final exam

Question 1

Name two contributions of Samuel Morse

Answer 1

One contribution of Samuel Morse, was his creation of the telegraph
The second was his creation of the morse code.

Question 2

Name two accomplishments of Guglielmo Marconi

Answer 2

He created and got the patent for the wireless telegraph and he also sent the first wireless signal across the Atlantic ocean.

Question 3

What was the biggest breakthrough of Lee De Forest?

Answer 3

The biggest breakthrough was the development of the Audion, or triode, vacuum tube, which detected radio signals and amplified them

Question 4

Describe RCA’s most significant impact after it was formed

Answer 4

It gave the US almost total control over the emerging mass medium of broadcasting

Question 5

Name two accomplishments of David Sarnoff

Answer 5

One of the first to envision wireless telegraphs
Was closely involved in RCAs general manager at age 30
And Was president of RCA

Question 6

Explain how William Paley developed CBS as a radio network in the 1930s and 1940s, topping NBC

Answer 6

CBS paid affiliates to get options on times to air shows, and sell ads on them
Developed news programs and entertainment shows, particularly soap operas, comedy- variety

Question 7

What act stated the very important principle that broadcast licensees had to serve “the public interest, convenience, or necessity” in order to keep their licenses?

Answer 7

The radio act of 1927

Question 8

When was the Federal Communications Commission established?

Answer 8

1934

Question 9

Why was the popular radio show Amos ’n’ Andy controversial?

Answer 9

Because it had white actors portraying black characters who were supposed to be stupid.

Question 10

Name the actor who produced and starred in the 1938 radio broadcast, “War of the Worlds” and explain what happened when it was aired

Answer 10

Orson Wells was the actor who produced and starred in War of the Worlds when it was aired people did not hear the beginning portion where it was stated it was fake and they panicked thinking it was real.

Question 11

Describe the contributions of Edwin Armstrong

Answer 11

He discovered and developed FM radio, he was the most prolific and influential inventor in radio history. He invented an amplifying system that enabled radio receivers and he sold it to RCA

Question 12

What had long been early radio’s single biggest staple, accounting for 48 percent of all programming in 1938?

Answer 12

Live and recorded music

Question 13

When are today’s heaviest radio listening hours each day?

Answer 13

6 am-9 pm and 4 pm-7 pm

Question 14

Name the first and second most popular formats on the radio today

Answer 14

Country is number 1 news/talk/information is number 2

Question 15

How many NPR listeners are there each week?

Answer 15

32 million/week

Question 16

What percentage of all U.S. spending on media advertising goes to radio stations?

Answer 16

10%

Question 17

About what percentage of revenues in radio come from local ad sales?

Answer 17

75%

Question 18

What was “payola”?

Answer 18

The practice by which record promoters paid DJs to play particular records, was rampant during the 1950s as record companies sought to book sales

Question 19

Describe two effects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on radio ownership, including what changes occurred in radio ownership from 1995 to 2005

Answer 19

The Act allied individuals and companies to buy as many radio stations as they wanted and relaxed restrictions on how they could own in the single market
As a result from 1995 to 2005, the number of radio stations owners declined by one third from 6000 to about 4400

Question 20

What groups did the FCC in 2000 try to help by establishing LPFM stations?

Answer 20

They helped give a voice to local groups lacking access to public airways. Mostly religious groups but also high schools colleges and universities, native American tribes, labor groups, and museums

Question 21

Define the “Hypodermic-Needle Model” in media effects research

Answer 21

The concept, developed in the 1930s, is that powerful media affect weak audiences, by shooting their potent effect directly into unsuspecting victims. The idea was that the press was negatively affecting people and without even having them know.

Question 22

Describe the “agenda-setting” phenomenon in media effects research

Answer 22

The idea is that when the mass media focus their attention on particular events or issues, they determine and set the agenda for the major topics of discussion for individuals and society

Question 23

Describe the mass media phenomenon known as “the cultivation effect”

Answer 23

Suggest that the more time individuals spend viewing television and absorbing its viewpoints, the more likely their views of social reality will be cultivated.

Question 24

When did more than 50 percent of all American homes have at least one television set?

Answer 24

1953

Question 25

Name two things that Philo Farnsworth did that were significant

Answer 25

He transmitted the first electronic TV picture and received a patent for the first electronic television

Question 26

Who was Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, and what did he do that undermined TV advertisers?

Answer 26

He was NBC president and he increased programs running time from 15 mins to 30 or longer which made program costing go up for advertisers.

Question 27

What were the two new types of programs introduced by the networks in the 1950s that helped them gain control over content?

Answer 27

Magazine format, and TV spectacular

Question 28

When is “prime time” on network television?

Answer 28

8pm to 11pm

Question 29

Who was Charles Van Doren and explain the significance of what he did

Answer 29

He was a Columbia University professor who pretended not to know the answer to questions. He faked a reality TV quiz show, which made viewers lose trust in the reality tv show idea, but if he hadn’t faked it the show would have been boring and not entertaining to the public.

Question 30

How did FCC Commissioner Newton Minow describe television in 1961?

Answer 30

“vast wasteland” filled game shows, westerns, and cartoons that had not lived up to it’s potential

Question 31

What was Telstar?

Answer 31

It was the 1st communication satellite capable of receiving, amplifying, and returning signals

Question 32

Explain how “narrowcasting” helps cable television

Answer 32

provide access to certain target audiences that cannot be guaranteed to broadcasting

Question 33

What are the first, second, third, and fourth screens?

Answer 33

First scene was movies, second screen was tv sets and online computer viewing screens are the third screen, and the fourth screen is mobile devices.

Question 34

What kinds of shows does the textbook say are best suited for the digital age and why

Answer 34

Reality shows, dramas, and shows with many consistent characters and multiple plot lines because it gives people to talk about and have favorite characters which keeps them coming back to the shows.

Question 35

Name at least two significant facts that the textbook said about the “I Love Lucy” show

Answer 35

It was the first TV program to be filmed before a live Hollywood audience, the two main characters owned the show and created their own production company.

Question 36

Who was, according to the textbook, “television’s first major celebrity?”

Answer 36

Milton Berle

Question 37

In the early 1950s, what kind of audience did television serve?

Answer 37

The more elite and wealthier audience

Question 38

Give at least three reasons why anthology dramas on television ended

Answer 38

One they contained stories with complex human problems which were not easily resolved. Two they were expensive to film. Three televisions became cheaper and the new audiences were not as interested in the dramas.

Question 39

What are the two types of episodic series?

Answer 39

Chapter shoes and serial programs

Question 40

What is the oldest show on television and what network airs it?

Answer 40

Meet the press, it airs on NBC

Question 41

Who was Walter Cronkite and what did he do during the Vietnam War that was significant?

Answer 41

He was a TV/ News broadcaster who helped convince mainstream Americans to oppose the war

Question 42

How did Ted Turner revolutionize cable television?

Answer 42

with his Atlanta-based superstation: WTBS

Question 43

Why did Congress establish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service?

Answer 43

To provide programs for audiences, such as educational shows for young children, shunned by commercial networks and advertisers

Question 44

What was the FCC’s “must-carry” rule, and what was its purpose?

Answer 44

They must carry all local broadcasting on their systems to protect local tv stations. They also must carry access channels for local education, government, and the public to ensure everyone had access to the basics so they could be educated on what was going on around them

Question 45

What was the effect of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on the cable industry, and what was its impact on cable TV customers?

Answer 45

It brought cable fully under the federal rules
And Allowed cable companies to offer telephone services for the first time owners could operate TV or radio stations in the same market where they owned a cable system

Question 46

What percent of consumers say that television advertising—of all ad formats—has the most impact or influence on their buying decisions?

Answer 46

80%
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Question 47

What is the key to erasing the losses generated by deficit financing for television programs?

Answer 47

Rerun syndications

Question 48

What is the name of the major corporation that tracks and rates prime-time television viewing?

Answer 48

The Nielsen Corporation

Question 49

Explain the difference between a rating and a share

Answer 49

A RATING is a statistical estimate of the percentage of households that are tuned to a program in the market being sampled
A SHARE is a statistical estimate of the percentage of homes that are tuned to a specific program compared with those actually using their sets at the time

Question 50

List the three reasons that the text gives for explaining that “targeting smaller niche markets and consumers has become advertisers’ main game”

Answer 50

1. fragmentation of media audiences
2. increase of 3rd and 4th screen
3. decline of traditional tv set viewing