CHAPTER ESSENTIALS

• In the development stage of television, early inventors (Zworykin and Farnsworth) competed to establish a patent for the first electronic television. In the entrepreneurial stage, television developed technical standards and turned into a business; the FCC adopted analog (broadcast signals made of radio waves) for all U.S. TV sets. In the mass medium stage, the FCC began assigning channels throughout the country and later introduced the color standard (pp. 256–258).

• Television soon became a big business, and broadcast networks competed for control over its content, mainly by setting out to diminish sponsors’ influence on and ownership of programming. With the advent of magazine-format programs and the TV spectacular, spot advertising developed (pp. 258–260).

• In the late 1950s, the rigging of quiz shows, in particular Twenty-One, tainted television’s reputation and caused networks to further minimize the control of sponsors. For the next forty years, quiz shows were kept out of prime time, the 7–11 P.M. (EST) time slot with the largest audiences (p. 260).

• The introduction of cable provided access for communities that couldn’t receive airwave-based broadcast signals, but it also posed a major competitive threat to broadcast television. The first small cable systems—CATV, or community antenna television—originated in the late 1940s (pp. 260–261).

• In the 1950s, broadcast networks began specializing in different types of programming. Information, in the form of news, became popular with the major networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS (the first to run a news show videotaped for rebroadcast on affiliate stations, which contract with a network to carry its programs) (p. 262).

• The networks also experimented with entertainment programming—sometimes preserving shows with kinescopes, made by using a film camera to record live shows off a monitor. Comedies became popular and came in two varieties: sketch comedy and situation comedy (sitcom) (pp. 262–264).

• Drama arose as another genre of entertainment programming. Anthology dramas brought live dramatic theater to viewers; episodic series showed central characters appearing every week. Episodic series come in two types: chapter shows and serial programs (pp. 264–265).

• Other programming genres that have arisen in television’s history include talk shows, TV newsmagazines, reality television, and public television (pp. 265–267).

• With the advent of satellite TV, cable companies could excel at narrowcasting—the delivery of specialized programming for niche viewer groups (thereby cutting into broadcasting’s large audiences) (pp. 267–268).

• Basic cable is composed of local broadcast signals, nonbroadcast access channels, a few regional PBS stations, and a variety of cable channels (including superstations—independent broadcast stations uplinked to a satellite). Premium channels include movie channels and interactive services, such as pay-per-view (PPV) and video-on-demand (VOD) (pp. 268–269, 272).

• From the late 1950s to the end of the 1970s—the network era—CBS, NBC, and ABC dominated prime-time TV programming. To undercut the networks’ power, the FCC passed a series of regulations, such as the fin-syn rules in 1970 that banned the networks from running their own syndication companies. (This was in response to the networks’ acquisition of syndicated shows and infotainment programs—those that package human-interest and celebrity stories.) These rules have since been eliminated (pp. 273–274).

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• Through the must-carry rules, the FCC required all cable operators to assign channels to and carry all local TV broadcasts on their systems. It also mandated access channels, requiring cable systems to provide free nonbroadcast channels for education, local government, and the public, and leased channels, on which citizens could buy time. In response, cable operators maintained that they operated like electronic publishers (and, as such, should carry whatever channels and content they wanted); however, some FCC officials claimed cable should be treated like common carriers—services like traditional phone companies that do not get involved in channel content. The Midwest Video case settled this in 1979, declaring that cable operated like electronic publishers. Congress eventually rewrote the nation’s laws in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, bringing cable fully under federal jurisdiction (pp. 274–275).

• Home video technologies challenged traditional television, starting with the introduction of videocassette recorders (VCRs) in 1975–76. Today, viewers turn to DVDs, high-definition Blu-ray players, and DVRs (digital video recorders), which let users download specific shows to the DVR’s computer memory (p. 276).

• Traditional television has converged across multiple platforms, fueled by the Internet, allowing content to be streamed on TV sets as well as such devices as tablets and smartphones (pp. 276–277).

• Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) allows individual consumers to downlink hundreds of satellite channels and services for a monthly fee (pp. 277, 278).

• Both broadcast networks and cable programmers make money from syndication—leasing rights to air reruns or first-run programs during fringe time. The networks and cable programmers also make money from advertising, which is based on ratings and shares; other services like cable providers and video streaming earn revenue from subscriptions (pp. 280–283).

• Broadcast networks and cable companies spend money on production and distribution of programs. This often involves deficit financing, in which the company leases the show to a network for a license fee that is less than the cost of production (pp. 283–284).

• Cable systems have been bought up by multiple-system operators (MSOs)—large corporations eager to cash in on the infrastructure of high-bandwidth wires connecting households across the country; this trend suggests a move toward oligopoly, in which a handful of megafirms control programming. Cable systems are now classified as video subscription services, which also include streaming services like Netflix (pp. 284–286).

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• Many people argue that cable hasn’t fully realized its potential and that its specialization has frayed the common shared experiences network programs once offered. Questions of access emerge as cable giants control content and cost (p. 286).

• Regardless, television provides a forum where people gather to participate in cultural or sociological events like the Super Bowl, which can have both positive and negative effects on broadcasting and society (p. 287).

1. Question 8.1

   What were the major factors that shaped the early history of television?

2. Question 8.2

   Why did cable and its programming pose a challenge to broadcasting?

3. Question 8.3

   What role has the FCC taken in regulating networks and cable?

4. Question 8.4

   What are the technological challenges that network television and cable face?

5. Question 8.5

   How has television served as a national cultural center or reference point?

• DESCRIBE the impact televised news has had on their lives. What network and cable news shows do they watch? Have their attitudes toward TV news changed?

• ANALYZE the patterns and common themes that emerge from your interviews. What kinds of TV news experiences stick with your interview subjects?

• INTERPRET what these patterns mean. What does it say about TV news if your subjects have shifted in their attitudes toward it? What does it say about TV and cable that your subjects remember certain news events?

• EVALUATE what they think about the quality of news on traditional networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) versus cable news programs (Fox, MSNBC, CNN) versus print forms of news.

• ENGAGE with your peers by comparing your findings. Is there any common ground? Look for a place to publish your findings in an online forum.