Television Technologies

Summary

Television technologies are concerned with the design, development, operation, and production of televisions and television programming. The field includes further aspects of television production including content creation, signal broadcast, and set up and maintenance of electrical equipment. Television technologies have widespread influence in almost every area of modern life beyond their stated applications in entertainment and education. The television industry continues to evolve rapidly as new broadcast and television technologies emerge.

Definition and Basic Principles

Television technologies are concerned with the design, development, operation, and production of televisions and television programming. The field includes further aspects of television production including content creation, signal broadcast, and set up and maintenance of electrical equipment. The core components of a television are: broadcast audio and video signals, a receiver, a speaker, and a display device.

Background and History

Television is a twentieth-century technological development. The term television was coined in France in 1900 from the Greek tele and Latin vision, which translates to “far sight.” The beginnings of television can be traced back to three major discoveries: the photoconductivity of the element selenium in 1873, the invention of a scanning disk in 1884, and the demonstration of televised moving images in 1926. In 1923, the first television tube was patented by Russian engineer Vladimir Zworykin, although he never built a working model of the system. By 1925, the first moving picture was transmitted in Washington, DC, and soon after, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was created to regulate television and radio broadcasting. In 1926, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was founded by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) as the first major broadcast network. By then the first United States-to-Europe broadcasts were sent and scheduled television broadcasts began. At this time, most commercially made television sets were electromechanical with a radio enhanced by a neon tube and a mechanically spinning disk to produce a small image. In 1934, the FRC was replaced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the government agency that regulates radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable broadcasts. By this time, the first commercially made electronic television sets with cathode-ray tubes became available. On these televisions, all broadcast images were live and in black and white. From 1940 to 1941, broadcasts included the first basketball game, the first political convention, and the first television commercial. By 1945, there were nine commercial television stations in operation in the United States, and televisions were available for purchase at department stores. In 1947, Kinescopes (picture tubes) were first used, and President Harry S. Truman used television to address the public. By 1950, there were eight million television sets in the United States, and color television broadcasts were prevalent by 1953. In 1956, videotaping was first used in a television broadcast. By 1966, all of NBC's news broadcasts were in color. In 1975, cable television expanded to cover a wider area and offer more channels, and in 1976 satellite-television transmission began with Atlanta's WTCG. By 1977, television was present in 71 million homes (97 percent) in the United States. Another milestone in television occurred in 2009 when all television stations were required by FCC regulation to switch from analog to digital signals for their content broadcasts.

How It Works

The core components of a television are: broadcast audio and video signals, a receiver, a speaker, and a display device. The video signal is composed of the program or television content to be viewed. Television content is most commonly prerecorded. Some visual content is filmed live, such as a news program. Whether prerecorded or live, current images are predominantly broadcast in color. Until recently, analog signals created color by broadcasting red, green, and blue images in fast succession or combined, which appeared to the viewer to be a single full-color image. Color is conveyed via digital signals as pixels representing specific levels of red, blue, and green.

Also integral to television production is the audio signal, which is the sound broadcast sent with the video signals. The video and audio signals are sent via transmitter and can be broadcast over several distribution systems: cable, satellite, or the airwave transmissions. All of these signals are gathered by the receiver found in each television and transformed into images and sound for viewing. Depending on the television set, the images viewed are projected onto a cathode-ray tube, LCD (liquid crystal display), plasma (gas-charged display), or other display device.

The development of improved television technologies has allowed televisions to become thinner and lighter with sharper images. In addition to improvements in the physical televisions, there have also been improvements in broadcast technology. The current standard for broadcast of television content is digital or high-definition. Digital signals transmit high-quality sound and high-resolution images via electronic code and use less power than the traditional analog. In fact, in 2009, the FCC mandated that all terrestrial stations move from analog to digital broadcast signals. This change required the addition of an improved external receiver to standard televisions or purchase of a television able to receive digital signals. In addition to improved images and television sounds, television speakers have also been updated such that improved digital audio can be funneled through home-theater systems.

Applications and Products

Journalism. The use of television as a means of conveying current events and news in the 1950s revolutionized the way the general public obtained information. Through television, the average person could watch extended interviews and speeches by world leaders, creating an almost personal connection between the viewer and the person speaking. It was impossible to achieve the same effect through radio or the newspaper. The exposure to images of local, national, and international events in progress added impact to news stories and documentaries. One of the first documentaries to use television images in this fashion was Harvest of Shame, a searing indictment of migrant labor practices that was broadcast in 1960. Further examples of the impact of television in journalism include coverage of the first moon landing in 1969, the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the devastation wrought by the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquakes in the early twenty-first century in Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan.

Sporting Events. Television has made sporting events easily accessible to almost anyone. The application of high-resolution television technology has built up an industry of sports announcers and commentators, sports bars for viewing games, and an incredible amount of marketing via television commercials. Outside of the games themselves, television has changed the sports culture, as it spurred on the growth of sponsorship and increased the impact of the sports agent. Most sponsorships and endorsements are made possible by television commercials featuring athletes in addition to closeups of endorsed gear during games. Such athletes supplement their salaries with sponsorships and endorsements ranging from sports drinks and shoes to personal-care products. The players themselves are marketed by their agents to attract sponsors and increase their income and visibility.

Marketing. One of the most effective modes of advertising and marketing is a mass-media campaign, which is often initiated on television. The object of a mass-media campaign is to reach the largest audience possible with a specific message. Beyond mass marketing, an industry of market-research companies that concentrate on television and Nielsen ratings has emerged to help deliver ads to target audiences during particular television shows or time slots.

Nielsen ratings are sets of television-viewer data based on the careful monitoring of the television-viewing habits of a chosen cross-section of households. This system began with requesting chosen families to keep a television log or diary of minutes of each show watched by family members and has moved to electronic monitoring devices that can determine which family member is watching a particular show and when he or she changes the channel. Through data such as that produced by Nielsen ratings, a particular advertising rate can be set for a television commercial based on viewer composition and numbers. An extreme example of this is the incredibly high cost of advertising time during the Super Bowl. Since so many people watch the Super Bowl, most companies are willing to spend the exorbitant fee to advertise their products. In 2021, Nielsen began collecting data on streaming viewership in its Nielsen Streaming Video Ratings. The rating estimate how many people watch a particular show on one of the many streaming services available. However, it is limited in scope. It only accounts for US viewership and does not take into account shows watches on computers, tablets, or mobile devices.

Entertainment. The development of television technologies over time has provided many entertainment options, from the early moving pictures to specialized gaming systems, in the comfort of the home. The use of advances in television can provide a more realistic or personalized experience. The expansion of television channel options through cable and satellite television allows viewers to watch shows focused on their hobby or interest to a degree not previously available. A sports enthusiast can watch a channel such as ESPN for sports news and games, while someone interested in cooking can spend time watching the Food Network or Cooking Channel. Personalization of the television-viewing experience further expanded with the development of the digital video recorder (DVR), which allows multiple programs to be recorded automatically for viewing at a later time. The movement away from watching real-time television programs has expanded with the viewing of television shows, movies, and other programming on the computer or via devices such as the Roku or AppleTV, which allow streaming of movies via Amazon or Netflix and music via Pandora, as well as device-specific programming for children and home-fitness enthusiasts.

Surveillanceand Security. The ability to use television technologies to track and identify the movements of individuals or intruders often relies heavily upon images. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) refers to a particular application of television using cameras to transmit images to a selected number of televisions for viewing and recording. CCTV is employed by banks to monitor its automatic teller machines or by other industries to monitor the function of a industrial process during the night shift. In many convenience stores, malls, and airports CCTV is used to watch for suspicious activity and deter crime. On a smaller scale, digital video monitors (nanny cams) can be placed in a baby's bedroom to provide information to parents on how their child is being cared for when they are not there.

Education. Television can be used at home or in the classroom to provide additional visual depictions of particular topics. As students become more media savvy, use of streaming video, games, and interactive features can increase interest in subjects such as history and science. A classic example of educational television is PBS's Sesame Street, which was first broadcast in 1969. Television programming also educates through the use of documentaries about world events of historic significance such as World War II. As TV viewers expanded their options from network television into cable and satellite TV, channels entirely devoted to children's television programming, such as Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and Sprout, have increased. Programming on public television and educational cable shows are targeted at preschool-age and elementary-school-age children using cartoons, such as Sid the Science Kid, which focuses on science; WordGirl, which is meant to address vocabulary; and Liberty's Kids, an animated history show about the Revolutionary War. As child-focused channels dominate the educational market, other channels have worked on expanding educational television further into the teen and adult market with shows such as the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters, which provides a view into scientific method and engineering challenges while the format and topics keep viewers interested. Beyond educational television programming, technology has also allowed students who are ill or live in remote areas to use their televisions to attend school virtually, via teleconferencing. Schools and colleges have also increased their use of distance learning by providing instructional-television classrooms that allow interactive learning with video and voice of instructors in real time.

Careers and Course Work

Given the wide-ranging scope of television technologies there are many industry careers that directly correlate to the creation and distribution of television content. Entry-level requirements for these positions will vary significantly by position. Examples of positions in television technologies are television program production personnel, news-related positions such as journalists and TV anchors, on-air talent, sales and marketing jobs, management, and technical roles. Depending on the location and size of market, job categories are more fluid and employees can wear several hats. For example, at a small television station, a manager might also be in charge of marketing and production. Generally, those with a bachelor's degree have the competitive edge to obtain and advance in a position; however, many of the specialized technical positions do not require a specific post-high school degree, as hiring is based on internships, knowledge, and experience. Frequently, an entry-level position may be easier to obtain in a small market, such as a local television news station in a small town or city, although promotion often requires a move to a larger city or network. Given the wide spectrum of careers in television technologies, a sampling of jobs and course-work requirements follows.

Television-production jobs range from supervisor-level positions, such as a director, who manages the overall production, to more targeted technical positions, such as a postproduction assistant or sound designer. Given the specialized needs of scripts, lighting, sound, direction, and editing there are many jobs in television production. Supervisory occupations usually require a bachelor's degree with a major in communications, film and video, or media arts, while more technical jobs do not.

Televised news makes up a significant chunk of local and national television programming, and there are several cable channels entirely devoted to news and current events shows. Some news programs are live and require mobile teams of on-site reporters, camera operators, and associated technical positions to travel and report news. Other news shows are filmed in a studio and require the standard news team. Anchorpersons and the individuals who present the news from studios often have bachelor's degrees in journalism or mass communications. Reporters, who may also present the news, most often have bachelor's degrees in journalism, English, communications, or political science. Technical positions range from supervisory positions, which require a bachelor's degree, to lower-level positions that do not. Many of the technical positions, such as broadcast technician or sound engineering technician, are acquired through formal internships or course work at a technical school. They may not require a formal bachelor's degree, but specialized education in broadcast technology focused on engineering or electronics is helpful in obtaining a position.

Sales and marketing positions in television are varied and may involve developing large-scale marketing plans for the media company, working with advertisers, or direct sales of television services or technologies. Most of these positions require a bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, or a related field although entry-level sales positions may not.

Television writers create the content for television including settings, situations, dialogue, plot lines, and characters. Writers create and develop the idea for a particular television show or movie and work to obtain network support for the production.

In some cases, writers already work within the television company and work in-house producing ideas for shows. In other cases, writers are external to the television networks and must present their ideas for possible production. In either case, the process of creating a television show begins with a writer's idea, which he or she develops into a detailed concept for a show and includes information such as a summary of the show's premise, a breakdown of main characters on the show, ideas for the episodes for one season, and several completed episodes. Then the writer must take the idea or concept and “pitch” it to a producer or other television-company executive. If the producer chooses to purchase the show from an external writer, than a contract or deal will be negotiated for the show and the writer's employment. An agent may assist in this process. Writers often work as part of a team on television shows to create each episode and perform edits as needed during production. Some writers also wear the hat of producer, which entails working on multiple aspects of the television show from development of the show's concept to hiring actors and supervising the show's filming. There are a variety of jobs from the supervisory producer down to staff writers. Writers most often have a bachelor's degree or even a master's in some sort of English discipline. Some universities, such as the University of Southern California, offer bachelor's and master's degrees in writing for screen and television or television writing and producing. Other universities offer courses on creative writing for entertainment. Internships and a job as a writer's or producer's assistant in television may also help a writer learn about the television industry and make important contacts as he or she moves into a full-time writer's role.

Social Context and Future Prospects

The ability to record and view people and events will continue to change as new television technologies allow individuals and companies to explore the world further. Future technological innovations will change privacy options as the industry progresses and more information is gathered about television-viewing habits.

The increasing amount of time spent by adults and children watching television is associated with a decrease in exercise and an increase in obesity. In children, it is also associated with development delays, physical and mental milestones in particular. The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that televisions should not be placed in children's bedrooms and they should limit television watching from one to two hours per day. The nonprofit Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Nonprofit sponsors events such as Screen-Free Week as a springboard for lifestyle changes that decrease reliance on screens for entertainment.

Television technologies are changing from delivery of television shows and movies on standard television sets to non-television devices such as computers and cellular phones. In addition, television is quickly moving from the standard, linear format of television programming to a nonlinear, on-demand mechanism such as the DVR, which allows viewers to record and watch shows, fast-forwarding through commercials, at a time different from the time when the program was originally broadcast. Television and the Internet have also combined to allow individuals to watch many recent TV programs shown on channels not included in one's cable or satellite subscription. In addition, consumers are watching television programming on computers via the internet or through a variety of image-enabled devices, such as smartphones. All of these changes have increased the number of individuals watching a wide variety of television programming.

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