Tel-T 207 Lecture 17Outline of Last Lecture I. Television and the Turning PointOutline of Current Lecture II. Television ContinuedCurrent Lecture- Television Continuedo TV in 1939 RCA dominates from its powerful manipulationo There were 16 stations in 1948 and by 1950 there were nearly 100 stations The audience expanded by 4000%o In 1948 the FCC froze new filings for TV licenseso In 1952, FCC issued the “Sixth Report and Order” Reallocation of the 12 VHF Spectrum Created 20 new channels in UHF spectrum (shorter range) Reserve sections for non-commercial broadcast TV There were still interference problemso With the combo of rules there was a technological limit to national networkso In addition to spectrum allocation there was a battle for a new standard New standards destroy previous technologieso Color TV CBS vs. NBC/RCA- Resolved mostly in RCA’s favor- Featured backward compatibility- 5 years after the standard was adopted, only NBC was broadcasting in color Backward compatibility: when you get new technology but can still use the oldo Early players NBC ABC (formed from NBC) CBS Dumont TV network- Never gained large enough part of the marketo The way that these networks distributed nationally was by using AT&T long lines Networks made money by advertising Because of lack of ability to exclude people no way to have paid subscriptions Local stations can’t compete with content of national FOX, WB, and UPN depend upon the UHF spectrumThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o New Networks TV signals were difficult to send beyond electromagnetic frequency ranges One of the most underappreciated technological inventions was coaxial cable- With coaxial cable now have the ability to exclude people using this way of broadcast- Early cable systemso Rural areas developed a way of receiving broadcastso Broadcast networks didn’t view this as a problem yet Microwave Towers- Amplified broadcast signals and allowed the signals to keep strength- Created a value in cable systems without broadcast systems- Microwave towers were viewed as a threat- FCC in 1966 viewed the towers as a threat and put up restrictions where towers could be placed- Fortnightly Corp. vs. United Artists (1968)o Found these transmissions were legal in the same way broadcast was legal The ‘Open Skies’ policy (satellite)- Clay Whitehead of the Cabinet Committee on Cable Communication (during Nixon’s time)o If anyone could afford to send up a satellite they should be allowed to 1978-1980 the FCC’s policies had changed- In this era we see the impact of technological change on video distribution Ted Turner- Wanted a national network- Buy UHF stations- Road the wave of technological change and got some economies of scale- Leased satellites- Created key niche channels o MGM backlogged content- He distributed content nationally- Found a way to create value on no value content- Founder of TBS and CNN Early Cable’s Frenemy- The satellite industryo 1970s to 1980s Tool to create national networks Could exclude Cable dependent on satellite but satellite also gave people in rural communities another optiono Early 1990s until today Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Encryption now usedo VHF vs. UHF (the 80s and 90s) Market opens up even more Fox (UPN, WB, CW) Program Strategies- More “inappropriate” content and more diverseo Example: “Married with Children”, “Simpsons”, etc.o New Technology Standards Low power TV- Local stations The digital transition- Solution for broadcast stations to fight cable stationso Required most manufacturers IP TV- A better solution From cathode ray tube to liquid crystals, plasma displays, and organic light-emitting