TV in the 1960’s
katra
Effect on Culture
• Television was one of
the major driving
forces in shaping US
life in the 60’s.
• Ideals of the time were
reflected in TV shows
and as those ideals
changed drastically, so
did television.
• Television soon
became the most
popular media- 80%
of households owned a
T.V.
• Parallel to reflecting,
TV also fed the public
new ideas, and the
public changed
accordingly.
TV’s Popularity
Starting around 1969, I had
"long" hair. I watched a LOT
of TV -- and since there
were only 3 channels, I
basically could watch
everything. Each summer I
looked forward excitedly to
the new TV season and the
new shows.
-Kurt
Globalization and Growing
Impact
• Television first really
went global with the
1962 launch of
Telestar.
• 1969 720 million
people around the
globe tuned in to
watch live as Neil
Armstrong first
walked the moon.
• Late 1960’s media
chose to cover new
styles/events like the
Summer of Love.
• As the culture
continued to change,
media started to sell
“rebellion” and
“revolution”.
Culture
On the cultural front, you had
the Beatniks in the 50's but
they were a tiny tiny group.
The Beatles/hippie
phenomenon took that
nonconformist feeling and
spread it to millions of young
people, myself included and
probably even to some of the
Cub Scouts and Brownies of
that time.
-Peter
Current Events
• The Cold War hurried • In 1960 presidential
in a period known as
debates were aired for
“Spy TV”
the first time.
• Vietnam War caused
• The Kennedy
TV to loose a grip on
assassination was a
it’s unifying effect.
major historical point
in TV.
• Near the end of the
war media had become • Ad’s like President
part of the
Johnson's “Daisy Girl”
controversy.
described as a sign of
TV’s power.
Vietnam
I was always pro civil rights. That's
where it started for most of us.
Then the Vietnam War sort of
snuck up on us on t.v. every
night and it was an even
stupider war than most (and
they are all basically stupid). So
I suppose what happened was,
we all grew up in the 50's with
this idea that the U.S. always
supported right and equality and
peace and then civil rights and
Vietnam both appeared as big
fat contradictions.
-Peter
Clip
Vietnam
The media reported a great deal on
the Vietnam War as the
American military commitment
there got large, starting in 1967
and 1968 -- as did the antiwar
protests. And far more than the
current war in Afghanistan, for
instance, there were dramatic
frontline battlefield film reports
on the network news shows.
Summary
• From the late 50's to the early 70's, it's easy
to see how TV's power as a medium
increased.
• It was pivotal in turning the American
public against the Vietnam War. It added a
crucial new aspect to political campaigns,
and almost decided for the public what was
"hip".
Bibliography
• The 60’s in America, vol.2, Media.
• www.nhmccd.edu/contracts/irc/kc/decade60.html#film Kingwood College Library
• www.engl.virginia.edu/courses/enwr101/s97/26/fihalpro/ttt
final/html - Television
• www.pbs.org/wgbn/amex/techonology/bigdream/milestone
s2.html#1960 - TV Milestones.
• http://www.wnyc.org/studio360/kurt.html- Studio 360
• http://people.clemson.edu/~pammack/lec122/vietnam.gif
• http://asia.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/vietnam/story/vietna
m.today/vietnam.war.jpg
TV was and still is today, a way to get something
shown, and near endless methods of doing it.
The End
What is your greatest memory about life in the
1960's?
The sense that society and culture were
excitingly in transition.
-Kurt