Roman Arrigo Blasberg

March 20th, 2023

DAT554 - Creative Industries

DAT554 - Creative Industries

Critically analyzing changes and developments driven by media technologies in the

television industry

Roman Arrigo Blasberg

Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

Since the 1950s, television has completely revolutionized how people

communicate and transfer information. The SIC code for video content depends on
what kind of production a particular industry focuses on. Today, 78101 is the designated
SIC code for motion picture television and other theatrical casting activities
(Boxall,2022). Due to its significant role in contemporary culture and unique ability to
provide a common experience for all of its viewers, most people in the 21st century find
it challenging to imagine life without a television at all. Although it only began gaining
popularity in the mid-20th century, the first successful television system was designed
by Philo Farnsworth in 1927. The technology utilizes a camera, transmitter, and receiver
to create a moving image by repeatedly capturing still pictures and presenting them so
quickly that they seem to be moving (Who Invented Television, 2021). As new
technologies in the digital media and communications sector began to emerge television
has been constantly changing and evolving into the modern system we see today. This
essay will aim to critically analyze some of the key changes and developments driven
by these media technologies in the television industry. These technologies include
colored television, satellite broadcasting, and High-Definition.

Colored Television is the first of many media technologies that brought some key
changes and developments to the television Industry. Colored TV as we know it today
was originally invented by Scottish inventor John Baird in the early 1950s. It worked by
broadcasting three separate monochrome images, one in red, one in green, and one in
blue (RGB). By displaying them together in rapid succession, said images would blend
to produce a fully colored image as seen by the viewer. Throughout the second half of
the 20th century, the number of sold-colored tv sets in the United States rose from 200
in 1954 to 500,000 by the early 1960s and to 4,450,000 by the mid-1960s. With this, big
television channels at the time like CBC, NBC, and ABC started producing their shows
for colored television. By the start of 1966, approximately 70% of the programming from
the three largest tv networks was made in color and by the next two years, all but a
handful of news specials and shows were shot in color (Impact and Development of
colored television, 2020). This is because as opposed to classic black and white
television, the use of the unique properties of electronic color combined with the life and
intimacy of television can deliver viewers with an expansive and more immersive view of
the world in a way that they had never seen before. Consumer behavior analyst Ernest
Dichter also argued that colored television was capable of giving consumers a reduced
sense of distance between themselves and the picture, increasing levels of emotional
involvement, creativity, empathy, comprehension, immediacy, and sociality. In other
words, colored television could strengthen realism whilst stimulating a sense of fantasy
at the same time. Color television broadcasting also revolutionized how producers
curated their special effects, as many of them were dependent on wires that were kept
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

hidden from viewers by using black wires with a black background. Colored
broadcasting, however, forced producers to match the color of the individual wire to the
color of the individual background, making the production process more meticulous.
This factor shows that as the visual element became a more prominent factor in how
television delivers information and entertainment, companies and producers had to put
as much thought into the visuals of their production as they do for the writing. Because
of this delicate balance, some television producers have gotten lazy by simply beginning
to deliver more shock value through colors and visuals rather than vivid, complex,
writing. All in all, this comes to show that although colored Television technology
redefined what the focus points in television production are, it also allowed the industry
to broadcast information and entertainment to its viewers in a much more immersive
and engaging way.

Another influential media technology that brought some key changes and
developments to the television industry was satellite broadcasting. The technology was
originally tested in 1962 using the Telstar 1. Satellite broadcasting allowed for the
distribution of multimedia content using broadcast signals relayed to and from
communication satellites orbiting the earth. To work, these signals are received by a
parabolic antenna or commonly known as a satellite dish. Once captured, the incoming
signals are decoded by a satellite receiver and presented to the viewer through their
television sets at home. The BBC first broadcasted television using satellite in 1967 with
“Our World”, an international showcase meant to show the potential of satellite
communications. Due to its success, the infamous 1969 moon landing would also go on
to be broadcast to television via satellite (Telstar, Intelsat and the first global satellite
broadcast, 2018). Since then hundreds of telecommunications satellites have been put
into orbit, making satellite broadcasting an everyday part of the television industry
today. The reason for this is that, unlike Domestic Television which is broadcast on
electromagnetic signals from television towers, satellite broadcasting is capable of
reaching a much wider audience. Since signals emitted by satellites can cover up to a
third of the earth’s surface, individual satellites can broadcast television to countries on
two or more continents at a time (Natanagra, 1995). Television Towers on the other
hand, transmit on frequency channels in the VHF and UHF bands and since waves of
these frequencies can only travel by line of sight, they become limited by the horizon to
reception distances of about 64 to 96 kilometers depending on the height of the TV
tower. Additionally, since satellite broadcasting can distribute information and
entertainment to millions of people with only one transmitter, it is much more cost and
time effective for the television industry to run. Another way satellite broadcasting
brought change and development to the television industry is because it redefined how
different companies in the industry competed with each other. Since TV towers were
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

only able to cover a relatively small portion of land, different companies were able to
place radio towers in areas where they would be free from each other's signals. This
meant companies were able to broadcast their signal alone with little to no competition.
However, this all changed when satellite broadcasting began, as television industries in
countries willing to launch their satellites into orbit now had to worry about companies in
other countries covering the footprint of their satellite. As a result, international
companies in the television industry now would be heavily competing with one another
over the most viewership. Since satellite broadcasting provides a much higher return in
viewership than domestic television, companies in the television industry would also
compete in attracting the most advertisers. All in all, this shows that satellite
broadcasting has brought key changes and developments to the television industry by
allowing them to distribute entertainment and information at any given time around most
of the globe whilst redefining how different companies and countries in the industry
competed with one another.

The last and most influential media technology that brought changes and
developments to the television industry is High-Definition. High Definition was originally
tested by the Japanese in 1989 and provides a high quality consisting of one to two
million pixels, an increased frame rate of up to 60 frames per second, and a wider
width-to-height ratio of 16:9. It achieves this by using a vertical resolution display
ranging from 720p to 1080i (What is HDTV and What You Need to Get It, n.d). Although
the technology first became available to consumers in 1998, not many could afford the
high $5,000 to $10,000 pricing. However, as prices dropped and television viewership
increased consumers were more inclined to buy HDTV. As a result of this, by 2010
nearly half of the population in the US was watching television in HD, making it the
second fastest adoption of media technology in the television industry since the VCR in
the 80s. On top of that, according to the Nielsen Company, since the adoption of HDTV
television, the television industry has seen a 3 percent increase in viewership between 7
pm and 11 pm (The Impact of Digital Television and HDTV displays interfaces, n.d). As
of today, almost all television is broadcast in high definition. One reason for this is that
as opposed to standard definition, HDTV can provide much more vivid colors and a
wide range of hues with no bleeding at the edges of the screen. This meant viewers
could now see things like specks of color in eyes or individual sweat drops.
Furthermore, since HDTV used a 16:9 resolution instead of a standard 4:3 resolution,
viewers were also able to enjoy a much wider and complete image. Depending on the
broadcaster, HDTV programming can also provide 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound,
the same type of sound seen in movie theaters. Another way High definition changed
and developed the television industry is by allowing it to sustain itself in the digital
communications market. As pre-recorded video tapes made their debut in the 1980s,
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

TV broadcasters felt increasingly threatened by their ability to work outside the

limitations of over-the-air broadcasting. Additionally, if pre-recorded video tapes were to
replicate the picture quality of Television, the television industry would lose significant
shares in the market. This meant that, through the invention of High Definition
television, the television industry was able to firmly set itself apart from its competitors in
media communications by offering broadcasts of information and entertainment in a
much higher quality picture. All in all, this proves that High definition television brought
some key changes and developments to the television industry. It is responsible for
bringing in 3% more viewers to television between 7 pm and 11 pm due to its cinematic
abilities and setting the television industry apart from the rest of its competitors by
providing a much higher quality picture at the time.

In conclusion, this essay has shown how a handful of media technologies such
as colored television, satellite broadcasting, and high definition have caused key
changes and developments within the television industry. Firstly, although colored tv
caused some issues by forcing the television industry to change their reliable logistics
for making special effects, it also redefined what the focus points in television
production are, and allowed the industry to broadcast information and entertainment to
its viewers in a much more immersive and engaging way. Another example of a media
technology that is responsible for sparking key changes and developments in the
television industry is satellite broadcasting. Satellite broadcasting has brought key
changes and developments to the television industry by allowing them to distribute
entertainment and information at any given time around most of the globe. Satellite
broadcasting also changed how different parts of the industry compete with one
another. The last and most influential example of a media technology that is responsible
for sparking key changes and developments in the television industry is high definition.
High definition is responsible for bringing in 3% more viewers to television due to its
cinematic abilities. It is also responsible for setting the television industry apart from the
rest of its competitors by providing viewer’s with a much higher-quality picture than any
other digital communications technology .

As of today, TV broadcasting is beginning to disappear. This is mostly a result of

the rise of streaming platforms and the distribution of online video content all over the
internet. In recent years, TV broadcasters only serve as the creators of national or
heavily specialized content such as news, sports, and localized formats with little to no
stakes in distribution or customer relations. Digital platforms on the other hand can
exploit the web's vast amount of content and media technologies like Artificial
Intelligence to develop individual user recommendation and smart selection algorithms.
These consumer relationships also allow them to produce global blockbusters and
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

acquire exclusive sports rights. Additionally, the digital platform industry’s direct models
of ad trading have helped implement new, personalized, and interactive forms of
advertising. This puts most advertising traders and agencies out of business, which
means the television industry is cut off advertising revenues, instead only relying on
revenue shares from digital platform companies. These trends indicate that digital
streaming/content platforms will only continue to grow and in doing so they will continue
to hurt the television industry. As a result of these trends, 5-10 years in the future we
can expect to see almost all content being put out by the online digital platform industry.
Because of this, the television industry might begin to adopt more digital platform jobs
such as content creation and user experience/user interface design. This provides fresh
forms of entertainment to the user that are exclusive to television, bringing in more
audiences, advertisers, and revenue back to the industry. Within this future landscape, I
would love to take on a job in graphic design and/or creative directing. Since this would
let me work a job tasked with redefining an entire industry, it allows me to quickly
expand my career by trying out a bunch of different projects and ideas that most of the
digital industries haven’t seen. A career in this field also allows me to expand into
multiple industries in television such as sports, entertainment, business, politics, and
marketing. Additionally, graphic design work is done through computer tools, meaning
I’m granted the potential freedom to choose between coming to work personally or
working remotely from home and unless there is a very tight deadline, I can stick to 9
am to 5 pm business hours and usually won’t have to work overtime or on weekends to
complete a project. Furthermore, working in graphic design gives me the benefit of
seeing my completed workpiece once I’ve finished it. This means I will have direct proof
of my accomplishment which in return encourages me to push myself further. Last but
not least, working in the graphic design industry will provide me with a typically good
salary. With minor starting experience, I can expect a salary of around £27,000 per
year, which rises to £25,000-38,000 at a middle level, £35,000-£55,000 at senior levels,
and £60,000+ in leading roles like creative directing (Job Profiles-Graphic Designer,
2022).
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries

References:

[Author removed at request of original publisher] (2016) Media and culture, 9.1 The
Evolution of Television | Media and Culture. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing edition,
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Explain in brief the working of a television. (no date) byju. Available at:
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March 29, 2023).

FZE, B.B. (2023) Impact and development of color television, UKEssays. UK Essays.
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Natanagara, S. (1995) The impact of satellite broadcasting on the media environment .

Nanyang Technological University Singapore. Available at:
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Telstar, Intelsat and the first global satellite broadcast (2018) Science Museum.
Available at: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/telstar-intelsat-and-first-
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The impact of digital television and HDTV (display interfaces) part 1 (no date)
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Xfinity (2022) What is HDTV and what you need to get it, Xfinity Help & Support.
Available at: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/what-is-high-definition-tv-hdtv (Accessed:
March 30, 2023).

Patrick Steemers, M.C., Esser, R. and Klein, F. (no date) The future of the TV and video
landscape by 2030. Deloitte. Available at:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/be/Documents/technology-media-
telecommunications/201809%20Future%20of%20Video_DIGITAL_FINAL.pdf (Accessed: March
30, 2023).

Ltd, P.L. (no date) Who invented television?, dock10. Available at:
https://www.dock10.co.uk/about/news/who-invented-television/ (Accessed: March 30, 2023).
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries
Roman Arrigo Blasberg
March 20th, 2023
DAT554 - Creative Industries