (Channels 2-13) FM radio travels between channels 6-7---driving along hearing TV news or Friends (look in the upper 80s and low 90s) – UHF – Ultra High Frequencies (Channels 14-69)

15. TV Tech: Recording Debut in 1956: the Jonathan Winters Show – Video Recording initially required large 2 inch reels of magnetic tape – Size was impractical for home use, but much more practical for TV studio’s VCR (1975) was only possible thanks to helical scanning (record on a slant) – Still used in VHS (Video Home System—U.S.) DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) – higher capacity than VHS, CD; higher quality too – Concern is pirating: MovieLink, MovieBeam DVR (PVR) – TiVo and ReplayTV (Digital VCR) VOD – cable company’s medium of choice

16. TV Tech: Digital Television Already mentioned FCC ruling – Digital Television by Dec, 2006 (or when 85% of pop have HDTV-ready TVs) – Networks have to return the VHF bandwidth to the gov’t when they finally convert to digital Thereby dropping radiowave broadcasts and Analog coverage Aside from production facilities needing upgrades… Reruns must too be converted to digital (cost? $25,000) HDTV doubles the number of vertical scan lines (to 1080) and widens the aspect ratio (16:9) – Provides clearer pictures and 6 channel surround sound 6 times more information than SDTV With digital television, things like interactive TV become more readily available and practical – DVRs, X-Boxes, and WebTV are pseudo systems

17. TV Industry: Major Players 5 Major companies control the TV media today (2004) – Time Warner – WB, HBO, Cinemax, CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, TBS… – Disney – ABC, ESPN (etc.), Disney Channel, Toon Disney, ABC Family shares in Lifetime, E!, A&E, and History Channel… – Viacom – CBS, UPN, Showtime, Spike, MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, BET, TV Land… – News Corp – Fox, FX, Fox News Channel, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Sports, Fox Kid’s, Speedvision… – General Electric – NBC, Telemundo, share of PAX, MSNBC, CNBC, part of AMC, A&E, History Channel, Bravo

18. TV Industry: Content Production by Genre Entertainment – – prior to 1993 production companies simply sold first run rights to big networks – After Fin-Syn rules, most companies started producing in-house – Creation Stages First 1000s of ideas are pitched to companies Phone surveys narrow field down to several 100 –Scripts are written A few dozen are made into pilots that are then shown to audiences in auditoriums and sometimes in regional broadcasts Resulting reaction primarily determines whether it will reach the national airtime

19. Network News – Can’t make money in syndication (just first run) – Evening news and magazines are mostly created in-house – Most now rely on local network affiliates, foreign services and wire services for video and content – CNN, FOX News and MSNBC have emerged as Cable news competitors Advantage: 24 hr. coverage Disadvantage: Much TV News coverage has come to resemble entertainment as they compete for viewers Local News – Mostly comprised of newscasts or magazine-format shows – Quite profitable because they are popular with local people and advertisers TV Industry: Content Production by Genre (cont ’ d)

20. Sports – Networks have to bid for the rights (from the leagues) to cover major events ABC pays $500 million per year to broadcast Monday night football – They hire their own commentators, crew and producers ABC spends another $3 million per year to produce it PBS – Most public broadcasting programs are produced in the major cities (New York, LA, etc.) – Minority of programs (Sesame Street, Masterpiece Theater…) come from independent producers – Stations are Publicly funded at $250 million per year Programming Executives in D.C. decide what goes on the air Cable Production – Many cable systems produce local origination programming UCTV and ECSU – Most Cable providers also supply local communities with a community access channel TV Industry: Content Production by Genre (cont ’ d)

21. National Distribution – Commercial Broadcast Networks (CBS, NBC…) These networks typically lose money –Big 3 earns over $3 Billion per year, but figure all costs and it adds up – Basic Cable Networks (ESPN, Discovery…) Primarily derive revenue from national advertising and affiliate fees— some do open up local advertising spots – Pay Services (HBO, Cinemax…) Revenue comes only from monthly subscriber fees Pay-per-view – Public Broadcasting (PBS) Is not technically a “network” but does distribute nationally through satellites There are around 350 Public stations (including college) – Syndication Local stations fill up time-slots with syndicated content Cheaper than producing their own TV Industry: Distribution

22. TV industry: Distribution (cont ’ d) Local Distribution – Group-Owned Stations (including the big 5) Controlled by a company that owns several stations Benefits through economies of scale – Network Affiliates Local ABC station is not necessarily owned by Disney Disney has a contract with them, allowing them to present content (in some cases paying them: affiliate compensation) – Independent Stations Few still exist, however they would survive by only purchasing syndicated shows (no money for direct production) and selling local ad spots – Local Station Personnel sheet can be found on pg. 214

23. TV industry: Advertisers Advertisers’ yearly expenditures? $36 Billion on broadcast networks and $14 million more on cable National Advertisers – Sell general-consumption products (ex. soda) – Typically get first shot at buying blocks of air-time, called the up-front section If they pass on the ads, then it goes to the spot ad, then scatter ad block National Spot/Regional Advertisers – Sell products with a more limited appeal (ex. snow tires) Local Advertisers – Auto dealers and supermarkets buy slots during local shows

24. TV Industry: Network TV Major program classifications: – Early Morning: breakfast shows (Good Morning America) – Late Morning-Early Afternoon: soap operas and talk shows (Jerry Springer) target housewives, older people and students – After School: cartoons, young adult comedies and teenage sitcoms (Saved by the Bell) – Early Evening: News, local and national & game shows – Prime Time: Sitcoms, dramas, and feature films – Late night: Talk shows, comedy and music Targeting teenagers—who stay up later – Overnight: Old movies and syndicated series Targeting shift employees, insomniacs and young adults

25. TV industry: Cable Programming Goal is to switch viewers away from networks Strategies employed: – Bridging: scheduling programs to run past the hour/half hour (TBS and x:15, :05) – Programming clock found in radio (Weather channel) – Niche channels for narrowcasting (OLN) – Genre channels CNN (news), ESPN (sports)