Chapter 6 Television and Cable – Flashcards
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Why were there a limited number of TV stations in a city or market in the early days of television?
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Airwave spectrum frequencies interfered with each other, so a city or market could only support a certain number of stations.
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Single sponsorship of television shows was eliminated by _____.
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a longer program length b. the quiz-show scandals c. discouraging advertisers from sponsoring programs d. substantially raising costs for advertisers
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Developed in the 1950s, the magazine program featured _____.
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news, talk, comedy, and music segments in one show
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What did the FCC do in 1948?
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It put a freeze on issuing new television licenses
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The quiz-show scandals can be credited with _____.
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undermining Americans' expectations of the democratic promise of television
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The first small television cable systems were known as _____.
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CATV (Community Antenna Television)
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In 1999, cable penetration hit 70 percent. Why has cable penetration dropped in recent years?
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Better online services and DBS services are capturing a portion of cable's business.
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What measures did cable channels take when people in small rural communities began installing their own receiving dishes and downlinking channels for free?
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Scrambling signals so they weren't able to
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Which of the following statements about cable programming is FALSE?
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Cable systems typically offer a single tier of service to their customers.
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What occurs when consumers record a television program on a VCR or DVR and then watch it later at their convenience?
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time shifting
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Third-screens typically operate as _____ services.
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catch-up
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How are cable and DBS operators fighting back against online streaming services?
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They are releasing iPad apps, allowing users to stream live TV on their iPads at no additional cost.
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An example of using a "third screen" would be _____.
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watching a recent television episode on your computer
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A show that focuses on wacky incidents is called a _____ comedy
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domestic
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What type of program had its roots in live theater?
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anthology drama
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A hybrid drama mixes _____.
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comic situations and grim plots
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Why might producing a reality television show be more appealing to a network than producing a scripted drama?
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Reality programming, with its cheap sets and nonactors, is cheaper to produce than a scripted drama.
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What was the primary reason government regulators in the 1960s and 1970s took away the first hour of prime time from network control and prevented networks from reaping profits from syndication?
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Regulators were concerned about the networks' monopolistic control and unfair business practices
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What did the must-carry rules require cable networks to carry?
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local broadcast stations
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Access-channel mandates were intended to _____.
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require cable systems to set aside channels for local government and educational uses
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What is the difference between electronic publishers and common carriers?
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Electronic publishers can choose what content and channels to carry, but common carriers cannot.
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The Telecommunications Act of 1996 resulted in which of the following?
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Telephone and cable companies were allowed to enter each other's markets
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What are the usual terms for a barter deal for a syndicated program?
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Production companies offer to lease a show to a station or network in exchange for splitting advertising revenue.
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A television rating is _____.
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the percentage of all TV households watching a show
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Which sentence best describes how ratings impact the business of television and cable?
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Higher ratings mean more viewers, which mean higher-priced commercials.
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Which of the following statements about network affiliates is true?
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A network's affiliates have to broadcast the network's entire lineup.
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A few hundred small U.S. cities have challenged giant cable companies by _____.
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creating competing municipally owned and operated cable services
