1. Chapter 5
Television and Cable: The
Power of Visual Culture

2. The Struggle of the Broadcast
Networks
“It’s no secret that the major broadcast
television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC,
Fox) are in trouble. Increased
competition from cable and Internet
options has led to smaller audiences
and decreasing ad revenue.”

3. Early Innovations in TV
Technology
• Paul Nipkow developed the scanning disk in
1880s.
• Zworykin and Farnsworth developed technology to
transmit electronic signals.

4. Early Innovations in TV
Technology
• In 1940s, FCC adopted an analog standard to
push TV as a mass medium.
• FCC controlled TV licenses to make sure there
was no interference.

5. Controlling Content—
TV Grows Up
• Early television programs often had single sponsors
(E.g. Colgate Comedy Hour).
• Networks unhappy with lack of creative control
• Sylvester “Pat” Weaver forced advertisers out by
raising costs.

6. Controlling Content—
TV Grows Up (cont.)
• Quiz shows like $64,000 Question and Twenty-One
surrounded by scandal
• Corporate sponsors encouraged rigging.
• Scandal ended sponsor’s creative control.
• Undermined democratic possibilities of television
• Quiz shows kept off network prime time for 40 years

7. The Development of Cable
• CATV: First small cable system
• HBO and WTBS: First cable networks
• Cable era introduced narrowcasting.
• Cable services:
• Basic cable
• Premium cable
• Pay-per-view, video-on-demand
• Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) challenges cable.

8. Figure 5.1
A Basic Cable Television System

9. TV Entertainment: Our Comic
Culture
• Sketch comedy
• Your Show of Shows, Saturday Night Live
• Situation comedy
• The Beverly Hillbillies, 30 Rock
• Domestic comedy
• Happy Days, The Office
• Some shows, like the dramedy, blur the line
between comedy and drama.

10. TV Entertainment: Our
Dramatic Culture
• Anthology drama
• Format dominated TV in 1940s and 50s.
• Ended due to cost of programs, economic changes in audience
• Episodic series
• Chapter shows (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), serial
programs (General Hospital), and the hybrid (Mad Men) most
popular dramas today

11. TV Information: Our Daily News
Culture
• NBC
• Meet the Press (1947-): longest-running show
• CBS
• The CBS-TV News was the first news show to be
videotaped for rebroadcast on affiliate stations.
• ABC
• ABC World News Tonight
• Cable news becomes popular in mid-1980s.
• CNN was first cable news channel.
• Created a 24/7 news cycle

12. Reality TV and Other
Enduring Trends
• Reality TV:
• Shows are popular because they introduce audiences to
characters who are more like them.
• Less expensive to produce than sitcoms
• Another growing trend is Spanish-language TV.

13. Public Television Struggles to
Find Its Place
• Congress passes the Public Broadcasting Act of
1967, which leads to the establishment of PBS in 1969.
• PBS provides programs for audiences over 50 and
under 12.
• By 2010, some politicians argue that public television
programming could be replaced by cable programming.

14. Government Regulations Temporarily
Restrict Network Control
• Prime Time Access Rule – 1970
• Reduced network control of prime-time programming
• Stations ran 30 minutes of news, then quiz shows or
infotainment.
• Fin-syn - 1970
• Banned networks from reaping profits from
program syndication
• Phased out in 1990s with the growth of cable

15. Balancing Cable’s Growth
against Broadcasters’ Interests
• Must-carry rules – 1965 / 1972
• Required cable operators to carry all local TV broadcasts
• Local stations benefited from cable’s clearer reception
• Limited number of distant commercial stations carried
• Mandated access channels and leased channels
• Electronic publishers vs. common carriers

16. The Telecommunications Act of
1996
• Brought cable under federal regulation
• Removed market barriers between phone
companies, long-distance carriers, and
cable operators
• Reaffirmed must-carry rules

17. Technology and Third Screens
Change Viewing Habits
• VHS, DVDs, and DVR allow for time shifting.
• Third screens:
• Download or stream shows on computer-type screens
• Newer television sets now Internet-ready
• Smartphones, iPads, mobile devices may become
“fourth screen.”

18. The Economics and Ownership
of Television and Cable
• Deficit financing
• Syndication and reruns
• Evergreens
• Fringe time
• Just before prime time
• Off-network syndication
• Old programs
• First-run syndication
• Programs produced for syndication

19. Figure 5.2
Prime Time Program Ad Cost

20. Measuring Television Viewing
• Ratings
• Percentage of households tuned to a sampled program
• Shares
• Percentage of homes tuned to a program, compared with
those actually using their sets at the time of sample

21. Major Programming Corporations
• Broadcast Networks
• Traditional networks remain attractive investments.
• Major networks acquiring cable channels
• Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD):
• By 2010, Top 10 MVPDs served almost 70% of all U.S. cable
subscribers.
• Comcast is the largest.

22. What News Corp. Owns
Television •British Sky Broadcasting • News International Limited
• Fox Broadcasting (38 percent stake, UK) (UK)
Company • The Times (UK)
• SKY Italia
• Twenty-seven television • News Limited (110
stations, including Australian newspapers)
Radio
– KTTV (FOX, Los Angeles)
• Fox Sports Radio
– KMSP (FOX, Minneapolis) Magazines
Network
– WWOR (MyNetworkTV, • The Weekly Standard
• Classic FM
New York City) • donna hay (Australia)
• Sky Radio Germany
• Hulu.com (with NBC
Universal and Disney) Books
Film
• 20th Century Fox • HarperCollins (U.S., UK,
DBS & Cable Australia, New Zealand,
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Fox Movie Channel Canada, India)
• Fox Television Studios
• Fox News Channel • Zondervan
• Blue Sky Studios
• Fox Reality
• Fox Sports Online
Newspapers
• FUEL TV • Fox Interactive Media
• New York Post
• FX – MySpace.com
• Wall Street Journal
• SPEED – Scout.com
• Ottaway Newspapers
• National Geographic – RottenTomatoes.com
(twenty-seven local papers)
Channel (67 percent stake) – MarketWatch (online
business news)

23. Alternative Voices
• Some small cities are challenging cable giants by building
publicly owned cable systems.
• More than 2,000 such utilities in the United States

24. The Future of Television
• Television is the main storytelling medium of our time.
• Big Three networks have lost more than 50% of audience
since 1980s.
• How can TV maintain its cultural relevance?