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?