1. Television
Broadcast and Beyond

2. Television: Broadcast and Cable/Satellite
The Invention of Television
Philo T. Farnsworth:
developed the central concepts of television at age fourteen
the lines of a tilled potato field supposedly the inspiration behind the technology
September 7, 1927: “There you are, electronic television.”

3. Vladimir Zworykin:
working to develop television for RCA
filed for a patent on it in 1923
U.S. patent office ruled in favor of Farnsworth
Farnsworth’s high school chemistry teacher supported his arguments
RCA lost, and had to pay royalties
television development halted for World War II
Farnsworth’s patents expired in 1947

4. The Beginning of Broadcasting
1939, NBC transmitted television broadcasts from the New York World’s Fair.
From 1948 to 1952, the licensing of new television stations was frozen:
needed to give the FCC time to determine best way to regulate television
early, popular programming included comedy and variety shows, some dramas.

5. The Arrival of Color Television
In only three shows were regularly shown in color:
NBC peacock logo
By 1965, all three major networks were broadcasting in color.
Cost of early color sets was very high.

6. Cable and Satellite Television
Community Antenna Television
pioneered by the Parsons family of Astoria, Oregon
connected a cable to an antenna to strengthen signal
became known as community antenna television (CATV)
up until the 1970s, cable was a way to get a better signal, not more channels

7. Satellite Distribution and the Rebirth of Cable
By the mid-1970s, FCC relaxed regulation.
Home Box Office (HBO) began in 1975.
Satellite systems had advantage over networks:
hundreds of cable systems could obtain the programming as cheaply as one

8. Ted Turner on December 27, 1976—launched Superstation WTBS
created Cable News Network (CNN) and CNN Headline News
TNT, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies
in 1996 Turner Broadcasting bought by Warner Brothers:
merger allowed Turner access to more media

9. Types of Cable Programming:
Two-thirds of Americans have cable; 12.9 percent in the United Kingdom.
Types of Cable Programming:
affiliates of the major broadcast networks
independent stations and minor network affiliates.
superstations (WTBS, WGN, etc.)
local-access channels
cable networks (MTV, CNN, BET, etc.).
premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.).
pay-per-view channels
audio services

10. Hollywood and the VCR initially two incompatible formats, costly
by 1991, VCRs found in seven out of ten homes
Universal and Disney sued Sony over its promotion of the VCR for recording movies:
1984—U.S. Supreme Court ruled that viewers had the right to record copyrighted programs for their own use
VCR ownership peaked in 1999 (89 percent).

11. Direct Broadcast Satellites
1990s—advent of the low-earth-orbit direct broadcast satellite
fall 2006—in approximately 26 percent of U.S. homes
head-to-head competition with cable
specialized programming (NFL package)

12. Digital Television
All television broadcasting in the United States is scheduled to be digital by February 17, 2009:
those without digital sets will need a converter
Two digital formats:
high-definition television (HDTV)—a wide-screen format, high resolution picture
standard digital television—allows multiple channels to be delivered on same frequency
On November 1, 1998 Space Shuttle Discovery launch:
first nationally-broadcast digital program

13. From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: The Changing Business of Television
The Big Three:
NBC, CBS, and ABC
television network—companies that provide programs to local stations around the country
network makes money from national advertising:
network affiliate keeps all ad revenue from programming they produce/carry

14. Educational Broadcasting Becomes Public Broadcasting
Public Broadcasting Act of 1967:
established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
funding for noncommercial programs on Public Broadcasting System (PBS)
Sesame Street—November 8, 1969
popular documentaries

15. FOX Network: on the air in 1986 in six out of ten top U.S. markets
string of popular programs
“stole” NFL away from Big Three networks

16. Defining Ratings Nielsen Media Research:
tracks television usage in 9,000 U.S. homes
uses PeopleMeters in large markets, viewer diaries in smaller markets
sweeps—quarterly viewership measurement
rating point—the percentage of the total potential television audience for a show
share—the percentage of sets actually tuned to a particular show

17. An Earthquake in Slow Motion
1976—nine of ten people were watching network television
by 1991—Big Three lost a third of audience
more channels on cable
Big Three networks sold to new owners in 1985
broadcast networks’ revenue plummeted in the 1990s
cable programs cheaper to produce
cable channels have both a subscription fee and-advertising revenue

18. Television News Goes 24/7
began with brief coverage of the 1940 Republican national convention on NBC
by 1948, both parties’ conventions were covered
1947—Meet the Press
TV’s longest-running news/commentary program
August 1948—CBS airing nightly fifteen minute news show
CBS coverage of 1956 sinking of the Andrea Doria
in 1963, CBS and NBC expand to half hour nightly news broadcast (ABC in 1967)

19. November 3, 1979—Americans held hostage in Iran
ABC started a nightly news update at 11:30 p.m. EST.
show eventually became Nightline
1980—CNN goes on air
1991 Gulf War—attracted large audience with its twenty-four-hour coverage
by 2003 Iraq War—had significant competition
by 2002, FOX News getting higher ratings than CNN

20. Diversity on Television
1999—Big Four networks introduced twenty-six new shows
none featured a nonwhite lead character
Fall of 2006
thirty-two of the forty-three new shows featured Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American actors
Lost
featured diverse cast (interracial couple, non-English speaking actor)

21. Univision and Spanish-Language Broadcasting
Univision—Spanish-language broadcast network:
fifth largest broadcast network
Telemundo
Telenovelas—Spanish soap operas
Make up fifteen of the top twenty Spanish-language programs

22. Black Entertainment Television (BET)
reaches 60 million households:
12.5 million black households
started in 1980 in Washington, D.C.
purchased by Viacom
attracting advertisers who want to reach nonwhite audience

23. Audience Members as Programmers: Public Access Cable
Channels air public affairs programming and other locally produced shows.
More than 15,000 hours of programming are produced annually on 2,000 stations.
Most programming is conventional, but some is controversial.

24. Television and Society
Television as a Major Social Force
Time spent watching television:
average person watches about four hours per day
fifteen hours per week actively watching, twenty-one passively watching
Americans spend half their leisure time with TV
at any given time in the evening one third of Americans watching TV (over 50 percent in winter)
children spend four hours per day watching television or videos

25. How Do Viewers Use Television?
Reasons identified in the “Television in the Lives of Our Children” study:
to be entertained
to learn things or gain information
for social reasons
Study found children watched the same program for different reasons.

26. Bringing the World into Our Homes
TV breaks down the physical barriers that separate people.
TV provides a view into formerly separate worlds.
People everywhere in the world have access to information simultaneously.

27. Standards for Television
Set by each network’s own standards and practices department:
to ensure the network did not lose viewers or sponsors because of offensive content
Implemented a two-part rating system in 1997:
G, PG, TV-14, TV-MA, S, V, L, and D
use ratings to warn, rather than restrict

28. The Problem of Decency 2004 Super Bowl halftime show:
FCC received more than 500,000 complaints about the “wardrobe malfunction.”
Rules state no indecent material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.:
no single standard for what constitutes broadcast indecency

29. Future of Television Interactive Television
multiple versions of single channels
DVRs
video-on-Demand
online voting to decide outcome of shows, polls

30. The Earthquake In Slow Motion Continues
Video games as mass communication:
In 2006, nearly 94 million persons aged two and older played a video game in the last three months of the year.
Two-thirds of all men 18–34 have at least one video game console in their homes.

31. Convergence of Television and the Internet
On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, video iPod debuted:
Apple partnering with Disney to sell ABC's top rated shows through iTunes.
Apple is selling programs to consumers, instead of audiences to advertisers.
Now there are multiple ways to watch a network broadcast show.
Networks are figuring out how to compensate affiliates for digital purchases of programming.