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history of tv > final-study guide terms > Flashcards

final-study guide terms Flashcards

1
Q

sell-through market

A

any time a product is sold directly to consumers

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2
Q

the long tail

A
  • the Long Tail: Theory describing how economy is shifting from mass markets to niches
    • large number of products that sell in small quantities v. the small number of best-selling products
  • the biggest money is in the smallest sales
  • more profit in earlier months than later-but total of the first couple months vs the total after that for the next few years are both high-long tail could make up greater part of revenue-so worth it for them to make all this stuff available for you
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3
Q

tight diversification

A

diverse holdings, but in related industries (rather than unrelated ones)

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4
Q

ancillary market

A

any market beyond the primary one

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5
Q

produser

A
  • Producer+User
  • user-led forms of collaborative content creation
  • blurs the lines between passive consumer and active producer of media text
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6
Q

Zero Degree Style

A

-basic sitcom style-3 camera-low quality image-Tandem style

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7
Q

web 1.0 vs 2.0

A

WEB 1.0

  • approx. Pre-2004
  • ”read-only”
  • homepages
  • companies
  • encyclopedia Britannica
  • Search/Explore

WEB 2.0

  • Approx. 2004+
  • ”read-write”
  • blogs
  • collaborativeindividuals
  • wikipedia
  • share/engage
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8
Q

Collective Intelligence

A
  • virtual groups combining the knowledge of their members=Knowledge Community
  • Community has more power than the individual (and in some cases the media institution)-figure something out before show tells them/producers allow info the be released
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9
Q

metacritical textuality

A
  • critiquing the way the shows are critiqued, what they’re supposed to do
  • viewer criticisms and discussions, additional resources
  • not necessary for viewing show but fun
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10
Q

push vs pull media

A

push-Hollywood sees transmedia as a way to “push” content at audiences
pull-Silicon Valley sees transmedia as adapting to a new kind of interactive and creative viewer

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11
Q

mass vs social media logic

A

MASS MEDIA LOGIC

  • masses, LOP/LCD
  • Info presented as continuous stream, “flow”
  • controlled by media instittuitons
  • ex: newspaper, radio, early TV

SOCIAL MEDIA LOGIC

  • users, individuals, niches
  • info presented as “viral” (“likes” or shares)
  • ”equal” participation between institutions and individual users
  • ex: fan sites, message boards, chat rooms (now: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube)
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12
Q

televisuality

A
  • Term to describe effects of these changes
  • economic crisis
  • production shift
  • programming phenomenon
  • audience effect
  • programming has element of excess to it
  • shift for audience and the way programming and production changes
  • trashy looking shows with graphic enhancement-presented like weird events-networks trying to pull everyone’s attention-add a lot of stuff to their programming-drawing attention to themselves, through spectacle or authorship
  • authorship
  • programming
  • audience function (changing tastes)
  • It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (showtime, 1986-1990)
  • authorship: -person who owns show is a brand name-like Shonda Rhimes-used to promote his later shows-producer as auteur-for high quality shows
  • programming:
  • Events showcasing status
  • Narrowcasting/nicheing
  • Ethnic programming
  • Boutique shows/channels
  • audience function:
  • ego stroking
  • cultivate distinction
  • court “quality” demographic
  • produce/exploit cultural capital
  • excessive style
  • Structural Inversion (-form over content, style over subject matter)
  • Excess
  • Influenced by Video technology-frame cluttered by infographics, “excessive style” (Caldwell), style for its own sake
  • Documentary style/formats (reality, news programming)
  • Music Video style and editing-MTV
  • montages, cutting a lot of scenes to music-place to watch music-it’s its own thing-not movie or show or album or song-it’s video-quicker cuts, more editing, cuts to music
  • Max Headroom
  • Pee Wee’s Playhouse
  • In Living Color
  • excess
  • Display
  • Exhibitionism
  • Self-conscious performance-everyone is really aware of what they’re doing-talking to camera-ironic, parody
  • Air of Distinction
  • no real high and low-all lumped together-good and bad shows on channels next to each other
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13
Q

multiplexing:

A

cheaper for them to combine multiple SD channels-why we get hundreds of channels

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14
Q

1992 cable act:

A
  • must carry rules-with emergence of cable, the must carry rules maintained that the independent channels, public tv, had to be broadcast on cable as well couldn’t charge for local stations
  • charging a bunch of diff rates for their channel-flat fee, then with new channel really bump up price-so cable act regulated what that price was
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15
Q

1996 Telecom act

A
  • biggest part is raising cap on ownership-25 to 35%
  • Now big nets (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) can also own 2nd, smaller net (UPN or WB)
  • a newspaper could own TV stations in same market (3+ station markets)
  • -telephone companies can offer cable services in areas where they were also providing phone service
  • a cable franchise can own a TV station and vice versa
  • number/variety of cable channels increase
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16
Q

post-network era

A

what we’re in now-variety of content to choose from-niche content like cable-but now there’s also a variety of diff ways to distribute that-content and diff viewing platforms-different hardware and technology

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17
Q

remediation

A

“old media” adjusts content/programming and business strategies to adapt to “new media”

-sex and the city reading

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18
Q

transmedia

A

narrative “world building” by venturing into other media forms: comics, books, video games, youtube, etc
crosses diff platforms

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19
Q

hyperdiagesis

A

extension of the narrative space, operates as a unified whole

  • only know tip of iceberg-there’s a whole part underwater-what the text provides is just the tip of the iceberg-what you want to know as a viewer is hidden under the surface (often, on the internet)
  • spinoffs-like Fear of the Walking Dead, Better Call Saul
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20
Q

deficit financing

A

networks would basically rent the show form the studio-pay a licensing fee to the studio making the show-but that feee didn’t cover the total cost o the production-studio hoping they’d make that deficit money back through syndication

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21
Q

jiggle tv

A

baywatch, Charlie’s Angels
-because of how presented visually, fetished, not so good for women-even though kind of claims to be, showing capable women

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22
Q

“Man Cave” visual aesthetic

A
  • sports media
  • -discourse-based, multi-platform sports media
  • male-centric
  • postmodern aesthetic of clutter
  • sports and pop culture references
  • The Sportswriters on TV-precursor to a lot of these
  • this manacle aesthetic is everywhere in sports nowadays
  • dark wood, memorabilia
  • collage aesthetic
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23
Q

narrowcasting

A

programming targeting specific audiences/demographics

  • Absence of mass audience
  • derived from post-modernist perspective of subjectivity
  • Economy of scale—> economy of scope
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24
Q

cable proliferation

A

number/variety of cable channels increase due to:

  • new service, growing market penetration
  • introduction of fiber-optic
  • cable operators add channels, pass cost on to consumers
  • $0.10 cents/subscriber, 3 for $1
  • networks insist cable providers pay to carry their networks
  • CSPs want to remove “must carry” rules (re: UHF/Independent stations)
  • free up lucrative space
  • compromise:
  • smaller, local station—> guaranteed transmission
  • bigger network affiliates “paid” in form of adding additional cable channels (multiplexing-combine 2+ SD channels)
  • networks use dominance to gain more cable channels, too
  • Fox (FX)
  • powerful station owners also launch channels
  • Scripps-Howard—> HGTV
  • Cable Service Providers still got valuable local stations for free
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25
Q

convergence

A

-Convergence: bringing together diff media forms and integrating them together for diff types of media usage

  • Technological shift
  • content migrating across multiple platforms
  • hardware diverges
  • content converges
  • Industrial/Business Shift
  • Changing business structures (in response to tech)
  • shift in patterns of media ownership (conglomerates)
  • Cultural Shift
  • consumers seek out new info/connect dispersed media content
  • digital tech reduces all media to one code
  • internet provides a place for it
  • deregulation allows ownership different media (tv, radio, news) reaching larger % of audience
  • diverse broadcast mediums merge, acquire each other, own a lot of the same media
  • can cross own media
  • Remediation: “old media” adjusts content/programming and business strategies to adapt to “new media”
  • short-form video content
  • shareable and spreadable
  • late night talk shows doing this-little skits can put online-viral sensations-like Carpool Karaoke
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26
Q

textual poaching

A

taking material from a show and making it your own-the “real” story-taking what you want out of it, doing what you will with it

  • read to the writers as your show is not good, we want to fix it
  • but really was coming from a place of love
  • that’s regulated within this moral economy of the fan culture itself-the culture will decide what is and is not too far in this poaching process
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27
Q

trash tv

A

-fringe prime time hours fill with “Tabloid TV”

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28
Q

intertextuality

A

-refers to itself from a tv show-distinguishes itself as quality tv-not bad tv-look at us-we’re aware of tv’s history-pointing out flaws of tv-sets us apart as more critically aware, quality programming

29
Q

cumulative world building

A

-cumulative world building-characters and plotline and relationships develop over seasons, while 1-episode plots happen

30
Q

reflexivity

A

Referring to or discussing itself or its own creation; self-referential

31
Q

melodrama

A

What is Melodrama?

  • drama that exaggerates to appeal to emotion
  • not thinking, feeling (“weepies”)
  • fantasies and fears writ large
  • visuals/music tell how to feel
  • plot: simplistic (hero, heroine, love story, villain)
  • structure: closed, traditional (3 acts, resolved at end)
  • in contemporary film/tv, focusing on suffering, typically women’s suffering
32
Q

soaps

A
  • Vehicles for selling products to women in daytime
  • soap genre remains associated with daytime tv
  • infinitely extendable middle
  • melodrama
  • constant interruptions:
  • commercials, end of hour, cliffhangers, raising of new questions
  • illustrate difficulty of desire—> fulfillment
  • mirrors household work
  • consoles about missed opportunities
  • ideal mother:
  • subject/spectator
  • knows about all children
  • loves all equally
  • no demands
  • little control
  • reinforced by image of messy nuclear family

villainness:
- -antagonist/shadow of ideal mother
- Tries to make things happen/control others
- Makes pregnancy work for her
- Always Thwarted

33
Q

MOWs

A
  • Movies of the Week/Made for TV Movies
  • See How They Run (1964, NBC)
  • Alternative to buying movies
  • sort of way to replace anthologies-also way to give people a movie but less expensive
  • more melodrama/women-centric
  • 90 min—> 2 hr slot
  • 200+ by nets in 90s
  • Now cable TV (lifetime)
  • melodramatic subjects/storytelling
34
Q

miniseries

A

Miniseries:

  • The National Dream (CBS, 1974)
  • Rich Man/Poor Man (ABC, 1976)
  • Roots (ABC, 1977)
  • Prior to this, anything with ongoing plot was a serial
  • appeal: seriality
  • often adapted from books
35
Q

PBS

A
  • 1967: Public Broadcasting Act-Corpt for Public Broadcast (CPB)—> PBS
  • Insulated Funding rejected (biannual appropriations)-insulated=money every year from gov
  • Corporate Underwriters
  • some public funding for PBS-continues to be subject to debate-also from “viewers like you”
  • PBS Management: No central programming structure
  • Different stations propose programs and share with network
  • 1969: Children’s Television Workshop’s Sesame Street
  • BBC programs too
36
Q

NET

A

UHF

  • 1954-58: Ford funded National Educational TV
  • early public tv
37
Q

COMSAT

A

-1964-Early Bird Satellite-COMSAT live TV link between US and Europe

38
Q

CATV

A
  • Community.Access.Antennae TV (CATV)
  • In areas where signal could not reach
  • large community antennas
  • cables to private homes
  • Monthly fee for service
  • Free extra channel for local events
39
Q

PEG channels

A
  • part of 1972 FCC rules: -at least one public/edu/govt. channel (PEG)
  • -Public Access, Educational and Government Channels
  • Cable only
  • Carried for free/at CSP expense
40
Q

over the air stations

A

“Over-the-air” television means that you receive your signal through a roof-top antenna or a set-top antenna (commonly called rabbit ears). The viewers most directly affected by the digital transition have been “over-the-air” viewers. Most cable or satellite television viewers have not been directly affected by the digital television transition.
-ABC, NBC, CBS

41
Q

“Queer Representation” Raymond

A
  • big pictures, how it relates to representation of queer characters in tv, esp. in early to mid 90s
  • queer-term comes up in 90s-reclaiming word, was insult before-now use it as umbrella terms for all sexualities-didn’t always relate to sexualize then
  • destabilize idea of all sorts of identities, and all binary ideas of identity-gay vs straight
  • gay becoming marketable thing in tv in 90s
  • not sufficient to represent gay people-because that’s a normal thing now-the representations of these queer characters on tv is actually king of conservative by standards of queer theory
  • thesis: these representations ultimately end in reipscription of heterosexuality and a containment of homosexuality/non normative sexual identities-using those 3 tropes
  • marketing towards middle class white gay man consuming products and being a capitalist and basically a straight person who happens to have sex with men-like Will in Will and Grace-Grace controls idea of what it is to be gay-she;s telling him how to be gay
  • there are more representations, but not queer representations-they’re heteronormative representation of queer characters
    1. heterosexualization and binary/innate sexuality (Will & Grace)
    2. Gay Pretender (Three’s Company)
    3. Straight Mistaken for Gay (Seinfeld)
42
Q

“TV and Postmodernism” Collins

A
  • erasure of distinction between high and low culture
  • blending of high and low culture
    • bricolage: bombardment of signs-grabbing from what’s available, diff signs
    • pastiche: celebratory parody
    • eclecticism: insights from multiple theories, styles-pulls all these diff ideas in bricolage together to gain insight about these things, put them together in a new way, new vision of what these can be
  • postmodern access to tv-access to cable and tv-when flipping channels, doing eclecticistic work ourselves, switching shows and genres and modes of engagement, pulling diff things from them
  • can do eclectisism at the level of creating or consuming
  • 1 thing will give you new insight on another
  • in shows-northern exposure-twin peaks-putting together diff genres, ideas, styles
  • way we interact with tv is postmodern, and the way tv is produced is postmodern
  • big picture takeaway of this article: tv is the perfect place to study postmodernism-that’s the thesis-then breaks down diff tenants of postmodernism we see
  • semiotics of excess-bombardment of signs-Pewee Herman opening-In Living Color
  • this bombardment of signs leads to a lack of meaning-too much-nothing means 1 thing anymore
  • meaning is completely dependent on context
  • sign signifier signified not linked anymore-but can be linked dependent on context
  • irony, intertextuality, and hyperconsciousness
    • intertextuality-reading or watching some entertainment in culture-references-proliferate-achkowledhing the outside world and the world of tv
      • references show competing against int hat time slot-in joke
      • can miss them and it’s fine, still understand show-but if get, extra smugness you can feel
      • the simpsons-hitchcock birds reference
    • irony-can’t say anything because already said, have to acknowledge that it’s cliche, say it ironically
      • “I love you madly”
      • have to put everything in air quotes-safety bubble-acknowledging you know you’re not the first person to have this thought-referencing something
    • hyperconsciousness
      • tv shows know there’s other stuff out there
      • hyperawareness on the part of the text itself of its cultural status, function, and history, as well as of the conditions of its circulation and reception-involves a diff sort of self-reflexivity
43
Q

Independent station

A
  • strengthen existing signals-independent stations

- UHF as clear as VHF

44
Q

Pay cable station

A
  • Premium subscriber services like HBO
  • Line item on cable bill-$5-20 on top of basic package
  • More $ to spend on programming new movies
45
Q

superstation

A
  • local, independent stations distributed nationally via satellite (WGN in Chicago)
  • Free over-the-air (Chicago area), but cable operator charges per subscriber to carry
46
Q

Basic cable channel

A
  • Channels customers receive as part of basic package, includes:
  • Over-the-air stations (ABC, CBS, NBC)
  • Ad-supported, cable-only channels (ESPN, MTV)
  • cable service provider pays monthly to carry (e.g.) 5-10 cents per subscriber
47
Q

must-carry rules

A
  • “must-carry” rules for local stations with significant audiences
  • mandate that cable companies carry various local and public television stations within a cable provider’s service area,
48
Q

Fin/Syn

A
  • Early 70s Change
  • 1991: FCC relaxes the Fin-Syn rules
  • Rationale: nets no longer dominant (cable, vhs)
  • 1995: eliminated altogether
  • -to increase diversity, limit control of nets
  • nets surrender syndication rights for shows they don’t produce wholly
  • only allowed to produce 15 hours of non-news/week
  • Prohibited networks from owning:
  • financial interest in most shows they aired
  • could not profit from shows beyond ad revenue
  • in-house syndication arms (distribution)
  • could only buy productions for 1 or 2 airings
  • if networks make own show-can profit more-big factor in renewal is does network own all of it? more likely to renew it-because looking toward syndication in future
  • if limit number of shows can wholly own, more likely to give changes to indie producers, keep those shows on air too because can’t always favor their own-need other programming
49
Q

Prime Time Access Rules (PTAR)

A
  • Top 50 markets stop running network shows during the first hour of prime-time (7-8pm)
  • to give 1 more hour to syndicated/local programming-of most popular times on tv-to loosen network control
  • Instead, syndicated/locally produced programming
  • 7:00 news
  • Game shows/syndication
50
Q

Fairness Doctrine

A
  • 1930s-Progressive Compromise concept—> editorial control to ensure diverse views
  • 1941-Mayflower Decision:
  • broadcaster cannot be advocate
  • interests/opinions of community
  • 1949-Fairness Doctrine becomes official policy
  • 1960s-Controversial programming encouraged
  • broadcaster must actively ascertain/address important issues
  • 1969-Red Lion Decision
  • affirms active ascertainment and balanced inclusion
  • 1974-Fairness Doctrine key factor in license renewal
  • 1965-Fairness Doctrine repealed (Reagan, Fowler)
51
Q

Bodroghozy, “Smothers Brothers”

A
  • old person, uncool network
  • tried for a minute to appeal to youth
  • appeal to counterculture-but still not completely
  • very clean cut
  • mustaches-still the same-doesn’t matter if look different-civil rights movement
  • ask audience if likes it-they say no-but pretend they said yes-referring to democratic convention in Chicago-total breakdown in American democracy
  • Goldie-hippie character
  • having hair-had longer hair in third season opening-that’s a political act-like the Beatles
  • Carnival song-cut out-too political
  • doesn’t seem political out of context
  • coded
  • show lasted 3 seasons
  • 3rd season not full
  • each season got more political
  • but mostly things were coded-slip through censors-like Goldie drug terms
  • fact that viewers are responding to Julia in diff ways, and censors missed a lot in Smothers Bros-people can decode a message in a lot of different ways
  • overwhelmingly, the tumult of the moment is not reflected in network tv
  • the networks are dealing with ratings
  • real bottom line: why do ratings matter-more money can charge for ads
  • even though networks ultimately in control in terms of decision making, still sort of beholden to advertisers
  • beginning of ads being targeted at more specific markets
  • ads not very specific or targeted-because only 3 channels-Smothers Bros would’ve done well on Comedy Central-but no space for them on CBS
  • youth culture population very large-couldn’t been a good market-but didn’t have any money
  • hegemonic ideology: the reflection of the ideology of those in power/of the power structure
  • hegemony: dominant power structure
  • in the 60s, the dominant power structure is the normative fare that the networks are mostly producing-not the counterculture
  • the counterculture in the 60s is the first time that resistance to the hegemony is something that’s on everyone’s radar
  • but there’s always been bohemians resisting the ideology
  • but here we can actually talking about the hegemonic ideology because there’s something that’s not that
52
Q

Lentz, “Quality vs. Relevance”

A
  • semiotics: 1 way that people have tried to understand how things make meaning
  • model lentz uses: cesarean model of semiotics-tries to understand how meaning is made in words, images, etc-3 parts: signifier, signified, sign
  • signifier: the actual thing-the table
  • signified: the word “table”-or photo of a table-references an actual thing-but the word is not the thing
  • those 2 things together=the sign
  • so hearing the word then thinking about the fact that you know what that word is-that’s the sign
  • Lentz ist talking about the politics of the signified vs the politics of the referent-as distinction between tv of quality and tv of relevance
  • signifier=referent
  • referent=actual thing in the world that exists-and signifier being the thing that represents the thing in the world
  • quality linked with signifier-tv of quality is self-referential-reflects on the medium-the way these signifieds are being delivered to us
  • relevance linked with referent-actual things in world-issues
  • feminization of tv: it’s in the home, linked with domestic culture-women undervalued in world-like tv-doesn’t have any redeeming artistic qualities-just about consumption-women seen in similar way-tv was not really respected-in comparison to film- which is masculine, respected, arts status-better object than tv-reading of MTM cat logo vs. MGM lion-quality and relevance trying to elevate tv as a medium
  • quality vs relevance
  • quality: MTM-Mary Tyler More
  • style, production better-mise en scene reflective of class status of Mary-upper middle class-sleeker-more film quality-shot in film-brightly lit-multiple cameras, diff angles-costumes very put together
  • self-referential-distinguishes itself as different from bad tv-quality tv elevates the medium-tv as bad object-MTM is aware of fact tv is not respected medium-employs strategies to make it higher quality-and also taking it in self-reflecxive way-say we are aware tv can be bad, but this is better-we’re all in on joke together about bad tv-the fact you’re watching this show means you have good taste-stupid newscaster, bad news show-to separate Mary Tyler Moore from that
  • feminist for the time-works-respected as equals to men in workplace-lives alone-wears pants
  • but limitations to that feminism-part of the reality of that moment is that birth control happened-and women could have sex in a diff way that involved less risk for them-liberated women-but show refuses to go there-show won’t get into the details of what its feminism means in certain arenas
  • will not be shown dating anyone who is not white on the show-the show is not willing to go there
  • while dealing with problematic white middle class feminism in second wave, making space for new representation of women on tv that has severe limitations-super flawed representation but created space for future representations that pushed beyond it-like Julia-and Gray article
  • relevance: Tandem (Norman Lear)-All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times
  • getting into what college kids, liberal people into at time-because that’s their demographic-so really economic choice but pretended wanted to be relevant-trying to get that demographic
  • appealing to social activism in 60s
  • deals with issues of race
  • finally a time when the hegemonic structures are conceding to the fact that people want to have themselves represented onscreen-very likely people who fall outside hegemonic ideals that’ve been on tv for so long-people who are not white upper middle class heterosexual nuclear families
  • reflect everyday struggles of these people
  • Archie Bunker-white, middle aged, heterosexual guy-lower class status but still mostly benefited from privilege-now lives in context of people who are not like him having voices-and he’s not happy about it-the whole show is him dealing with the power structure around him shifting
  • aesthetic markers that work together with content of these shows to create this overall grittier realism: drab colors-orange and brown-2D-like watching it on a stage-not using sophisticated cinematography-sets and costumes: not dressed up, average, real life-smudges on light switches-not all pristine-it’s all muddy-filmed on video-lower quality-cannot contain all the info film can at that point-compressing things-the 2Dness is because of that and the way camera shoots, and the way sets organized
53
Q

Gray, “Politics of Representation”

A 
Separate but Equal/Pluralist (1950s/70s): 
-Amos n Andy
-Sanford and Son
-The Jeffersons
-What’s Happening!!
Assimilation/Invisibility (1960s-70s): 
-Julia
-I spy
-Mission Impossible
-Room 222
Multiculturalism/Diversity (1980s/90s): 
-The Cosby Show (Transitional Assimilation-Multicultural)
-Frank’s Place
-A Different World
-Roc
-South Central

-charting genealogy of representations of blackness on tv
-genealogy: showing how something is related or indebted to the things that came before it
-these changes can be attributed to a pretty small group of african american tv producers who got their voices heard-overwhelmingly white writers in writers room-a few people got through
-Amos N Andy, Julia
-present moment: 90s-3 big categories:
assimilationist (invisibility)
Julia
everyone is the same, living together in harmony
doesn’t reflect reality of the time
race is ignored
put black characters into white worlds, and their blackness is not an issue, because racism is over
ideal fake future world
these shows were geared towards white people-seemed to be appealing mostly to white middle class audience-because that was the audience that was deemed the most valuable by tv producers
black people are just like us, it’s fine!
problem with this category: racism is portrayed as an individual problem-1 white racist is a bad egg-can be cured when meet nice black person-ignores historical forces that created systemic inequalities
if you can change your idea, racism can be over!
but ignores idea that racism has historical legacy of economic subjugation and exploitation of blacks over american history
pluralism-separate but (not) equal
middle class black families but with other black people
Family Matters
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
shows that exist in predominantly black worlds where everyone is happy and also significantly black people are depicted as 1 homogenous group-no differences among black people, who come from different backgrounds-families depicted don’t deal with issues of race in larger world depicted-happier universe-also coming from this idea that the white middle class is still the ideal way to be in the world-markers of difference that these black families might have that distinguish them from white families of similar social class are erased-so specificity of culture not there-no cultural heritage
a step above Julia
racism, if addressed at all, is positioned as individual problem-systemic racism not addressed
multiculturalism/diversity
african american life where there are lots of different kinds of black people-african americans can have everyday issues-it’s not all the happy go lucky vibe of the last 2 types
Engage with ways that being a black person is going to impact your life on the daily because of systemic racism-acknowledged if not specifically addressed
Diff way of moving through the world
Not coming from the POV where white middle class nuclear families are the ideal
Most of these shows coming about from rise of cable
Shows are able to focus on smaller sections of the audience
Shows that are made to appeal to black audience-if nonblack people want to watch them, that’s great, but not like trying to bring in those viewers

54
Q

Modleski, “ Soap Operas”

A
  • narrative structure-never a conclusion-think having a resolution but then all this other drama
  • compares narrative structure of soap opera to film-with beginning, middle, end that ties everything together-but soap has ever-expanding middle-can’t end because no way to tie up all loose ends
  • soap operas are anti-progressive and liberal
  • movies completely based around progress-every single scene forwards plot through action-might get some background info but mostly for forwarding narrative
  • all about linear thing that’s gonna have conclusion at end
  • that’s what she means about progressive
  • in soap opera, learning more about characters, just hanging out-nothing is really progressing-there is nothing to progress-all sort of meandering through these people’s lives and the various ways their intersections will cause drama-that’s not progress because there’s no end in sight
  • pleasure idea-we’ll talk about later
  • feminist film technique of 60s/70s
  • some said pleasure is evil-no way to have pleasure that is feminist-only valid cinema is arts cinema
  • pleasure is not feminist
  • families are not perfect-comforting
  • for woman whose job it is to oversee family,s he has a small scope-nuclear family-and this is a much larger view that she can take on a family-and see everything-this is not a position a woman is in very often-omniscient view of whole situation-because she’s defined in her space
  • never ends, always changing-gives comfort knowing their live isn’t done, stuff can still change-mimics lifestyle and pace of these women in lots of ways
  • cyclical-up and down-like housework-finish one thing and start next
  • villainous acting out subconscious desires
  • fun to see the way things could go if they liberated themselves of position of good mother-release valve
  • see what it’s like to be bad
  • villainess makes these confining structures of femininity work for her
  • we love to hate her
  • source of drama stemming from the family, from interpersonal relationships in this family
  • large, sprawling dysfunctional family
  • pregnancy
  • villainess
  • target audience of women-airing during the day-so women working in the home
55
Q

Rowe, “Roseanne”

A
  • an unruly woman: opposite of good/ideal woman-doesn’t fit female roles-refuses to play by the rules of womanhood, what it means to be a good woman
  • belches, shrill voice, takes up space, says what she feels, can’t be contained, vulgar, large, dresses however she wants
  • the unruly woman in soap operas could be the villainess-but in comedy can be protagonist
  • but at the same time is a pretty good domestic wife, mother
  • not true of all unruly woman-but true of Roseanne
  • Roseanne proves can be an unruly woman and still be a good mother
  • Roseanne as a sign: setting up argument that when she’s talking about Roseanne, she’s not talking about Roseanne the character or actor-talking about the Roseanne that the real person Roseanne is putting into world-the character and figure in media discourse surrounding her
  • unruly woman is very transgressive-rejecting idea of femininity-not everyone is on board with this-microaggressions projected onto her-but on surface-she’s disgusting, eats a lot, can you believe that?
  • but show is very highly rated and very successful
  • but snubbed for quality awards
  • makes a spectacle of herself
  • pleasure we can get from an unruly woman is very powerful
  • the way we can interact with an unruly woman is very powerful
  • as feminist viewers, the unruly woman can help us
  • asserting her power
  • not apologizing
  • she’s visible and present
  • makes visible the tropes of femininity by violating them
  • puts herself front and center, does things her own way-by doing that she both makes visible and undermines tropes of femininity
  • in older sitcoms-whiteness and femininity invisible-taken for granted as the norm-here by rejecting those things, points them out-not invisible anymore
  • dismantling those tropes
  • the male gaze-most film is constructed so the ideal viewer is a man-middle ages straight white man-that’s why Mulvey said had to get rid of pleasure-because all pleasure constructed to satisfy men-there is no way to provide a pleasure that satisfies women
  • but Rowe says Roseanne and her presence as an unruly women is a way for us to work against the idea of male pleasure and find a way of getting female pleasure
  • because of Roseanne’s excess, refusal to be a good woman-not offering pleasure to male viewers-offers female viewer chance to find pleasure in ways that are specific to them
  • Roseanne’s refusal to fir herself into the good woman who will provide masculine pleasure, she is returning the male gaze
  • Roseanne saying “I’m laughing at you, you’re not laughing at me”
  • that’s a source of power
56
Q

Jenkens, “Star Trek”

A
  • One of the first people to think about fan culture-coined term participatory culture-really important contribution
  • we take for granted fan culture now
  • was embarrassing before-helpful for that ingroup but these people were seen as weird
  • changed way people were allowed to engage and interact with stories
  • cult stories before-now huge, like Harry Potter
  • textual poaching: taking material from a show and making it your own-the “real” story-taking what you want out of it, doing what you will with it
  • read to the writers as your show is not good, we want to fix it
  • but really was coming from a place of love
  • that’s regulated within this moral economy of the fan culture itself-the culture will decide what is and is not too far in this poaching process
  • Kirk/Spock fanfiction-test case-too far-presenting what they think is plausible-others rejected it
  • gender in fan culture: fan fiction writers usually female
  • dealing with romantic subplots and not scientific plot advancing events
  • female characters less well developed in show, so they’re fixed and expanded upon in fan fiction-women predisposed to want to fill in those gaps and create something they can identify with more
  • also writing about shared cultures is way to connect with other women-just like in victorian times-gossip-about what people may and may not be doing-but this time in a story-so history in the way women are socialized
  • women and men engage with narrative really differently
  • the majority of stories that exist in popular media are centered on male protagonists-women are used to having to identify with male characters even though they don’t necessarily understand that experience-used to doing that translation in their head-fanfiction becomes a space where they can graft that ability that they already have onto a female characters and expand that female character
  • fan fiction centered mostly on relationships-which women enjoy talking about
  • men are largely satisfied from identification get from actual stories themselves-because men engage with narrative in much more action based ways-things happening causally
  • women are socialized to engage with narrative in terms of the characters and character development and interpersonal relationships-use fan fiction to flesh that out-akin to seriality, soap opera, narrative forms talked about earlier-interconnecting events-not causal-this middle, no resolutions
57
Q

Sconce, “What Next?”

A
  • media scholars sort of snobs about tv for a long time-tv as bad object-lowbrow thing-major force in contemporary culture so we need to talk about it, but don’t actually want to watch it-if these people were watching the tv, would notice a lot of interesting narrative things going on
  • don’t just focus on historical context, etc-pay attention to narrative aspects of tv/series
  • explains how people changed from episodic to world building-Dragnet to Sex and the City
  • big shift
  • cumulative world building-characters and plotline and relationships develop over seasons, while 1-episode plots happen
  • sitcoms adopting a cumulative narrative-ex: Friends-diff hijinks every week but also care about the overarching plot
  • can see that hybridization in other forms now-like Grey’s Anatomy
  • another thing dovetailing off of this: conjectural episodes: episode where plays with what could happen-”what if”-X Files episode-what if Walder and Scully were stuck in a Frankenstein story?-Malcolm in the Middle episode-what if they went with their dad? What if they went with their mom? Oth nathan dream and lucas dream episodes-what if dan had married karen? What if lucas hadn’t tried to help people/been such a good person?
  • bottle episodes-can be conjectural-when something is isolated from larger narrative in some way-meat locker episode, evil twin, episode focused on just 1 character
  • all of this is in context of postmodernism
  • postmodernism: mix of a lot of diff things-overwhelming senses-consumerism-a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality-no single meaning-linked to idea of conjectural episode-like writers saying we get it, we’re not these deities spoon feeding stories to our audience-other ways it could happen-explore things ourselves, acknowledge all these diff things happening within their narrative, other possibilities
  • postmodernism affects our lives outside of media-like in 50s, had to consume to be good american-as postmodernism (started around 50s) escalated, by the 90s consumption is not only making you a good american but is how you define your identity-identity is so fractured that increasingly we are constructing images of ourselves through what we consume
58
Q

Arthurs, “Sex and the City”

A
  • Postmodernism, consumption
  • Sex and the City
  • glossy women’s magazine
  • narrowcasting-this is HBO
  • there was a time when it was a brag to not have a tv-for certain social groups-not a thing anymore-in a new golden age of tv-tv of quality everywhere-so many options-but there was a time when the idea of tv was frowned upon
  • HBO comes in and says, we know TV sucks, “we’re not tv, we’re HBO”
  • targeting urban professional 30s-40s single white women with a good amount of money
  • people who didn’t fit into that group knew about it because so revolutionary in some ways (though not in others)-but targeting a very small group of people
  • representation of sex as for pleasure, not looking for marriage
  • careers part of their life
  • explicit sex, language
  • that’s the benefit of having a show on HBO
  • narrowcasting and pay cable-so content opened up a bit-regulations don’t apply when paying for the service
  • commodification-commodities defining us
  • shot a cable version of every sex scene so show could be sold for syndication later
  • now it comes on TBS and other channels-in syndication
  • appealing to this women who are constructing their identities out of a lot of things beyond being in a relationship
  • define their self worth over physical things/buying things-like the shoes Carrie loves
  • defining themselves by consumption
  • so liberation in defining themselves-but still limiting
  • consumption makes them feel like they’re doing something in the world-satisfaction, purpose
  • context of postmodernism: you can’t achieve a certain level of status/contentment without the ability to consume at a certain level
  • these lifestyles they achieve-unattainable fantasy-not possible based on their jobs
  • many critiques of the show
  • liberating in some ways-but still contained by forces of capitalism and postmodernism, the drive to consume
59
Q

Bodroghozy, “Color TV?”

A
  • Julia
  • Violence directed at black bodies-don’t have voices
  • Julia doesn’t reflect black people’s condition at the time
  • Represented on tv-but doesn’t address to the black audience
  • Stark contrast to racist and violent acts on tv
  • Lives in integrated world
  • No one is directly mean, derogatory to her
  • Evidence presented for how viewers responding skewed-letters-strongly opinioned people
  • The white negro
  • Innoculous apartment
  • No markers of a cultural identity
  • All very perfect
  • On the positive side
  • Showing black people like everyone else-but also problematic because not really showing them as black
  • Before this-black people on tv-Amos N Andy-stereotyped-this is the first time wasn’t stereotyped representation on tv
  • Black people maids-mammy figure
  • Only black representation on tv
  • Overly perfect
  • Documentary-interview with Diahann Carroll-acknowledges the show wasn’t perfect-but doing best they could given what was acceptable, what had access to
  • Context of network tv: what system are we in? Classical network system-who is controlling production? Networks-3-no niche marketing-you want ratings
60
Q

Regulation and Independent Production in the 1960s

A
  • Fin/Syn, PTAR
  • independent cable stations, and production because of deficit financing
  • MTM and Tandem-successful independent stations
61
Q

Television and Social Change in the1960s-70s

A
  • relevence tv
  • counterculture shows
  • Smothers Bros, Mod Squad, East Side/West Side
  • not very succsesful
  • youth audience had no money
  • All in the Family more successful with social change
62
Q

The Rise of Cable

A

Community.Access.Antennae TV (CATV)

  • In areas where signal could not reach
  • large community antennas
  • cables to private homes
  • Monthly fee for service
  • Free extra channel for local events
  • Customers get:
  • own local affiliates
  • signals from nearby cities (different local/syndicated programming)
  • independent stations

-get satellite tech-COMSAT

FCC control of cable:
-1968-Supreme court upholds FCC authority
-FCC lobbied by reformers (Carnegie commission, policy groups) to open cable as alternative to big 3 nets
1972 FCC rules:
-cable can expand in top 100 TV markets
-at least one public/edu/govt. channel (PEG)
-“must-carry” rules for local stations with significant audiences

consolidation:

  • Cable in 1/6 of homes
  • 3500 cable companies
  • most can send 10+ channels
  • Multiple Systems Operators (MSOs)
  • Consolidate local systems
  • Satellites—> national service

HBO

1976: Ted Turner distributes local Atlanta superstation by satellite (WTBS)
- 1979: C-SPAN debuts
- 1980-1: CNN, MTV
- 1980-30% penetration
- 1984: Cable Act deregulates industry
- 1985: 50% penetration
- mid-1980s: Nicheing (BET, Univision, Lifetime)
- late-1980s: Fiber Optic expansion

-diff types cable channels-pay cable, basic cable, superstations, PEG

cable beneficiaries:

  • movie studios: Movies sold to pay cable, then broadcast networks, then to basic cable
  • independent stations:-strengthen existing signals-independent stations -UHF as clear as VHF
63
Q

Public Television

A
  • 1948-52-FCC Freeze privileges VHF over UHF
  • 1954-58: Ford funded National Educational TV
  • 1960s: TV manufacturers required to include UHF for edu. Stations
  • 1964: Congress grants federal support
  • 1967: Carnegie Commission rport
  • 1967: Public Broadcasting Act-Corpt for Public Broadcast (CPB)—> PBS
  • Insulated Funding rejected (biannual appropriations)-insulated=money every year from gov
  • Corporate Underwriters
  • some public funding for PBS-continues to be subject to debate-also from “viewers like you”
  • PBS Management: No central programming structure
  • Different stations propose programs and share with network
  • 1969: Children’s Television Workshop’s Sesame Street
  • Masterpiece Theatre (BBC)-then becomes shown by PBS as major part of programming
  • More in-depth news, documentaries, avant-garde cultural programming
  • International programming of more general interest
  • politics, documentaries, science, dramatic anthology, history

criticisms of public tv:

  • Bias, lack of women and minorities
  • Populist vs. Elitist Tendencies
  • upper middle class white people interests
  • left vs. right politics
  • PBS is biased toward the left
64
Q

The Post-Network Era

A
  • beginning around 1980, massive change to structure and scope of television
  • leads to major shifts in programming
  • network share shrinks from 90% to 65% by 1990
  • we don’t think of those 3 networks as the main place to get tv anymore-starts to happen in 80s
65
Q

Cable Proliferation/Narrowcasting

A
  • mid-80s expansion: niche programming for specialized groups/interests
  • CNN-news
  • Univision-Latino/a auds
  • Lifetime-Women
  • ESPN-Sports
  • History, A&E, etc
  • mid-1980s-studios, broadcast nets buy cable networks (Disney Channel, 1983)
  • Late 1980s-more original programming
    • new niche markets-proliferation of content among a bunch of diff channels
    • starting shift from mass media and mass audience, LCD, to more niche markets
  • Narrowcasting: programming targeting specific audiences/demographics
  • Absence of mass audience
  • derived from post-modernist perspective of subjectivity
  • Economy of scale—> economy of scope
  • advertisers can get more bang for their buck
  • smaller numbers, more passion
  • ex: sports tv-man cave aestehtic-postmodern

HBO

  • Product Differentiation
  • not subject to FCC regulation
  • violence
  • sexual content
  • language
  • Authorship
  • High Production Value
  • Free of advertising
  • Quality Demographics
  • Niche audiences
  • responsive to changing tastes and social values
  • not dependent on ratings
  • number/variety of cable channels increase due to:
  • new service, growing market penetration
  • introduction of fiber-optic
  • cable operators add channels, pass cost on to consumers
  • $0.10 cents/subscriber, 3 for $1
  • networks insist cable providers pay to carry their networks
  • CSPs want to remove “must carry” rules (re: UHF/Independent stations)
  • free up lucrative space
  • compromise:
  • smaller, local station—> guaranteed transmission
  • bigger network affiliates “paid” in form of adding additional cable channels (multiplexing-combine 2+ SD channels)
  • networks use dominance to gain more cable channels, too
  • Fox (FX)
  • powerful station owners also launch channels
  • Scripps-Howard—> HGTV
  • Cable Service Providers still got valuable local stations for free
66
Q

Convergence, Transmedia, and Hyperdiegesis

A
  • digital tech reduces all media to one code
  • internet provides a place for it
  • deregulation allows ownership different media (tv, radio, news) reaching larger % of audience
  • diverse broadcast mediums merge, acquire each other, own a lot of the same media
  • can cross own media
67
Q

Deregulation and Merger Mania

A

Deregulation

  • A Marketplace Approach to Broadcast Regulation
  • Fowler’s FCC
  • Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984
  • 1985-cable in 50% of homes-around 90% by 1990
  • Competition in the 70s:
  • 4 channels split 90% of audience
  • Competition in the 80s:
  • Audience split between 20+ competitors
  • 1980s-Ronald Reagan and Mark Fowler (FCC)-Fowler doesn’t feel sense of public obligation-sees it as a utility-calls TV a Toaster with Pictures-another appliance
  • A Marketplace Approach to Broadcast Regulation
  • market competition means to provide best TV service
  • public interest as fiction
  • scarcity—> diversity
  • public resource—> competition
  • intrusiveness—> innovation

Merger Mania

  • conglomeration, big companies buy/merge with each other:
  • networks, 1985 (ABC-Cap. Cities-Lawrence Tisch; NBC-GE)
  • Production Co.s (Lorimar-Telepictures, Spelling/Goldberg-Worldvision)
  • 4th network: Fox, 1987 (1st TV/Movie studio)-film and tv increasingly merging
  • cable MSOs consolidate
68
Q

Media Conglomerates (what they are and how they do business)

A
  • 1960s/70s consolidation: conglomerates with unrelated business take over studios
  • 1980s/90s consolidation: some execs sell other assets, focus on media (not just film or just TV)
  • embrace all new forms of release (e.g. TV, Cable, VHS)
  • 1980s: Kinney Services—> Warner Communications (so specialize in all sorts of diff media)
  • 1990: Time/Warner Merge
  • 1995: Time Warner buys TBS, New Line, Castle Rock
  • 1995: WB (5th net)
  • 2000: Merger with AOL
  • earlier conglomerates were corporations that owned unrelated companies across industries to offset losses in 1 sector with gains in another
  • this strategy is known as diversification
  • 1980s/90s mergers reorganized film studios around media and related industries making them: Media Conglomerates
  • horizontal integration
  • ex:NBCU/Comcast
  • 1990: Panasonic acquires Universal
  • 1990s: Universal sold to Seagram
  • 2000: sold again to Vivendi (european conglomerate)
  • 2004: GE buys Universal, merges with NBC
  • 2011: GE sells 51% to Comcast
  • promote their content across other their other outlets
69
Q

intertextual references/intertextuality

A

-intertextual references has become marker of “quality tv”-developed in MTM style-now explicit referencing has played a vital role in situation a given program in relation to other forms of quality and non-quality programs (shows reference watching each other)-now this isn’t restricted to quality TV

history of tv (3 decks)

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