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National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
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NotesThe National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. It is sometimes referred to as the Peacock Network due to its stylized peacock logo, created exclusively for color broadcasts. (NBC. Wikipedia. 4 May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ NBC>.)
21. As president of NBC, Sylvester Weaver did all of the following except ______. a. increase program length to 30 and 60 minutes b. feature the spectacular or television special c. shorten program length to 15 minutes d. sell spot ads 22. What was a result of the quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s? a. the reduction of quiz shows on the air b. more regulation c. single sponsorship d. all of the above 23. Who patented the first television? a. Rosing b. Zworykin c. Farnsworth d. Nipkow 24. The three networks were broadcasting in color by ____. a. 1954 b. 1960 c. 1964 d. 1966 25. TV quiz shows were popular ____. a. because there was little other programming b. only with the upper classes c. because of the engaging hosts d. in the 1950s 26. The first televised news program aired in ____. a. 1948 b. 1944 c. 1953 d. 1958 27. The type of comedy that focuses on character relationships is the ____. a. sitcom b. sketch comedy c. domestic comedy d. all of the above 28. Soap operas are what type of program? a. serial program b. dramedy c. anthology drama d. domestic comedy 29. The process of recording a live broadcast off of a studio monitor is known as ____. a. filming b. kinescope c. stereoscope d. none of the above 30. Entertainment television is based primarily in ____. a. Washington, D.C. b. New York c. Los Angeles d. the network offices 31. Who launched the WB network? a. Disney b. Paramount c. Time Warner d. Murdoch 32. How many hours did the Prime-Time Access Rule make off-limits to network programming? a. 1/2 hour b. 1 hour c. 2 hours d. 3 hours 33. The VHS format became the standard for VCRs because it initially offered ____ of taping time. a. 1/2 hour b. 2 hours c. 2Ѕ hours d. 6 hours 34. What technological development helped lessen the prominence of the networks? a. cable satellites b. pay-per-view c. the Internet d. DVDs 35. The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules had what effect? a. increased network profits b. lessened the power of networks c. set a price for syndicated programs d. all of the above 36. When a syndicated program is bartered for, this means ____. a. syndicates offer to split advertising revenue if a station picks up their program b. networks agree to air a new show for the rerun rights c. networks pay cash and advertising minutes d. all of the above 37. Fringe time is the time ____. a. before prime time b. after prime time c. before and after prime time d. none of the above 38. Above-the-line costs do NOT include which of the following? a. actors b. lighting design c. director d. editor 39. Which of the following is NOT a current concern for public television? a. lack of governmental support b. corporate sponsorship c. lack of programming d. none of the above 40. The success of a television show is primarily determined by ____. a. advertising revenues b. market share c. demographic appeal d. all of the above
The origins and early development of television The advent of television swiftly and dramatically changed U.S. social life. While in 1948 only 1 percent of American homes had a TV set, by 1953 more than 50 percent had one and by the early 1960s, more than 90 percent did. As the popularity of television rose, many worried that the new medium would render other forms of entertainment and communication ‒ radio, books, magazines, and movies ‒ obsolete. However, radio, print media, and the movies adapted to the new technology. Today there are more radio stations operating and more books and magazines in print than ever before, and movie ticket sales have remained steady since the 1960s. The formative years Inventors and scientists had toyed with the idea of broadcast images for nearly one hundred years before television achieved mass media status in the 1950s. In the late 1800s, the cathode ray tube, the forerunner of the TV picture tube, was invented. The tube combined principles of the camera and electricity. Also, inventors developed a method of encoding television images at a transmission point (a TV station) and decoding them at the reception point (a TV set). The development of a transmission system for television signals began in the 1880s with German inventor Paul Nipkow. Nipkow developed the scanning disk, which separated images into points of light that could then be transmitted as a series of electronic lines. In the early 1900s, two men independently developed an electronic television system. Vladimir Zworykin of Russia developed the iconoscope, which was the first TV camera tube to convert light rays into electric signals. Television first became a possibility when a transmitter and receiver for these electric signals was developed in the early 1920s. The second inventor, Philo Farnsworth of Iowa, patented the electronic image dissector tube while he was still a teenager. In 1927, at age 21, he electronically transmitted the first TV picture ‒ the image of dollar sign ‒ and by 1930 he had patented the first electronic television. RCA challenged Farnsworth's patent, and he had to use his high school notebook to win the court case. Farnsworth later licensed his patent to RCA and AT&T for use in the commercial development of television. The National Television Systems Committee (NTSC), a group of members of large electronics firms, began meeting in the late 1930s to set manufacturing and technological standards for television. The result was the 1941 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adoption of a 525-line image scanned at 30 frames per second (fps). The NTSC standard is still used today by about 30 countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. Great Britain and other nations use one of two other television standards. Also in 1941, 13 channels were set aside by the FCC on the VHF (very high frequency) band for black-and-white television. By 1948, the FCC had issued nearly 100 television licenses. Concerned about channel allocation and frequency interference, the FCC put a freeze on new channels for the next four years. During the freeze, larger cities in the U.S. had television stations, while smaller cities did not. It was evident in cities with television that use of media such as films, books, and radio was dropping. For example, library book circulation decreased in TV cities, and Bob Hope's network radio show lost half its national audience between 1949 and 1951. A second NTSC conference in 1952 sorted out the technical problems, and the FCC ended the freeze and finalized technical standards, many of which are still in use today. The FCC also set aside seventy new channels on an ultrahigh frequency (UHF). The expansion of UHF was slowed by the lack of UHF-ready sets, and the FCC eventually reassigned a portion of the UHF channels. Although several UHF channels were set aside for educational and nonprofit use, such channels have had a difficult time obtaining the funds needed. Even with the foundation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 1967, the nonprofit stations that shared Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programming remained loosely organized. After the television freeze, the FCC approved an experimental system for color television designed by CBS. The color system, though introduced in 1952, would not be the standard until RCA produced a set in 1954 that could show both black-and-white and color images. By 1966, the three major networks broadcast their evening programs in color. Television boomed after the FCC lifted the allocation freeze. By the mid-1950s, there were more than four hundred stations in operation ‒ up 400 percent from the pre-freeze era. Today there are about seventeen hundred TV stations in operation in the U.S., including about three hundred nonprofits.
Early television programs were usually funded and produced by a single sponsor. In the 1950s, the combination of networks wanting more programming freedom and the rising cost of programming led to a quick disappearance of single sponsors. David Sarnoff, then head of RCA/NBC, appointed Sylvester Weaver president of NBC in 1953. Weaver used his background in advertising and his experience in radio to change the way television was organized. He increased program length from fifteen minutes to thirty or sixty minutes, raising the cost of producing each program and thus making it nearly impossible for a single sponsor to foot the bill for a program. In addition, two new types of programs helped networks gain control of content. One of the new, longer styles of programming was the magazine program. The Today show, a three-hour morning show, and the Tonight Show, a ninety-minute late show, both appeared in the early 1950s. On both shows, many advertisers bought thirty- or sixty-second spot ads, so the network, not the sponsors, controlled content. The second long-format show introduced was the spectacular, now known as the television special. These included special broadcasts of films, plays, and variety shows. In the late 1950s, the quiz-show scandals did away with single sponsorship. During the mid to late 1950s, quiz shows like the $64,000 Question were hugely popular. Quiz shows were ideal for sponsors, as their names were often prominent on the scenery and the shows were cheap to produce. However, most of the shows were rigged to heighten drama and to get rid of guests the producers did not find appealing. After rumors of fixing became rampant, a congressional investigation was held in 1959. The most notorious case of rigging was done on the show Twenty-One. Charles Van Doren, a Columbia University professor who won $129,000 over the course of 15 weeks on the show, admitted to cheating, and that was all but the end of quiz shows for over forty years. There were three major effects of the quiz-show scandal. First, it did away with single sponsors; second, it initiated the public's mistrust and cynicism towards electronic media; and finally, it magnified the separation between the privileged and the general public. 1. What was NOT a result of the quiz-show scandal? a. the reduction of quiz shows on the air b. regulated quiz shows c. the ending of single sponsorship d. all of the above 2. Who transmitted the first electronic TV picture? a. Farnsworth b. Nipkow c. Rosing d. Zworykin 3. Sylvester Weaver did which of the following at NBC? a. encouraged single sponsorship b. did away with news programming c. shortened program length to fifteen minutes d. sold spot ads 4. The organization that controls television standards in the United States is the ___. a. PAL b. FCC c. VHS d. NTSC 5. The FCC put a freeze on adding new channels in what year? a. 1946 b. 1948 c. 1940 d. 1954
Major programming trends in the TV age In the mid-fifties, the three major networks moved their entertainment divisions from New York to Los Angeles. Network news operations remained in New York. These two cities grew to represent the two major branches of programming: entertainment and information. TV's information culture Since the 1960s, network news has been seen as one of the most trustworthy and therefore influential sources of information. Daily evening newscasts on NBC began in 1948 with the Camel Newsreel Theater. This eventually transformed into a live news show, the Camel News Caravan. In 1956, this was replaced by the Huntley-Brinkley Report, the first news show to air in color, which would set the standard for dual anchors in local broadcasts. In 1970, after Huntley retired, the program became NBC Nightly News. Also premiering in 1948 was The CBS-TV News. In 1956, it became the first news show to be distributed to affiliate stations. Walter Cronkite assumed the position of anchor in 1962, when the show was renamed CBS Evening News. Cronkite, an extremely well-respected journalist, did on-the-spot interviews and reports, and his views on Vietnam - that U.S. participation in the war was a mistake - influenced public opinion of the situation. When he retired from anchoring, Cronkite was replaced by Dan Rather. Unfortunately, Rather, a former 60 Minutes anchor, could not sustain ratings, and CBS Evening News dropped out of the top spot.
Over the past few decades, audience numbers for network news have been declining due to competition from VCRs, cable, and 24-hour news channels such as CNN. In response, networks cut back on staff and programming in the 1980s, opting for the more affordable newsmagazine format. Attempting to duplicate the success of 60 Minutes, ABC launched 20/20 and NBC created the successful Dateline. Many independent producers created syndicated newsmagazines, such as Entertainment Tonight, Hard Copy, and A Current Affair. While some followed the traditional news-based format, others adopted a more tabloid-like style. Most recently, news content has been shifting towards cable news channels like CNN and MSNBC. It is predicted, however, that the Internet will begin to draw more viewers away from televised news. TV's entertainment culture Television news was centered in New York, but the networks moved their entertainment departments to Los Angeles. Much of early entertainment television attempted to recreate the success of the groundbreaking show I Love Lucy. It was the first show to be filmed in front of a live studio audience, and one of the first few to be produced in California. In contrast to Lucy, which was shot on film, most early live broadcasts were preserved only via kinescope. This is the process of recording a studio monitor with a film camera, and almost no shows that were preserved in this manner have survived. Just as it is today, television programming was based on drama and comedy formats. Television comedies followed three basic formats: sketch comedy, situation comedy (sitcom), and domestic comedy. Sketch comedy refers to variety shows that included short comedic skits. These shows were the forerunner of programs like Saturday Night Live. Early sketch comedy shows featured many stars from vaudeville, like Milton Berle and Red Skelton. Although large-scale music and comedy variety shows did well in the ratings, the high cost of producing this type of show and the effort involved in coming up with new material every week eventually drove the programs off the air. The half-hour situation comedy, or sitcom, has remained a staple of television programming over the years. This type of show features recurring characters put into different situations from episode to episode. In situation comedies, characters are usually predictable, and the show focuses on zany plot twists and disruptions. The domestic comedy is a variation on the sitcom. While still using a set of recurring characters and wacky situations, the focus falls more on the characters and settings and how they relate to one another. The setting is primarily the home, the workplace, or a combination of the two. Current television programming often contains elements of both types of comedy, and domestic comedies often feature dramatic elements. This type of program is sometimes labeled dramedy. Dramas usually fall into two categories: the anthology drama and the episodic series. Anthology dramas were influenced by stage plays and presented a new cast, director, and writer each week. Shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Kraft Television Theater were demanding to produce and were often shown only biweekly. The anthology series disappeared for several reasons. First, advertisers began to seek more influence over programming, and the issues tackled on these dramatic series were not always deemed suitable by advertisers. The gravity and complexity of the anthology dramas made the commercials seem less than convincing. Second, as more and more Americans purchased television sets, the upscale audiences that supported anthology dramas became outnumbered by the working classes, and television tastes shifted. Finally, anthology dramas were expensive to produce. The trend for televised drama then moved to episodic series, often weekly shows. These dramas featured a set cast and crew that recurred week to week. There are two types of episodic series: chapter shows and serial programs. Chapter shows tend to have self-contained stories that are resolved in each episode. Most prime-time drama today falls into this category. Cultural and societal concerns have affected the types of dramas that have appeared over the years. For example, in the early 1970s, when crime and civil unrest were concerns of the public, police dramas became popular. Police and other law-enforcement figures moved in to replace the cowboy as one of the most popular character types in television. Serial dramas have long ongoing plots with story lines continuing from episode to episode, like soap operas. These programs tend to run during daytime hours because they have less value as syndicated reruns. Syndicated reruns are often stripped, or shown five days a week in any order. The open-ended nature of serial programs, however, would make it nearly impossible to view shows out of order. But despite this issue, miniseries (short, self-contained serial dramas) and shows like Dallas and Dynasty have been produced for prime-time television. Contemporary television features shows that have a mix of comedy, drama, and episodic and serial elements. Shows like The X-Files and ER have both self-contained and ongoing plots. 1. Television news was based primarily in _____. a. Washington, D.C. b. New York c. Hollywood d. the network offices 2. The first televised news show was ____, in 1948. a. Camel Newsreel Theater b. ABC Nightly News c. NBC Evening News d. CBS-TV News 3. Soap operas are what type of program? a. domestic comedy b. dramedy c. anthology drama d. serial program 4. The process of recording a live broadcast off of a studio monitor is known as ___. a. filming b. rebroadcast c. stereoscope d. kinescope 5. The major difference between domestic and situation comedies lies in the ___. a. jokes b. setting c. character development d. pratfalls Summary 3 Read the summary of the section of Chapter 5 titled "The decline of the network era" and answer the multiple choice questions that follow. The decline of the network era The network era is generally considered to be the time between 1950 and the end of the 1970s, when CBS, NBC, and ABC dominated prime-time programming. Network dominance was significant because it offered America's diverse population a cultural center and common topics for conversation. During that period, these three networks accounted for more than 95 percent of prime-time viewing. By 2000, that figure had dropped to below 50 percent because of technological changes, governmental regulations, and the development of new networks. New technologies reduce network control Two major technological developments led to the erosion of network dominance: the arrival of satellite services for cable television and the consumer marketing of VCRs. Before the 1970s, networks and local stations limited the development of a cable system. Changes began with the launching of the HBO satellite in 1972. In 1976 Ted Turner uplinked his independent station, WTBS in Atlanta, to a satellite and offered his programming to broadcast and cable stations. While it was initially free, once Turner expanded services and created new channels, he began charging. The appearance of videocassette recorders (VCRs) in the mid-1970s also contributed to network decline. In 1975, Sony introduced Betamax, a three-quarter-inch format used by television stations. In 1976, JVC introduced the one-inch VHS tape, which was not compatible with Beta. The competition lowered costs and put more VCRs in homes. VHS eventually won out because the tape allowed for two hours, the length of a movie, while Beta fit only ninety minutes. By 1997, nearly 90 percent of American homes had VCRs. While a court order permitted home taping for personal use, the movie industry responded by setting up videotaping facilities so that they could sell and rent movies through video stores. In addition, VCRs allowed consumers to tape television programs and play them back later. Time shifting refers to the practice of taping a show at one time and watching it later. This caused new concerns for advertisers, now that their commercials may be zapped (edited out of the program), or zipped (skipped through with the fast-forward button). Additionally, watching rented movies takes away from the time that could be spent watching television programming. In the future, "black box" digital recording products like TiVo may allow television watchers to select and time shift programs more easily, but they may also allow advertisers and programmers to collect more marketing information. This could lead to the transformation of television's economic system. Government regulations temporarily restrict network control In the late 1960s, the FCC sought to decrease monopoly-like network power with a series of regulations. The first regulation was the Prime-Time Access Rule (PTAR), passed in 1970, which handed over the 7:30 to 8:00 P.M. EST time slot over to the local stations in the nation's fifty largest TV markets. Also in 1970, the FCC created the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (fin-syn), which cut the profits that networks could reap from the producers of syndicated programming that had once run on a given network. Five years later, in 1975, the Department of Justice limited the networks' production of non-news shows to a few hours a week. This meant that networks had to license most of their programming from independent producers and film studios. But with the popularity of cable, this rule was phased out in the 1990s. The fin-syn rules and other regulations were also dropped. Over the past few years, this has reintroduced the concern that prompted the regulations, i.e., that networks were forming monopolies. Emerging networks target the youth market The three major networks ‒ ABC, CBS, and NBC ‒ faced further competition from the emergence of new networks. In 1987, Rupert Murdoch launched the Fox network. Initially Fox lost money, but with its efforts to target particular audiences, primarily young and black, it managed to keep a foothold as a network. By 1994, Fox had competing programs every night of the week and was making money, and by the mid-1990s the total number of Fox affiliate stations rivaled the big three networks. Encouraged by the success of Fox, Paramount and Time Warner launched networks (UPN and WB, respectively) in 1995. As with Fox, these new networks found their niche by catering to the tastes of teen and minority audiences. 1. Who launched the Fox network in 1987? a. Disney b. Dumont c. Murdoch d. Simpson 2. What was the fourth network launched? a. Fox b. TBS c. WB d. UPN 3. The rule passed to limit network power in 1970 is the ____. a. Fringe Time Benefits Rule b. Prime-Time Access Rule c. Public Access Rule d. none of the above 4. The regulation that cut the networks' syndication profits is the ____. a. Syndicate Rule b. Financial Barrier Rule c. Financial Interest and Syndication Rules d. Channel Allotment Ruling 5. What was the first major cable channel? a. HBO b. CNN c. TNT d. MTV
(http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture/pages/bcs-main.asp ?v= chapter&s=05000&n=00020&i=05020.05&o=|00020|00030 |&ns=0) III. Text reviewing
(http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/mediaculture/pages/bcs-main.asp ?v= chapter&s=05000&n=00020&i=05020.05&o=|00020|00030 |&ns=0) IV. Focus Questions
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