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Chapter 5:. Television and the Power of Visual Culture. Some guiding questions. How 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?
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Chapter 5: Television and the Power of Visual Culture
Some guiding questions • How 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 tube • 1880’s: Nipkow’s scanning disk • 1920’s: Zworykin’s iconoscope • 1920’s: Farnsworth’s image dissector tube • 1930: 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, withsales of spot ads • Introduction of “Spectaculars” (TV specials) withmultiple sponsors • Quiz Show Scandals (1958-1959)
What effects did the QUIZ SHOW SCANDALS have on television and its audience?
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 news • Primarily averbal reportby an authoritative anchorperson • Imagesprovided 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 comedy • Variety shows/sketches • Anthology dramas • Episodic drama series • Continuing serials
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 rulinglimiting networks’ in-house production, 1975
Emerging New Networks • FOX TV, 1987 • UPN (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 advertisers • DEFICIT 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-network • First-run • Hybrid
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 TELEVISION • PUBLIC ACCESS TV • E.g. Paper Tiger Television • How could yourvoice and vision be seen and heard?