Tube of Plenty by Erik Barnouw highlights the dramatic moments of television and radio broadcasting which are important for understanding the evolution of an invention that has changed the ways of mass communication. Radio and television have been taken for granted and are simply seen as mediums through which entertainment (and news) is delivered.
The advancements of television literally opened new channels for business marketing and advertising. In the Plastic Years chapter, the Crime Automated section gave me a better look at understanding the concept of sponsorship. At first, I related it back to product placement but did some quick research to learn the difference between the two advertising concepts.
Camel cigarettes sponsored a high rating live broadcasting show Man Against Crime in 1949. This sponsorship affected the writing and direction of the show due to special requests made by the company when concerning smoking. There are a number of rules and guidelines that Camel made that are interesting to note. There were rules about which scenes and who could be associated with smoking, the act of smoking itself had to be graceful and never puffed nervously (coughs were also forbidden in an episode), and fires and doctors couldn’t be mentioned in the scenes because viewers could be reminded of the negative aspects of smoking. As for the plot, writers had to include a murder scene (a doctor never reported a death in the show) and violent scenes that were preferred to occur earlier in the episode. Along with that, the plot had to include an attractive woman and a romance (or the possibility of one) because it was essential as violence in each episode (Barnow, 132-133). These minor details about characters and the direction of the show had a larger influence on the relationship between the sponsor and show than I had known.
Another connection I made involving business was in the Freeze section that covered “a very special period for television.” Between 1948-52, television licenses were called to a sudden halt and this continued through the Korean War. During this freeze, New York and Los Angeles were major players with seven stations while other major cities only had one station or no television at all. Fortunate cities were dubbed television cities and “provided priceless opportunity for testing and observing.”
Key outcomes recognized within television cities were the economic decline and changes of habit. There was a drop in movie and sporting event attendance. A variety show called Your Show of Shows left restaurants and nightclubs empty due to viewers rushing to their television sets. Events like these posed a problem in the early stages of television but today viewers can watch their shows any time with plentiful options such as watching online, “DVR-ing” it, and/or choosing On Demand if the program is available. There is also the option of purchasing the season on DVD. These alternatives for the many people who may not have time to catch their favorite shows during their allotted time created problems for advertisers. Consumers had the power to forward through commercials or not even catch a glimpse of the commercial at all. As a result, advertisers have been brainstorming new ideas for implementing their products.
Television has been in the stronghold for being the number one tool for advertising due to its ability to make a product visible to a massive audience in a short time. It is seen within Tube of Plenty the development of the relationship between television and advertising and how it is evolved into its present state. Before it was just radio and tele
vision, now there are other opportunities for watching shows and recently the boom of social networking sites which took advertising to a whole new level. Television is still effective but the history of how it became the way it is today is definitely important acknowledge.
