Exam 2 Flashcards
Period of major spurt in TV technology
1919-1939; Between WWI & WWII
Vladimere Zworkyn
iconoscope tube - breaking up TV picture
kinescope tub - higher fidelity pictures
When was the kinescope demonstrated?
1929
Philo Farnsworth
- The dissector tube - breaking up/resembling pictures
- Produced 1st all electronic TV
- 1st to transmit TV image
Interlaced Scanning
TV screen illuminates all the odd lines first (1,3,5,7), then starts the process over again in a matter of 1 millisecond
Progressive Scanning
TV screen illuminates all the lines in a progressive order (1,2,3,4,5)
First image transmitted on TV by Farnsworth
”$”
When and where did TV make it’s formal debut? Which company?
April 30, 1939, The World’s Fair (NYC), RCA
When did TV become full operational in the U.S.?
Late 1940s
The first TV commercial was broadcast on what network, who was the client, and how much did they pay?
NBC, Bullova, $9
When did the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begin, with what act?
Communications Act of 1934 - provide the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio and for other purposes
-combined and organized federal regulation of telephone, telegraph and radio communications
5 reasons for delayed start of TV
- The depression
- A lack of investment capital
- WWII
- A lack of TV standards
- lack of receivers hampered acceptance
Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) standard
RCA announced plans to setup production or receivers
What was the NTSC standard?
National Television Systems Commitee, an advisory group for the industry and for the FCC
What was the main problem with the NTSC standard?
Didn’t work for color TV
How many channels did the FCC set aside following WWII?
12
VHF
Very High Frequency allocation, made possible the operation of 405 TV stations across the country
UHF
Ulta High Frequency, 70 new channels in addition to VHF
The FCC “Freeze”
1948-1952, The broadcast license demand outnumbered the availability
The Sixth Order Report
- 70 new channels were allocated in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band.
- Channels for 242 stations allocated for non-commercial educational TV.
- *Mandated a single, uniform television station class, (providing for some differences in transmission power & antenna heights)
- Regulated power of each stations transmitter, the theory was to help UHF stations maintain an even playing field with the VHF
All Channels Receiver Bill
1962, the FCC passes bill to require all future television sets be equipped with UHF and VHF capability
Color systems adopted by the FCC
1950 - Authorized CBS’s color television technology as the national standard (Zworkyn’s failed)
1953 – FCC approved RCA’s color system. compatible with black and white TV
Why was color TV production halted?
The Korean War
First color coverage of the World Series
Sept. 28th, 1955
Bonanza begins in color
Sept. 12, 1959
This TV show was the turning point for color TV set purchases, and when…
September 1961, Disney’s Wonderful World of Color
First network to convert all of their shows to color, and when?
NBC. My Birthday! 1966
What year did color TV set sales outpace B&W
1972
The 1st color film
The World, The Flesh, and the Devil
First Michigan station to being color broadcasting
WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids
What are the channel allocations for VHF
2-13
What are the channel allocations for UHF
14-69
What was channel 1 used for?
Amateur radio stations and other uses
What did TV copy from the radio (3 things)?
- Programming
- Economic structure
- Regulation
The only TV genre to be in the top 10 rated program every years from 1949-2009
Sitcoms
Local Acces time slot
7pm-8pm
Primetime time slot
8pm-11pm
Desilu Innovations
- Interracial stars
- Marketing research
- Studio audience, 3-camera set-up
- # 1 Show in its first year
- Shift to Hollywood
“I Love Lucy” Effect
- Not allowed to say “pregnant”…“expecting”
2. Not allowed to show one bed in bedroom scences
I Love Lucy radio show was called…
“My Favorite Husband”
Syndication
Domestic and foreign leasing of a program
First-run syndication
Runs in “strips”; same time, everyday, never on network TV (Oprah)
Off-network TV syndication
Old network shows for reruns during fringe times (Two and a Half Men)
Longest running TV show in the U.S.
“Meet The Press”
Longest running religious TV show that was 1st in color
“It is Written”
Longest running sports program
NFL on CBS
When did the tomorrow show air and on what network?
NBC, 1973-1982
Saturday Night Live air date and network
Oct. 11, 1975, NBC
SNL band name
“Not Ready for Primetime”
What age demographic was SNL geared toward?
18-34
Who was the first guest on SNL?
George Carlin
What show is considered to be the most distinctive and significant program in TV history?
Saturday Night Live
What is the Fairness Doctrine, and what are its dates?
Ensures that all controversial issues discussed are fair and honest, from 1980-87
The only remnant of the Fairness Doctrine
Election coverage
FIN/SYN rules and dates
Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, 1970; Prohibited network participation in creation of in-house syndication arms
Programming that arises in late 80s-90’s
Cheap programming, the start of reality TV
Niche marketing
Targeting specific audiences
What happened to the Big 3 network audiences between 1975-1995?
Declined to 69%
Why did we see these declines?
Time shift, movie rentals and DVR use.
When did Lettermen move to CBS
August 1993
Longest running ABC late night TV show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
By 1940, there were __ quiz shows on radio
50
Quiz shows dried up during…
WWII
__________ produced “Stop the Music” and created “The $64 Question”
Louis Cowman
The $64 Question turned into…
“The $64,000 Question”
The quiz show “21” incident
The show was rigged, a contestant (stempel) was told to fidget and pretend not to know the answer to a question and allow his opponent to win.
What sponsor was behind the “21” indicident?
Geritol
Most popular TV drama in the 50s-60s
TV Western’s
First Western for kids?
Roy Roger
First successful “adult” western?
Gunsmoke
What caused the fall of Westerns
Vietnam War
Sports Broadcasting Act of ____
1961, negotiated the sale of national broadcast rights
-Granted anti-trust immunity to sports leagues to pool and sell their rights to sponsored telecasts of games (not college sports)
First decade to see taboo topics on TV
the 70s
Show that showcased a single, working woman
Mary Tyler Moore
Considered the first “TV War”
Vietnam
What is “social consciousness” and who created it?
Norman Lear, a genre of shows that observed problems facing American life
Norman Lear created what show?
All in the Family
Jiggle TV genre
Sexual gratification and bawdy humor
Fantasy TV genre hit shows
The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island
The variety show ended its run in what year?
late 70s
What shows ended the variety show genre?
The Carol Burnett Show, The Flip Wilson Show, Sonny & Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Donny and Marie
Primetime dramas
Soap melodrama, masculinized
1st Primetime drama with a serial plot
Dallas; 1978-1991
Noxious affect of Americans on European culture
“Dallasification”