BCEC Television Committee Meeting #5: Television's History and Future

BCEC Television Committee Meeting #5

Television’s History and FutureBy Rachel Kang | [email protected]

Agenda – April 13, 2014

• Icebreaker• Industry News• History of Television• Television’s Future • Upcoming Events

VARIETY: Amazon Streams More Video Than Hulu or Apple, But It’s Still Miles Behind

Netflix• As of March 2014, Amazon streams more video than Hulu or

Apple• Netflix remains the No. 1 streamer, followed by YouTube • Netflix represented 57.5% of the video-streaming market in

March 2014• In Sep 2013, Netflix represented 31.6% of all downstream

Internet traffic in North America during primetime hours• Amazon recently introduced Fire TV, a small box that provides

access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, video rentals from Amazon, among other content

• Amazon Studios’ first original series, “Alpha House” and “Betas,” debuted last fall

TVWEEK: Which Network Will End the Season at No. 1?

• NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said that he expects NBC to be the top network in prime time in the key demo of viewers 18-49

• “In less than three years, we’ve gone from fourth to first…. Some believed we would never be able to come back from that sort of deficit.”

• The network is bolstering its summer programming lineup, tapping six new scripted series and three reality shows• Other broadcasters are rolling out new programming in the summer, a season traditionally populated by reruns

• “We’re all competing straight through the summer now. To us the notion of talking about a broadcast season doesn’t make sense. We’re all moving to a 52-week season.”

The Birth of TelevisionIdea began to germinate as early as the 1820s

1927 – Philo Farnsworth produced the first electronic television picture

As opposed to film, with its mechanical progression of images, television produced motion pictures through a Cathode Ray: a focused beam of energy from the electrode inside a vacuum tube that projects images on the tube

1930 – patent for the first electronic television

1932 – NBC began experimental broadcasts in New York

1939 – NBC began regular service, starting with the World’s Fair as the first presidential speech on television. RCA, the company that dominated the American radio business with its two NBC networks, unveiled their new NBC TV studios in Rockefeller Plaza, and network television was introduced. Other networks, such as CBS (1939) and DuMont (1940), emerged.

July 1, 1941 – FCC authorizes commercial television and WNBT (now WNBC) in New York began broadcasting

WWII leads to a significant delay in television’s growth. Personnel shortages forced stations to shut down. Existing stations are only used for defense-related programming.

End of WWII sees conditions favorable to the explosion of television:- Return of veterans- Emergence of suburbs- Major stimulus for purchase of TV sets, dramatically

reducing cost

Beginning of Commercial Broadcasting

1947 – full-scale commercial broadcasting in the US takes off

NBC and CBS took the funds needed to establish their TV programs from their radio profits

No new invention entered American homes faster than black-and-white TV sets. In 1946 there were 6,000 and by 1955 half of all US homes had one.

Milton Berle was the era’s biggest star, known as “America’s favorite uncle.” He brought his vaudeville sensibilities to NBC’s Texaco Star Theater and made it an unprecedented success. Stores closed early for the program.

1947 – in the wake of McCarthyism, the House Committee on Un-American Activities began its investigations of the film and broadcasting industries.

1950 - Edward R. Murrow partners with news producer Fred Friendly for See It Now, a television documentary series. In 1954, Murrow narrated a report on McCarthy, exposing the senator’s shoddy tactics. His indecency is further exposed when ABC and DuMont aired nonstop coverage of the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1955.

1951 – linking of both coasts by coaxial cable meant the same programs could be seen simultaneously nationwide

1952 – television news first covered the presidential nominating conventions of the two major parties. Networks began producing their own news film and began to compete with newspapers as the country’s primary source of news.

1953 – television programming began to take steps away from radio formats. NBC president Sylvester Weaver devised the “spectacular” and magazine-format programs Today and The Tonight Show.

1954 - The third network, ABC, turned its first profit with youth-oriented shows such as Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club.

1955 – game shows became popular after the debut of The $64,000 Question. However, it was revealed that Charles Van Doren and other contestants were given answers in advance.

1950s - the two major networks borrowed heavily from theater. Memorable television dramas were usually broadcast live. Notable examples include Marty (1955) and Twelve Angry Men (1954).

CBS’s premiere of I Love Lucy made situation comedies rise to the forefront. By 1960, only one of the live drama programs are still on the air. Viewers come to prefer dramas and comedies that sustain a familiar set of characters week after week. Filmed shows began to replace live programming. The use of filmed drama increased the scope of expression, including many popular police, courtroom, hospital, and mystery series.

1960 – the first televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon

1967 – Congress created the Public Broadcasting System, in response to FCC Chairman Newton Minow calling television a “vast wasteland.”

The Rise of Cable TelevisionHome Box Office became the first pay cable network to go on the air in 1970s. Cable networks Showtime, ESPN, and Nickelodeon debuted as well.

1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) launched. By 1987, it was the only network providing live coverage of what turned out to be the tragic NASA Challenger space shuttle launch.1984- MacIntosh television

commercial aired during the Super Bowl, justifying the record-breaking airtime costs of special event television spots. Also introduced feature film production values to television advertising

More cable networks follow in ‘80s, including BET, MTV, Home Shopping Network, and the Disney Channel.

1980s saw a shift in themes as well. After years of watching shows that tackled tough issues of the Vietnam War and inflation, shows with escapist themes became popular. Shows such as Dynasty, Dallas, and Hotel showed peeks inside the lives of the super-rich.

The Cosby Show catapulted the formerly third-rated NBC back on top and became the keystone of the network’s “Must See TV” mantra. The other networks filled their slates with family sitcoms.

1990s - the upstart networks of FOX and the WB seriously challenged the Big Three Networks.

The WB’s dramas Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemed to speak to a new generation of viewers.

Youth-based reality documentary, MTV’s The Real World became the first in popularizing reality TV shows.

1991 – Americans rushed home from work to watch the start of a war against Saddam Hussein. Shown live on CNN, the bombing runs secured that network’s foothold in world news coverage. Time magazine and daily newspapers couldn’t keep up with the minute-to-minute updates that television coverage provided.

1996 – in response to government pressure, the television industry began to display ratings of its programs, to indicate the ague group for which the programs might be suitable.

“V-chip” embedded in new TV sets gave parents the power to automatically prevent children from watching programs with inappropriate ratings.

The Future of Television

There are now numerous ways of getting TV entertainment: • Live TV• Pre-recorded via DVR• DVD box set• Stream on subscription services and view on your computer,

smartphone, tablet, or TV

2009 – “Splatter” became the first series whose production was paid for by Netflix. It was a horror webisode that allowed viewers to vote on which characters would survive.

2012 – several stand-up comedy specials became Netflix exclusives.

Shows such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards have won critical acclaim and several nominations at the Emmys.

Though it originally started out as a movie rental company, it is now focusing on television.

Services such as Netflix, Hulu, and and YouTube in the US are now winning over kids television networks.

One reason these network alternatives are faring so well in the youth market is because kids see no difference between surfing channels on TV and surfing content on a streaming site.

Youtube, Netflix, and Hulu have become a regular routine of families’ routines. In the car, at grandma’s house, at bedtime, streaming services fit their lifestyles.

However, they haven’t cornered the market in terms of brand affinity and lag behind the Big Three Networks for kids: Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, April 17– Applying to Fall 2014 Board of Director Position Meeting. 7-8:30 PM in 223 Wheeler.

Friday, April 18 – CBS San Francisco studio tour. Meet at the front entrance of the Downtown Berkeley Bart at 8:45 AM.

Saturday, April 26 – Urinetown at 8 PM at 72 Cesar Chavez Center. $10 presales at ticket.berkeley.edu.

Sunday, April 27 - no committee meeting

Works CitedCampbell, Rachel. "Campbell's Condensed." Netflix's Original Programming and Its Impact on Network Television. The Burr, Feb. 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

Davie, William R., and Jim Upshaw. Principles of Electronic Media. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. Print.

Getzler, Wendy. "The Impact of Netflix, YouTube and Hulu on US Kids Viewing Habits." IKids. N.p., 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

SlideShare. “Television Broadcasting History.” SlideShare. PowerPoint. 2001. 12 April 2014.

SlideShare. “History of Television.” SlideShare. PowerPoint. 2011. 12 April 2014.

Stephens, Mitchell. "History of Television." NYU. Grolier Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

"TV History." Capturing TV History Through Video Interviews. Archive of American Television, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.