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Today: Television, Chapter 8 Quiz Wednesday on Television

Chapter Eight

Invention of the TV

Philo T. Farnsworth „ Plowing father’s farm inspired design for scanning an image „ RCA paid $1,000,000 for patents after long litigation Vladimir Zworykin: RCA team: Iconoscope TV’s commercial debut: NBC, April 30, 1939

1 TV technology development

National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) „ 525 lines and 30 frames per second, 60 interlaced scans to eliminate flicker—mostly unchanged today Freeze 1948 to 1952: No new stations, but TV continued to grow in major cities, reaching 15 million homes by 1952 „ 1948: 18 stations in 12 cities Color TV: 1952—first color TV show: “Bonanza”

FCC’s Sixth Report and Order (1952)

Did a number of things: „ Ended 1948 TV application freeze „ Opened UHF band for TV „ Reassigned many VHF stations to reduce interference „ Established non-commercial educational TV by reserving channels in hundreds of communities VHF (original channels): Very high frequency, channels 2-13 UHF (introduced in 1952): Ultra high frequency, channels 14-83 (reduced to 14-69, with extras reassigned to cell phones) „ FCC did not require UHF tuners on TVs until 1964

“Golden Age of TV”

TV was live: programs recorded on film by filming TV screen Live drama anthologies: “Playhouse 90” had 133 episodes (1956-61), 90-min. live drama News and public affairs programs „ Evening news: “Camel News Caravan” with John Cameron Swayze (15 min. nat’l newscast) „ “See It Now” with Edward R. Murrow, who bashed Sen. Joseph McCarthy and House un-American Activities Committee for “Red Scare”

2 Rise of the networks

AT&T had coaxial cable interconnecting stations by 1946 „ NBC linked WNBT in New York with stations in Philadelphia, Schenectady, and Washington Three successful networks grew out of radio: NBC, CBS, and ABC „ Fourth network, Dumont Network, had no radio network backing, only lasted until 1955

Commercial practices

Programs had single commercial sponsor, commercials part of program (e.g., “soap operas” sponsored by soap companies; Kraft Television Theatre by Kraft Foods) Change in commercials „ Encouraged participating sponsorship „ Advertisers paid for spot commercials: one-minute „ Network took greater control of program content 95% of all stations were affiliates

End of the “Golden Age”

Ended as ratings become paramount „ Buying and selling of spots became tied to cost per thousand viewers „ Drove programs aimed at elite eastern audience off Program success based on low production cost and high ratings (e.g., sitcoms, quiz shows… and today, reality TV)

3 TV ratings: A.C. Nielsen Co.

Random sample size = more than 5,000 households, with over 13,000 people (99.4 mill. U.S. households) „ Audimeter: Automatic monitoring „ People meter: Set-top box „ “Sweeps” determine ad rates Ratings: Estimate of percentage of total population watching a particular TV station Share: Estimate of percentage of people watching TV who are watching a particular TV station

TV goes to Hollywood

Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions was first to move from NYC to Hollywood „ She did it to retain control over her programming Studios start producing programs for networks „ ABC got content from Disney (“Mickey Mouse Club”) and Warner Brothers (“77 Sunset Strip”) Studies later profited from selling programs as reruns Studios also sell movies to networks „ NBC’s “Saturday Night at the Movies”

Quiz show scandal

“$64,000 Question” (1955) sponsored and produced by Revlon “Twenty-One” scandal (1957) „ Charles Van Doren, professor at Columbia University, won $129,000 and admitted being given answers in advance Networks reexamined relationship between sponsors and programs Resurgence of game shows in 1999 „ “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”

4 Nixon-Kennedy 1960 presidential debate

65 million people watched „ Radio listeners picked Nixon as winner „ TV viewers picked Kennedy as winner

A vast wasteland?!

Newton Minow: FCC Chairman appointed by JFK, used term at National Association of Broadcasters meeting in 1961 TV had become oligopoly, three networks, and FCC tried to break network control „ Fin-Syn:“Financial Interest and Syndication Rules” (networks couldn’t own programming) ended in 90s „ Prime Time Access Rule: stopped network programming between 7 and 8 P.M.

Public television (PBS)

FCC reserves licenses for educational TV after 1948 freeze Carnegie Commission on Educational Television report on state of educational TV (1967) > Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 established PBS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (funding) Programming sources „ Major PBS stations: WGBN, WNET „ Children’s Television Workshop: “Sesame Street” „ British imports: “Masterpiece Theater”

5 Cable TV: Community Antenna TV (CATV)

Intended at first to boost broadcast signals „ John Walson – late 1940s, Mahanoy, Penn., demonstrated TVs in appliance store, let neighbors connect to his system via towers that boosted signals 1965-72: FCC imposed freeze over cable services in top 100 broadcast markets if any UHF television operator objected to it, to “protect” still-new UHF services „ WTCG (now WTBS) Atlanta via satellite Multiple System Operators (MSOs) „ Support channels only on cable, monthly fee

Cable competition

DBS: direct broadcast satellite „ Geosynchronous orbit „ Primestar, DirecTV „ Programming fee and cost of equipment „ Areas where there is no cable Home video „ Videocassette rental „ Shifting of programs

Network changes

As audience aged, networks lost audience share Programs increase in extremes of violence and sex Changes in programming „ More racially diverse: “I Spy,” and “Julia” „ Evening soaps: “Dallas” „ Prime time sports: “Monday Night Football” Change of ownership „ ABC acquired by Capital Cities Communication „ CBS acquired by investor Larry Tisch „ NBC acquired by GE

6 New TV networks

Removal of Fin-Syn rules allowed wealthy investors to develop alternative networks „ Fox: Rupert Murdock’s News Corp., also owns 20th Century Fox and production studio „ WB: AOL Time-Warner, also owns HBO, CNN „ UPN (United Paramount Network): Viacom Narrowcasting: New networks targeted viewers 18-34 (“90210,” “Simpsons”) „ “Big Three” add more sex and violence

New trogramming trends: Reality-based TV

Old programming formulas not profitable „ Cost of production outstripped income from advertising „ “Big Three” attract less than half audience Cheap programming „ Reality programming— “America's Funniest Home Videos,” talk and cop shows „ Prime time quiz shows— “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” „ Combination reality and game shows—“Survivor” „ Low costs! No scripts or actors

Network change dance partners

Telecom Act of 1996 relaxes rules on media ownership NBC: Owned by General Electric „ Also owns a share of PAX, MSNBC, and CNBC ABC: Owned by Disney „ Also owns cable network ESPN, and The Disney Channel CBS: Owned by Viacom „ Also owns UPN, MTV, and Showtime

7 Digital TV

High-definition television (HDTV): Digital image/sound, large screen with 16:9 aspect ratio Picture is “like looking through a window” In 2006 all analog TV stations “go dark” „ You will need a new HDTV or set-top box „ Old programs must be digitized „ 500+ digital stations are now on-air „ Cable systems must only carry analog signal

Personal and interactive TV

TiVo and ReplayTV: Cross VCR with computer hard drive „ Store compressed video, instant replay and pause program Video-on-demand: cable industry option Add Internet function to TV programs „ Microsoft WebTV: interactive content Video over the Internet: most connections still too slow to support

“The Big Five”

AOL Time Warner Viacom „ WB Network, HBO, CNN, „ CBS, Paramount, UPN Headline News, TNT, network, 17 TV station, Turner Classic Movies, TNN, MTV, VH-1, TBS, Warner Brothers Nickelodeon, TV Land, movie studio, Warner BET Cable, Time Magazine News Corp Disney „ Twentieth Century Fox, „ Disney Studios, ABC, FX, Fox News, 23 TV ESPN, Disney Channel, stations, publishing Lifetime, E!, A&E, General Electric Disneyland, 10 TV stations „ NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, 13 TV stations

8 Synergy

Multiple benefits from integrating production and various forms of distribution Cross promotion: e.g., AOL/Time Warner… „ Warner Brothers studio: produces TV series “Felicity” „ WB Network: distributes series „ Time Magazine: promotes series „ Warner Cable: delivers series to home viewer „ Not to mention toys, clothes, notebooks, etc…

Television advertisers

National advertisers „ Advertisements carried on networks „ Up front season: blocks of ads sold before fall season starts National spot advertisers „ National advertisers buy air time from local stations „ Purchase air time through national representatives Local advertisers

New TV hegemony

Cultural diversity? „ White male middle-class hegemony „ Women and minorities under- represented before and behind camera: Hispanics are 11% of population but 3% of TV roles Excessive horizontal integration „ Limits diversity of content Vertical integration „ Big five conglomerates dominate production AND distribution

9 Children and TV

Children’s Television Act of 1990 mandated that TV serve educational and informational needs of children „ Rules are general enough to allow “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to be counted as educational…? V-chip: Telecom Act of 1996 required new TVs be sold with device that allows parents to block undesirable programs „ TVY – All children „ TVY7 - Directed to older children „ TVG – General audience „ TVPG – Parental guidance suggested „ TV15 – Parents strongly cautioned „ TVM – Mature audience only

Fairness Doctrine

Encourage dissection of issues „ Most stations did not abide by rules Held to be constitutional regulation in Red Lion case (1969) 1987: Deregulation, and no more FD!

Protection of commercial broadcasting

Broadcasters have powerful lobby in Washington (politicians want happy media!) Broadcasting will remain advertiser-supported (free) „ Cost added to all goods and services we buy Government makes cable carry local stations, and may require them to be carried by DBS and broadband too

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