1. Introduction:
Mass communication and technological advancements go hand in hand. In easy word, both of them act as each other’s complements. With progressing times and advancement in every phase of life, every process of communication has evolved and that includes mass level interaction too. There are a number of different mediums of mass communication. Over the history, humans have invented and witnessed the most amazing technological inventions in the field of mass communication. Some of these mediums turned to become less functional and not capable of keeping up with the global progress. However, a few mediums out of these, proved to be the most effective despite all the external changes and Television is such a medium.
2. Television History:
The modern Television was not invented right away. It was born because of a number of initial discoveries and inventions, which led to the shaping, and structuring of a television as a proper medium. The very first invention which is related with television, was the Mechanical Television discussed below.
2.1 Mechanical Television:
In 1884, a German man, called Paul Nipkow, invented a technology to broadcast pictures on a wire by using a rotating disc named as Nipkow Disk. In his developmental attempts, he also introduced television’s principle of scanning using light rays .
Later on, in 1920’s a man named John Logie Bird developed a technique of transmitting images on the TV by using a set of transparent rods, which was the first demonstration of television. Three years later, on 14 June 1923, a mechanical TV was invented by Charles Francis Jenkins called the Radio vision, which made silhouette transmission possible . Such small steps finally led to the conceptualization of Electronic Television, which has its own further evolution.
2.2 Electronic Television:
The Electronic Television sets were developed using the cathode tube ray, which serves the purpose of a picture tube. Further changes and improvements in cathode ray tube were made by Vladimir Kosma Zworykin in 1929 and presented a demonstration of modern picture tube .
These TV sets had another essential structure called the dissector tube, which was invented, by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1927, two years before the improved cathode ray tube .
These advancements in the technology started a new phase in the history of television. It leads to great development in this field. In this way, the structure of electronic television formed the basic television sets which were further developed using television receiver, antennae etc.
3. Milestones of the Television Evolution:
Over the decades of television history, inventors and developers presented ideas, invented better technologies, and sought out improved techniques to enhance the TV experience. In all the past years for dedicated to Television development, the most advances seen were in the mid 1980’s when TV was made into a much modern and mature medium. Some of these advancements are:
3.1 Color TV Sets:
Colored television sets have a history of their own as well. Unlike today, where we are only familiar with colored screens, the televisions of the earlier times were black and white and did not display any colors.
This development towards color television was initiated in the post-World War II era. In the year 1946, American people were tired of watching war broadcasts and wanted something to renew their perspectives. The black and white television was becoming dull and boring and that is when the need for color televisions arose.
The Columbian Broadcasting System (CBS) and The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) fought for the color television technology. The first ever color television system was introduced by CBS. The system was mechanical but was declared a national standard by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1950. In 1953 though, the RCA came up with a better color television system, which was not mechanical and thus, was approved by FCC as a national standard .
Even though FCC approved color television systems, the broadcast of colored shows and content did not start until a few years later. It is not that the technology experienced criticisms, but because the news of development of color television systems increased.
3.2 All Channels Receiver Act:
As evident by the name, this All Channels Receiver Act acts an advance in television broadcast with the help of a document. The United States Congress passed the All Channels Receiver Act in 1961.
In today’s world, we find it completely unusual if our local TV stations do not reach us or if we miss out on anything new just because we don’t have access to local channels. This is because, it seems impossible to stay unaware of any emergency when we have so many sources of information.
The situation in America was the same before this act came out. People did not have any access to most of the local news channels and updates because they were being operated on UHF systems. In addition, the UHF market was going down due to the lack of audience and a boost was needed to let them up on their feet. There was a need to widen this market and the FCC had hopes that if a law were presented which made the provision of UHF channels compulsory, it would not only expand the market but also motivate the development of UHF and VHF systems.
This act was introduced so that the FCC would require all the television manufacturers to include Ultra High Frequency (UHF) tuners in their TV sets so that the public could receive them. This act states that the FCC should “have authority to require that apparatus designed to receive television pictures broadcast simultaneously with sound be capable of adequately receiving all frequencies allocated by the Commission to television broadcasting.”
The FCC, under the authority of this act, made several changes in policies and made a few technical improvements to let the VHF and UHF services work together in uniformity.
3.3 First Transatlantic Television Signal:
This development was a big achievement in the television industry. In the year 1961, an agreement was signed between the Bell Labs, AT&T, The British Post Office, NASA, and the French National Post office for launching two mobile telecommunication satellites in space. The sole purpose of sending up a satellite in space was to allow better communication all across the world.
The first satellite launched was called TELSTAR. It was set off on 10 July, mounted on Thor-Delta rocket, from the Kennedy Center . The team at Bell Telephone Laboratories built it and weighed around 170 pound. The satellite had the ability to produce 44 watts of electricity, which were generated by the solar cells arranged on its outer surface. It was the very first private space launch. This satellite provided the first display of pictures; allowed telephone calls, fax images etc. Since the day it was launched, it is stated by the experts, that the television industry changed as a whole into a much-refined state. The satellite enabled people to witness happenings all over the world by sitting just across a television screen.
The practical demonstration of this convenience took place when a much anticipated boxing match of Muhammad Ali, was broadcasted live on cable TVs, punch to punch. This advancement definitely provided a wider exposure to the American audience and changed their perspectives about the world.
4. Comparison:
All of these mentioned changes hold their positions among the highest and most radical evolutions in the television industry. They are viewed as the milestones in the history of television but one of them holds the highest rank.
As we have discussed the three milestones, let us critically analyze them to measure their impact and effectiveness.
4.1 Milestone VS Milestone:
Every development mentioned above, has a unique characteristic that makes it worthwhile in the mediums evolution. Let us consider a few general important points of each of these advancements.
The Color TV Sets offered the following purposes :
- Revitalized audience’s interest in TV broadcast
- Provided a way out of dull and boring visuals
- Enhanced the sight and sound experience
- Attracted advertisers
- Developed the television industry
The All Channel Receiver Act had the following many elements . For instance, it enables the public to receive all channels on their TV sets. It enhanced the cable TV experience. Moreover it Allowed cable TV to offer variety of programming networks
The invention of Transatlantic Signals allowed access to events that were held worldwide. It not only minimized the time and distant constraints in broadcast but also improved mobile communication notably. Moreover, the invention of translate signals also brought large content to a larger audience. It also enabled the possibility of broadcasting live.
4.2 The Better One among the Rest:
Now that we have viewed the positive points held by every development, we can assess which one serves a much important purpose in the bigger picture. By comparing them against each other, the Transatlantic Signal technology seems to be, by far, the biggest achievement in the history of television industry.
In the modern world, the meaning of communication has transformed into something much bigger than just connecting. It serves to inform and aware as well. As already mentioned that in the beginning of the essay, Television offers to serves these purposes best among the other mediums of mass communication. The reason behind is none other than the ease of access and the infinite exposure provided by this single medium.
With the idea of mobile satellites, the television industry opened up its door to the outside world. American audiences experienced a perspective, which was beyond the national boundaries. It helped them perceive the things they had never heard or seen. This was the biggest advantage a mass communication medium could offer.
Americans started connecting with people and things around the globe as the TELSTAR satellite made its way into the space. It allowed them view things in real time. It seemed to be a time travelling mechanism where a person could be present at the time of the happening while sitting comfortably on a couch in their house.
It would not be a shocker to view things in black and white, without any color, or without having access to all of the local TV stations. However, imagining a television broadcast work without having a satellite or transatlantic signal would be a very dull experience, which would not be any close to mass communication. What if we minus this development? What if there were no transatlantic signals to help us view things outside our physical boundaries? Following could be the possible implications :
- No exposure of audience
- No restructuring of perspectives
- No connection beyond regions
- No serving of mass communication purposes
The world of information and technology demands to be aware about things that go about us every day and every second. In the fast-paced whirl of media, one cannot stay back and ignore the rest of the world and its happenings and then expect to progress though out.
5. Conclusion:
It is well explained and demonstrated. Every evolution in the technology of television is important in its own place and the TV experience can never be complete without any of them. However, to fulfill the purpose of this essay, we conclude that the development of mobile satellite communication has served the biggest purpose in modernizing the television broadcast.
Work Cited:
Abramson, Albert. The History of Television, 1942 to 2000. North Carolina: Macfarland Publishers, 2003.
Ann Gray, Erin Bell. History on Television. New York: 2013, 2013.
Bignell, Jonathan. An Introduction to Television Studies. New York: Routlegde, 2013.
Edgerton, Gary. The Columbia History of American Television. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Herbert, Stephen. A History of Early Television, Volume 3. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Lisa Parks, Shanti Kumar. Planet TV: A Global Television Reader. New York: New York University, 2003.
