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Chapter Summary| Over the years, electronic media genres evolved. During the 1930s and 1940s, drama and comedies were big on radio. Soap operas dominated the afternoons, and quiz shows and children's programs were evident. The Dempsey-Carpentier fight was important in getting sports started on radio, and wrestling was popular on early TV. Radio stations gathered their own news and had it provided by wire services. Meet the Press started on TV.
Most dramas of the 1950s were anthologies, and movies occupied a great deal of airtime on local TV. Sitcoms were popular but many had unidimensional characters. The decade saw the popularity of Ed Sullivan's variety show and Murrow's documentaries. Television exposure negatively affected boxing clubs, and the quiz scandals negatively affected TV. Today and The Tonight Show started, and most children's programs featured puppets and real people. The violence issue was considered in Congress.
During the 1960s, episodic dramas started and movies moved to networks. Most radio stations developed music formats, but music was not a very important part of TV. News grew, with the help of stringers, and many documentaries were aired. Cartoons dominated children's TV, and the violence debate continued.
Made-for-TV movies started in the 1970s, and the docudrama Roots aired. Soap operas contained growing sexual content, and All in the Family led sitcoms in a different direction. Sports adjusted to TV, and Congress established blackouts. Afternoon talk shows started, and so did 60 Minutes and the magazine show P.M. Magazine. Nickelodeon started, and the violence debate continued.
More complex dramas were produced in the 1980s, some of which had unique production styles. Movies had new outlets that negotiated shorter windows. Comedies defied stereotypes, and MTV and ESPN started. Sports rights climbed during the decade. Wheel of Fortune became the main syndicated show, and radio talk shows grew in importance. CNN developed quickly and sold news to others. SNG and SNVs changed news operations. Discovery started cablecasting documentaries, and religious programming underwent a major scandal. Children's TV was deregulated, and the violence debate continued.
Reality shows came to the fore in the 1990s, mainly because they were inexpensive to produce. Comedies were both caustic and fun, telenovelas became popular, and talk shows became more sensationalistic. News also leaned toward the sensational, in part because of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. CD-ROMs and the Internet began to stake out their territory in entertainment programming, news, educational programming, and games. Sports sometimes lost money for networks, and several PBS documentaries caused controversy. The proliferation of camcorders made reporters out of ordinary citizens. Both socially redeemable and unredeemable children's programs were produced, and the violence debate continued.
In the 2000s, reality shows hit a peak with CBS's Survivor and ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Fox News outrated CNN, and journalists incorrectly called the 2000 election. Some of the networks leased out their children's programming times to others. Most genres began looking at new distribution channels such as the Internet, DBS, and video-on-demand. And the violence debate continues.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education