could not be owned by private enterprise, so radio and (eventually) TV stations had to apply to the government for licenses to broadcast (and still do to this day). The government thus has historically had more oversight over these media forms than over motion pictures. Although television was largely ready for mass consumption by 1939, the government’s priorities during World War II stalled such plans. With the war’s end, though, TV rolled out quickly.
Economically, television also followed radio’s path. TV’s first three major networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC) started off as radio networks, and adopted the same business patterns when they moved from one medium to the other in the late 1940s. Unlike going out to a movie, both radio and TV were established as a form of “free” home entertainment. Thus, the networks made their profits not from selling tickets to viewers but from selling time to sponsors to advertise their products to viewers during programmed shows. This gave advertisers a certain amount of power over what got aired, particularly if they were the sole sponsors of a program. For example, assuming that women stayed at home while men worked, daytime schedules aimed at housewives, in order to sell food and cleaning products.
With the networks also based out of New York City, and with TV at first available only in big cities, early programming reflected the broader number of communities found in the metropolis – including a number of racial/ethnic groups and career‐minded women. Many refer to the early 1950s as a Golden Age of Television, with live broadcasts of original teleplays that dealt with various social issues. Yet, in the 1950s paranoia about Communist infiltration hit the fledgling TV industry as strongly as it hit the film studios, and producers (and sponsors) blacklisted anyone who was labeled as suspicious in the publication Red Channels (1950). The Television Code of 1952 mirrored Hollywood’s Production Code in listing what could not be done, shown, or said on the small screen. As more Americans moved to the suburbs, original dramatic plays were replaced with a number of sitcoms about white, middle‐class patriarchal families. By 1961, rather than a Golden Age, then‐FCC chairman Newton Minow described television as a “vast wasteland” with little cultural merit.
Escapist programs continued to air during the 1960s. Yet, the FCC mandate that channels offer programs in “the public interest” also led to coverage of civil rights movements, as well as protests against American involvement in Vietnam. In this vein, PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) was initiated in 1969 to provide educational and cultural programming, funded (in part) by the federal government, supposedly removed from the need to placate advertisers. Network interest in more diverse viewpoints increased at the start of the 1970s, as a number of shows reflected a move toward “relevance.” Sitcoms and dramas that prominently featured people of color (such as Chico and the Man (1974–78) and The Jeffersons (1975–85)) or independent women (as in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–77) and Police Woman (1974–78)) debuted during this period. It is important to note that this move toward relevance happened just as the industry developed a new method of measuring audiences, moving from counting simply the total number of viewers to categorizing audiences into different demographic groups. Relevant programs were a strategy to target upscale urban viewers with greater spending power.
The focus on consumer attitudes resulted in a swing in the opposite direction politically during the 1980s, as rampant materialism was championed over social consciousness. TV programs emphasized stylish shows celebrating wealth and glamour, like Dallas (1978‐91) and Dynasty (1981‐89). Sitcoms about middle‐class families made a strong comeback during this period as well. President Reagan’s administration pushed for greater deregulation of industries, in an effort to grow greater profits. For television, that meant ending governmental demands for stations to offer political balance and serve the public interest, and allowing more commercials and product placement within programs.
At the same time, options for television viewing greatly expanded. The 1980s saw a revolution in home video, as well as an explosion in cable television. Cable channels largely made their money from subscriptions rather than advertising, and had greater freedom from censorship concerns than the major “free” networks. Attempting to compete, the three major networks pushed for greater openness in what they could show or discuss – including more explicit language, nudity, and “mature” topics. As a result, the television industry agreed to adopt a ratings system in 1996 similar (but not identical) to one developed by the film industry in the late sixties. Helping cut costs as well as attract viewers was an onslaught of “reality TV,” which often showcased a diversity of individuals and life experiences, but often in demeaning or exploitative ways. By the end of the 1990s, the big three networks faced competition not only from various cable stations and home video, but other “free” networks established by companies tied to major film studios, such as Fox, UPN (Paramount) and The WB (Warner Bros.). Deregulation allowed such consolidation and eventually the original three networks were also bought up: ABC by Disney in 1996, CBS by telecommunications giant Viacom in 2000, and (through various acquisitions and mergers) NBC became part of NBC Universal in 2003.
During these years, a number of cable stations targeted their programming towards particular niche markets, including channels (BET, El Rey, Lifetime, Oxygen, Logo) aimed at various minority groups. The new “free” networks also featured programs with African American and Latinx leads – at least, until those networks got off the ground, and then those shows were largely replaced with programs starring young white performers. Such a strategy of niche marketing or narrowcasting (as opposed to broadcasting) has continued to the present day as broadcast television and cable TV have been joined by streaming Internet services. Such services (and other social media sites and apps) collate preferences based on customer profiles and user history to guide viewers to similar shows to watch, thus subtly narrowing the scope of program options. (They also provide consumer data for advertisers and others.) In previous generations, America shared television experiences together. Now, TV viewing is individualized and often disparate (as one can watch TV on any digital device at any time).
Further developments in technology made such a variety of platforms possible, and even made television more accessible to some audiences. Closed captioning (providing subtitles for non‐hearing audiences) was at first available mainly on PBS shows in the 1970s, until the FCC ruled in 1991 that all TV sets had to be able to access such captioning. Similarly, an Audio Descriptive Service (providing sound descriptions of programming to visually impaired people) was made mandatory on all video devices, including cable and satellite boxes, and DVRs (digital video recorders) by the FCC in 2016. During the 2000s, older TV sets and home video equipment were replaced once again, as digital technology overtook the production, distribution, and exhibition of programming. In 2009, conventional analog signal transmissions ended in the US. This digital revolution expanded and blurred the boundaries between television, motion pictures, and other forms of mass media entertainment. Smart TVs now allow consumers to watch movies and programs via apps or the Internet, without a cable or satellite system.
Many have called the 2000s and 2010s a second Golden Age of Television, largely fed by original programs produced for cable and streaming services. A number of texts have been lauded for taking advantage of the long‐form narrative possibilities of series television to tell more complicated stories with more‐deeply‐written characters. While many of these shows (The Sopranos [1999–2007], Breaking Bad [2008–13], Game of Thrones [2011–19]) center on straight white males engaging in action and violence, others (The Wire [2002–08], Orange Is the New Black [2013–19], Transparent [2014–19]) provide new opportunities for characters from a variety of backgrounds to tell their stories. Such developments have also given everyday individuals greater opportunity to create their own work and disseminate it widely on various social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. To a certain extent, the multiple platforms and formats we refer to today as “television” offer far more diverse representations than those found in mainstream Hollywood films.
