Yr 1 Digital Media Futures.
Technology & Convergence lecture notes.
Brief History of Modern Media Technology:
1736 -
Magic Lantern in use across the world.
1837 -
Invention of the telegraph.
1850 -
First transatlantic cable installed.
1862 -
Caselli transmits pictures by wire over large distances.
1876 -
Telephone developed by Alexander Graham Bell & Elisha Gray.
1882 -
Multiple shot cameras introduced.
1890s - First public motion picture shows in France, UK & USA.
1894 -
First radio signal sent in Morse Code by Sir Oliver Lodge.
1896 -
Lumiere program premieres in Brussels, Belgium (1 st March).
1897 -
Braun invents cathode-ray tube.
1901 -
Guglielmo Marconi’s radio system adopted and transatlantic Morse communication established.
1920 -
UK population 44, 027, 000.
1922 -
British Broadcasting Company formed by Radio Manufacturers.
1923 – 80, 000 radio licenses issued by Post Office.
World Population 2 billion; Europe 650 million (33%).
1924 – 1 million radio licenses.
1927 -
British Broadcasting Corporation founded 1st January.
1931 -
UK population 46, 038, 000.
1932 -
Experimental TV begins.
1936 – Television service (BBC1) begins 2nd November.
Listener Research Section set-up (random sampling).
3000 TV sets in London.
50 TV sets in New York.
1939 – 9 million licences.
League of Ovaltineys had 5 million members.
TV service suspended 1st September.
However, there were 3 different types of licenses, and lots of people made their own radio sets. It has been
estimated that there were 5 times as many unlicensed sets as licensed (Crisell p16). Upwards of 15 million in
1930s.
1946 -
TV service re-commences 7th June.
1951 -
UK population 50, 287, 000
Digital Media Futures.
Technology & Convergence – Notes.
1.
1953 -
Elizabeth II’s Coronation – huge surge in rental/ ownership.
100 yrs for telephone to reach 75% of population.
26 yrs for Radio.
17 years for TV.
1955 – ITV is launched, made up of several regional franchises.
World Population 3 billion.
1957 -
First satellite in space.
American Department of Defence forms DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Programme Agency).
1958 -
BBC purchases first AMPEX video tape recorder (VTR)
1960 -
TV Centre opened in London.
BBC now have 8 VTRs (2 inch tapes).
NTSC Invented in USA.
1961 -
UK population 52, 807, 000
1962 -
First live transatlantic broadcast in July.
PAL invented.
Cuban Missile Crisis in October.
1963 -
Dr Who first transmitted.
1964 – BBC2 launched 20th April.
BBC adopts PAL system.
1967 -
BBC2 begins regular broadcasts in colour 1st July.
Electronic editing begins.
DARPA commissions the first Internet network.
1968 -
First Global TV event; Mexico Olympics.
1969 -
Moon Landings in July (12m viewers on BBC1; 14.5m on ITV).
1971 -
UK population 55, 928, 000.
Intel invents the 8088 chip; the first microprocessor.
1973 -
LBC (London Broadcasting Company) begins on the 8 th October, and is the UK’s first commercial
radio broadcaster.
1975 -
1 inch video-tape arrives.
1977 -
First domestic video recorders (VCRs)
3 formats: Betamax, VHS & V2000.
Annan report on fourth terrestrial TV channel.
1979 -
American National Science Foundation (NSF) begins work on Internet research.
1981 -
UK population 56, 352, 000.
1982 -
Channel 4 begins 2nd November (World pop 4.5 billion).
1983 -
Beta cassette breakthrough, soon followed by Beta SP.
250 types of home computer, 30 of which are British (inc. Sinclair, Acorn, Amstrad).
1985 -
Comedian Ernie Wise makes the first mobile/cell phone call on New Year’s Day in London.
NSF develops NFSNET (a network between 5 research Universities).
Digital Media Futures.
Technology & Convergence – Notes.
2.
1986 -
TV industry adopts Paintbox technology.
Peacock report on future of PSB and the BBC.
1989 -
Sky launches in February with four channels from the Astra satellite.
1990 -
Sky ‘merges’ with BSB to form BskyB.
1990 -
Broadcasting Act separating Channel 4 from ITV.
World pop 5.2 billion; Europe 750 million (15%).
1991 -
Timothy Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web.
1992 -
WWW incorporated into Marc Andreesen’s Mosaic browser (later becomes Netscape Navigator).
1993 -
Digital vs Analogue.
Sky launches multi-channel packages.
1995 -
An estimated 1.5 million computers online, increasing by 10% a month.
1997 -
Channel 5 launches in Easter.
1998 -
Launch of Sky Digital service in October.
2000 -
Broadcasting White Paper published in December.
2001 -
ITV rebrands as ITV1.
BBC refines digital strategy (6 proposed channels).
BBC revamps online services as BBCi.
UK population 59, 755, 700; World population 6 billion.
2002 -
ITV Digital Collapses.
BBC in partnership with Rupert Murdoch launch their Freeview digital service.
2003 -
In September, the BBC’s role comes under almost unprecedented scrutiny during the independent
Hutton inquiry, which investigated the death of MOD weapons expert, Dr David Kelly.
In October, the UK Government finally sets the condition which will allow the two largest ITV
companies – Carlton and Granada – to merge, forming one unified commercial TV network.
Sources.
Bordwell, D & Thompson, K (1994) Film History: An Introduction. McGraw Hill. London.
Buscombe, E, ed (2000) British Television: A Reader. OUP. Oxford. pp. 23-142.
Crisell, A (1997) An Introductory History of British Broadcasting. Routledge. London.
Ellis, J (2000) Seeing Things: Television in the Age of Uncertainty. I. B. Tauris. London. pp. 146-161.
Goggin, G (2000) ‘Pay Per Browse? The Web’s Commerical Futures’ in Gauntlett, D (ed) web.studies. Arnold.
London.
Hobsbawm, E (1999) Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991. Abacus. London. pp. 500-586.
Levinson, P (1998) The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution. Routledge.
London.
O’Malley, T (1994) Closedown? The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy 1979-92. Pluto. London.
Williams, R (1992) Television: Technology and Cultural Form. Routledge. London. pp. 14-18.
Winston, B (1998) Media Technology and Society. Routledge. London.
Horsman, M (1999) ‘Sky: the first decade…’ in The Guardian. Monday, February 1st.
http://freespace.virgin.net/peter.culley/history.htm
http://www.skyreport.com/dth_his.htm
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/xsdataset.asp
Richard Berger 2003.
Digital Media Futures.
Technology & Convergence – Notes.
3.