1. MPC
TELEVISION

2. History
 1884 – Paul Nipkow
 Russian in Berlin, developed first workable device
for generating electrical signals suitable for
transmission. Used a spinning disk (the Nipkow
disk)
 John Logie Baird – developed mechanical
television (he was from Scotland).

3. History
 Electronic scanning
 Either from Zworykin (RCA) or Philo Farnsworth
an Idaho farm boy.

4. World’s Fair
 New York – World’s Fair was the first real
public demonstration of television (1927)
 $200 for a 5-inch-screen
 $600 for the deluxe 12-inch-screen

5. FCC
 FCC granted construction permits for the first
two commercial stations in 1941
 WWII slowed things down and then
development picked back up when the war
ended.
 By 1952, 108 stations were broadcasting in 17
million homes

6. Facts
 In the 1950s, more television sets were sold in
the United States (70 million) than there were
children born (40.5 million)

7. Things that shaped TV
 The Quiz Show Scandal
 I Love Lucy
 McCarthyism
 Establishment of ratings system

8. Quiz Show Scandal
 Newsreel
 Out of this scandal came the practice of spot
commercials versus one single advertiser
sponsored shows.

9. I Love Lucy
 Lucille Ball was asked to bring her radio show on
TV in 1951
 She said only if she could have her real husband
as her co-star
 Network refused ( some say because it was inter-
racial marriage)
 She also wanted the show to be filmed in front of
a live audience then edited
 Lucy and Desi ultimately borrowed the money
needed and produced the show on their own,
then selling the broadcast rights to CBS

10. McCarthyism
 The Red Scare
 Report claimed 151 broadcast personalities
were pro-Communist sympathizers.
 Background checks were performed on
employees or possible talent hires, loyalty
oaths were required from performers
 Many were denied paychecks or opportunity
to shape the mediums content.

11. Nielsen Ratings
 Started in 1923, was carried over from radio and
began as a product-testing company.
 Branched into market research
 Started reporting radio ratings then moved to TV
 Selects 15,000 households thought to be
representative of the entire U.S. viewing audience
(expanded to 100,000 this year)
 Records data on what people in those houses watch
 Uses the peoplemeter
 Sweeps – local viewing patterns (Feb, May, July and
November) helps set advertising rates for the next 3
mos.

12. Nielsen
 How it works
 http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/top10
s/television.html