Social impact of TV from the 1950s

Question 1

What was involved in TV?

Answer 1

Adverts

Question 2

What did adverts and programmes create?

Answer 2

A ‘national culture’

Question 3

How were adverts taken advantage of?

Answer 3

Post war baby boom era

Question 4

What was shown in adverts baby boom era?

Answer 4

Sold goods using ‘special offers’ related to popular TV series

Question 5

What’s a specific example of a TV gift coupon?

Answer 5

Lone Rangers -
Encouraged kids to persuade mothers to buy cereals via collecting coupons, for a gift

Question 6

How did political parties exploit the ‘air time’?

Answer 6

Campaigns for presidency
e.g JFK vs Nixon

Question 7

Why was TV important for politicians?

Answer 7

Important that a potential candidate was confident and interviewed well live

Question 8

How was the JFK vs Nixon presidential campaign?

Answer 8

JFK - Good looking, persuasive speaker
Nixon - Uncomfortable and cold looking

Question 9

How did TV improve rapidly?

Answer 9

Improved sets, recording techniques, special effects

Question 10

What made people watch more TV?

Answer 10

Broadcasts were longer, more channels and showed

Question 11

What were the effects of the improvements for TV?

Answer 11

Programmes seemed more ‘real’ to spectators

Question 12

What did pre-recorded shows mean?

Answer 12

Programme makers could edit what was shown and shape the message to the public

Question 13

What was the percentage of live TV in 1953?

Answer 13

80%

Question 14

What was the percentage of live TV in 1960?

Answer 14

36%

Question 15

What was criticised in TV?

Answer 15

Conserv + religious = crime and violence glamourised

Question 16

Why did some people get suspicious of quiz shows?

Answer 16

Accused of telling contestants the answers to questions beforehand

Question 17

What was a popular PBS educational programme?

Answer 17

Sesame Street

Question 18

What did Sesame street teach?

Answer 18

Racial tolerance, counting, reading, sharing

Question 19

What was the Sesame Street cast like?

Answer 19

Racially balanced cast

Question 20

What was the influence of Sesame Street?

Answer 20

White kids in well off suburbs could have a positive view of other races

Question 21

What was important about the presidential debate of 1960 airtime?

Answer 21

People more informed about wider issues

Question 22

Why was tv ownership widespread?

Answer 22

Some may not want to buy a newspaper, so resorted to sitting down and watching TV programmes

Question 23

What was the downside of watching TV?

Answer 23

Enjoyers had to accept some bias/criticism from the programmes opinions

Question 24

What was MAS*H?

Answer 24

Drama series set in Korean war timeframe

Question 25

What was discussed in M*A*S*H?

Answer 25

Important issues relevant to it

Question 26

What was the significance of M*A*S*H?

Answer 26

War was a discussion point for people More anti-war feelings

Question 27

Why were some comedy series good for Black people?

Answer 27

Showed Black people in a positive light

Question 28

How were black people shown in a positive light in TV?

Answer 28

Acted as normal civilians, not servants or criminals like before

Question 29

How did TV influence people to be kinder to black people?

Answer 29

Some white people with little to no contact with Black people saw them as not exotic or dangerous anymore

Question 30

What show made political satire popular?

Answer 30

Rowan and Martin's laugh in

Question 31

What did Laugh in do?

Answer 31

Made fun of politicians, their punchlines fed into everyday language for ppl

Question 32

How did people began to look at politicians in a diff way?

Answer 32

They were on the look out for mistakes, less respectful too

Question 33

What did TV programmes begin to focus on?

Answer 33

Gov conspiracies, and coverups like the JFK assassination

Question 34

What happened to News programmes?

Answer 34

Started to introduce in depth analysis

Question 35

What was the pro of in depth analysis?

Answer 35

Audience became more politically aware and interested in the issues

Question 36

What did the News programmes fuel?

Answer 36

Debates on issues sparked in the media Talking point at work, and home