Chapter 5:
Television and the Power
of Visual Culture
Some guiding questionsHow did TELEVISION first develop?What was the role of sponsors?When was the Network Era of TV?
How did it end?How are TV programs produced and
marketed today?What is the role of TV in our culture
and society?
Food for thought:
How does TELEVISION
impact your daily life?
What are some of the SOCIAL, CULTURAL, and ECONOMIC factors surrounding the mass medium of TELEVISION?
EARLY TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Late 1800s: cathode ray tube1880’s: Nipkow’s scanning disk1920’s: Zworykin’s iconoscope1920’s: Farnsworth’s image
dissector tube1930: Farnsworth patented first
electronic television
Early TV broadcasting: 1940s
1941: ten stations on VHF band
108 stations by 1948 (major cities only)
FCC concerned about frequency allocation
FCC FREEZE on new licenses 1948-1952
The Explosion of Television
Soon after the FCC freeze was lifted in 1952, over 400 television stations were in operation
SINGLE SPONSORSHIP
Early radio and TV programs usually conceived, produced and supported by one sponsor.
Shows were extended advertisements.
Sponsors, not networks, had total control over content.
The Collapse of Sponsorship: How networks
gained control of programming
Increased program length (raised production costs for sponsors)
New concept of “magazine” programming, with sales of spot ads
Introduction of “Spectaculars” (TV specials) with multiple sponsors
Quiz Show Scandals (1958-1959)
What effects did the QUIZ SHOW
SCANDALS have on television and its
audience?
NETWORK ERA of Television:
1950s-1970s
NBC, CBS, ABC
Changes in TV industry (late 1950s)
Networks moved entertainment divisions to Hollywood.
Network news operations (information divisions) remained in New York.
TV and Information Culture
Nightly news began in 1948.
Modeled after radio newsPrimarily a verbal report
by an authoritative anchorperson
Images provided support 15-minute format
What advantages did television news have over newspapers or radio news?
What disadvantages?
TV’s ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION
Situation/domestic comedyVariety shows/sketchesAnthology dramasEpisodic drama seriesContinuing serials
Which of these TV genres still exist today?
DECLINE OF THE NETWORK ERA
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS
EMERGENCE OF NEW NETWORKS
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES
Cable/Satellite TV services
Non-network stations
VCRs and home videos
How did the VCR affect Americans’ television viewing
habits?
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS
Prime-Time Access Rule (PTAR), 1970
Financial Interest & Syndication Rules (“FIN-SYN”), 1970-1995
Justice Department ruling limiting networks’ in-house production, 1975
Emerging New Networks
FOX TV, 1987UPN (Paramount), 1995
WB (Warner Brothers), 1995
ECONOMICS OF TELEVISION
How are programs produced and distributed?
PRIME-TIME PRODUCTION
Programs created by film studios and independent production companies
Programs licensed to networks for a licensing fee (for 2 airings)
Networks sell ad slots to advertisersDEFICIT FINANCING: Production
companies lose money on network airing, but recoup it in syndication
DISTRIBUTION of TV Shows
Networks send national programming to affiliate stations.
Each network has 150-200 affiliates.Network ownership of affiliates
(O&O’s) was limited by FCC.Local affiliates sell local ad time.Affiliates have local control and
choice.
SYNDICATION OF TV PROGRAMS
Local TV stations and cable firms can buy syndicated programs.
They acquire exclusive local market rights for specific length of time.
Syndicated programs dominate hours outside prime time (fringe time).
Types of Syndication
Off-networkFirst-runHybrid
TV Ratings Systems
Survival of programs depends upon whether advertisers are happy with demographics of the audience.
RATING = statistical estimate of percentage of households watching that program.
SHARE= statistical estimate of percentage of households with TV’s turned on watching that program.
Alternatives to
commercial TV
PUBLIC TELEVISIONPUBLIC ACCESS TV
E.g. Paper Tiger Television
How could your voice and vision be seen and heard?