Chapter 7: Television and Cable

A brief history of TV, cable, and satellite TV

Diffusion of TVs after World War II VHF and UHF
NTSC standard

Cable TV TV networks

The rise of cable TV

Early 1970s: distant signals HBO and the rise of cable networks
Superstations and basic cable Franchising requirements

MSOs DBS

TV faces competition
Networks decline in the 1990s

Basic cable climbs

Independent stations remain steady & behind

Industry organization
The TV industry
Networks increasingly supply their own programming TV programming strategy
Genres for each segment Coordinated with time of the day

The TV industry, continued

TV advertisers
National, national spot, local

Networks/Affiliates O & Os Independents

Buy mostly syndicated programs

Public TV

Network ownership and group station owners

NBC owned by General Electric ABC/CapCities merged with Disney CBS & Viacom merge Fox Broadcasting Corp. Owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corp. UPN is owned by Chris Craft and Viacom WB TV is owned by Time Warner

Audiences for Cable & TV

98% of US households have color TV 97% of US homes passed by a cable network 67% subscribe Cable and independents reduce network TV audience share Cumulative viewing of cable programming is significant

Pros & Cons of Television

More people have television in their homes than have a telephone. More homes have a television than have a front porch! 5 Pros & 5 Cons What do you think this says about our society?

The organization that established the TV standard of 525 lines & 30 fps is: a. b. c. d. Underwriters Laboratory National Television Systems Committee Federal Communications Commission Project Abilene

Which of the following TV genres was NOT copied from the movies? a. Action adventure

b. Science fiction
c. Talk shows

d. News

Which of the following is true of TV advertising revenues?

a. Network revenues are much higher than cable

b. Revenues have been declining since their peak in the 1980s c. Revenues are capped by the FCC

d. Networks no longer rely on advertising for profits

Why did the FCC freeze TV licenses from 1948 to 1952?

a. It was an effect of the Cold War

b. To give the FCC time to mandate the 525 line standard c. To allow for the development of TV coverage in all areas

d. So network owners could convert their broadcasts to HDTV

How does syndication work? a. Stations and syndicators split ad revenues b. Syndicators pay stations to carry programs c. Stations pay syndicators, but keep all the revenues d. Syndicators give away re-runs as thanks for a successful run

Which of the following groups is MOST likely to subscribe to cable? a. Senior citizens
b. Prisoners

c. College students & singles in their 20s

d. Young families

Which technology first made it possible to bring in television signals from distant cities? a. Satellite b. Fiber optics c. Coaxial cable d. microwave