Origins of Television
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Transcript of Origins of Television
ORIGINS OF TELEVISION
Many electronic devices made the television possible, such as radio, the
telephone, and I suppose you could go all the way back to Ben Franklin’s kite
experiments. This is true about almost all technologies. I would like to start with a
man named Philo T. Farnsworth. Farnsworth, a child of a large Mormon farm
family, did not encounter electricity until he was fourteen when his family got a
Delco radio. He at once new how it worked. He next applied an electric motor to
his mothers hand crank washing machine. He found stacks of electrical journals in
the attic of his home and studied them faithfully. In 1922 at his high school, he
staggered his science teacher by drawing the complete electrical schematic for a
television system. At this time, a system involving mechanical wheels was being
developed, but Farnsworth’s system was light years ahead of it. Farnsworth later
worked his way through college working for a Salt Lake City community chest
drive. He told George Everson, professional fund raiser from California who was
helping organize the campaign, about his television ideas, and Everson took the
youth back to Califorina to set him up with equipment in an apartment.
Farnsworth had his first success in 1927 when he transmitted various graphic
designs including a dollar sign, which according to Everson “jumped out at us from
the screen.” Applying for an electronic television patent, Farnsworth took RCA
completely by surprise. It’s attorneys contested the application, and in interference
proceedings grilled Farnworth for hours, but could not shake him. In 1930, at age
twenty-four, he got his patent. RCA new it would have to deal with Farnsworth for
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he was far ahead of Vladimir Zworykin a Russian engineer who was developing
television for Sarnoff, head of RCA. Farnsworth was ready to license RCA on a
royalty basis. That was not good enough for Sarnoff, he had to own all of the
patents RCA used. He sent Zworykin to Farnsworth’s lab to have a look around.
Farnsworth naively explained all of his discoveries to him. Zworykin memorized as
much as he could then went back to RCA to try to duplicate what he had saw. Over
the next years RCA continually challenged Farnsworth’s patents, draining him
financially and taking much of his time. Sarnoff was known to be a ruthless
business man and would do anything to insure the success of his television system.
Farnsworth did finally win in the end. The RCA attorney is said to have had tears
in his eyes as he signed the contract.
In 1933 the inventor Edwin Armstrong demonstrated a new static-free
method of radio transmission, frequency modulation (FM), far superior to the
amplitude modulation (AM) then in use. Armstrong’s advocacy of FM, which
caught the ear of the government, threatened to block the introduction of Sarnoff’s
television, which required some of the same hotly contested frequencies. In order to
make peace, Sarnoff offered Armstrong $1 million for the FM patent rights, but
Armstrong, by then operating his own FM radio station, W2XMN, refused. In 1940
the Federal Communications Commission approved FM for radio broadcasting, but
by allowing FM stations to duplicate AM programming, it dampened much of the
promise of the alternative system. The FCC, however, ensured FM’s survival by
requiring that it also be used for television transmission. In 1944 the FCC
determined frequencies for both FM and television.
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RCA prepared for its million-dollar television demonstration at the New
York Worlds Fair in 1939. Farnsworth had won backing from the Philco radio
company and moved to Philadelphia to continue his television experiments. The
stage seamed set for the emergence of television when World War Two broke out.
RCA and other companies had to pitch in with the production of radio’s and
screens for radar equipment for the military. In 1945, as peace came, electronic
assemble lines, freed from the production of electronic war material, were ready to
turn out picture tubes and television sets. RCA promised sets for mid-1946. The
sets themselves weren’t much use without a signal to receive. The large radio
corporations, ABC,CBS, and NBC quickly opened their television broadcast
companies. The format of the television shows they produced were based on their
radio programs. They had commercials, drama, news, comedies, with one big
difference. Now you could actually see the actors instead of just hear them.
Television has been with us ever since. The A.C. Nielsen Company, which measures
audience size, reported in 1992 that 98.2% of U.S. homes contained at least one
television and the average set is turned on seven hours a day.
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF TELEVISION
TELEVISION VIOLENCE
Television violence can have a profound effect on people, old and young.
It may not have an effect on all people, but may have a drastic effect on some.
Imitations of television crimes are not rare. There is hardly a day in which the wire
services and police blotters across the country do not carry stories like the following
ones:
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In San Diego, California, a nineteen-year-old boy chopped his parents and
his sister to death and crippled his brother with an ax. Prosecutors and police
officials familiar with the case say he acted after seeing a made-for-television movie
about Lizzie Borden and that the boy discussed the movie with his classmates in the
days after it was shown. The boy was a high school honor student and athlete.
Three weeks after the broadcast of a made-for-television murder movie in
1973, a seventeen-year-old boy, who said he had “memorized the film to the last
detail,” admitted to re-enacting the crime when he murdered a young woman.
Police said she had been raped, her head had been bludgeoned, and her throat had
been cut--just as in the film.
In New York City a taxi driver held up a bar and killed three people.
Caught by police, he said his crime had been modeled after a recent television show.
In Baltimore, an ex-GI in fatigues shot and killed five co-workers with an M-
1 rifle; police later discovered that he had purchased some chocolate bars at the
same time he bought the riffle. He made the purchases one week after a prime-time
television program had portrayed a fatigue-clad veteran who munched chocolate
bars while shooting at passers-by.
Of coarse these are extreme cases who were carried out by sick individuals.
These people probably would have committed the crimes anyway, but I do agree
that constant violence on television can influence people to different degrees. Some
people may have trouble telling the difference between what’s on television and real
life. Many people complain about the violence in television shows but ultimately it’s
the television viewer who decides what shows will be on. If a show isn’t being
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watched the networks will cancel it. I feel that television is a reflection of society.
This can be seen if you look at television shows throughout the past and their
relation to true history.
POLITICS AND TELEVISION
In 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee began an investigation
of the film industry, and Joseph McCarthy soon began to inveigh against what he
believed to be Communist infiltration of the government. Broadcasting, too, felt the
impact of this right-wing shift of the national mood. When anti-Communist
vigilantes applied pressure to advertisers--the source of network profits--it became
imperative that the industry defend itself. The task fell to the man considered the
industry’s moral leader, Edward R. Murrow.
In partnership with the news producer Fred Friendly, he began “See It
Now”, a television documentary series in 1950. “See It Now” occasionally explored
examples of McCarthy-inspired intimidation, such as the Air Force discharge of Lt.
Milo Radulovich on suspicion of the political sympathies of a family member. On
Mar. 9, 1954, Murrow narrated a report on McCarthy himself, exposing the
senators shoddy tactics. Murrow observed: “His mistake has been to confuse
dissent with disloyalty.” Offered free time by CBS, McCarthy replied on April 6,
calling Murrow “the leader and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always
found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose communist traitors.” In this TV
appearance McCarthy proved to be his own worst enemy, and it became apparent
that Murrow had helped to break McCarthy’s reign of fear. In 1954 the U.S.
Senate voted to censure McCarthy.
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In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon met for four debates that
were a milestone in presidential politics, primarily because of the vast audience, this
being the first televised presidential debate. More than 70 million Americans saw
the first debate, and audiences greater than 50 million witnessed the other three.
Studies of the effects of the debates generally indicated that only the first debate, in
which Kennedy was viewed the winner, made any noteworthy impact on the
outcome of the election. Nixon was said to look nervous, was sweating, and refused
to wear make-up, while Kennedy looked calm and relaxed. The same debate
broadcast over radio had Nixon as the winner. A politicians image on the television
could be a powerful advantage and was used from that point on.
Watergate is the popular name for the political scandal and constitutional
crisis that began with the arrest (June 17, 1972) of five burglars who broke into
Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office building in
Washington, D.C. It ended with the resignation (Aug. 9, 1974) of President Richard
M. Nixon. Growing suspicion of presidential involvement resulted in an
intensification of the investigation. Leaders in this inquiry included Judge Sirica,
reporters for the Washington Post, the Ervin committee, and Archibald Cox, who
was sworn in as special prosecutor in May 1973. The Watergate hearings were
public and were broadcast on television for weeks. Through the medium of
television, the public watched the American government unravel, and saw the
impeachment of a president. This led to a very low public opinion of the
government and the nation as a whole. It would be years before it would recover.
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The television networks felt that this was an event that should be telecast. It was
important U.S. history in the making.
EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION
Educational programs are mostly found on public television stations such as
PBS. Commercial television does offer some educational specials such as National
Geographic and other programs, but its primary purpose is entertainment. Public
television provides entertaining and increasingly well-produced programs for
America’s upscale, college-educated professionals--an audience impatient with the
“vast wasteland” of commercial fare. Interestingly, though, it has most often been
the commercial networks that have pioneered new forms, bold topics, and
unorthodox concepts. Public television has been to poor, to divided against itself,
and too uncertain of its goals to play it anything but safe. Never the less, public
television offers many educational programs for both children and adults. I found
myself being able to converse with people on many various subjects after seeing it
on PBS. I found it much more enlightening than discussing “Who shot J.R.?”
WGBH CH 36 in Providence also offers college tellecourses in affiliation with the
Community College of R.I. This allows people to go to college from the comfort of
their homes or for people who can’t leave. The television plays another role in
education. It allows teachers in grade schools and colleges to play video tapes on
subject matter to aid in classes. I feel that television has played an important role
in education.
ENTERTAINMENT
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Television was invented mainly as being a form of entertainment, as its
predecessor, the radio. The bulk of programs today and in the past are meant
solely to entertain. By watching movies, sports, game shows, sit-coms, talk shows, a
person doesn’t gain anything except having his mind occupied for an amount of
time. But, this may be what the viewer wants. After a long, busy day a work many
people just want to come home and relax. They may not want to see an educational
show. Television entertainment offers programs for the young, such as cartoons,
and for the mature person, the movie of the week. Television entertainment has
changed with society over the years. What you could say and things that you could
show are radically different. For instance, on “I Love Lucy”, in a scene when
Luciel Ball was pregnant, she was forbidden to say the word “pregnant”. On the
“Dick Van Dyke Show”, when they showed a scene of their bedroom, it always
showed separate beds.
Now in 1997, shows like “Married With Children” are a far cry from those early
shows. Almost anything goes. Sex and dysfunctional family life are often the
subject of the shows. Even the sit-com “Sinefeld” devotes some shows to topics like
masturbation, female orgasms, and homosexuality. But is it television broadcasters
who allow this? No I believe it’s the public, the viewer, society. When ever a large
group of people don’t like something it is taken of the air, so I must assume that the
type of entertainment on television is what society wants or allows.
TELEVISION NEWS
Television news has had a great and lasting impact on society. A viewer can
sit back and have the world come into his living room. Television reporters can
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broadcast almost any story because of the Bill of Rites freedom of speech clause in
the U.S. Constitution. They have found out information about government cover-
ups, corruption, and wrong doings in public and private sectors. This power of the
press often keeps these organizations in check by alerting the public to their
practices.
THIRD WORLD TELEVISION
The broadcast media of some third world countries were not originally
conceived as major instruments of development policy. Even independence did not
direct attention to broadcasting for this purpose. And this is so even though the
media are tightly controlled by governments. Their offices are controlled by armed
guards; they take care to present only approved news and precensored programs.
This is true in most communist third world countries. These governments use
television as a tool to control the people. This is possible because most communist
countries do not have the freedom of speech as in the U.S. The U.S. government
can apply some censorship, because it controls the FCC, but the Bill of Rites allows
much freedom in our programming.
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT SECTION
I still believe that what’s on television today is what the public wants to see.
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Broadcasters want you to watch and go through great lengths to find out what will
keep the public watching. Television is seen by a diverse group of people. Old,
young, rich, poor, black, white, educated, illiterate, it must serve a multitude. None
of these separate groups could ever agree on one type of program so the
broadcasters must try to keep them all happy by developing shows targeted for
each group. I think they do this quite well.
But why should the networks want us to watch? To see the commercials of
coarse. The networks sell their broadcast time to advertisers to air their
commercials. What do the networks do with that money? They develop the T.V.
shows and what’s left is profit, of coarse. What do the advertisers get? They are
paid by the companies whose product they advertise. It all fits together like one big
business transaction. What do the television viewers get? They get to watch the
television programs--with one catch, they also have to watch the commercials.
All in all I have enjoyed watching television over the years. I admit there
could be some changes, but only large amounts of viewers can do this. One example
is the boycott by the Baptists of Disney and it’s television show “Ellen”. They
object to Ellen being allowed to admit that she is a lesbian on the show. The
Baptists are said to number about 10 million. Disney said it had no plans to change
anything, but I believe that they will, subtly.
The thing about television is if you don’t like a program, or if you are
offended by something, then change the channel. No one is forced to watch. Maybe
those people who are dissatisfied with T.V. should go to the library.
CONCLUDING SECTION
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Television in 1997 has allot of competition. It must compete with
cable, video tapes, laser discs, and satellite T.V. The only advantage it has
over these other mediums is that it is free. I thought of a great idea that
would put T.V. in direct competition with cable. Why not have separate
channels for different types of programs like cable, i.e. the movie channel,
the learning channel, the sit-com channel. Also it would have the ability to
lock out channels, making adult material unavailable to children. President
Clinton has already spoken of the v-chip. If the networks could arrange
themselves in this manner, perhaps the programming would improve. With
the v-chip, people would no longer worry about what their children are
exposed to. That is my recommendation. For the present I would like to see
them cut back on the murder shows. I was always amazed on how many
murders you could see in one night of television. The human race seems to
be obsessed with it. There is “Murder She Wrote”, “Diagnosis Murder”,
almost every movie of the week deals with murder, almost every cop and
lawyer show does. Isn’t there something a little more cheerful we could
watch. I am sure someday television programming will change. It will not
change until society does.
REFERENCES:
A. Broadcasting in the Third World, Elihu Katz and George Wedell, 1977B. On Television, Stuart Hood, 1987C. Remote Control, Frank Mankiewicz and Joel Swerdlow, 1978D. The Coming of Television, Grolier electronic encyclopedia, 1993E. Tube of Plenty, Erik Barnouw, 1990
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