Author: Brian Lockman
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482729
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Although there are different opinions about where cable television actually began, a great deal of the ingenuity that developed cable into today's multibillion dollar industry came from Pennsylvania. In this state, with its mountainous geography, the need for an unusual means of obtaining a television signal gave birth to the community antenna television system that was the forerunner of the cable we know today. This volume traces the history of cable television through biographical sketches of those who were instrumental in bringing this technology to rural Pennsylvania. Enumerating technical as well as financial obstacles, each chapter focuses on the life of a cable pioneer. The contributions of such men as John Walson, Bob Tarleton, George Gardner and Ralph Roberts are discussed and their relationships to each other examined. Information drawn from interviews with these men or people who knew them brings history to life. Topics include the roots of cable television, problems of early cable systems and the advent of HBO and its consequences. An appendix offers a commemorative history of the Pennsylvania Cable Network, a joint project of several men discussed herein.
Pioneers of Cable Television
Author: Brian Lockman
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482729
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Although there are different opinions about where cable television actually began, a great deal of the ingenuity that developed cable into today's multibillion dollar industry came from Pennsylvania. In this state, with its mountainous geography, the need for an unusual means of obtaining a television signal gave birth to the community antenna television system that was the forerunner of the cable we know today. This volume traces the history of cable television through biographical sketches of those who were instrumental in bringing this technology to rural Pennsylvania. Enumerating technical as well as financial obstacles, each chapter focuses on the life of a cable pioneer. The contributions of such men as John Walson, Bob Tarleton, George Gardner and Ralph Roberts are discussed and their relationships to each other examined. Information drawn from interviews with these men or people who knew them brings history to life. Topics include the roots of cable television, problems of early cable systems and the advent of HBO and its consequences. An appendix offers a commemorative history of the Pennsylvania Cable Network, a joint project of several men discussed herein.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786482729
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Although there are different opinions about where cable television actually began, a great deal of the ingenuity that developed cable into today's multibillion dollar industry came from Pennsylvania. In this state, with its mountainous geography, the need for an unusual means of obtaining a television signal gave birth to the community antenna television system that was the forerunner of the cable we know today. This volume traces the history of cable television through biographical sketches of those who were instrumental in bringing this technology to rural Pennsylvania. Enumerating technical as well as financial obstacles, each chapter focuses on the life of a cable pioneer. The contributions of such men as John Walson, Bob Tarleton, George Gardner and Ralph Roberts are discussed and their relationships to each other examined. Information drawn from interviews with these men or people who knew them brings history to life. Topics include the roots of cable television, problems of early cable systems and the advent of HBO and its consequences. An appendix offers a commemorative history of the Pennsylvania Cable Network, a joint project of several men discussed herein.
Blue Skies
Author: Patrick Parsons
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1592137067
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 816
Book Description
Cable television is arguably the dominant mass media technology in the U.S. today. Blue Skies traces its history in detail, depicting the important events and people that shaped its development, from the precursors of cable TV in the 1920s and '30s to the first community antenna systems in the 1950s, and from the creation of the national satellite-distributed cable networks in the 1970s to the current incarnation of "info-structure" that dominates our lives. Author Patrick Parsons also considers the ways that economics, public perception, public policy, entrepreneurial personalities, the social construction of the possibilities of cable, and simple chance all influenced the development of cable TV. Since the 1960s, one of the pervasive visions of "cable" has been of a ubiquitous, flexible, interactive communications system capable of providing news, information, entertainment, diverse local programming, and even social services. That set of utopian hopes became known as the "Blue Sky" vision of cable television, from which the book takes its title. Thoroughly documented and carefully researched, yet lively, occasionally humorous, and consistently insightful, Blue Skies is the genealogy of our media society.
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1592137067
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 816
Book Description
Cable television is arguably the dominant mass media technology in the U.S. today. Blue Skies traces its history in detail, depicting the important events and people that shaped its development, from the precursors of cable TV in the 1920s and '30s to the first community antenna systems in the 1950s, and from the creation of the national satellite-distributed cable networks in the 1970s to the current incarnation of "info-structure" that dominates our lives. Author Patrick Parsons also considers the ways that economics, public perception, public policy, entrepreneurial personalities, the social construction of the possibilities of cable, and simple chance all influenced the development of cable TV. Since the 1960s, one of the pervasive visions of "cable" has been of a ubiquitous, flexible, interactive communications system capable of providing news, information, entertainment, diverse local programming, and even social services. That set of utopian hopes became known as the "Blue Sky" vision of cable television, from which the book takes its title. Thoroughly documented and carefully researched, yet lively, occasionally humorous, and consistently insightful, Blue Skies is the genealogy of our media society.
That's the Way It Is
Author: Charles L. Ponce de Leon
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022642152X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
Ever since Newton Minow taught us sophisticates to bemoan the descent of television into a vast wasteland, the dyspeptic chorus of jeremiahs who insist that television news in particular has gone from gold to dross gets noisier and noisier. Charles Ponce de Leon says here, in effect, that this is misleading, if not simply fatuous. He argues in this well-paced, lively, readable book that TV news has changed in response to broader changes in the TV industry and American culture. It is pointless to bewail its decline. "That s the Way It Is "gives us the very first history of American television news, spanning more than six decades, from Camel News Caravan to Countdown with Keith Oberman and The Daily Show. Starting in the latter 1940s, television news featured a succession of broadcasters who became household names, even presences: Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and, with cable expansion, people like Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and Bill O Reilly. But behind the scenes, the parallel story is just as interesting, involving executives, producers, and journalists who were responsible for the field s most important innovations. Included with mainstream network news programs is an engaging treatment of news magazines like "60 Minutes" and "20/20, " as well as morning news shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America." Ponce de Leon gives ample attention to the establishment of cable networks (CNN, and the later competitors, Fox News and MSNBC), mixing in colorful anecdotes about the likes of Roger Ailes and Roone Arledge. Frothy features and other kinds of entertainment have been part and parcel of TV news from the start; viewer preferences have always played a role in the evolution of programming, although the disintegration of a national culture since the 1970s means that most of us no longer follow the news as a civic obligation. Throughout, Ponce de Leon places his history in a broader cultural context, emphasizing tensions between the public service mission of TV news and the quest for profitability and broad appeal."
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022642152X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
Ever since Newton Minow taught us sophisticates to bemoan the descent of television into a vast wasteland, the dyspeptic chorus of jeremiahs who insist that television news in particular has gone from gold to dross gets noisier and noisier. Charles Ponce de Leon says here, in effect, that this is misleading, if not simply fatuous. He argues in this well-paced, lively, readable book that TV news has changed in response to broader changes in the TV industry and American culture. It is pointless to bewail its decline. "That s the Way It Is "gives us the very first history of American television news, spanning more than six decades, from Camel News Caravan to Countdown with Keith Oberman and The Daily Show. Starting in the latter 1940s, television news featured a succession of broadcasters who became household names, even presences: Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and, with cable expansion, people like Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and Bill O Reilly. But behind the scenes, the parallel story is just as interesting, involving executives, producers, and journalists who were responsible for the field s most important innovations. Included with mainstream network news programs is an engaging treatment of news magazines like "60 Minutes" and "20/20, " as well as morning news shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America." Ponce de Leon gives ample attention to the establishment of cable networks (CNN, and the later competitors, Fox News and MSNBC), mixing in colorful anecdotes about the likes of Roger Ailes and Roone Arledge. Frothy features and other kinds of entertainment have been part and parcel of TV news from the start; viewer preferences have always played a role in the evolution of programming, although the disintegration of a national culture since the 1970s means that most of us no longer follow the news as a civic obligation. Throughout, Ponce de Leon places his history in a broader cultural context, emphasizing tensions between the public service mission of TV news and the quest for profitability and broad appeal."
The Weather Channel Pioneers
Author: Joseph D'Aleo
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781986184168
Category : Cable television
Languages : en
Pages : 134
Book Description
A collection of personal stories and memories from the individuals that worked at The Weather Channel in its start-up days of the early 1980s; among these Weather Channel Pioneers, special focus is given to the leadership and vision of the channel's early champions John Coleman and Joe D'Aleo.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781986184168
Category : Cable television
Languages : en
Pages : 134
Book Description
A collection of personal stories and memories from the individuals that worked at The Weather Channel in its start-up days of the early 1980s; among these Weather Channel Pioneers, special focus is given to the leadership and vision of the channel's early champions John Coleman and Joe D'Aleo.
The Essential HBO Reader
Author: Gary R. Edgerton
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813143721
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 543
Book Description
Essays on the history of HBO, a company designed to please audiences instead of advertisers, and the impact of its distinctive programming: “Recommended.” —Choice The founding of Home Box Office in the early 1970s—when it debuted by telecasting a Paul Newman movie and an NHL game to 365 households in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania—was a harbinger of the innovations that would transform television as an industry and a technology in the decades that followed. HBO quickly became synonymous with subscription television—and the leading force in cable programming. Over decades, it’s grown from a domestic movie channel to an international powerhouse with a presence in over seventy countries. It is now a full-service content provider with a distinctive brand of original programming, famed for such landmark shows as The Sopranos and Sex and the City. It’s brought us Six Feet Under and The Wire, Band of Brothers and Angels in America, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Def Comedy Jam, Inside the NFL and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Taxicab Confessions and Autopsy, and multiple Oscar-winning documentaries. The Essential HBO Reader brings together an accomplished group of scholars to explain how HBO’s programming transformed the world of television and popular culture, and provides a comprehensive and compelling examination of HBO’s development into the prototypical entertainment corporation of the twenty-first century. “An important assessment of the original programming HBO has created in the past few decades?how these programs are derived and what impact they have had.” —Choice “A thorough treatment of HBO’s programming . . . a useful addition to a growing number of books about American television in the ‘post-network’ era.” —American Studies
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813143721
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 543
Book Description
Essays on the history of HBO, a company designed to please audiences instead of advertisers, and the impact of its distinctive programming: “Recommended.” —Choice The founding of Home Box Office in the early 1970s—when it debuted by telecasting a Paul Newman movie and an NHL game to 365 households in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania—was a harbinger of the innovations that would transform television as an industry and a technology in the decades that followed. HBO quickly became synonymous with subscription television—and the leading force in cable programming. Over decades, it’s grown from a domestic movie channel to an international powerhouse with a presence in over seventy countries. It is now a full-service content provider with a distinctive brand of original programming, famed for such landmark shows as The Sopranos and Sex and the City. It’s brought us Six Feet Under and The Wire, Band of Brothers and Angels in America, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Def Comedy Jam, Inside the NFL and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Taxicab Confessions and Autopsy, and multiple Oscar-winning documentaries. The Essential HBO Reader brings together an accomplished group of scholars to explain how HBO’s programming transformed the world of television and popular culture, and provides a comprehensive and compelling examination of HBO’s development into the prototypical entertainment corporation of the twenty-first century. “An important assessment of the original programming HBO has created in the past few decades?how these programs are derived and what impact they have had.” —Choice “A thorough treatment of HBO’s programming . . . a useful addition to a growing number of books about American television in the ‘post-network’ era.” —American Studies
Syracuse Television
Author: Christie Casciano Burns
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 0738598348
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 129
Book Description
Central New Yorkers have been treated to many memorable television moments since December 1, 1948, when WHEN-TV Channel 8 signed on the air for the first time. In a record 16 days after equipment arrived at its 101 Court Street site, the station was miraculously up and running. Syracuse s pioneer broadcasters were eager to explore this bold, new world with programs that would entertain, educate, and inform. Syracuse Television features the zaniness of Baron Daemon, lessons from the Magic Toy Shop, and live fun from Jim Deline and the Gang and The Markert Place. Over the years, personalities and programs became familiar to Central New Yorkers. There was news coverage from Fred Hillegas, Ron Curtis, Rod Wood, and Carrie Lazarus and weather forecasts from Stormy Meredith, Big Al Roker, Dave Eichorn, and Wayne Mahar."
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 0738598348
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 129
Book Description
Central New Yorkers have been treated to many memorable television moments since December 1, 1948, when WHEN-TV Channel 8 signed on the air for the first time. In a record 16 days after equipment arrived at its 101 Court Street site, the station was miraculously up and running. Syracuse s pioneer broadcasters were eager to explore this bold, new world with programs that would entertain, educate, and inform. Syracuse Television features the zaniness of Baron Daemon, lessons from the Magic Toy Shop, and live fun from Jim Deline and the Gang and The Markert Place. Over the years, personalities and programs became familiar to Central New Yorkers. There was news coverage from Fred Hillegas, Ron Curtis, Rod Wood, and Carrie Lazarus and weather forecasts from Stormy Meredith, Big Al Roker, Dave Eichorn, and Wayne Mahar."
When Women Invented Television
Author: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062973339
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 361
Book Description
New and Noteworthy —New York Times Book Review Must-Read Book of March —Entertainment Weekly Best Books of March —HelloGiggles “Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people.” —Nathalia Holt, New York Times–bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls New York Times–bestselling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry we know today. It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women—each an independent visionary—saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch tv today. Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show. Together, their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture. But as the medium became more popular—and lucrative—in the wake of World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee arose to threaten entertainers, blacklisting many as communist sympathizers. As politics, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, and money collided, the women who invented television found themselves fighting from the margins, as men took control. But these women were true survivors who never gave up—and thus their legacies remain with us in our television-dominated era. It's time we reclaimed their forgotten histories and the work they did to pioneer the medium that now rules our lives. This amazing and heartbreaking history, illustrated with photos, tells it all for the first time.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062973339
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 361
Book Description
New and Noteworthy —New York Times Book Review Must-Read Book of March —Entertainment Weekly Best Books of March —HelloGiggles “Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people.” —Nathalia Holt, New York Times–bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls New York Times–bestselling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry we know today. It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women—each an independent visionary—saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch tv today. Irna Phillips turned real-life tragedy into daytime serials featuring female dominated casts. Gertrude Berg turned her radio show into a Jewish family comedy that spawned a play, a musical, an advice column, a line of house dresses, and other products. Hazel Scott, already a renowned musician, was the first African American to host a national evening variety program. Betty White became a daytime talk show fan favorite and one of the first women to produce, write, and star in her own show. Together, their stories chronicle a forgotten chapter in the history of television and popular culture. But as the medium became more popular—and lucrative—in the wake of World War II, the House Un-American Activities Committee arose to threaten entertainers, blacklisting many as communist sympathizers. As politics, sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, and money collided, the women who invented television found themselves fighting from the margins, as men took control. But these women were true survivors who never gave up—and thus their legacies remain with us in our television-dominated era. It's time we reclaimed their forgotten histories and the work they did to pioneer the medium that now rules our lives. This amazing and heartbreaking history, illustrated with photos, tells it all for the first time.
The Platinum Age of Television
Author: David Bianculli
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 1101911328
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 594
Book Description
Television today is better than ever. From The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, Sex and the City to Girls, and Modern Family to Louie, never has so much quality programming dominated our screens. Exploring how we got here, acclaimed TV critic David Bianculli traces the evolution of the classic TV genres, among them the sitcom, the crime show, the miniseries, the soap opera, the Western, the animated series, the medical drama, and the variety show. In each genre he selects five key examples of the form to illustrate its continuities and its dramatic departures. Drawing on exclusive and in-depth interviews with many of the most famed auteurs in television history, Bianculli shows how the medium has evolved into the premier form of visual narrative art. Includes interviews with: MEL BROOKS, MATT GROENING, DAVID CHASE, KEVIN SPACEY, AMY SCHUMER, VINCE GILLIGAN, AARON SORKIN, MATTHEW WEINER, JUDD APATOW, LOUIS C.K., DAVID MILCH, DAVID E. KELLEY, JAMES L. BROOKS, LARRY DAVID, KEN BURNS, LARRY WILMORE, AND MANY, MANY MORE
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 1101911328
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 594
Book Description
Television today is better than ever. From The Sopranos to Breaking Bad, Sex and the City to Girls, and Modern Family to Louie, never has so much quality programming dominated our screens. Exploring how we got here, acclaimed TV critic David Bianculli traces the evolution of the classic TV genres, among them the sitcom, the crime show, the miniseries, the soap opera, the Western, the animated series, the medical drama, and the variety show. In each genre he selects five key examples of the form to illustrate its continuities and its dramatic departures. Drawing on exclusive and in-depth interviews with many of the most famed auteurs in television history, Bianculli shows how the medium has evolved into the premier form of visual narrative art. Includes interviews with: MEL BROOKS, MATT GROENING, DAVID CHASE, KEVIN SPACEY, AMY SCHUMER, VINCE GILLIGAN, AARON SORKIN, MATTHEW WEINER, JUDD APATOW, LOUIS C.K., DAVID MILCH, DAVID E. KELLEY, JAMES L. BROOKS, LARRY DAVID, KEN BURNS, LARRY WILMORE, AND MANY, MANY MORE
Subject to Change
Author: Deirdre Boyle
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195043340
Category : Documentary television programs
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
This is a history of "guerilla television", a form of TV which was part of an alternative media tide sweeping the United States in the 1960s. Inspired by the fracturing issues of the decade and the theories and writings of various exponents, guerilla television put forth "utopian" programming.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195043340
Category : Documentary television programs
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
This is a history of "guerilla television", a form of TV which was part of an alternative media tide sweeping the United States in the 1960s. Inspired by the fracturing issues of the decade and the theories and writings of various exponents, guerilla television put forth "utopian" programming.
The Unpredictable Certainty
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309174147
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 631
Book Description
This book contains a key component of the NII 2000 project of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, a set of white papers that contributed to and complements the project's final report, The Unpredictable Certainty: Information Infrastructure Through 2000, which was published in the spring of 1996. That report was disseminated widely and was well received by its sponsors and a variety of audiences in government, industry, and academia. Constraints on staff time and availability delayed the publication of these white papers, which offer details on a number of issues and positions relating to the deployment of information infrastructure.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309174147
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 631
Book Description
This book contains a key component of the NII 2000 project of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, a set of white papers that contributed to and complements the project's final report, The Unpredictable Certainty: Information Infrastructure Through 2000, which was published in the spring of 1996. That report was disseminated widely and was well received by its sponsors and a variety of audiences in government, industry, and academia. Constraints on staff time and availability delayed the publication of these white papers, which offer details on a number of issues and positions relating to the deployment of information infrastructure.