CS352 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Oligopoly, Time Shifting, Big Three Television Networks
Document Summary
Network era (golden age of tv) post ww2 until late 70"s, early 80"s. Dominated by the 3 major networks abc, nbc and cbs who were not originally tv broadcasting companies they were originally radio networks. The reason they were organized this way spectrum scarcity broadcasting signals could not compete or there would be interference government granted licences to broadcast in specific areas and frequencies. A lot of early television shows were based off of already made radio shows i. e. i love. Lucy early audiences were familiar with stars on radio and even more exciting on tv! How did the industry control the content and choice: choice limited to 3 or 4 channels, and content was produced primarily by the 3 companies. Vcr time shifting recording fast forward through commercials: these 2 technologies gave viewers more control over their experience in tv. Hbo showed movies and then original programs to gain subscriptions premium subscription service (no commercials)