Discuss the below:
History of Television
Everything about television that we covered in class is fair game, including things like "affiliates" and "syndication" that originated in radio but that are important to television as well. The exceptions are material related to the technical side of television (microwave relay, coaxial, fiber optics, digital transmission), which I only mentioned in passing, the particular vocabulary of TV ratings, and the specifics of the Telecommunications Act, which we'll discuss in the final two classes (though you should be able to explain in general who benefited from the Telecom Act). Also, over the course of the quarter, we've spent significant time discussing each of these issues, which are all related: 1. the relationship between broadcasting and race & ethnicity; 2. the relationship between television and gender & sexuality; 3. the relationship between television and the nation (ie, the ways television programs addressed and spoke for the nation as a whole, or failed to do so); 4. live television; 5. the relationship between the FCC and the broadcast industry. You should be familiar with the broad outlines of these issues.
1. In the early years of television, who pushed for VHF and who for UHF?
2. What is the FCC Blue Book? Why is it important in the history of public service television?
3. What was the most popular programming format/genre in television's early years? Why might that be the case?
4. According to Murray, how did "vaudeo" stars of the late 1940s and early 1950s perform "ethnic masculinity" on early television programs? (I know that you were required to read either the Murray essay or the Sterne one, so if there is a question about either of these essays on the exam, it will be one of several options.)
5. What are some factors that contributed to the decline of "variety" stars and the rise of the domestic sitcom? What are some of the differences between the two forms?