FROM RECEIVER TO REMOTE CONTROL: THE TV SET Sept. 14 through Nov. 25, 1990 Exhibition conceived and organized by Matthew Geller THE NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART A LOOK AT THE TV SET One role of art museums is to coll ect, preserve, and exhibit that would do for the eyes and ears what the automobile had works of art. Another is to help us understand who we are done for feet. No claim seemed too extravagant to describe as individuals and as a society by looking at the culture that its potential. Portrayed as an aid to global communication we produce and which in turn shapes us. In the twentieth and an instrument of global conquest, television represented century this includes mass culture-industrially produced another step forward in the mastery of time and space. material intended for mass consumption. One of the most Yet the utopian rhetoric of television promotions was not influential mechanisms of mass culture is television. matched by television sets developed for the consumer While each of us may have our own favorite television market. For example, the technology for interactive or two- programs, as well as criticisms of the content of TV, we tend way television had existed since the 1920s. But this potential to pay little attention to the television set itself. Frorn Receiver remained largely unrealized. Exploited in early marketing to Rernote Control: The TV Set asks us to shift our gaze from campaigns to garner support for the medium, it was ulti- the TV screen and consider the TV set as an object in the mately incompatible with other socioeconomic agendas. home. What can the history of television set design tell us As soon as television became a viable consumer product, about the roles TV plays in our lives? What can the ways we governmental regulators stepped in and consolidated broad- incorporate TV into our homes reveal about our fami li es, cast power in the hands of a few large companies. Ostensibly, our relationships, and the culture in which we live? How their aim was to establish quality standards and protect con- h ave developments in TV technology affected the ways we sumers. But the decision also dictated television's fate as a experience a sense of community? primarily mercantile medium and prohibited unmonitored uses. One of the many stories that this exhibition tells is how "I can imagine no greater scientific a.ccomjJlishment than the broadcast of social forces condition technological developments. sight ... When peoples of the earth can hold instant converse with each other and TV's strategic location in the home and its economic depen- at the same time behold each other's faces, the world of tomorrow will become de nce on commercial advertisers made it a home appliance indeed a friendly world in which many of our present-day ills will vanish." that could be used to sell other appli ances and consumer Grover Whalen, President of the 1939 New York World's Fair products. Viewers were encouraged to compare their lot with Why was television invented? In its early days, manufactur- that of TV characters and to identify with game show ers positioned television within the history of great scientific contestants who were constantly engaged in dramas of advances-a product of Western progress and a tool for its consumption. In the postwar years, TV became a critical link continuation. TV was promoted as an extension of the body between industrial society and personal life. A TV CHRONOLOGY 19 21 First home radio sets go on sale 1939 David Sarnoff, President of RCA, 1945 With the war over, RCA begins in the U.S. introduces all- electric TV at New York mass producing TVs , licensing patents 1926 RCA, CE, AT&T, and Westing- World's Fair. Franklin D. Roosevelt from Philo T. Farnsworth. house, leading manufacturers of becomes the first president to be seen NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont begin radios and televisions, join together to and heard on TV. TV program services. form the first television network, 1940 Condensed version of the opera 1946 10,000 U.S. households own National Broadcasting Network (NBC). I Pagliacci is broadcast in New York. television sets. By 1948 this number 1927 Columbia Records institutes the 1941 Federal Communications will climb to one million; by 1955, Columbia Broadcasting Sys tem (CBS). Commission (FCC) permits TV 35 million; and by 1976, 150 million Radio manufacturers begin selling commercials. One of the first ads con- or 98% of all U.S. homes. mechanical TV kits (complete assem- sists of the NBC network's test pattern Early TV commercials take the form bly required). in the form of a Bulova clock face. of product demonstrations on sets The image remained on screen for 1928 27 television stations go on the simulating home environments. one minute while the second hand air in the U.S. using mechanical 1947 DuMont airs interracial dancers made its sweep. cameras. However, within two years on Look Upon a Star and is barraged only one survives the Depression. 1942 FDR bans commercial TV due to with angry protest calls from white threat of war in Europe. Radio 1929 First radio broadcast rating viewers. factories are diverted for military use. service, Crossley's Cooperative Analysis The first family situation comedy, Television technology is used to of Broadcasting (CAB), originates the The Goldbergs, goes on the air. develop radar. concept of "prime time." 1948 First cooking show, To the Queen's 1943 etwork TV begins with NBC 1936 NBC conducts experimental all- Taste, is broadcast. transmitting sports telecasts to stations electric broadcasts in New York City. in New York and Philadelphia. 1949 The Nielsen Ratings Service Programs originate from Radio City begins using sampling techniques to FCC orders BC to divest itself of one and are transmitted from the Empire measure television viewership. State Building. of its radio networks. NBC Blue becomes the American Broadcasting 1950 First non-commercial station, Company (ABC). WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa, is li censed. 1928 Radio News (magazine cover, detail) 1949 DuMont promotional photograph 1951 Coast-to-coast TV network service Political TV ads are launched by the 1957 Singer Nat King Cole becomes the begins in the U.S. Edward R. Murrow's Democratic party. first African-American television show See It Now broadcasts simultaneous live 1954 First TV dinners are introduced host, but only lasts one season because pictures of the Golden Gate and by Swanson. advertisers refuse sponsorship. Brooklyn bridges. 1955 Zenith introduces the first 1959 Philco introduces th e "Safari" Almost all television cities report a 20 wireless remote control device, but battery-powered portable television. to 40 percent drop in movie attendance. quickly discontinues it when the 1960 Gallup poll shows 28% of In non-television cities attendance light-activated mechanism proves Americans describe watching television remains unchanged. susceptible to stray sunlight and light as their favorite way to spend an The New York Public Library reports a beams. The remote is refined and evening. By 1974 this figure will climb drop in book circulation. reintroduced on a mass scale in the to 46%, but by 1986 drop to 33%. I Love Lucy becomes the first successful 1960s. 1962 First satellite is launched, enabling filmed (rather than live) TV series. One of the most popular childrens' live broadcasts around the world. In 1953 Lucille Ball gives birth to Desi shows ever presented, The Mickey 1965 CBS and ABC begin color pro- Arnaz,Jr. The same evening viewers Mouse Club, goes on the air. gramming on a regular basis. tune in to I Love Lucy to watch the TV 1956 The Republican National Sony introduces the 1/2" portapak Lucy have a baby. Convention in San Francisco provides (precursor to the camcorder) and the First color telecast made from CBS's the impetus for transcontinental first home videotape recorder. Grand Central Station in New York broadcasts. 1966 Color television set sales surpass features Arthur Godfrey. DuMont network, unable to obtain black and white. 1952 DuMont and Motorola television access to transcontinental cable, goes 1967 Television news covers civil rights set catalogues offer decorating tips on out of business as a television network. demonstrations and rioting throughout integrating TVs into home interior Ampex Corporation introduces the the U.S. design. first videotape recorders, radically TV coverage of the VietNam War First national issue of TV Guide is reducing the time needed between causes it to become known as the published. actual events and broadcast. "living room war." 1955 Zenith promotional photograph 1960 Bride with RCA Victor television rece iver 1975 General Electric promotional photog raph 1967 Public Broadcasting System (PBS) families: All in the Family, Sanford and 1982 HDTV (High Definition Televi- is established with federal funds. Son, and The Waltons. sion), developed injapan, is demon- 1968 CBS introduces demographics First domestic U.S. satellite dish strated in the U.S. into audience survey research, dividing becomes available. 1983 Home banking in the form of viewers into separate marketing 1975 Beta and VHS 1/2" videotape direct computer access is introduced categories by age, sex, and income. formats are introduced for consumer by Chemical Bank. 1969 135 million people watch astro- and industrial markets. 1984 Sony introducesJumboTRON, naut Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. 1977 36 million households, almost a huge outdoor video display screen 1972 HBO, the first successful cable one half of the U.S. population, tune used in sports stadiums. network, is launched. in to watch the mini-series Roots, 1985 Home Shopping Club enables A report to the U.S. Surgeon General which portrays the history of an viewers to purchase items directly off is published on the effects of television Mrican-American family from slavery the TV screen.