Contents Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: The Scope of the Book ix x xi 1 Liveness and Broadcasting 1 2 The Meaning of Live 3 3 What s So Special about Liveness? 8 4 Television and Recording (1): Replacing Liveness 18 5 Radio and Recording: Mostly Music 32 6 Television and Recording (2): Enhancing Liveness 45 7 Real Time and Reel Time: An Evening s Programmes on BBC 1 50 8 Broadcasting and Time-shifted Consumption 95 Conclusion: Liveness, Recording, Broadcasting 101 Bibliography 110 Index 113 vii
1 Liveness and Broadcasting Liveness has always been associated with broadcasting radio and television because the mass media that preceded it were recorded. In order to convey their messages, print, photography, sound reproduction and cinema each made use of some form of carrier or text, but the messages of broadcasting are sent over the air, are received in the same instant, and then cease to exist. We might nevertheless be reluctant to define broadcasting in terms of liveness because so much of it is plainly not live. Many radio and television programmes are created before they are transmitted and, whether or not they are pre-recorded in this way, are not consumed at the time they are transmitted. Even substantially live programmes such as news bulletins are punctuated with pre-recorded inserts. Nor is the use of pre-recorded content the effect of new technology, for television was able to carry filmed material from its very beginnings (Ellis, 2002, p. 31). The awkwardness of the concept of liveness might therefore encourage us to define broadcasting in terms of certain of its other characteristics. One is that radio and television have for the most part been consumed privately by individuals or small groups in their homes or other owned spaces such as cars or rooms in hotels and hostels. The older media of theatre and cinema required their audiences to gather in public venues, and it is convenient to see broadcasting as part of that great movement towards an individualism of ownership and consumption that has developed over the last 100 years and more. The motor car, computers and the internet, and now mobile telephony have enabled us to fulfil our professional duties, domestic chores, financial and shopping needs and cultural interests increasingly in accordance with our own wishes and free of the need to enter the public sphere or observe such external constraints as bus and train timetables or hours of business (Crisell, 2002, pp. 9 10). Moreover broadcasting has smoothly absorbed the older and public media and turned them into private ones: radio and television domesticated the theatre and television domesticated the cinema. We will see shortly that this has had a huge impact 1
2 Liveness and Recording in the Media on broadcasting by forcing it not only to rely heavily on pre-recorded material but to make extensive use of certain cultural forms which it did not originate but which have come to be pre-eminently associated with it. Nevertheless it is not altogether helpful to define broadcasting primarily in terms of the privacy or domesticity of its consumption because this may also characterise the consumption of books and newspapers, not to mention newer media such as the internet. Moreover, the first experiences of television were public. This is perhaps because while radio sets have been relatively cheap to buy or make throughout the history of sound broadcasting, the initial cost of television receivers was expected to be beyond the pockets of all but a few. Baird s first demonstration of his new device took place in Selfridges department store in 1925, and the world s first regular television service, which was launched in Germany in March 1935, was beamed only to public auditoria: there were no privately owned sets (Chapman, 2005, p. 117). The British television service was started by the BBC in November 1936, but the first receivers cost almost as much as a car and many of its programmes were viewed in shops, cinemas and other public places (Ellis, 2002, p. 31). By 1937, there were as many as 109 public viewing rooms, including one at Harrods and one at Waterloo railway station (Gripsrud, 1998, p. 22). We think of modern television as a predominantly domestic and private medium, but it is worth remembering that a significant proportion of the audience continues to watch its programmes, especially major sporting events, in pubs and clubs, not to mention open spaces like town squares and stadiums. Despite all the problems that the concept presents, we persist in feeling that liveness is the distinguishing feature of broadcasting. But what, exactly, does live mean?
Index Abercrombie, N., 102 action replay, see instant replay Altman, R., 102 Amazon, 42 Archers, The, 28 Armes, R., 18, 19, 37, 95 audiences use of recording, 25, 46 7, 49, 95 100 use of DVD (digital versatile disc) recording, 95 6, 98, 99 use of Sky Plus, 96, 98 use of TiVo, 96, 98, 99 use of video-recording, 95, 98, 99 100 Auslander, P., 6, 7, 11, 23, 38, 39 Baird, John Logie, 2, 14 Bakewell, J., 22 Barnard, S., 15, 34 BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), xii, 2, 13 14, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 4, 25, 32 6, 38, 46, 88 BBC iplayer, 96, 98 BBC Radio 5 Live, 103 Big Brother, 16 Blackburn, Tony, 38 Blakely, R., 98 Blind Date, 103 Bourdon, J., 16, 23, 45, 102, 105 Briggs, A., 21, 33, 34, 48 broadcasters use of recording, 1, 2, 17, 18 31, 32 4, 35 6, 45 9, 86 7, 98, 103 4 use of telerecording, 20, 21, 22, 23 use of video-recording, 21, 22, 47 Bruce, Ken, 40 Caughie, J., 23, 25 Chapman, J., 2 Chignell, H., 32, 33, 34, 40 cinema film, 1, 4, 5, 7, 11 12, 16, 18 19, 20 1, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 97, 99, 101, 102 Cooke, L., 21, 22, 23 4, 24 Cox, Sara, 40 Crimewatch, 51, 59, 66 76, 86, 87, 89, 91 2, 93 Crimewatch Update, 83, 84 5, 86 Crisell, A., 1, 13, 15, 19, 24, 28, 33, 36, 37, 98, 102 Deezer, 42 Dixon of Dock Green, 24 EastEnders, 64 5, 88, 89 Ellis, J., 1, 2, 31, 88, 101, 102, 103, 106 European Broadcasting Union, 105 Evans, Chris, 40 Faltermeyer, Harold, 39 Feuer, J., 49, 103 Flew, T., 26 Garnham, N., 22 Gifford, D., 34 113
114 Index Graham Norton Show, The, 85 6, 90, 92 3 Gripsrud, J., 2, 13, 88 Grooveshark, 42 Harvey, S., xi xii HBO (Home Box Office), 99 Hesmondhalgh, D., 26 Holby City, 65, 66, 88 Imagine, 64, 76, 83, 88, 91 instant replay, 21, 47 9 internet, the, xi, 1, 2, 16 17, 40, 42, 98 itunes, 42 Jacobs, J., 20, 22, 24, 25 jukeboxes, 41 Kavka, M., 45 kinescoping, see broadcasters use of telerecording Kraftwerk, 39 LOVEFiLM, 99, 108 Lury, K., 47, 97, 105 Manvell, R., 27 Marriott, S., 17, 21, 31, 48, 96, 101, 102 Match of the Day, 46 7, 49, 98, 102 mobile phones, 1, 96, 108 Montgomery, M., 14 Moyles, Chris, 40 music records, xii, 15 16, 19, 20, 32, 34 6, 37 8, 39, 40 3 needle-time, 34, 35, 38 Netflix, 99 news programming, 1, 5, 12 14, 17, 27, 31, 33 4, 35, 45, 46, 50, 86, 90, 96, 103, 105, 108 News and Weather, 51 7, 76 81, 83, 86, 89, 91, 93 4 News Update, 65 Regional News ( Look North ), 51, 54, 57 64, 81 3, 86, 88, 88 9, 92, 93, 94 Regional News Update, 65 Nineteen Eighty-Four, 21 Nyre, L., 18 off-air recording, see audiences use of recording Oldfield, Mike, 39 Ong, W., 8 Parker, D., 33 Pegg, M., 19 Pennington, A., 97 Phelan, P., 105 Pirates of the Caribbean, 99 Play for Today, 24 public-service broadcasting, xii, 20, 21, 23 4, 35 6, 42 4 Radio Luxembourg, 32 3 Radio Normandy, 32 3 Roberts, G., 96 robo-jock shows, 40, 101 Rolling Stones, 39 Rudin, R., 42 Sabbagh, D., 99 Scannell, P., 4, 8, 33, 93 seriality, 26 31, 87, 100, 106 serials, see seriality series, see seriality Sky TV, 97 Skype, 92 3 soap operas, see seriality sports programming, 13, 45 9, 108 Spotify, 42
Index 115 Stone, Christopher, 34 Street, S., 33 Strictly Come Dancing, 16 theatre, 1, 5 6, 7, 11 12, 14, 16, 21, 23 4, 29, 30, 43 4, 102, 105, 106 Thompson, J., 4 time-shifting, see audiences use of recording Tomlinson, J., 5 Top of the Pops, 38 Turow, J., 20 Urban Outfitters, 42 West, A., 45 Whannel, G., 13 Williams, K., 19 Williams, R., 88 Winston, B., 19 YouTube, 108