Television as an Art form - Genres and History

Federal Communications Commission

(FCC) government agency in charge of regulating all means of interstate telephone and radio Communication

I Love Lucy

30 minute sitcom, aired live, recorded on film edited later. #1 in the nation for its first 6 full seasons, showed imcompetent women

DVR - digital video recorder

Allows you to watch broadcast shows out of their time slot. You no longer have to remember to be home at a certain day and time to catch your favorite show. The first attempt at this was a brand, TiVo.

Advertising in TV

Consumerism, ads targeting children, product placement (goods incorporated in TV shows)

Early TV Children Shows

Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club, Sesame Street (educational)

Big Four Network Domination

NBC (first national networks: red and blue), CBS (became national leader), ABC (formed from NBC Blue), FOX

Premium TV

Pay extra. HBO, Showtime

Reality Shows

Real "non-celebrity" people. Early attempts: America's Funniest Home Videos, Candid Camera, Cops, The Real World. Survivor changed the drama to a competitive style. Some have followed a docudrama style. The most popular modern ones are America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Bachelor, Amazing Race, Top Chef, and Dance Moms.

Golden Age Structure

Regular schedules, commercial ties, programs of 30 and 60 minutes, starting at consistent intervals on the hour and half hour.

streaming television

Solely on-demand television delivered through the internet. Services include Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, and YouTube. Some allow you to buy a single episode, others only offer subscriptions. Some offer a combination of both.

Late-night talk and Variety TV

Tonight Show, Letterman, The Daily Show

television dramas

Type of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone, focusing on in-depth development of realistic characters who must deal with realistic emotional struggles. Among the first was The Lone Ranger.

Variety show TV genre

Various types of entertainment, typically done in front of a live audience. Among the first was The Ed Sullivan Show. Now, this genre is dominated by competition style shows like America's Got Talent and The Voice.

Call letters

broadcast station identifications assigned by the FCC (i.e. KNBC, KABC). Usually shortened to the last three letters.

Premium Cable Channels

cable channels that provide programming to subscribers for an additional fee, over and above their basic cable subscription fee; sometimes called pay cable

High definition television

digital technology for transmitting television programs using more than double the standard number of scanning lines, creating a clear, larger picture

Public broadcasting Service

government-sponsored association of public television stations designed to facilitate the sharing of programs deemed as educational or culturally valuable.

Educational Programming

originally often relegated to late night, early morning, dvr and on demand have changed this.

Video On Demand

services that allow subscribers to order recent feature films, sporting events, concerts, news items, and special events at anytime; television clips that users can access whenever they want

stock characters

standard or cliched character types: the drunk, the miser, the foolish girl, etc.

pay-per-view channels

systems that allow cable TV subscribers to order recent feature films, sporting events, concerts, and other special events when scheduled

Golden Age Genres

talk shows in morning, soap operas in afternoon, and a variety of comedy and dramas in the evening.

demographic

target audience: in advertising and television, the segment of the population you hope to appeal to (i.e. white males between the ages of 18 - 30, preteen females)

Rating

the percentage of all homes equipped with televisions that are tuned to a particular station at a particular time

binge watching

the practice of watching multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming.

Broadcasting

using wireless technology to instantaneously reach a wide audience

Sports TV

went from game of the week to being on 24/7. Major Pro sports: instant replay, Cable and ESPN sparked explosion of sports on TV