The History of Television

1. The History of Television From Principles of Electronic Media (Davie & Upshaw, 2006)

2. In the Beginning • Early Inventors working on the television:-Charles Jenkins/John Baird-Philo Farnsworth-Vladimir Zworkin • Go to the following website to discover how each of these men contributed:http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1880-1929.htmlandhttp://www.mztv.com/newframe.asp?content=http://www.mztv.com/pioneers.html

3. Early Development of the TV: Zworykin and Farnsworth An Internet series focusing on the early days of television. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAJ19XeIn1g Zworykin (left) Farnsworth (right)

4. Two early possibilities: • Mechanical Television VS. • Electronic Television • Mechanical TV- first broadcast crude images such as stick figures and Silhouettes • Electronic TV- First broadcast by Farnsworth was of a straight line (he later changed it to a dollar sign as an investor asked “when are we going to see some dollars in this thing Farnsworth?”

5. The History of Television • Heading into the Great Depression, few families owned television sets and many technical issues were left to be resolved. This slowed the diffusion of television.

6. The History of Television • In 1941, The National Television Standards Committee, formed by manufacturers, produced an agreement setting standards for home picture quality. The age of commercial television in the United States dawned on July 1, 1941, when WNBT (now WNBC) in New York began broadcasting. CBS went on the air that same month.

7. The History of Television • With the dawn of World War II, television’s development was slowed once again as materials and efforts were directed toward the war.

8. The History of Television • With the end of WWII, several factors came together to launch a “golden age” of television (roughly 1945-1960). • Returning veterans. • David Sarnoff of RCA uses his political power and connections to reduce the cost of receivers. • The emergence of the suburb.

9. 30s-50s • Earliest television broadcasts needed to be combined with Radio-Images could be sent but sound could not, therefore you would watch the video and tune into the radio channel broadcasting the sound • After the end of World War II the television took off • http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1930-1959.html

10. First ‘Meet the Press’ photo December 4, 1947: The earliest photograph in existence of the longest running television program in history. Sen. Robert Taft was the guest on "Meet the Press" that day, less than a month after the program debuted on NBC television at 8 p.m., November 6, 1947. James A. Farley, the former postmaster general and former Democratic National Committee chairman, was the guest on the first broadcast. (Meet the Press)

11. The History of Television • Popular programs of television’s golden age included: • Milton Berle • Howdy Doody • Leave it to Beaver • Father Knows Best • I Love Lucy

12. The History of Television • Another Freeze on Development in 1948 • The FCC stopped issuing licenses to study video and color standards, interference, frequency allocation, and educational use. • One result of the FCC study of 1948 was the allocation of portions of the broadcast spectrum for noncommercial broadcasting. This was due in large part to Frieda Hennock who was commissioner of the FCC at the time.

13. The History of Television • All television programs were originally “live,” meaning that they were seen as they were being received as they were currently unfolding in front of the television cameras. Before the invention of videotape in 1956, early television was recorded via kinescope in which 35mm film recorded the readout of a television screen.

14. The History of Television • Edward R. Murrow brought journalistic integrity to the screen his news documentary series titled See It Now (1951), but most television was geared directly for entertainment purposes. • Murrow’s crusade against Senator Joe McCarthy is dramatized in the recent film Good Night and Good Luck.

15. The “Today” Show: Premiered Jan. 14, 1952 The Today show is a morning news and talk show. It was the first of its genre when it signed on with original host Dave Garroway, above. Dave, a former radio personality, was host of the series until 1961. The show was the idea of, then NBC-TV vice-president Sylvester “Pat”  Weaver, the father of actress Sigourney Weaver. The Today Show is the fourth- longest running TV series.

16. Americans Embrace the Television Listen to some interviews with people who witnessed the early days of television. http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/life_27.html

17. The History of Television • The introduction of videotape in 1956 had an enormous impact, permitting the editing of high resolution images and allowing the visual language of television to become much more complex. • Elvis Presley also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.

18. The History of Television • The 1958 quiz show scandal (Twenty-One, The $64,000 Question). This is often seen as an emblem of how the business of television places profits above the integrity of broadcasting.

19. The History of Television • The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 was a demonstration of television’s power to serve as a window on world events. ABC anchor Ron Cochran noted “Television had actually become the window of the world so many had hoped it might be one day.”

20. The History of Television • Television as a “national hearth?” • “These galvanizing events supported the theory that television would become a national ‘hearth’ where, now and then, we could gather to watch, worry, and recover – together” (p. 33).

21. How much did a television cost? Compare prices from the 1930’s to the 1990’s and click on the television listed to see the original advertisement! http://www.tvhistory.tv/tv-prices.htm 1940: $395 (about $4,500 in today’s money) for a RCA TRK-12

22. The History of Television • In the 1970’s, the FCC forced the television industry to loosen its grip on content by mandating that they “farm out” program ideas to other independent content creators.

23. The History of Television • “When the CBS documentary The Selling of the Pentagon exposed government efforts to win bigger military budgets through expensive public relations campaigns, it infuriated war supporters and widened political gaps. Fortunately, the comedy show Laugh In and comic Flip Wilson made silly slogans such as ‘Sock it to me’ and ‘Here come da judge’ as safe way to laugh off stress” (p. 35).

24. The History of Television • 24 hour cable news channels • The pioneer cable news channel was CNN (Cable News Network) introduced in 1980.

25. Key News Stories Covered by Early Television As news channels expanded, technology improved, and more people could afford a television, the use of the Television to bring news to the people become a more popular and to some, preferred. They followed newsreels as the next form of audio and visual news. Read this article on the early days of television newscasts, and the coverage of the Korean War. http://jfredmacdonald.com/trm/11tvkorea.htm

26. Cuban Missile Crisis- (10/22/1962) Dr. MLK’s “I have a Dream Speech JFK, MLK and RFK Assasinations The Moon Landing: Watch Video (1969) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7c-PbfnQuw The Vietnam War(first widely televised war in the 1960’s-1970’s) Watergate: (1973 Hearings begin) Watch Video http://www.newseum.org/century/movies/watergate.htm Shuttle Challenger Explodes (1/28/86) Berlin Wall Falls (11/9/89)

27. The History of Television • Beginning in the 1980s, “big three” television networks (NBC, CBS and ABC) faced major competition from several sources: • Cable and Satellite Television • Syndication • VCRs • Financial interest and syndication rules

28. The History of Television • The increased competition weakened the major networks and lead to an eventual buyout by larger holding companies. • ABC by Capital City Communications • NBC by General Electric • CBS by Viacom

29. Hours You Watch TV • The beginning of Television had one of the greatest influences on the History of the United States. Since its beginning it has increased the speed of information, entertained, influenced policy, and elections. Think about this for a moment, grab a pen and paper, go ahead, they won’t bite. • Now lets do a little math, lets assume for a moment that you represent the average American. Figure out about how much TV you have watched or plan to watch this week. • Now multiply that by 52, that’s how much you the average American are likely to watch in a year.

30. Let’s Compare • First and foremost lets compare the number of hours you just calculated for TV with how often you read. Go ahead and do that math again for your reading patterns. • For other statistics such as the actual amount of time your average Americans spend in front of the tube visit the following site:http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html

31. Color TV and the Satellite Era • Use the link below to read about the expansion of the color TV and the transition into the Satellite Erahttp://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1960-1989.html

32. 24 Hour News Networks With 24 hour news networks, may people began to watch news stories unfold as they were happening. • Challenger Disaster (1986) • Gulf War (1991) • OJ Simpson Chase and Trial (1994) • September, 11th 2001 • Invasion of Iraq (2003) • Hurricane Katrina (2005) • Haiti Earthquake (2010) • Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico (2010) • Earthquake/ Tsunami Crisis in Japan (2011)

33. The History of Television • The Present state of Television • High Definition Television • Digital Video Recorders • Video on Demand • MS Vista and the concept of convergence

34. Broadcasts and Television Programs that changed the world • Take a little time and research one of the following programs with special attention to how it affected or reflected culture: • 1968 Olympic Games • See it Now (Murrow vs McCarthyism) • Father Knows Best • Broadcasting during 9/11 • I love Lucy • MASH • The Moon Landing • Kennedy Assasination • Kennedy vs Nixon Debates