television

• social impact of TV from 1950s 

  • at 1939 world's fair, RCA demonstrated 1st commercial TV
  • it also filmed the opening of the fair by roosevelt, who became the first president on television, although the audience was only in the RCA demonstration area
  • after WW2, government gave media businesses tax breaks to develop and sell tv sets
  • federal communications commission regulated TV & radio
  • it deliberately allowed unlicensed development in the years 1948 - 50
  • so, just like radio, TV developed on a local level 1st; 3 of the major TV companies were radio companies as well
• the 1950s (1)

  • TV was sponsored, just as radio was
  • its advertisements and programmes created a 'national culture' even more than radio did
  • advertising was a big part of TV, right from the start
  • early programmes and advertisements showed very few black americans (the first TV advert with a black american wasn't until 1963)
• the 1950s (2)

  • a new departure, driven by the post - war 'baby boom', was that advertisements targeted the growing number of children and began to sell goods using 'special offers' related to popular television series (eg. encouraging children to ask their mothers to buy a cereal that had coupons to collect, for a gift that was related to the lone ranger television series)
• the 1950s (3)

  • political parties quickly saw that they could use TV too and bought 'air' time for their politicians
  • eisenhower used it in his 1952 campaign for the presidency and kennedy consciously exploited it as a politician
  • TV meant that americans could see their politicians in action 
  • this worked well for kennedy, who was good looking and a persuasive speaker
  • it worked less well for nixon, who was uncomfortable on air and showed it
  • suddenly, it became important that a political candidate looked right and interviewed well live
• kennedy - nixon debates, 1960 (1)

  • in 1960, CBS aired a series of debates between the 2 presidential candidates, kennedy & nixon; the debates were also broadcast on radio
  • there were 4 debates and the 1st one reached a record audience of about 70 M people
  • these debates were 1 of the reasons nixon became more wary of the media when he did become president; kennedy looked better & spoke more confidently, so seemed more in control
  • kennedy won the 1st debate and the election
  • some historians think that the televised debate was what made people vote for him
• kennedy - nixon debates, 1960 (2)

  • a poll of people who watched the show on TV, taken just after the show, suggested they thought kennedy was more impressive
  • a poll of radio listeners, taken at the same time, suggested nixon had won, so appearance probably did matter
  • fewer people watched the later debates; it was as if they had already decided whom to vote for
• expansion of TV (1)

  • TV developed very rapidly
  • recording techniques improved, as did sets and special effects, so programmes seemed more 'real' to people
  • broadcasts aired for longer each day and there were more channels and more shows; this meant that people could, and did, watch more and more TV
  • many more shows were pre recorded
  • this allowed programme makers to edit what was shown and shape the message they wanted to give the public
  • TV companies could also show re runs of favourite shows
• expansion of TV (2)

  • in 1953, 80% of TV was recorded live; by 1960, it was 36%
  • by 1970s, news and sport were almost the only programmes shown live
  • it wasn't all positive
  • standards on commercial television were criticised in the late 1960s, especially by conservative and religious groups, who disliked the way that many series glamourised crime and violence
  • there was also criticism of the way that programmes were manipulated: for example, quiz shows were accused of telling contestants the answers to questions beforehand; the public wanted the programmers to be straight with them
• non commercial television (1)

  • 1967 public broadcasting act set up government funded corporation for public broadcasting (CPB), which set up the public broadcasting service (PBS) in 1969
  • PBS was a national station, made up of groups of local stations, mostly not run for a profit, with education as their main aim
  • PBS channels were free from the influence of sponsors, but had their own messages
  • PBS had a liberal agenda, with a brief to educate and entertain, and to 'restore standards'
• non commercial television (2)

  • educational TV took off with PBS, as well as educational programmes on main channels
  • biggest success in children's education was the PBS programme sesame street, which all through the 1970s taught children about racial tolerance and sharing, as well as counting and reading
  • it was one of the 1st shows to have a racially balanced cast
  • its popularity meant that children watching it in well off, all white suburbs absorbed a positive view of other races
  • in 1981, on the conservative backswing, its government funding was withdrawn
• non commercial television (3)

  • more serious documentaries began to be made in the 1960s, following the huge audience for the kennedy and nixon presidential debates in 1960
  • this meant that people were more informed about major issues
  • TV ownership was widespread and people who might not buy a newspaper to read about issues of the day were happy to sit and watch television programmes about them
  • the danger of this was that they would accept the slant given to the issues by the programme makers
• non commercial television (4)

  • in the 1970s, however, real life began to seep into entertainment
  • for example, M*A*S*H was a drama series set in the korean war, which actually considered issues that were very relevant in the war in vietnam
  • this was deliberate on the part of the programme makers
  • again, this made the war a discussion point for people
  • it contributed to the popular feeling against the war, although it was less significant than the news programmes
• non commercial television (5)

  • some series started that reflected black family life
  • they were comedy shows, so they were just as unrepresentative as were comedy shows of white american life
  • however, they showed black families in their own homes, leading normal lives
  • this was better than black people being largely presented as servants or criminals
  • some white people who had little or no contact with black people (e.g. those in rural communities in the north east) came to see black americans as normal people, not exotic, foreign and dangerous
• non commercial television (6)

  • political satire became more popular
  • rowan and martin's laugh-in (1968 - 73) was one of the 1st sketch shows openly to make fun of & criticise politicians
  • laugh-in drew on aspects of the counter culture and many of its punchlines fed into everyday language
  • making fun of politicians in this way reached many more members of the public than criticism in serious newspaper, radio or television debates
  • it also meant that people began to look at politicians in a different light
  • they were both less respectful and more on the look out for mistakes
• non commercial television (7)

  • books and films, as well as television programmes, began to focus on government conspiracies and cover ups in the 1960s and 1970s
  • these theories covered a wide range of events, from the assassination of president kennedy to covering up alien landings
• non commercial television (8)

  • news programmes got more prime time broadcasting and lasted for longer
  • they also did more in depth analysis, not just reporting what was happening
  • again, this meant that people who watched these programmes became more politically aware and more interested in the issues
  • issues raised on the news could become a talking point at work, as well as at home