Television and Popular Culture, Pt. 1

Television

• How much or how little do you watch television shows?
• What do you watch? Why is it your favorite show/type of show to watch?

television

• Television came out in the 1940s--more so after World War II--as an entertainment alternative to radio
• Took off in the 1950s when television sets became more affordable and most people eventually owned at least one television

television

• When communication satellites where launched in orbit in the 1970s-1980s, cable services where created along with hundreds of different channels
• Direct access to satellites became available in the last part of the twentieth century to customers
• Even with many people still using cable/satellite services to watch television, using only internet connections are growing in use

television networks

• When television became popular a few major networks were created
• CBS, NBC, and ABC were the first
• Fox came along in the late 1980s

television/commercials dynamic

• When television networks were created, companies/businesses realized this was a great way to market products so commercials were born
• Cable television took this idea more to heart

television/commercials dynamic

• For one half-hour regular network show, a viewer will have maybe 18-23 minutes of show content
• For an hour show, 40-45 minutes
• The rest of the time are commercials

television/commercials dynamic

• Cable channels drastically changed this ratio
• For a half-hour hour show, 10-15 minutes of content
• For an hour show, 35-40 minutes
• The rest of the time are commercials

critical thinking question

• Do you watch cable/satellite channels or just use internet apps on your smart tv?
• If the answer is the first, how many of hundreds of channel choices do you actually watch regularly?

critical thinking question

• Do you feel that television is still a very influential part of popular culture?
• Why/why not?

Questions? Television and Popular Culture, Pt. 1