Unit 4. Broadcasting

4.1. Development of radio broadcasting

Broadcasting represents a critical national resource for communicating information and culture, so virtually all nations regulate it within their borders. Many nations operate their own broadcasting systems through a ministry of communications. In some countries tax revenues support a public broadcasting authority that is independent of the government. Other countries simply license private broadcasters who make their profits by selling advertising time, or they permit a mixed system of commercial and publicly supported stations. The U.S. for example, has a mixed system. Most American stations are advertiser supported; about one in ten, however, is noncommercial, and its income is derived from listener or viewer contributions, corporate donations, and government funding.

In the USA radio was established as a new mass medium and a viable industry in 1920s, and it became a national forum for news and popular culture. Radio communicated news much faster than did newspapers and it expanded rapidly in the following years. Having no precedents, experimenters and entrepreneurs were unsure about what kinds of programs people would like to hear. The inaugural broadcast of the NBC Radio Network, a gala event, was attended by more than a thousand celebrities. The tone was proper and formal, and for several years radiobroadcasts emphasized classical or semiclassical music and historical drama. Commercials were brief and discreet.

Later, in the Golden Age of Radio, the airwaves were filled with action adventure and with vaudeville-style comedy. Despite the economic constraints of the Great Depression, radio thrived. The hardships of the 1930s and then of World War II occupied the attention of Americans during the day, but in the evening citizens could relax as radio brought popular entertainers and adventure stories into their homes. Gradually, radio turned to popular music and the disc-jockey format.

In the period from 1945 until the early 1950s, when television began its explosive growth, radio was perceived as a model for television programming. Performers and executives were drawn from radio; and many entertainers and entire programs were transferred successfully to television.

In Great Britain, the British Broadcasting Corporation that is paid for by the state, not by advertisers, operates several radio stations. Radio 1 broadcasts mostly pop music and is listened to mostly by young people, Radio 2 broadcasts mostly music and entertainment programs and is listened to by older people. Classical music is broadcast by Radio 3. Radio 4 broadcasts programs on news and current affairs as well as plays and arts programs. Radio 4 is considered to be a quality station and listened to by educated people.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: broadcast(ing), private broadcaster, public broadcasting authority, publicly supported station, listener/viewer contribution, airwave, action adventure, vaudeville-style comedy, disk-jockey format, entertainer.

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. Why is broadcasting so important for every nation?

2. What are the sources of broadcasting financing?

3. How was the format and content of radio broadcasting developing?

4.2. Development of Television

As the radio industry matured, inventors were busy working on the next innovation in the electronic revolution—television. The idea of television first surfaced in science fiction of the 1880s. The first truly successful television pickup devices were the iconoscope, which was invented by the Russian-born American physicist Vladimir Kosma Zworykin in 1923, and the image dissector tube, invented by the American radio engineer Philo Taylor Farnsworth shortly thereafter. The first public television broadcasts were made in England in 1927 and in the U.S. in 1930. Television broadcasting on a regular service basis began in England in 1936 and in the United States on April 30, 1939, in connection with the opening of the New York World's Fair. Scheduled broadcasting was interrupted by World War II, and the service was resumed by a few broadcasting stations after the war.

Sales of receiving sets mounted steadily during the next few years. As additional millions joined the television audience, other entertainment industries suffered a severe decline. Foe example, the motion picture industry closed thousands of theaters.

The tempo of development in the television field in the postwar period was as rapid in Great Britain as in the U.S. Following a 6-year interruption during the Second World War, the British Broadcasting Corporation resumed telecasts on a limited scale in 1946. The company, as part of a plan to make television broadcasts available to at least 80 percent of the population, completed construction in 1949 of what was then the most powerful transmitting station in the world. The plan, which entailed the expenditure of $28 million and the construction of eight additional stations, was fulfilled in 1952.

Experiments with various television systems were conducted in several European countries, including France and the Netherlands, during the immediate postwar period, but the USSR, which began regular telecasts from Moscow in 1948, was the first Continental country to initiate operations as a public service.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: broadcasting station, receiving set=TV set, television audience, motion pictures industry, telecast, transmitting station

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. Are you familiar with the idea of television from the 19^th century science fiction? Give your examples.

2. What was the impact of television on other entertainment industries?

4.3. Broadcasting in Great Britain.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), both public bodies, are licensed to provide television and radio broadcasting services. Founded in 1922 and working under a royal charter, in the early 1990s the BBC operated 2 television channels as well as 5 national networks and 33 local radio stations. It is financed mainly through the sale of annual licenses for television receivers. In Britain it is illegal to use a television at home without paying for a yearly license. The BBC also provides foreign radio broadcasts in many languages. The IBA, which oversees the operation of independent television and radio, was created by Parliament in 1954 (until 1972 it was known as the Independent Television Authority). In the early 1990s, independent television was provided on a regional basis by 16 commercial program companies; satellite broadcasting services have also been introduced.

Four television channels are currently broadcast and a fifth is planned: BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4. BBC1 broadcasts news and general entertainment programs and BBC2 broadcasts especially programs concerning the arts and educational subjects. Channel 4 is supported by advertising and the various ITV stations, and broadcasts programs intended for people whose interests are shared with relatively small numbers of others. Local radio stations are run by some 90 commercial firms, centered mostly in the larger cities. Commercial advertising on both independent radio and television pays for the services. There are no commercials on BBC radio or television broadcasts.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: IBA, to license, broadcasting service, television channel, national network, local radio station, foreign radio broadcast, independent television and radio, satellite broadcasting services.

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. What is the difference in financing between BBC and independent television stations?

2. What are specific features of different British TV channels?

4.4. Television in the United States

Originally just a novelty, television has become the most important entertainment medium in American culture. Impact of television on American society has been profound and almost instantaneous. In the beginning many urban intellectuals resisted TV and viewed it as a low cultural form. It was a status symbol among the «cultured» not to own a TV set. But quality productions of the 1950s such as «Playhouse 90» and important news presentations such as the Army-McCarthy hearings made it difficult for intellectuals to resist this new mass medium. By the 1960s television had become nearly everyone’s mass medium which was playing a major role in reflecting and shaping the culture.

Television entertainment genres changed in the course of time to reflect changing culture. Television borrowed most of its programming from radio. The early TV shows included variety shows, puppet-comedy shows, comedians, domestic comedies and game shows. Below is a quick overview of the most popular TV genres.

Live drama. Some of the best dramas ever shown on television were the plays broadcast live from New York studios in the 1950s. Two of the best-known live dramas of this «golden age of television» were Rod Serling’s «Requiem for a Heavyweight» and «Days of Wine and Roses» starring Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie. These high-quality dramas focused on character development and analysis, rather than on car chases and elaborate scenery.

Quiz shows. Quiz shows, which had been popular on radio, offered greater rewards when transferred to television. The popularity of these shows and their hosts grew as people hoped they could win big money by knowing the right answers to questions. In 1959 television was rocked by its first major scandal when it was revealed that certain quiz-show contestants had been given the questions prior to the programs. This was done to ensure that the most popular contestants would win and return next week. As a result of the scandal the programs had to comply with ethical standards.

The Westerns. By the late 1950s TV entertainment had moved from live quiz and variety shows, domestic comedies and drama to prerecorded dramatic series. The first genre to develop was the Western, including «Have Gun, Will Travel» and the long-running «Gunsmoke». Another one «Bonanza» was one of the most popular shows on the air for 15 years. It’s message was the American myth that the rugged rural life of the «good old days» was a glamorous and comfortable time.

Urban Westerns. Other genres that became popular during this period were doctor, police, detective and courtroom shows, in which - as in the Westerns - good always prevailed over evil. These adventure stories were sometimes referred to as «urban Westerns» because the moral themes were the same as in the Westerns; only the location and time period were changed. Some of the urban Westerns were «Dragnet», «Highway Patrol», «Racket Squad», «Perry Mason» and «The Defenders».

Variety shows. In the early years of television's golden age the variety show was the most popular program format. Sullivan's program continued as a focal point of popular culture for many years, introducing such performers as the singer Elvis Presley and the British rock group the Beatles. Variety shows, hosted by such performers as Carol Burnett, Bob Hope and Sonny and Cher, provided a cheerful escape during the 1960s. This type of programming survived in 1990s in such shows as «Saturday Night Live» and «Late Night with David Letterman».

Sitcoms. From the beginning the most popular of all the TV entertainment genres has been the situation comedy. Other forms such as the Western and variety shows have come and gone, but the sitcoms have endured. In an effort to appeal to middle-class America, early TV continued to produce the family sitcoms that had been popular on the radio. The settings were always the same - a happy, white, middle-class home with humorous but bland family problems to cope with and solve by the end of each 30-minute show such as «I love Lucy», «Make Room for Daddy», «My Three Sons» and others. As the American culture passed through the troubled 1960s and entered the 1970s, TV sitcoms reflected changing cultural attitudes. One of the innovations was «All in the Family», a new kind of sitcom produced by Norman Lear, which debuted in 1971. For the first time, a TV sitcom was dealing with - and joking about - the culture’s social issues: sex, politics and racial prejudice, that had been taboo on TV. «All in the Family» and its spin-offs opened up the sitcom format for biting social commentary in a humorous framework.

The Mini-series. In the mid-1970s the networks tried to break down traditional viewing habits by introducing a new format, the mini-series. The idea was to get people hooked on the series in the first episode - usually broadcast on Sunday night - so they would tune in again the next several evenings. The mini-series concept came from public broadcasting, which began showing BBC-produced serials such as «The Forsyte Saga» in 1969. ABC introduced a 12-hour version of Irwin Shaw’s novel «Rich Man, Poor Man» in 1976.

Daytime TV. Despite the fact that prime-time television has the largest audience and highest advertising rates, over the years daytime TV has been the biggest moneymaker. Soap operas and game shows have always been popular and are much cheaper to produce, even though the game shows give away money and prizes. In the 1980s American culture became more tolerant of open media discussions of such controversial topics as AIDS, child molestation, gay rights, spouse abuse, alcoholism and drug abuse, the popularity of daytime talk shows increased.

Prime-time soaps. In 1964, ABC started the first prime-time soap opera «Peyton Place». In 1978, CBS launched «Dallas» as a weekly serial. During the 1980s «Dallas» and its imitators such as «Dynasty», were also shown to nighttime viewers. These shows appeal to the average person’s interest in the rich and elite, and all seem to revolve around one central theme - that rich families are plagued with turmoil and strife and the American cultural myth that money can’t always buy happiness is true.

Hybrid TV. In the 1980s a new TV format developed that was a combination of a number of others. It borrowed the ongoing story line from the soap operas; character development of early-day TV dramas; action/adventure from the Western, police and lawyer shows; comedy from sitcoms etc. The genre was pioneered by Steven Bochco in 1981 with «High Street Blues» followed by shows like «Miami Vice», «L.A. Law». Probably the most hybrid of all TV shows was «Twin Peaks», a droll, mildly melodramatic soap opera, introduced by ABC during the spring of 1990. The show mixed horror and humor in a witty avant-garde fashion and soon found itself with a cultlike following.

Docudramas. Another invention of the 1980s was the docudrama, which portrays a real-life situation in fictional form. Although docudramas bring historical topics into the popular culture through the medium of entertainment, they cause some concern because they often blend truth with fiction. The examples of docudramas are «Liberty», a show about the people behind the planning and building of the Statue of Liberty in 1887 and «The Final Days» about the Watergate scandal.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: variety show, puppet-comedy show, domestic comedy, game show, host, live drama, to broadcast live, high-quality drama, elaborate scenery, quiz show, quiz-show contestant, reward, to comply with ethical standards, Western, prerecorded dramatic series, show=TV program, on the air, urban Western, doctor show, police show, detective show, courtroom show, program format, sitcom = situational comedy, spin-off, to debut, mini-series, to hook people, to tune in, daytime TV, prime-time TV, advertising rates, to produce, talk show, prime-time soaps, nighttime viewers, hybrid TV, action, adventure, comedy, horror, docudrama.

V o c a b u l a r y:

live drama - shown as it actually happens;

to broadcast live - to broadcast without previously recording a show;

quiz show - a competition or game in which competitors (contestants) have to answer questions;

on the air/off the air - broadcasting/not broadcasting;

to tune in - to set a radio or television to receive broadcasts from a particular station;

prime-time (AmE) - peak viewing hours (BrE). Television companies charge more during this time to put their advertisements on television. In Britain, peak time is between 7.30 and 10.30 at night, and in the US it is between 8 and 11 at night;

(child) molestation - from «to molest» - to annoy or attack sexually;

spouse abuse - bad or cruel treatment of a wife/husband;

spin-off, - AmE a television program involving characters which were originally in another program;

to present (a program or show) - to be the person on a program (a presenter) who tells the people watching or listening about the different that will happen or are happening in it, says who is in it etc.;

to introduce (a program or show) - to speak at the beginning of a program or show and tell the people watching or listening what it will be about etc.;

to host (a program or show) - to introduce and take part in a show in which people, especially famous people, talk about themselves and answer questions;

host - the person on a program or show who introduces and talks to interesting or important people, or leads a game that famous people or members of the public take part in;

McCarthy - US democratic senator from Minnesota, a consistent opponent of the Vietnam war.

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. Why did television take over the minds of people so fast?

2. What is the secret of popularity of quiz shows in the USA (and Russia these days)?

3. What is the major message of the American Westerns?

4. How did the genre of Urban Westerns develop and enrich Westerns?

5. What ways are used to hook viewers on mini-series and other shows?

6. What popular topics are discussed in talk shows in the USA? (Russia?)

7. Why are soap operas so appealing to the mass audience all over the world?

4.5. New Trends

By 1988 a TV version of sensationalism of tabloid newspapers had emerged as a new genre of television programming. Rupert Murdoch, the king of tabloid newspapers in Australia, Britain and the United States, led the way. Murdoch’s Fox Broadcasting Company was using sex, murder and mayhem in its attempt to establish a fourth TV network made up of independent stations. Fox introduced a new magazine show «A Current Affair», which featured bloody murder scenes, titillating sex crimes and gore. Another popular Fox show «America’s Most Wanted», gained publicity when a number of suspects wanted for crimes were found as a result of the weekly broadcasts.

Fox was not the only one getting into the tabloid TV business. The networks were keen to present real-life crime-shows, since they are so cheap and easy to produce. Among those were «Unsolved Mysteries» broadcast by NBC and «Murder: Live from Death Row.

Networks began experimenting with news in 1940. Newscasters simply read the news aloud to the audience then. When President Roosevelt delivered his war message to Congress in December of 1941, CBS’s New York station put an American flag in front of the camera and turned on and off camera fan to make it wave.

The best demonstration of the power of television in bringing news to American culture came in November 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. The three networks provided continuous 24-hour-a-day coverage from Friday through Monday, cancelling all commercials at significant cost. Television’s ability to unite the entire nation in one common emotion demonstrated how socially powerful this new mass-communication had become.

As the nation’s involvement in the Vietnam was escalated during the 1960s, television brought the war into America’s living rooms every night. People could no longer ignore the dark side of the war, and soon involvement of the USA in Vietnam began to be questioned.

Television demonstrated what it could do in July 1969, when it took the world to the scene of Apollo XI’s landing on the moon. Hundreds of millions of people saw the first human steps on the moon. TV’s coverage of the space program again impacted the popular culture in January 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger, carrying the first teacher into space, exploded on TV seconds after liftoff. The nation was plunged into mourning. Many people interviewed at the time admitted that they had not felt such an emotional loss since the assassination of President Kennedy 23 years earlier. The impact on children watching that program in the classrooms was especially strong.

Today more Americans claim that they get their news from television than from any other source. People’s choice of one network news depends on the popularity of the anchor and the content.

By the 1990s, the networks had developed the technique of sending their news anchors around the world to the scenes of major news events. When the Berlin Wall began to fall in 1989, NBC’s Tom Brokaw was there to report on it.

Cable TV tycoon Ted Turner introduced two 24-hour-a-day satellite/cable news channels - Cable News Network (CNN) and Headline News. Turner built a worldwide news operation that gained respect abroad as well as at home. CNN reporters were the first to broadcast events in Moscow during the coup in 1991.

There are five national networks in the USA: the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Fox Broadcasting Company (owned by Australian-born publisher Rupert Murdoch, began to capture a significant share of young adult audiences in the late 1980s). The fifth network because of its origins in educational broadcasting, is different from the other four. Seeking to provide an alternative to commercial broadcasting, educational stations banded together in 1967 to establish the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Through the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS began to produce its own national programming with a wide variety of offerings. These include serious drama, the performing arts, science, public affairs documentaries, and children's programs (perhaps the most famous of which is “Sesame Street”). Since cutbacks in federal spending during the early 1980s, public broadcasting receives only about 18 percent of its income from the government while the rest comes from private foundations and direct viewer contributions.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: real-life crime-show, newscaster, anchor, 24-hour-a day coverage, satellite/cable news channels, CNN, CBS, NBS, Fox Broadcasting Company, PBS, educational broadcasting, public broadcasting, direct viewers contribution.

V o c a b u l a r y:

gore - blood that has flowed from a wound and thickened, the word is often used when speaking of films which show a lot of people being killed;

newscaster - newsreader, a person who broadcasts news on radio or television;

announcer - someone who speaks at the beginning or end of radio or television programs, giving information such as the name of the program and the names of the people taking part in it;

anchor - AmE anchorperson, a broadcaster, usually on television, who is in charge of a news broadcast and appears on it to connect one part of the broadcast with the next;

Apollo XI - a spaceship, Apollo Program was the US space program to put a man on the moon.

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. What features are common for the tabloid press and tabloid television?

2. What examples serve to prove that television news is a powerful force in society?

3. What impact did the TV coverage of the space program have on popular culture?

4. Compare newspapers, radio and television as three sources of the news.

5. What were the innovations in presenting news introduced by Ted Turner?

6. How is PBS different from the rest of the national networks?

4.6. Social Criticism of Television

Despite the widespread acceptance of television, it remains a controversial enterprise.

Criticism of television has focused on three issues: violence, racial and sexual stereotyping, and commercialism.

Many people have expressed concern about the level of violence in television programs, particularly in action-adventure series. They argue that viewers, especially children, may learn to see violence as the only way to resolve conflicts. Saturday morning cartoon shows continue to be one of the main targets for antiviolence advocates.

The information-imitation theory contends that TV violence plays a prominent role in causing violent behaviour in society. This theory holds that some people observe information and activities in the media and then imitate what they saw. A movie «Fuzz» shown on television contained a scene in which a group of juvenile delinquents poured gasoline over a skid row vagrant and set him on fire. The night after the movie was shown on national television, a woman - who had run out of gas in Boston and was carrying a can of fuel back to her car from a gas station - was attacked by a gang of juveniles. The gasoline was poured over her and she was set on fire. Several nights later, a tramp sleeping along railroads tracks in Florida was doused with gasoline by a gang of youths and set on fire.

Early experimental researchers compared the play of children who had seen aggressive behavior on television with the play of a control group of children who had watched nonviolent programs. Findings showed a higher level of aggressive play in the violent-television group. Other researchers attempted to determine whether violent programs simply stimulated higher energy levels in children or actually caused them to learn violent and antisocial behavior. The results of different studies conflicted. Some researchers claimed that televised violence actually had a positive cathartic effect, allowing some viewers to release tensions. Other scholars pointed out that both prosocial and antisocial behaviour can be learned from television.

Social scientists find it especially difficult to assess accurately the cumulative effects of viewing a broad variety of television programs throughout childhood. Recent changes in American culture create new problems. The traditional family where the father works and the mother stays home has been replaced with situations where both parents are working or a single parent is raising the children. These conditions created a new kind of child in the United States - the «latchkey kid». Millions of American children today go home from school to fend for themselves. This means that today’s American child no longer obtains cultural values from the traditional family, but gets it from the mass media. Thus, there is a new concern about TV influence. Some critics say that what children watch is popular culture mixed with sex and violence. However, it is obvious that TV has a positive impact on children’s learning as well.

Vocabulary:

juvenile delinquents - несовершеннолетние правонарушители;

skid row - AmE a poor dirty part of town where unemployed and drunk people gather.

Questions:

1. What are the reasons for social criticism of television?

2. What is the connection between real-life violence and TV violence?

3. What does the information-imitation theory contend?

4. How does the content of the programs influence the children’s play?

5. What is a positive effect of TV violence according to some researchers?

6. What does the concept of the «latchkey child» mean?

4.7. The Future of Broadcasting

In the 1980s mass communications technologies underwent dramatic changes, which are continuing in the 1990s. Innovations in video recording, as well as improved cable-television technology, have brought much greater diversity in programming. Some observers believe that narrowcasting to smaller, special-interest audiences will become increasingly prominent.

By the early 1990s, about 62% of all U.S. households were connected to cable television. Many of these cable systems carry more than 30 channels into the home. Many cable systems offer diverse and specialized programming, that includes religious programs, extensive entertainment programming in Spanish and Chinese, children's channels, news channels, sports channels, and channels that screen old movies and reruns. On special premium channels subscribers can view newly released music videos and motion pictures, uncut and uninterrupted by commercials.

Cable system operators are facing competition, however, from direct-broadcast satellites, which beam television signals directly to viewers' homes and, in effect, bypass the cablecast. By the late 1980s there were nearly 9 million backyard dish antennas which receive satellite delivered signals were in use.

Competition in the video marketplace is intensifying as videocassette recorders, or VCRs, enable viewers to copy programs off the air or purchase programs directly. Videodisc players are also available. They are generally less expensive than VCRs, and the prerecorded discs they play are easier to manufacture, costing only about one-third the price of prerecorded videotapes. Discs, however, cannot yet be rerecorded or reused in the home, as tapes can. In 1984 about 10 percent of U.S. households had VCRs; by 1993 the proportion had reached some 77 percent.

Videotapes of movies are now being widely distributed for sale or rental. Viewers can also choose to record programs from a broadcast station or satellite for viewing at a more convenient time.

Another new element in television communications is the computer. A two-way communication can take place between a home computer terminal and a central facility that provides information and entertainment.

It is apparent that in the 1980s and 90s, as in the early days of radio, broadcasting entered an age of rapid technological change.

Key words and phrases on the «Mass Media»: video recording, VCR, cable-television technology, narrowcasting, special-interest audience, rerun, premium channels, direct-broadcast satellite, dish antenna, cablecast, satellite-delivered signals

V o c a b u l a r y:

narrowcasting - specialized broadcasting.

Q u e s t i o n s:

1. What choices does cable television offer?

2. What other technological innovations have been introduced to meet viewers’ interests?

3. Why do you think television became such a pervasive mass-communication medium in our culture?

4. Will television become any more specialized in the future? What types of programming do you see developing to continue this trend?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-26