Download or read book Pioneers of Cable Television written by Brian Lockman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-10-27 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Blue Skies written by Patrick Parsons and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-05 with total page 816 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book That s the Way It Is written by Charles L. Ponce de Leon and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-09-09 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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."
Download or read book The Weather Channel Pioneers written by Joseph D'Aleo and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-02 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Cable Cowboy written by Mark Robichaux and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2002-10-31 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inside look at a cable titan and his industry John Malone, hailed as one of the great unsung heroes of our age by some and reviled by others as a ruthless robber baron, is revealed as a bit of both in Cable Cowboy. For more than twenty-five years, Malone has dominated the cable television industry, shaping the world of entertainment and communications, first with his cable company TCI and later with Liberty Media. Written with Malone's unprecedented cooperation, the engaging narrative brings this controversial capitalist and businessman to life. Cable Cowboy is at once a penetrating portrait of Malone's complex persona, and a captivating history of the cable TV industry. Told in a lively style with exclusive details, the book shows how an unassuming copper strand started as a backwoods antenna service and became the digital nervous system of the U.S., an evolution that gave U.S. consumers the fastest route to the Internet. Cable Cowboy reveals the forces that propelled this pioneer to such great heights, and captures the immovable conviction and quicksilver mind that have defined John Malone throughout his career.
Download or read book The Unpredictable Certainty written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-03-05 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Cable Television Business written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book When Women Invented Television written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Television written by Katie Kawa and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2018-07-15 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is sometimes said that we are living in a Golden Age of television. What does that mean, and how did we get there? Readers find the answers as they trace the history of television, from its invention to the current age of "Peak TV." This fascinating story is presented to readers through informative main text, annotated quotations, detailed sidebars, primary sources, and a comprehensive timeline. Television has changed nearly every aspect of life in many countries, and readers are sure to be excited by this fun and fact-filled look at how history and television have influenced each other.
Download or read book Subject to Change written by Deirdre Boyle and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1997 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Essential HBO Reader written by Gary R. Edgerton and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2013-07-24 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Syracuse Television written by Christie Casciano Burns and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2013 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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."
Download or read book Fleet Fire written by L. J. Davis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The electric revolution, which eclipsed the Industrial Revolution by the end of the 19th century and continues to this day, changed our world forever. FLEET FIRE tells us how it all began. In an engaging and entertaining narrative, L. J. Davis fields a cast of both prominent and forgotten characters, from dedicated scientists and mischievous rogues to enlightened amateurs who lit the sparks of discovery. Franklin's kite, Davenport's electromagnet, Morse's telegraph, Cyrus Field's transatlantic cable, and Edison's phonograph are but a few of the achievements Davis discusses. Explaining the science in lucid prose, FLEET FIRE conveys the arc of discovery during one of the most creative epochs in the history of mankind.
Download or read book Distant Signals written by Thomas P. Southwick and published by Apdg Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical book explains how the cable industry started, who the key companies and leaders were, what shaped it and how changes are occurring in the industry at the beginning of the 21st century. If you are involved or getting involved in the cable or television industry, this book is the perfect solution for making you an industry expert by giving you the history, technology overview and future projections for the cable and television industry.
Download or read book The Platinum Age of Television written by David Bianculli and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Make Em Laugh written by Michael Kantor and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 713 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the most popular routines and the most ingenious physical shtick to the snappiest wisecracks and the most biting satire of the last century, Make 'Em Laugh illuminates who we are as a nation by exploring what makes us laugh, and why. Authors Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor draw on countless sources to chronicle the past century of American comedy and the geniuses who created and performed it-melding biography, American history, and a lotta laughs into an exuberant, important book. Each of the six chapters focuses a different style or archetype of comedy, from the slapstick pratfalls of Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball through the wiseguy put-downs of Groucho Marx and Larry David, to the incendiary bombshells of Mae West and Richard Pryor . And at every turn the significance of these comedians-smashing social boundaries, challenging the definition of good taste, speaking the truth to the powerful-is vividly tangible. Make 'Em Laugh is more than a compendium of American comic genius; it is a window onto the way comedy both reflects the world and changes it-one laugh at a time. Starting from the groundbreaking PBS series, the authors have gone deeper into the works and lives of America's great comic artists, with biographical portraits, archival materials, cultural overviews, and rare photos. Brilliantly illustrated, with insights (and jokes) from comedians, writers and producers, along with film, radio, television, and theater historians, Make 'Em Laugh is an indispensible, definitive book about comedy in America.
Download or read book Anchoring America written by Jeff Alan and published by Bonus Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2003 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anchoring America covers 17 anchors in 17 smart profiles that show the evolution of the anchoring job and reveal the character of the men and women who sat at the desk.
