Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Telecommunications 101 - Notes (2009)

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Zworykin developed iconoscope-  1st camera tube
Farnsworth transmitted 1st electronic TV picture

“Freeze”
By 1948, TV as a mass medium begins
FCC has issued 100+ station licenses
CBS & NBC start their network programming.
FCC calls a “freeze” on new TV station licenses in 1948
Freeze lasts until 1952 to work out these and other problems

Nielsen started tracking what the nation’s audience plays back on its digital video recorders (DVR’s)
Local TV Ratings
Nielsen surveys  all 210 local “TV markets”
National TV Ratings
Nielsen Media Research estimates audiences for network programs
Sample Size:  10,000 households nationwide.
Uses peoplemeter technology-Placed in household for 2 years; automatically records channel tuning

Rating – Percentage of households/people tuned to a program
Share – Percentage of households/people tuned to a program, based on those actually using their sets at the time of sample.
Internet Ratings-Panels of approximately 30,000 computer users that agree to have their Web browzing monitored through interviews and through “meters”

FCC’s Financial Interest and Syndication Rule “Fin Syn”

TV Developmental Process
Producer  “pitches” a concept Tells the network about the premise and key characters
Treatment written, describing the character arcs, future episodes, etc.
Script(s) written and evaluated
Pilot (sample episode) produced and evaluated
Deficit financing: Production cost – License fee = Deficit
                                                                                                                                 
CATV – Community Antenna Television
Devised by appliance store dealers and electronics firms, late 1940s
Needed to get TV programming to rural, remote areas
Must-carry rules
Required cable operators to carry all local TV broadcasts
Local stations benefited from cable’s clearer reception
Public access and leased channels
Geosynchronous orbit satellites for domestic television relays.
Transponders – satellite receive/transmit functions.
HBO subsidized satellite receiving dish purchases by cable systems
1st subscriber service/national cable tv
Narrowcasting-  Specialized programming for diverse groups

Headend- computerized nerve center
Fiber Optic- Relays programming to attached utility poles
Franchising- Local community awards monopoly to selected cable company

Most cable systems owned by a Multiple System Operator (MSO)

Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS)
DBS bypasses cable to get programming directly from satellite.
Early satellite dishes huge and expensive
FCC restricted DBS services in 1970s and 1980s.
Full, legalized DBS services in 1994

Consumers pay fee for a tier of service
Local broadcast signals
Local nonbroadcast channels

Product placement (logo, etc.) is digitally inserted in a shot/scene of a program/film.
Commercial speech is far more proscribed by case law than other kinds of speech.
Intended to cause money exchange

Famous-person testimonial
Bandwagon
Snob appeal
Hidden fear
Plain folks
Irritation- “Head On/ Active On”
Association Principle- Product associated with some cultural icon or value

Monopoly – when a single firm dominates production and/or distribution in an industry
Oligopolywhen a small number of firms dominate an industry, typically due to barriers to entry
Limited Competition when many buyers and sellers exist, but little differentiation in

Direct payment – media products supported primarily by the consumers who pay directly for them, such as CD, DVD, cable subscription, movie ticket sales, music/video downloads.
Indirect payment – advertisers pay media companies for the quantity and quality of audiences they deliver
Synergy – separate corporate entities working together can achieve results that none could obtain individually
fin/syn” rules once barred networks from financial ownership


Young people have many more movies designed for them than their numbers in the U.S. population warrant – almost half of the movie audience, but only 25% of the population is aged between 12—30.

Major Studios
Indie company:  Any film production or distribution co. that works outside of the studio system.

Studio Specialty Divisions-  they acquire movies made by independent filmmakers

v Authoritarian Model
·      Government issues licenses to privately owned media outlets
v Communist (or state) Model
·      Government control and/or ownership of the press

v Models of Expression
·      Social Responsibility Model
o   Characterizes mainstream media  in U.S. and most democracies
·      Libertarian Model
o   Characterizes alternative media.
o   Trust placed in citizens’ ability to discern the truth
v First Amendment of U.S. Constitution
·      No law respecting establishment of religion; or abridging the freedom of speech/press; or the right of the people to assemble/petition the Government.
Censorship
·      First Amendment protects people from Government action- not from other people’s speech or decisions about speech Only governmental “prior restraint” is truly censorship
·       
Libel:  Defamation by published untrue words that may expose a subject to hatred, shame, or disgrace.
Libel Defense:
·      Truth
·      Qualified Privilege
·      Opinion and Fair Comment

Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934:
·      Section 315 is very specific: 
·      Broadcaster has no control over the candidate’s “use” . . . and is not held liable for any libelous or defamatory material.
·      Broadcasters cannot refuse or edit candidates’ ads which include graphic depictions, such as aborted fetuses
·      However:  Section 315 does not protect obscene or indecent material
o   Equal time must be provided for a candidate any time another candidate appears on the air for “free,” even if it is not campaign-related.
o   If a candidate purchases time on a station, other candidates are entitled to equal opportunity to make similar purchases

Theory
         A general explanation of a phenomenon
Hypothesis
Statement predicting relationship between independent variable(s) and dependent variable(s)
Must be worded so that it is testable

Uses and Gratifications-  Focus is on the audience members rather than the message.


Copyright-  Protection for… original works of authorship fixed in ant tangible medium of expression now known or later developed

Payne Fund Studies:
·      First major social-scientific study of the effects of media on kids and adolescents
o   Focused on content of movies, emotional impact of movies, behavioral studies.
o    
War of the World- depended on situational and personal characteristics
·      Minimal effects model evolved out of the findings that the influence of mass communications were limited.  Overall media effects were weak, not powerful

Media Effect Research Methods
·      Pros:  Real world setting, correlation between variable, measures large # of variables
·      Cons:  Cant show cause/effect
Content Analysis
·      Pros: Accurate/detailed, provide quantifiable data
·      Cons:  Problems defining, cant measure origins of effects, may neglect the context

Positive effect from Violence?
·      Less aggression as a result of viewing media violence
o   Catharsis Theory
§  Limited or no evidence
4 Step Social Learning Theory:
·      Attention
·      Retention
·      Performance
·      Motivation

Roles of Journalism
·      To Inform
o   Watchdog
o   Junkyard dog
·      To Persuade
o   Public Journalism
·      To Entertain

Bias on TV
·      TV driven by technology
·      Sound byte news
·      Broadcast format forces compression
·      Journalists believe celebrities
Fake News/Satiric journalism
·      Appeals to many cynical young people
·      Critiques the unimaginative quality of traditional stories

Nolan Bushnell
·      Started VG revolution, Computer space was first game.  Then he made Pong

Movie studios “greenlight” films by risk reduction strategy
Diversification protects a studio against changing
Studios bet on star power
·      Producers usually need one or more stars before the studio will consider green-lighting the project.

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