|
Development, organization and control of broadcasting
- NBC was founded in 1926 and CBS in 1927
- Both were commercial enterprises
- BBC was also established in 1926, but of the British government
- Differnence: US TV and radio is commercial and popular, the British live up to the internationally recognized standards of the BBC
- Radio and television is licensed by the FCC
Radio broadcasting
- in the U. S. over 9000 are commercial radio stations
- the reach of most stations is local
- to counterbalance profit-oriented commercial broadcasting, the PBS was founded in 1967
Organization of television broadcastin
- networks: NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, C-Span, ESPN, CBC, TNT
- buy programs from television production companies
- PBS, non-commercial, provides cultural, educational and news programs
- Pay TV is financed by an additional charge to the viewers rather than by advertising
Advertising
- air time is taken up by commercial breaks
- are calculated according to how many people watch TV
- interrupt all programs
- the average American is exposed to 1000 breaks, the average 18-year-old sat through 350000 adverts
Quality of programs
- viewing offered is dominated by half-hour shows
- Two major trends have emergd:
1. One-theme Channels (Sport, cartoon, history)
2. "reality TV" (reality soaps)
Television and society
- Before: reading, visiting family and friends, playing, listening to the radio, going to the movies
- Now: every home has at least one set and average viewing time is over 7 hours a day
emphasis is on commercialism rather than on information
|
