Chapter 7: Television and Cable

A brief history of TV, cable, and satellite TV

Diffusion of TVs after World War IIVHF and UHF

NTSC standard

Cable TVTV networks

The rise of cable TV

Early 1970s: distant signalsHBO and the rise of cable networks

Superstations and basic cableFranchising requirements

MSOsDBS

TV faces competition

•Networks decline in the 1990s

•Basic cable climbs

•Independent stations remain steady & behind

Industry organization

The TV industryNetworks increasingly supply their own programming TV programming strategy

Genres for each segmentCoordinated with time of the day

The TV industry, continued

TV advertisersNational, national spot, local

Networks/AffiliatesO & O’sIndependents

Buy mostly syndicated programs

Public TV

Network ownership and group station owners

NBC owned by General ElectricABC/CapCities merged with DisneyCBS & Viacom merge Fox Broadcasting Corp. Owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.UPN is owned by Chris Craft and ViacomWB TV is owned by Time Warner

Audiences for Cable & TV

98% of US households have color TV97% of US homes passed by a cable network – 67% subscribeCable and independents reduce network TV audience shareCumulative 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 ConsWhat do you think this says about our society?

The organization that established the TV standard of 525 lines & 30 fps is:

a. Underwriters Laboratoryb. National Television Systems

Committeec. Federal Communications

Commissiond. 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