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,
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 news
Primarily 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 comedy
Variety shows/sketches
Anthology dramas
Episodic drama series
Continuing 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 (“FINSYN”), 1970-1995
Justice Department ruling
limiting 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 your voice and
vision be seen and heard?