Media Technology - Communications Boon! (A Summary of 4 Technologies - Part 3 of 4)

Television Media Technology

          Television media technology has gone through a similar beginning and evolution to radio, albeit a later invention – 1927 (Stephens, n.d.) where moving pictures were coded onto radio waves and then transformed back into pictures. Early broadcasts in the 30s and 40s included news and sporting events, addresses by the President, advertising, and entertainment pieces. Television technology was not as quick, or as easy, to develop as radio technology, and it also had to contend with competition by radio networks. Entertainment programs which incorporated product placement advertising and “plugs” were very popular, as was children’s programming. Advertisers had contracts as sponsors of many of these programs, while in today’s television media there may be product placements in some programming, but advertisers pay handsomely for 15-30 second commercial spots during the hours best suited to their market niche. Entertainment shows have always been popular, as have documentary and news segments. Advertisers have enjoyed having a medium by which they can “enter people’s homes” to promote their products in both a visual and audio format. Television media technology developed to include digital and online formatting where program can be streamed live via satellite internet feeds. The variety and choice of programming is mindboggling. There are still networks which broadcast in traditional ways (through towers by which a television set may pick up a signal through its antenna), but people have options to receive television transmissions via cable, satellite dish, and internet receiver, to name a few.
          For me, personally, I have gone 20 years without having television access, only using VHS or DVD video players. I truly did not miss all of the advertising and commercials. However, in the last year or so I acquired a Roku box which works through my wireless internet to give me access to a lot of the television programming, but not in real-time and without all of the advertising. I had been addicted to television when I was younger and have tried to avoid the temptation to waste huge swathes of time in front of the television screen. It is not my favorite media technology.
          The next blog summary will cover telephone media technology.

References

Print Power (n.d.). Why print media? Print Power. Retrieved from: http://www.printpower.eu/Why-Print-Media

Henderson, C. (n.d.). The History of Communication Technology – Telephone. Retrieved from: http://www.personal.psu.edu/jtk187/art2/telephone.htm

May, A. (2013, August 9). Why radio is still relevant in a digital age. Radio – The ultimate media survivor? Just Media, Inc. Retrieved from: http://justmedia.com/2013/08/why-radio-is-still-relevant-in-a-digital-age/

Stephens, M. (n.d.). History of television. Grolier Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm