A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

• Television has been in existence in Canada since 1952

• All of the technology was in place for television to begin in the late thirties but…

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

• CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) a publically funded television broadcaster was established by Parliament to:– Foster Canadian unity and identity– To provide entertainment and information in both English and

French– To serve the various regions of Canada – CRTC – Canadian Radio and Television Commission

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

• Economics – Broadcasters generate income by selling

advertising time to advertisers in 15, 30 and 60 second units or “spots.”

– Primetime spots, which fall between 8:00pm and 11:00 are the most expensive

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

– Advertisers buy time according to the number and type of consumers watching at a particular moment

– The science of finding this information is called demographics

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

– The entire economic order of television. The business plan has been turned upside down due to technology.

– DVR/PVRs that enable viewers to skip commercials.

The Hopper Satellite DVR on DISH network includes:1. Primetime Anytime" functionality, which

automatically records primetime programming off the four major U.S. television networks,

2. "AutoHop", which allows commercials to automatically be removed from these recordings.

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

– Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu also have caused a great deal of upheaval in the traditional TV market. Netflix itself is becoming a producer of TV (House of Cards and Orange is the New Black)

– In the Canadian context many Canadians now use proxy services to get American streaming services

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

– Piracy and bit-torrent technology have made it possible to download any programing on any channel after it airs.

– Television networks must find a delicate balance

A HISTORY OF TELEVISIONTHEORY AND PRACTICE

• The re-rise of over the air antenna based digital television

• A company called Aereo in the US rents antenna signals over the internet for $8 per month.

• This validity of service is in the Supreme Court.