Essay on: IT : Cultural impact of television in America
Introduction:
This paper delves into the social and cultural impact of television in America. It looks into the history of television as a communications medium in America through the Golden Age of television. The Golden Age of Television extended from the early 1950s and continued till late 1960s. The coming of television had a significant impact on the mobility of information, commodities & goods, and people. Television increased the influence and reach of advertising. It influenced the thinking, attitude and consumption patterns of American citizens. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the present day globalization took its first wings under the aegis of television. Television crystallized and strengthened the idea of American nation.
History of television as a communications medium in America and how it changed American society, culture and nation
In the entire history of communication technology of United States of America and the world, nothing has had such a profound impact as television. The coming of television in America in the early 1950s created a social revolution. It soon emerged as the biggest mass medium. It captured the imagination of audience and changed the way in which mass communication was done (Averson, Richard ,1971).
According to the most recent census, ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television set. Such is the power of television as a communications and entertainment medium that it still dominates all other mass communication mediums. Even the advent of internet couldn’t diminish the importance of television. No wonder then television is ranked as one of the major inventions that changed the world forever.
The Golden Age of American television continued from early 1950s to the middle of 1960s. During this period television impacted not only the mobility of information and content but also of people and commodities. With television a new kind of virtuality emerged which made limitations of material geographies irrelevant to a great degree.
By 1958 television had upstaged movies as the dominant form of entertainment in United States of America. Sales of movie tickets which had touched their peak in the years after the Second World War, suddenly started dwindling. This instant popularity of television had a tremendous impact on the mobility of information. The kind of penetration that television had, and continues to have, is unmatched by any other mass media communication tool (Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle ,1981).
Information delivery became more effective through television. Television series like Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) took entertainment directly into the living room of Americans. The entire country looked fascinated. Unlike movies, customers didn’t have to pay anything for this entertainment. In its earliest days much of the programs telecasted on television were dramas. Other popular shows of golden era of television included shows like The Wizard of Oz, The Philco Television Playhouse , Playhouse 90 etc.
Television technology to a great extent increased the free flow of information between the 50 states of United States of America. It increased cultural integration of America. As the technology spread around the world, free flow of information and entertainment across national borders increased. A soccer match played in United Kingdom was now telecasted in distant Asia. The world became a smaller place due to television and globalization started taking wings.
Television couldn’t be broadcasted 24 hours a day – like it is nowadays – because of technological limitations in television transmitters. In those days television was telecast only for 12 hours or 18 hours per day. 24 hour television broadcast started only in the latter part of the decade of 1980s.
The biggest impact of television was on mobility of goods, services and commodities. Television tremendously increased the reach and influence of advertising (David Morley, 2011). The practice of selling advertising time between television programs was started in early 1950s by DuMont Television Network. The influence of advertising increased considerably due to television. Advertisement films were now created which were telecasted through television. These films had greater influence on the minds of customers than still print advertisements. The increase in the influence and reach of advertising because of television had a significant impact on the flow of commodities, goods and services.
The age of television commercials had come by the late 1950s. Television commercials were at the peak of their glory. They started affecting fashion and consumption preferences in United States of America. The age of brands and branding accompanied television advertising. People started paying a premium price for up market brands.
Television commercial is still considered to be the most effective mass marketing format. This is the reason why advertising through television comes so costly. The major part of advertising budget of most companies is set aside for television advertising. A single television advertising slot in Super Bowl football costs around $ 3.5 million.
The coming of television had a significant impact on American and world sports. Large sporting events like football games could now be telecasted across the whole of America. Audiences who had to be content with hearing commentary on radio and reading stories in print could now watch sports games while sitting in the comfort of their hearth. Sportsmen were the new celebrities. They started enjoying the kind of fame which was hitherto possible only for matinee idols. Sports stars started endorsing brands and their earnings quadrupled (Rader, Benjamin G,1984).
However an adverse impact of sports broadcasting through television was that it killed the popularity of college and local level sporting events. Before television these sporting events enjoyed huge popularity among the local audience who thronged to the nearby stadiums to watch their teams play. The annual football matches between Harvard and Yale Universities was one such sporting event that attracted audiences in droves to the stadiums. After television, the popularity of national level and international level sporting events catapulted while that of local level events plummeted (Powers, Ron ,1984).
Television challenged the popularity of movies. Sale of movie tickets steadily declined during the golden years of television in America. Movie producers made good of the losses in ticket sales by increasing the price of movie tickets. On the positive side, television opened a new stream of revenues for them in the form of home video. However in the early days sales of home videos were insignificant to say the least. One positive impact of the stiff competition that movies faced from television was that the quality of movies in the years after television improved significantly. The golden age of American movies in the decade of 60s and 70s succeeded the golden age of television (Newcomb, Horace ,2007).
Another important social and cultural impact of television – which is considered by many as unfortunate- is that it brought the end of Golden Age of Radio in United States of America. Before television, radio was the most important form of broadcasting in United States of America. The golden age of television extended from 1920s to 1950s. At the peak of its popularity, 82 out of 100 Americans tuned to their radios on a regular basis. Whether it was for entertainment, music or news, Americans turned to their radios.
With the coming of television the popularity of radio declined considerable. The time of ending of the Golden age of radio coincided with the beginning of the golden age of television.
By increasing the cultural and social integration of United States of America and the world, television increased the mobility of people across state and national borders. Television had a significant impact on the thinking and attitude of people. They became less parochial and more global and national because of television.
Conclusion:
Few other technological changes had such a tremendous social and cultural impact in history as television. Television increased the cultural and social integration of America and the world. It had a significant impact on the mobility of information, commodity & goods, and people. Globalization gained wings under the aegis of television. The golden age of television in the decade of 50s and 60s was nothing less than a cataclysmic social change in America. Television continues to reign as the most significant mass communication medium. Internet may have upstaged television as the number one source of spread of information, but when it comes to entertainment, television still reigns supreme.
There were some adverse impacts of communication like the end of Golden Age of Radio that it brought. However when we compare the benefits of television with its disadvantages we will find conclusively that the benefits far outweigh the costs or disadvantages. Generations after television were much more aware than generations before it. Television increased the social and cultural consciousness of America. Somebody rightly said, “The world is not changed by revolutions. The world is changed in laboratories where technologies are developed.”
Television was one such technology that changed the world.
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