Television

• Mechanical Scanning
– Paul Nipkow, 1884
– Charles Jenkins, 1923
– John Logie Baird, 1923
Television
• Mechanical Scanning
– Paul Nipkow, 1884
– Charles Jenkins, 1923
• 48 lines
– John Logie Baird, 1923
• 30 lines/5 frames per
second

The Origins of Television

Television
 Television
• Electronic Scanning
– Phil (Philo) Farnsworth
– Started work in 1922 on
electronic scanning at 15
– Patented in 1927

The First Picture

Philo Farnsworth
Television
• David Sarnoff &
Vladimir Zworykin
– Zworykin patented the
ionoscope in 1923 but it
was not really functional
for many years
– Worked for RCA &
demonstrated his
electronic television in
1929 & showed it to the
world in 1939 at the
World’s Fair with an
address by FDR
– 441 lines
Television
• Electronic Scanning
= the breaking up
of images into
tiny points of light
for transmission
over radio waves
• NTSC = 525 lines
Television
Television
• 1940s
– WWII Freeze
• 1950s
– "Golden Age"
– Dominance of
medium & the
decline in movie-
going
– Kinescope vs filmed
images
Television
• No one thought that
shows had any re-
run value
• Shows filmed off
screen for
archival/re-broadcast
purposes

Ernie Kovacs on YouTube

Television
• I Love Lucy & the demise
of the kinescope
• Wanted to produce in
California but sponsor
Philip Morris wanted to
shoot in NY
• Did not want inferior
kinescopes in the east as
more smokers lived there
• Beginning of filmed
television and three
camera technique
Television
Television
Television
• Federal
Communications
Industry (FCC)
• Communications Act
of 1934 established
the FCC
• Regulate radio,
television, wire,
satellite & cable

The FCC
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• The Federal Communications
Commission is an independent
United States government
agency, directly responsible to
Congress. The FCC was
established by the
Communications Act of 1934
and is charged with regulating
interstate and international
communications by radio,
television, wire, satellite and
cable. The FCC's jurisdiction
covers the 50 states, the District
of Columbia, and U.S.
possessions.
From the FCC homepage
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Networks don’t own
their frequency - it’s
leased from the
FCC
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Broke up NBC
• Allocated channels for
educational use (1952) -
federal funding came later
 Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Implemented the
Children’s Television Act
(1991) broadcasters to air
programming "specifically
designed to serve the
educational and
informational needs of
children" although
language was vague and
enforcement was spotty
until re-defined in 1996
• Big Three apply for
waivers
ABC's request to preempt Children's Programming
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Cable Television
• Started as a result of poor
reception outside major
cities
• Master antenna with
“boosters” and coaxial
cable
• Offered variety outside of
the Big Three
• FCC declined to interfere
as cable did not use
airwaves
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• FCC eventually began
to regulate cable as
broadcasters were
feeling the effects
• 1960’s - “Must-carry”
rules
• Kept away from urban
areas
• FCC “inhibiting new
technology”
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Pay television and satellite
• HBO vs FCC - claimed FCC
was limiting programming
options
• Court ruled that “broadcast
protectionism” unjustifiable
and the cable TV resembles
newspapers or “electronic
publisher’ more than
broadcasting and was thus
awarded more First
Amendment protections
• Paved the way for more
deregulation
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• HBO went national
in 1975
• TBS - 1976
• Nickelodeon & The
Movie Channel -
1979
• MTV - 1981
• “Narrowcasting”
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Prices went up so much
issue of regulation was
visited again
• Size & vertical integration
• Cable Television
Consumer Protection
and Competition Act of
1992
• Bush’s veto was over-
ridden but momentum
behind reduction of
regulation too strong
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Telecommunications Act of
1996
• Allowed phone to provide
cable television
• Eliminated rate regulation
• Recognized potential
“convergence” factor in
media
• Gave us the “V-chip”
Who Owns the Airwaves?
• Supposed to foster
competition
although mergers
and acquisitions
have become the
rule as well as
prices 2-3 time the
rate of inflation

The Big Ten