Television and the
Power of Visual
Culture
Chapter 5
“…the creators of a current network sitcom,
The Office, have broken new ground by
revamping the show’s look and structure,
shooting the program documentary style (like
the original British version). The Office feels
like a hybrid program, located somewhere
between the more traditional comedy and a
reality program.”
Television:
The Good and the Bad



Diverts
Entertains
Informs



1960s Civil Rights
Times of crisis
McCarthy hearings





Violence
Sexuality
Impact on kids
Impact on
disturbed
Unimaginative
Television
Development

Paul Nipkow


1880s
Nipkow Disk


Broke pictures into light units that could be “sent” and decoded by a
receiver
Zworykin and Farnsworth


Develop electronic broadcasting methods
Farnsworth makes distance broadcasting.

Beats RCA in ugly patent suit
Image Quality

1930s sees U.S. adopt NTSC.


Other countries have higher-resolution
scanning rates.


Standardized set production
Results in better picture
These differences became obsolete with the
arrival of all-digital broadcast and reception.
Digital Television and
Converters



By 2009, rabbit ears and rooftop antennas
will be rendered useless unless they are
tethered to a digital converter.
The National Telecommunications and
Information Administration helped
consumers pay for new converters.
The digital signal provides a superior
image compared with its analog
predecessor.
Sponsors

In Golden Age (1950s) single-sponsor
programs typical




Networks feared sponsor control.


Colgate Comedy Hour
Kraft
GE
Dispute over content, in particular
Enter Pat Weaver

Forced advertisers out by raising costs
Weaver’s Strategies






Increased length of average program
Increased sponsor cost as a result
Used the “spectacular”
Used the magazine format
Used musical specials
Plus…
The Quiz-Show Scandals
Examples are $64,000 Question and
Twenty-One.


Corporate sponsors encouraged rigging to
heighten drama and get rid of unappealing
guests.
 Scandal ended sponsor’s role in creating
content
 Undermined democratic possibilities of
television
 Spawned contemporary cynicism
The Big Three Networks

NBC



CBS





Walter Cronkite
First to use affiliates
60 Minutes
Katie Couric hired in 2006
ABC


Meet the Press since 1947
Huntley-Brinkley in 1956
World News Tonight
Networks dominate until about 1980.
TV Comedy

Sketch comedy


Situation comedy or sitcom


Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), Carol Burnett
Show (1967–1979)
I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, 30 Rock
Domestic comedy

Will & Grace, The Office
Drama:
Anthologies vs. Episodes






One time
Spectacular
Writers’ vehicle
Actor’s vehicle
Required more from
an audience?
Associated with
Golden Age of TV




More suited to
weekly grind
Same characters
week after week
Less creativity
demanded with prefab characters
Cost-effective
Guess which format survives?
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Desperate Housewives
Grey’s Anatomy
Lost
24
CSI
PBS
Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 eventually
creates PBS in 1969
 Charged with creating “high quality”
programs
 Does it still serve a purpose?
 Who will decide?

What breaks down network
dominance?

Independents


HBO



Satellite delivery
FCC comes to cable’s rescue in 1972.
VCR


Superstations
 Ted Turner and WTBS
Time shifting
DVRs (digital video recorders)


Users can record multiple programs at any time.
Will DVRs shatter our current notion of prime-time television?
FCC Temporarily Restricts
Networks



Prime Time Access Rule (1970)
 Reduced network control of prime time
 Gave up 7:30–8 PM time slot
Led to rise of infotainment
 Cheap celebrity and quiz shows
Fin-syn
 End of extorting profits from old programs in
syndication
Figure 5.1
What News Corp. Owns
Television
• Fox Broadcasting Company
• Thirty-five television
stations (selected stations)
– KCOP (MyNetworkTV, Los
Angeles)
– KTTV (FOX, Los Angeles)
– KMSP (FOX, Minneapolis)
– WFTC (MyNetworkTV,
Minneapolis)
– WNYW (FOX, New York
City)
– WWOR (MyNetworkTV,
New York City)
• British Sky Broadcasting
(38% stake, UK)
• SKY Italia
DBS & Cable
• Fox Movie Channel
• Fox News Channel
• Fox Reality
• Fox Sports International
• Fox Sports Net
• FUEL TV
• FX
• SPEED
• National Geographic
Channel (67% stake)
Newspapers
• New York Post
• Wall Street Journal
• Ottaway Newspapers
(twenty-seven local papers)
• News International Limited
(UK)
• The Times (UK)
• News Limited (110
Australian newspapers)
Radio
• Fox Sports Radio Network
• Classic FM
• Sky Radio Germany
Film
• 20th Century Fox
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Fox Television Studios
• Blue Sky Studios
Magazines
• The Weekly Standard
• TV Guide (2% stake)
• donna hay (Australia)
Books
• HarperCollins (US, UK,
Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, India)
• Zondervan
Online
• Fox Interactive Media
– IGN.com
– MySpace.com
– Scout.com
– RottenTomatoes.com
– MarketWatch (online
business news)
The Business End of TV
Deficit financing
Network-produced programming





Reality TV
Low quality, high profit
Newsmagazines
Syndication and reruns


Evergreens
On the Fringe

Fringe time




Just before prime time
Off-network syndication
 Old programs
First-run syndication
 Programs produced for syndication
Cash and barter

Selling and controlling distribution
A. C. Nielsen

Ratings


Percentage of households tuned to a sampled
program
Shares

Percentage of homes tuned to a program,
compared with those actually using their sets at
the time of sample
The Future of Television



Television is the main storytelling medium of
our time
Big Three networks have lost more than 50%
of audience since 1980s
How can TV maintain its cultural relevance?