Chapter 7Chapter 7

Television

Goals of this chapterGoals of this chapter

We will discuss the history and progression of the television industry

We will examine some social implications of television, and TV content

TV HistoryTV History TV Pioneers

– 1922 – 15 yr. old, Philo Farnsworth (tractor, hay, Idaho) earned a patent for the television

– Experimental transmissions (Jenkins and Baird) came in 1925– The First home broadcasts arrived in 1928– The BBC was the first TV service in 1936– The U.S. started regular broadcasts in 1939– FCC set standards in 1941, but development stopped during

WWII– Following WWII, advancements in TV cameras, microwave

technology and the invention of coaxial cable thrust TV into high gear

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) The FCC Freeze 1948-1952

– With 108 stations and 1 million TV sets in the U.S., the FCC needed a frequency assignment plan

– They put a ban on new channels from broadcasting wary of the perceived shortage of frequencies available

– By 1952, 15 million sets (1 in 3 American homes)– In 1952 the Sixth Report and Order rules allotted

VHF (very high frequencies) channels 2-13 – Prospered thanks to more power and integration of receivers into TV sets– Limited to a maximum of 3 licenses per major city—resulting in 3 national

networks UHF (Ultra-high frequencies) channels 14-83 set aside channels for educational broadcasting

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) The Golden Age (Late 1940s-Early 1950s)

– TV was black and white– Most programs were broadcast live

Recall in Back to the Future, they “tuned in” only to find static, waited and the broadcast began

TVs didn’t have constant programming

– TVs used Antennas that needed adjustment– Remote controls weren’t invented until 1955– Dramatic programming typically had new casts every week

(like Twilight Zone)– TV news began to significantly influence public affairs in

1954—with McCarthy’s televised public hearings

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) The Big Three (NBC, CBS and ABC)

– NBC stages the first network TV broadcast in 1946 and also the first prime-time lineup two years later

– Network TV wasn’t profitable until 1951– Network Content initially was imported from their

respective radio programs– First Network TV “Star” was Milton Berle (on NBC’s

The Texaco Star Theater) Popular enough that people reportedly bought TVs just to

watch his show—movie theaters emptied on nights the show aired

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) Introduction of Advertisements

– Early programs would have only one sponsor Book gives example of a chorus resembling Texaco station attendants

– Later, with longer programs, it was too expensive for only one sponsor Spot Advertisements were introduced in minute-long segments

Expansion into more American homes– In 1956, 2/3 of American houses had television

This created a more generalized audience than the initial group of more well-educated, affluent, urban individuals

Programs such as drama anthologies and public affairs programs were no longer satisfying the audience Ratings took over, measuring the proportion of television households that watch a specific show

– In 1951, in response to consumer and economic demand Sitcoms were introduced: I Love Lucy (Gave CBS dominance) Game shows (No scripts, no professional actors = cheap… reality TV?!) also became popular in the mid-

50s

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) TV courts Hollywood

– I Love Lucy was the first TV show to be filmed in Southern California

– ABC’s first series was Disneyland in 1954 (finally bringing ABC up to network parity with the other two)

Show renamed: Walt Disney Presents (1959), Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1961 on NBC), The Wonderful world of Disney (1967), Disney’s Wonderful World (1979), to CBS Walt Disney (1981-3), The Disney Sunday Movie (1985), The Magical World of Disney (1997) on ABC

– By 1957 virtually everything except for soap operas and news programs relocated to Hollywood

– Eventually (as discussed previously) movie studios began selling broadcast rights of their films to TV networks

Beginning in 1961 with NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d)

Troubling Times and Public Disenchantment– 1958 game show scandal – loser complained that answers

were supplied to the winner– 1960 – presidential debate (Kennedy vs. Nixon)– 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis– 1963 – Kennedy Assassination & Funeral– This period showed coverage on Vietnam, Civil Rights

and antiwar protests and rallies Many blamed TV as being a counterculture device

– Surgeon General Warning: Exposure to Television might be related to violence (seriously).

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d) Competition for the Big Three Emerges

– Public Television: FCC’s Sixth Report and Order set aside educational channels Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 set aside funding with the Corporation of Public

Broadcasting (CPB) based on taxes

– Cable Television: Expanded from initial rebroadcast of network programming, to premium cable networks

(HBO) to advertising supported cable channels

– Subscription TV: single pay-to-unscramble UHF channels that didn’t last beyond the introduction of cable

– Satellite: enabled owners of the 6 ft. dish to get free programming from cable companies until they

learned how to scramble the signal

– Home Video: VCRs appeared in 1975 and video stores spread rapidly in the 1980s; onset of time-shifting

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d)

Competition starts to take its toll– All of the Big Three get new owners in the 1980’s– New networks emerge as alternatives thanks to gov’t

deregulation and improved prospects Fox-1987, UPN, WB-1993

– Big Three revert to old strategy (circa 1950’s) Cut production costs: Game shows, reality TV

– Millionaire, America’s Funniest Home Video, Survivor They have managed to attain decent sized audience with the

latest wave of reality tv

– By 1998 they have less than 50% of prime time audience

TV History (cont’d)TV History (cont’d)

TV and the Information Age– Telecom Act of 1996 results in massive

mergers Disney buys ABC; Viacom buys CBS

– 1998 saw the first HDTV station go live– FCC says: All TVs digital by 2006

Industry moving too slowly, so… FCC says: All TVs sold after July 2004, 34 inches

or bigger must be digital (smaller sets in 2007)

TV Technology: TV SetsTV Technology: TV Sets 1884 – Paul Nipkow’s scanning principle

– Persistence of vision and a linear progression of light spots 1925 – First TV sets are created by Jenkins and Baird Early “Tubes” electrical light and powder coating

– CRT receivers (cathode ray tube) and the human eye 1941 – the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) sets American TV

standards– 525 lines; 262 at a time—with interlacing

Digital television uses progressive scanning (60 fps)– French and German engineers improved the technology in the 1960s and this

resulted in Pal and Secam formats Modern high-def screens can be:

– LCD – has 3 tiny solid state devices controlling light through three filters– Plasma – 3 miniature fluorescent lights at each pixel and are activated through

wires running all over the screen– CRT – Also found in higher end projection equipment

TV Tech: Television SignalsTV Tech: Television Signals

TV uses Radio frequencies to transmit information– Northeast vs. Illinois, Kansas– Images are sent via AM carrier frequencies

Called “luminance signals”; color is attached to this same frequency (a form of multiplexing)

– Sound is sent via FM frequency Two major ranges of TV signals:

– VHF – Very High Frequencies (Channels 2-13) FM radio travels between channels 6-7---driving along hearing

TV news or Friends (look in the upper 80s and low 90s)

– UHF – Ultra High Frequencies (Channels 14-69)

TV Tech: RecordingTV Tech: Recording

Debut in 1956: the Jonathan Winters Show– Video Recording initially required large 2 inch reels of magnetic tape– Size was impractical for home use, but much more practical for TV

studio’s VCR (1975) was only possible thanks to helical scanning

(record on a slant) – Still used in VHS (Video Home System—U.S.)

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) – higher capacity than VHS, CD; higher quality too– Concern is pirating: MovieLink, MovieBeam

DVR (PVR) – TiVo and ReplayTV (Digital VCR) VOD – cable company’s medium of choice

TV Tech: Digital TelevisionTV Tech: Digital Television Already mentioned FCC ruling

– Digital Television by Dec, 2006 (or when 85% of pop have HDTV-ready TVs)

– Networks have to return the VHF bandwidth to the gov’t when they finally convert to digital

Thereby dropping radiowave broadcasts and Analog coverage Aside from production facilities needing upgrades…

Reruns must too be converted to digital (cost? $25,000)

HDTV doubles the number of vertical scan lines (to 1080) and widens the aspect ratio (16:9)– Provides clearer pictures and 6 channel surround sound

6 times more information than SDTV

With digital television, things like interactive TV become more readily available and practical– DVRs, X-Boxes, and WebTV are pseudo systems

TV Industry: Major PlayersTV Industry: Major Players

5 Major companies control the TV media today (2004)– Time Warner – WB, HBO, Cinemax, CNN, TNT, Cartoon

Network, TBS…– Disney – ABC, ESPN (etc.), Disney Channel, Toon Disney,

ABC Family shares in Lifetime, E!, A&E, and History Channel…

– Viacom – CBS, UPN, Showtime, Spike, MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, BET, TV Land…

– News Corp – Fox, FX, Fox News Channel, Fox Movie Channel, Fox Sports, Fox Kid’s, Speedvision…

– General Electric – NBC, Telemundo, share of PAX, MSNBC, CNBC, part of AMC, A&E, History Channel, Bravo

TV Industry: Content Production by GenreTV Industry: Content Production by Genre

Entertainment – – prior to 1993 production companies simply sold first run

rights to big networks– After Fin-Syn rules, most companies started producing in-

house– Creation Stages

First 1000s of ideas are pitched to companies Phone surveys narrow field down to several 100

– Scripts are written A few dozen are made into pilots that are then shown to audiences in

auditoriums and sometimes in regional broadcasts Resulting reaction primarily determines whether it will reach the

national airtime

Network News– Can’t make money in syndication (just first run)– Evening news and magazines are mostly created in-house– Most now rely on local network affiliates, foreign services and wire

services for video and content– CNN, FOX News and MSNBC have emerged as Cable news competitors

Advantage: 24 hr. coverage Disadvantage: Much TV News coverage has come to resemble entertainment as

they compete for viewers

Local News– Mostly comprised of newscasts or magazine-format shows– Quite profitable because they are popular with local people and

advertisers

TV Industry: Content Production by Genre TV Industry: Content Production by Genre (cont’d)(cont’d)

Sports– Networks have to bid for the rights (from the leagues) to cover major events

ABC pays $500 million per year to broadcast Monday night football– They hire their own commentators, crew and producers

ABC spends another $3 million per year to produce it PBS

– Most public broadcasting programs are produced in the major cities (New York, LA, etc.)– Minority of programs (Sesame Street, Masterpiece Theater…) come from independent

producers– Stations are Publicly funded at $250 million per year

Programming Executives in D.C. decide what goes on the air

Cable Production– Many cable systems produce local origination programming

UCTV and ECSU– Most Cable providers also supply local communities with a community access

channel

TV Industry: Content Production by Genre TV Industry: Content Production by Genre (cont’d)(cont’d)

National Distribution– Commercial Broadcast Networks (CBS, NBC…)

These networks typically lose money– Big 3 earns over $3 Billion per year, but figure all costs and it adds up

– Basic Cable Networks (ESPN, Discovery…) Primarily derive revenue from national advertising and affiliate fees—some do open up local advertising

spots

– Pay Services (HBO, Cinemax…) Revenue comes only from monthly subscriber fees Pay-per-view

– Public Broadcasting (PBS) Is not technically a “network” but does distribute nationally through satellites There are around 350 Public stations (including college)

– Syndication Local stations fill up time-slots with syndicated content Cheaper than producing their own

TV Industry: DistributionTV Industry: Distribution

TV industry: Distribution (cont’d)TV industry: Distribution (cont’d) Local Distribution

– Group-Owned Stations (including the big 5) Controlled by a company that owns several stations Benefits through economies of scale

– Network Affiliates Local ABC station is not necessarily owned by Disney Disney has a contract with them, allowing them to present content (in

some cases paying them: affiliate compensation)

– Independent Stations Few still exist, however they would survive by only purchasing

syndicated shows (no money for direct production) and selling local ad spots

– Local Station Personnel sheet can be found on pg. 214

TV industry: AdvertisersTV industry: Advertisers

Advertisers’ yearly expenditures? $36 Billion on broadcast networks and $14 million more on cable

National Advertisers– Sell general-consumption products (ex. soda)– Typically get first shot at buying blocks of air-time, called the

up-front section If they pass on the ads, then it goes to the spot ad, then scatter ad block

National Spot/Regional Advertisers– Sell products with a more limited appeal (ex. snow tires)

Local Advertisers– Auto dealers and supermarkets buy slots during local shows

TV Industry: Network TVTV Industry: Network TV

Major program classifications:– Early Morning: breakfast shows (Good Morning America)– Late Morning-Early Afternoon: soap operas and talk shows (Jerry

Springer) target housewives, older people and students

– After School: cartoons, young adult comedies and teenage sitcoms (Saved by the Bell)

– Early Evening: News, local and national & game shows– Prime Time: Sitcoms, dramas, and feature films– Late night: Talk shows, comedy and music

Targeting teenagers—who stay up later

– Overnight: Old movies and syndicated series Targeting shift employees, insomniacs and young adults

TV industry: Cable ProgrammingTV industry: Cable Programming Goal is to switch viewers away from networks Strategies employed:

– Bridging: scheduling programs to run past the hour/half hour (TBS and x:15, :05)

– Programming clock found in radio (Weather channel)– Niche channels for narrowcasting (OLN)– Genre channels CNN (news), ESPN (sports)