Television BROADCAST AND BEYOND
Case Study: Jorge Ramos Jorge Ramos came to U.S. from Mexico in 1973, leaving the news station he was at because his supervisors accused him of being critical of the government. He s currently the evening news anchor for the nation s fifth- largest broadcast network, Univision. He s established a new era of journalism, that involves advocating. He s the Mexican Anderson Cooper. By State Department, Public Domain
Case Study: Jorge Ramos He s known for questions others balk at, including asking President Obama questions about his immigration policy during the 2012 reelection campaign. He is clearly an advocate for Latinos and immigrant groups. His reporting doesn t hide that. This is a new trend in reporting. It was once the case that NO ONE took a stand. Now some anchors are turning advocate. By NASA, Public Domain
Jorge Ramos vs. Donald Trump
Case Study: Jorge Ramos Can the anchor be an advocate? How big of a difference does it make it the anchor is on a huge network? Is this shifting the way we do journalism? Is it changing how we receive content?
Invention of television Philo T. Farnsworth came up with the idea of breaking a picture into lines that would scan across the screen in dark and light lines. The idea came to him while tiling a potato field back and forth. By the time he was 21, he had developed an electronic system of transmitting radio waves. By Library of Congress
Invention of television 1922: Diagrams plans for television at age 16 1930: Receives patent for cathode ray tube RCA attempted to promote its own Vladimir Zworykin as inventor of TV and filed patent in 1923 Patent office ruled Farnsworth had been first to make transmitter, RCA had to pay him royalties for use 1947: Farnsworth s television patent expires just before TV starts to take off
Farnsworth on television Farnsworth s son Kent later said Philo regretted the invention: I suppose you could say that he felt he had created a kind of a monster, a way for people to waste a lot of their lives. Throughout my childhood his reaction to television was There s nothing on it worthwhile, and we re not going to watch it in this hold, and I don t want it in your intellectual diet.
Beginning of broadcast television 1939: NBC starts broadcasting, most sets in bars, restaurants 1942: TV manufacturing suspended for duration of WW II; most stations go off air After end of war, RCA puts television sets back on market in 1946 Licensing of new TV stations suspended 1948-1952 by FCC to give producers time to figure out how to control medium better, leaving many cities without television By Creator- bz at English Wikipedia, CC BY- SA 3.0
Beginning of broadcast television Cities with stations saw drastic drops in attendance at movies, sporting events People planned around television, restaurant owners hated Your Show of Shows on Saturday because people would rush home United States vs. Paramount was settled, breaking movie monopoly and giving television legs to run on for miles Live programs dominated By Creator- bz at English Wikipedia, CC BY- SA 3.0
Lucy & Desi end live TV Until the 1951 with I Love Lucy, when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz wanted to move their show to California. The CBS show was filmed in front of a studio audience, rather then live. The solution was to edit it like a movie, package it and send it to New York. High- quality versions existed, which meant the show could live in rerun too. Lucy and Desi hold onto syndication rights to the show, still being broadcast today. Copyright Free Image
Color television 1950s: Early experiments in color 1959: Three shows in color 1965: Big Three networks broadcast in color Switch to color was not completed until 1970s NBC peacock logo designed to tell B&W viewers show was in color Early color TVs cost equivalent of big screen TVs today
Beginning of cable television Thank Mrs. L. E. Parsons of Astoria, Oregon. Her husband hooked up an antenna on top of a local hotel to get a signal from a television station 125 miles away. He then connected the antenna to the TV via a cable to create a Community Antenna Television (CATV). It was an early form of cable television used to distribute broadcast channels in communities with poor television reception. Relatively expensive, was source of a good TV signal, not additional programming. Public Domain
Rebirth of cable By 1975, the face of television was again changing when the FCC relaxed rules on cable companies and new channels were being assigned. That year, Home Box Office (HBO) made the leap from just providing service to actually providing programming. HBO requested and was granted permission to send signal to local cable companies via satellite. The channel was a basic upstart: office, videotape machines and a satellite uplink. The big three networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) objected to the upstarted. The key point was that HBO could send programming to 1,000 cable companies as cheaply as to one.
Ted Turner: A cable pioneer 1963: At 24, Inherits failing billboard company from father 1970: Buys Channel 17 in Atlanta Buys Atlanta Braves and Hawks sports franchises to provide programming for channel Turns Channel 17 into Superstation WTBS in 1976, takes local station national Became a new breed, an entrepreneur who were turning local stations into powerhouses By lukeford.net CC BY- SA 2.5
Ted Turner: A cable pioneer 1980: Turner founds CNN, which becomes first cable 24- hour news network, no worrying about interrupting soap operas Developed idea of repackaging content across multiple channels, including Turner Classic Movies and the Cartoon Network 1996: Turner Broadcasting faces financial trouble, is acquired by media giant Time Warner, he loses control, but work still precedent Public Domain
What s on cable? Affiliates of Big Four (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) broadcast networks Independents and smaller network affiliates Superstations Local- access channels: Comcast has a Stockton office, local broadcast Cable networks: Advertiser supported networks that may receive small fees for each subscriber on a particular system (MTV, CNN, BET) Premium channels (HBO, Showtime) Pay- per- view: Channels showing special events, concerts or movies that viewers pay for on an individual basis Audio services: High- quality music services
Moving forward with devices VCR ownership peaks in 1999, with nearly 89 percent of households owning one By end of 2006, that proportion had fallen 10 points to 79 percent VCRs replaced by DVD players, with 79 percent share in all homes DVDs facing competition from on- demand or DVR services As of December 2013, 47 percent of all American households had access to a DVR 2013 study also shows 61 percent of cable subscribers have access to Video on Demand (VOD)
Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Satellite services have been growing since 1980s, but 1990s saw most rapid growth thanks to low- orbit Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS). Early systems required large/expensive dishes, the 1990s saw introduction of smaller- sized dishes, which were easier to use and more accessible. As of 2011, 29% of American households have DBS, which means it s not in direct competition with cable. Satellite now provides local access as well. By Ramesh NG CC BY- SA 2.0
Conversion to digital broadcasting Farnsworth s television technology was analog, it was the same technology for decades In 2009, all broadcast television converted to digital, analog sets went dark without either conversion box or cable/satellite Initial date was set for Feb. 17, 2009, but government pushes back timeline to June 12, 2009 when it became clear greatest number impact would be lower- income individuals, Federal government made coupons available to purchase boxes FCC received approximately 400,000 calls to hotline after conversion, far less than was expected (600,000 to 3 million)
Digital broadcasting switch Four- year roll out under the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 National Association of Broadcasters called this the most significant advancement of television technology since color TV was introduced Huge advertising and marketing campaign surrounding the switch
Digital television Digital television is now split into two different types: HIGH- DEFINITION TELEVISION (HDTV): High- resolution, wide- screen format with enhanced sound STANDARD DIGITAL TELEVISION: Same quality as analog, but can broadcast up to six channels in airspace that carried one old- style channel A station can choose between putting out a single HDTV program or four digital programs at standard resolution. New channels meant that six varieties of a channel could come through on channel location.
Networks & Affiliates Broadcast networks provide programming to local affiliate stations Affiliates have license from FCC, equipment, and local staff If affiliate carries programming from network, get limited ad revenue and (may) get carriage fee Can also carry local and syndicated programming, keep all ad revenue Stations have a certain amount of independence but overall must please the networks that own them
Public broadcasting act of 1967 Created the Center for Public Broadcasting Act provided that CPB encourage and facilitate program diversity by expanding and developing non- commercial programming CPB given funds to create innovative programming Introduced the concept of educational television
Public Broadcasting 1967: Corporation for Public Broadcasting created after Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 Public Broadcasting System (PBS) provides network- like programming to member stations PBS initially known for children s programming like Sesame Street, which aimed to bridge education gap for lower- income children 1990s: PBS expands audience with programming like Ken Burns documentaries
Big three becomes big four 1986: Rupert Murdoch launches Fox Network by buying up stations in Top Ten markets Attracted independent stations by offering them free programming Shows like NFL football, The Simpsons, American Idol, Glee and So You Think You Can Dance have made Fox top- rated broadcaster
An earthquake in slow motion Media writer Ken Auletta called everything happening in the television industry an earthquake in slow motion 1976: Average viewer has seven channels, Big Three networks have 90 percent of viewers 1991: Average viewer has 33 channels, Big Three lose one third of viewers 2011: ESPN most profitable part of Disney Cable/satellite more profitable because programming cheaper to produce, get subscription fees and ad revenue
Diversity on television Broadcast networks have been criticized for presenting a distorted view of reality. The first idea is that everyone is attractive and funny. That s not reality. The second has everything to do with race. Only one primetime show currently has a minority lead character. That s Scandal. Reality television and the Food Network in particular are going against the trend here.
Diversity on television There s been a recent growth of non- English speaking characters on television, though. Grey s Anatomy producer Shonda Rhimes, who wrote the Olivia Pope character, said shows need to move beyond the sassy black friend. Orange Is The New Black is notable for diversity in characters of different ages, races, body types, socioeconomic backgrounds. Television needs to reflect more minorities because in some cities minorities are the majority, a shift.
Future of television Video- on- demand Interacting with programming, call in shows like American Idol Convergence of television and Internet (Can both now be interchangeable?) Changing definition of "television Moving from broadcast/cable/satellite to cord cutting
Cutting the cord Clip Art New buzz term for losing your connection with cable or satellite services in lieu of more direct ways to get entertainment: Netflix Hulu Apple TV Roku Do we really need to be connected to big networks to be entertained or connected?