RTV 3007 • Intro to Television
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 Stations still used radio to pay for TV programming
 In 1947 ABC allowed pre-recorded material on radio, creating first disk jockey s by major network

 After World War 2, people saved money to buy TV sets .
 Improvements in picture quality
 Taverns rushed to acquire TV sets to show sports

 US Supreme Court anti-trust case broke up the movie industry’s vertical monopoly.
 Movie studios could no longer own movie theaters
 The US would no longer restrict imports of foreign films
 US movie industry reinvented itself
 Hollywood laid off hundreds of writers, directors, producers, actors
 These Hollywood expats migrated to New
York to try their hand at television

 About 1 million TV households in US
 Almost all TV was local & broadcast live.
 National programming aired live in New
York, was recorded on film, and shipped to affiliate stations in other parts of the country for airing later.
 First Emmy Awards Ceremony broadcast from LA in January
 Drama and comedy shows were produced like stage plays.
 Variety and talk shows took their inspiration from Vaudeville ,

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1947 – Meet the Press
 Longest-running US TV program
 Started as radio show in 1945:
The American Mercury Presents:
Meet the Press
 First host : http://player.theplatform.com/p/
2E2eJC/EmbeddedOffSite?guid=n
_maddow_ablock_140905
 http://www.nbcnews.com/video/ meet-thepress/33312057#33312057
1948 - Democratic and GOP National
Conventions televised

 Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle
(Uncle Miltie).
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ghqvldZ7Wso
 “ Law and order ” television was popular.
Law and order series were produced as formulaic episodes .
 Because of Cold War , bankers and businessmen could not be portrayed as bad guys on TV
 Clips of TV shows from 1949 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE
OsrOHAhk8

 Top-ranked TV show . Produced live. Later called Man Against Crime .
 Could not gauge length of show. At the end of the show, always a scene where the star looked for clues. It would be timed to the amount of time left.
 Sponsored by Camel cigarettes . Bad guys could not smoke cigarettes.
The show could not cover arson because fires might tie to cigarettes. No one could cough
 Broadcast live 1949-1952. Was considered very violent.

 1950 – Council on Educational Television is created
 President Eisenhower appoints Freida Hennock , first woman to the FCC, to head this commission.
 1951 – Ford Foundation report showed that Americans witness more than 2970 acts or threats of violence on TV in one week.
 In 1952 the FCC reserves some TV channels (both VHF and UHF) for educational TV, creating National Education Television (NET) .
The Ford Foundation funds NET.
 In 1970 , NET becomes PBS.
 PBS Mission: to provide universal access to high-quality programming. PBS does not accept advertising, instead relying on Congressional funding, pledge drives and sponsorships.

 First TV show filmed instead of broadcast live .
 Filmed before a studio audience (no laugh track).
 Pioneered multi-camera technique .
 Produced in Hollywood . (Ended NYC’s hold on TV)
 Lucy & Desi were TV’s first “interracial couple”
 Top-rated TV show after 1 year
 January 19, 1953 – Lucy character has her baby on TV. Nearly 70% of all TV sets were tuned in to watch.

 Because Lucy & Desi owned the rights to the show, they became the first multimillionaire TV stars.
 Since its initial broadcast in 1951, I Love Lucy has never stopped airing on TV.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Kcq1K-51M

 TV moves to pre-recorded content rather than live broadcasts
 TV expands internationally – Europe, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba
 Political parties focus on TV over radio. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952
 Eisenhower wins TV through scripted presentations: arrival of hero, speech, departure of hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw98R03PUFo
 Nixon’s Checkers speech. (17:00) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqjwBDH-vhY
 Radio changes its format to compete with TV