Broadcasting media

Radio and television, originally existing as entertainment, have become interested in news. There’s no national station in the USA. Radio and TV stations usually exist in networks in which they are linked in their operations. Today the major commercial radio- and TV-networks are Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

In 1930 more than 12 mln U.S. families had radios. After the WWII it was 40 mln families, 92% of the whole population. The first publicly available TV-sets had round screens ranging in size from 5 to 9 inches, and viewers had to sit up close. The first commercial appeared in summer of 1941, but it was not after the WWII when television truly developed.

In 1946 there were 6 TV-stations, in 1973 there were already 927 + 1000 commercial TV-stations. More than a half of these are affiliated with big private national TV-networks (ABC, NBC and CBS), which show their programs at the same time throughout the country at the prime time (around 7 PM – 11 PM). The rest are independent or in smaller networks.

The earliest entertainers performed free and were grateful for the publicity. But they the idea of financing programs with advertising appeared, and it became profitable beyond wildest dreams. By 1929 the Ford Motor Company was paying $1000 a minute for prime time, and the price was even climbing. About 8 minutes per hour in prime time are devoted to ads.

Public television are funded by government grants and private donations. Programs like Sesame Street helped to teach the whole generation to read.

Theoretically anyone in the USA can start a newspaper or magazine, but to become a radio or television broadcaster one must be granted a portion of limited radio or television spectrum by the government licensing board – Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC has the power to review a station’s operation to determine if it’s acting in the public interest and it can suspend the license if the station isn’t. Threats of suspension of course can be used to control the stations sometimes.

Independent cable and satellite television is for those whose tastes are not satisfied by the many offerings of network and local programs. A lot of people are free to subscribe to cable television for $17 a month. Cable television can program 40 different channels. The channels provide viewers with many specialized programs like Hollywood musicals, local theater productions, recent film releases. Satellite TV was originally designed to offer a greater selection of programs to people in rural areas that can’t be easily connected to the cable system. Now it provides to anyone who has a satellite dish.

There has been a controversy recently as to the viewer’s right to freely receive signals that beam down to his property.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13