Test 2 March 23.doc

March 23, 2009 Chapter 13: Television TV forced other media to re-invent themselves in the 1950s and 1960s. Now new technologies are forcing TV to re-invent itself. John Malone and DirecTV (p. 313-314) -Satcoms (satellite) v. telcoms & cable -?Satcoms? have little capability for audience interactivity. Triple Play: television, Internet and telephone delivery through a single system. ***How did TV impact magazines? It directed them to niche audiences. ***How did TV impact radio? It directed them to have segmented audiences through formats. Television is pervasive -Nearly every U.S. household has at lease one television set. -Viewership: 7 hours per day in a typical U.S. household. ***Approximately 110 million U.S. households. Television has influence. Michael Novak: -Television tutors the unformed mind and teaches it how to think. -Its effects are incremental over multiple exposures. People?s images of the world are based on what they see on TV. (p. 317) Philo Farnsworth: Invented television. Transmitted the first live moving image in 1927. David Sarnoff: Head of RCA and NBC. Advanced Farnsworth?s invention to the marketplace. ***TV?s Dual Infrastructure: -A combination of local stations working with national networks. -Also referred to as the two tier system (p. 318) Networks (p. 318-319) NBC (David Sarnoff) originated the late-night talk show genre with the Tonight Show. -Originated the morning news format with the Today Show -Owned by General Electric since 1985 2. CBS (William Paley) -Built on audience by converting popular soap operas to TV. -Edward R. Murrow established a news legacy. -I Love Lucy revolutionized TV series production. (Lucy and Desi defined situation comedies today!) -Filmed and edited like a movie -Filmed in California- bought studio Desi-Lu (Desi Arnez owns rights to syndication and gets royalties) -Most TV was filmed live in NY -CBS is now a part of Viacom 3. ABC- weakest UHF frequency -Mickey Mouse Club -Wide World of Sports -Monday Night Football -Tightly edited and scripted productions were unique in the 1960s -Invented made for TV movies -Now part of Disney *Dumont: fourth network tried to compete in 1950s. died out in the early 1960s. 4. FOX: launched in 1986 -Focused on youth targeted programming -Didn?t have a news division in order to keep costs down -Signed on independent stations as affiliates. -Outbid CBS in 1994 for NFL contract, showing FOX was a serious fourth network. (p. 319) 5. CW: WB and UPN combined in fall of 2006 -C =CBS W= Warner Brothers My Network: put together by FOX to offer programming to the WB or UPN station that didn?t get CW affiliation. ION: network used to be PAX network. A network will have affiliated over the air situations carrying its programs as compared to a cable channel. Cable (p. 319-322) -Cable TV: began in remote smaller towns where over-the-air reception was deficient. -CATV: community antenna television -There was no perceived need for it in bigger cities. -Today, 2/3 of U.S. TV households have cable. Gerald Levin and HBO (p. 320) -Levin changed HBO from a pay-per-view to a monthly subscriber system. -Levin gambled by investing millions in satellite TV. Ted Turner?s ?Superstation? -Ted turner realized cable systems needed programming that would make them unique to over the air. NAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAPNAP Regulation FCC regulates broadcast stations, not networks. FCC deals with the use of the airwaves, so it doesn?t regulate cable. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other agencies may get involved with issues pertaining to advertising. Satellite Delivery -Stanley Hubbard and DBS: Direct Satellite Service (p. 324) -Two dominant companies are DirecTV (15.5 million subscribers) and EchoStar?s Dish Network (11 million subscribers). Satellite markets against cable, which markets against satellite. Video on Demand (VOD) and Tivo are examples of time shifting technology (p. 324-325) -Started with Video recorders -Watch when you want to -Skip commercials -TiVo attempts to anticipate the kind of programs you want and record those for you. Other new content delivery methods: -Video iPod -webisodes -Cell phone delivery (p. 325) One effect: conventional time blocks aren?t an issue. A dominant method for VOD revenue hasn?t emerged. (p. 328) -Subscriptions -Per Download -Free, in order to promote other products What does this mean to you? A growing need for video content! National Advertising (p. 328-329) -The basic unit is the 30-second spot Upfront: -Advance commitments, mostly by ad agencies, to buy network ad time. -80% of the networks? commercial time slots are sold in the upfront process. -Make-goods: additional spots given if audience expectations aren?t met for spots bought upfront. Networks can charge premium rates for programs that attract higher-income audiences. Cable Revenue (p. 329) Revenue for Cable Systems -Subscription revenue -Selling local advertising spots Revenue for Cable Networks -Advertising -Per-household fees from cable systems U.S. Public Broadcasting (p. 329-331) -Government funding has diminished -Most funding comes from foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and viewer support. -Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Channels government money into public television and radio -Public Broadcasting Service (PBS): Network of noncommercial over-the-air stations. -Programming difference: PBS doesn?t produce programming. Stations buy programs from each other. Future Trends (p. 331-333) The industry is adjusting from the traditional model of: Network/local station/cable channel. Time Shifts -Watch when you want -Skip the commercials. Space Shifts -Watch on mobile devices -You don?t have to be in front of a TV -30-minute blocks are no longer required. ?mobisodes? may be as short as 1 minute. Advertising Shifts -Product placements -Webisodes: short videos that entertain and promote the product. Available for webviewing. Converting to Digital Television -Now set for June 2009 -It is expected people will buy converter boxes and continue using their old analog sets. -Local stations have been operating two transformers in recent year. This will stop. -The old analog bandwidth will have new uses. -As analog signals are used for other purposes, it will conflict with uses such as wireless microphones that also use UHF and VHF frequencies. Chapter 17: News Reporting Are journalists too committed to fairness? (p. 411- 412) How our Journalism Traditions Developed Timeline on page 421 is a good study too. Colonial Period Publick Occurrences -Published by Benjamin Harris. -First newspaper in the colonies -Boston, 1690. -Shut down after one issue because he printed news without the approval of the royal governor. (p. 412) Andrew Hamilton?s defense of John Peter Zenger was there should be no punishment for printing the truth (p. 412) Colonial period traditions still practiced today (p. 413) -News media protect their independence from government control. -News media actively try to mold government policy and mobilize public sentiment. -Journalists are committing to seeking truth. -The public comes down on the side of independent news media when government becomes too heavy-handed. -Media will sometimes react in their own self-interest when their profit-making ability is threatened. Partisan Period (1785 to 1830s) Also referred to as the Federalist Period. (p. 413- 414) The Federalist Papers: essays on various opinions regarding the type of government the new U.S. should have. They were published in newspapers throughout the new country (p. 414) Alien and Sedition Acts illustrated the heavy-handed approach of the Federalist Party to control criticism of government. See examples of enforcement in text. (p. 414) Traditions from the Federalist Period: (p. 414) -Government should keep its hands off the press. -The news media are a forum for discussion and debate. -The news media should comment vigorously on public issues -Government transgressions against the news media will ultimately be met by public rejection of those committing the excesses.