1. Making history. The power of history
Connection : seeing through the Fifties
History = the past + historiography
Connection : the strange case of Dr. Brinkley.
2. Before broadcasting. Social context : the progressive era
Progressive intervention, popular resistance
The rise of popular media
Music, Vaudeville, and film
Progression and repression
The invention of mass culture
High and low in the culture wars
Connection : the scandal of jazz
From radiotelegraphy to the wireless
Connection : radio hackers : Hugo Gernsback and Hiram Percy Maxim.
3. Broadcasting begins, 1919 to 1926. Social context : the jazz age
Restrictions and backlash
African-American resistance
RCA : the Radio Corporation of America
Who owned America's earliest radio stations?
Parody of early radio programming
Principles and precedents
Connection : Bertha Brainard and NBC
Connection : "Eveready Red" Wendell Hall
Other important early stations and programs
Utopian hopes, dystopian fears
Public service versus commercialism
4. The network age, 1926 to 1940. Social context : depression and a new deal
Regulation : ground rules, 1927-1934
The Radio Act of 1927 and General Order 40
General Public Interest vs. Propaganda Stations
The Communications Act of 1934
The romance hits a few bumps
Industry : networks triumphant
Connection : CBS : "we try harder"
Connection : J. Walter Thompson, radio showmen to the world
5. Radio for everyone, 1926 to 1940. The media milieu
Radio still goes Hollywood
The afterlife of Vaudeville
The press-radio wars and the birth of broadcast news
Magazine chat and women's programs
Programming : popular radio
Radio forms and aesthetics
Forms of broadcast narrative
Connection : comedy variety : Jack Benny and his radio family
Dramatic anthologies and features
Connection : avant-garde radio : the Columbia Workshop and Norman Corwin
Educational and public affairs programming
Soaps : serial drama for women
Daytime soaps on the air, 1939-40
Connection : all Irna's children
Critiques of mass culture.
6. War at home and abroad, 1940 to 1945. Social context : the winds of war blow change
The military-industrial complex
Social discourse : thinking about radio
Industry conceptions of the audience
Broadcast ratings systems
The rise of U.S. communications research
Connection : Father Coughlin and the masses
Connection : American identity and the radio feature
Government-industry cooperation
The Office of War Information
Connection : the public woman : the story of Mary Marlin
Pitching America overseas
Regulation : up and down with the FCC
7. At last television, 1945 to 1955. Social context : returning to normalcy
Labor unrest and the rise of corporate liberalism
Media context : transitioning to prosperity
Advertising and public relations
Connection : DJs, Black radio, and the rise of rock 'n' roll
Regulation : television's golden age
VHF vs. UHF : intermixture and deintermixture
Programming : the politics and poetics of live TV
Local stations' sources of programming in the 1950s
Avant-garde TV : the live anthology drama goes visual
Anthology dramas on the air, 1953 and 1958
The rise of filmed series
Connection : the birth of the sitcom
Connection : Cold War TV : I led 3 lives
Social discourse : mass anxieties
"TV is bad for kids," phase I
"TV needs to control itself"
"Commercial TV is free TV."
8. The domesticated medium, 1955 to 1965. Social context : the way we weren't
The Civil Rights Movement
"Women : neglected assets"
Media context : living with TV
Connection : Payola and the rise of format radio
Industry : the classic network system emerges
The classic network system
The classic network system : adjustments
Regulation : corruption, crackdown, and complacency
TV and violence, phase II
Slouching toward public TV
Programming for prosperity : American TV
Connection : movie of the week films on TV
Top 20 rated programs, 1955 and 1965
Connection : "just the facts, please, Ma'am"
Connection : the whole world is watching
10. Rising discontent, 1975 to 1985. Social context : crisis of confidence
Deregulation, breakup, and merger
Connection : Mark Fowler's toaster
57 channels and nothing on?
Public service, public access
Connection : the culture of seriality and repetition
Connection : the many qualities of Fred Silverman
11. The big change, 1985 to 1995. Social context : extremes and contradictions
Media context : the age of synergy
Media merger timeline 1986-1995
Industry : nothing succeeds like excess
What led to the new networks?
Jurassic Park? The big three survive
Connection : ESPN = Entertainment and sports empire
Channels owned by the three largest MSOs
Programming : pushing the envelope
Family shows in the new era
Connection : the postmodern family : Cosbys, Conners, and Simpsons
Connection : the return of unruly women
Daytime talk shows of the 1980s and 90s
TV and changing culture around the world
Connection : cable TV and satellites : the local and the global
Social discourse : the Net effect.
12. Entering the digital era, 1995-2010. Social context : Falling down
The framework for digital convergence
Regulation : The Telecommunications Act of 1996
Connection : media ownership debates
Intellectual property in the digital age
Copyright term in the new milennium
Regulating global convergence
Converging pressures on network TV
Top-rated cable channels and owners
Hollywood in the digital era
A global public sphere? International broadcasting post-9/11
Connection : the rise of Al-Jazeera.
13. Convergence culture in the new millennium : 1995-2010. Convergence television
Connection : the triumph of reality TV
Transmedia and hyperdiegesis
New audiences, fresh faces, different stories
Connection : the beauty of Ugly Betty
Connection : single women and "family" men
Global culture in a digital era
Connection : India goes global and local
Social discourse : the decline of mass culture.
14. Conclusion : TV after TV. Democracy and technology
Connection : Geek supreme
Digital civil rights organizations
Connection : the best of the best?
A British top-50 list of American shows, 2009.
