A commentary on how television has evolved since its inception, part 2, with focus on the future, convergence and social impacts
(Editor's note -- This is final part of a two part series first published last week.)
The rise of digital television (DTV) with high definition programs (HDTV) is enhancing the standard TV. Soon, broadband wireless networks, enabled by technologies like WiMax and the 3rd and 4th generations of mobile phone networks, will allow global access to many TV channels without requiring satellites, by receiving television broadcasts over IP. This will eventually lead to a planetary TV network, in contrast with the current predominance of country specific TV channels.
The use of sensitive ads enables advertisers to precisely reach their targets. Instead of broadcasting the same advert to millions of people worldwide, these ads will precisely tailor the audience on each device, increasing advert effectiveness and revenue stream.
TV’s marriage with the Internet is also taking place and the two are becoming closer every month. “The distinction between television and video is becoming murkier and murkier”, said John Miller, the chief marketing officer for the NBC Universal Television Group, after the announcement of a deal with YouTube to promote NBC’s television lineup. With Hollywood finally embracing the digital era after a long period of hesitation, in September of 2006 the iTunes Store began offering feature-length movies. As of August 2007, Apple’s catalogue includes over 300 TV shows and 500 movies.
Another promising technological marriage is also taking its baby steps. Television on cellular phones is being implemented throughout Europe using DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) and, to a lesser extent, DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). While DMB is mostly on test trials, DVB-H has already been commercially launched in a few countries, with many more planning to do so in the following months. These services are to be made commercially available by mobile phone operators, requiring consumers to pay a fee, which will be divided with the broadcasters. IPTV is also a blooming technology and by the end of 2006, there were over 1500 free IPTV channels available. Merging these two concepts is MobiTV, a company offering IPTV on your cellular telephone for a monthly fee. When this technology becomes common, anyone may have the comfort of enjoying their favorite programs, along with interactive services and entertainment, regardless of their location in our planet. This truly worldwide mobile TV network is the future of television.
Social impacts
The social impact of television is undeniable. It is one of the major contributors to the global village concept and brings information from around the world to every home in modern society. Together with the Internet and newspapers, it forms the backbone of the so-called Second Superpower, a term originating from a 2003 article, by Patrick Tyler, in the New York Times.
Following the global anti-war demonstrations of 2003, the world’s public opinion equated to a second superpower, with a political influence rivaling that of the United States of America. This influence has been felt repeatedly in recent times, with a notable example being the independence of East Timor. This country came to self-determination largely because of the televised images of the Dili massacre, which were shown worldwide, and the public outcry that ensued.
Still, the influence of television isn’t always positive. Its power to mesmerize the masses as been exploited many times, and although the analysts have trouble agreeing on which situations can be considered as such exploitations, the vast majority agree that it has happened. This is nevertheless a controversial subject, as it is not uncommon for people to use their influence, or expertise, in order to manipulate the media.
By controlling three of the Italian private TV networks with approximately half the national viewing audience, Silvio Berlusconi had a large advantage over his opponents, allowing him to gain the elections in Italy, despite his questionable ethics. On the other hand, respected journalist Edward R. Murrow used his position as host of the television show See It Now, to help bring an end to McCarthism and the aggressive witch-hunts perpetrated in the USA during that time.
However, not only politics are important when it comes to television. Even TV commercials have an impact in most people’s everyday life, and in 1991, recognizing the potential harm and influence of television ads; the Swedish government imposed a total ban on advertising to children under twelve.
Still, warnings of the potentially nefarious effects of television in children and weak-minded individuals had started decades before. In Minow’s speech of 1961, it was stated that, by spending as much time in front of the TV sets as they spent in their schoolroom, the influence of the programming became extremely important in many children’s development as healthy human beings.
In the U.S., the National Institute on Media and the Family revealed that U.S. children watch an average of 25 hours of television per week, amidst studies indicating this habit interferes with the educational and maturational process. A New Zealand study involving one thousand people, from childhood to 26 years of age, indicated that the more an individual watched television, the less likely he was to finish school and enroll in a university. In 2002, an article in Scientific American indicated that compulsive television watching presented many similarities to other forms of addiction, a discovery supported by reports of withdrawal symptoms among families forced, by circumstance, to cease watching.
Rating wars led TV to lower quality standards, generally broadcasting programs pitched at low intellectual level, while corporate influence led to propaganda designed to keep the status quo and manipulate the masses.
In “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business” (1985), a controversial book by Neil Postman, the author distinguishes the Orwellian vision of the future depicted in “1984” from the one offered by Aldous Huxley in “Brave New World”. While in “1984” totalitarian governments seize individual rights, in Huxley’s book people medicate themselves into bliss, voluntarily sacrificing their rights. Postman sees television's entertainment value as a wonder drug for the contemporary world, leading mankind to surrender its rights in exchange for entertainment.
Television is also a means for isolation. While in the past, watching TV was mostly a collective activity, it is increasingly becoming a means of seclusion. So-called couch potatoes spend most of their time sitting in front of their television sets relegating social contact.
The modern way of life in western society is especially prone to this kind of situation. People are given the possibility of comfortably living for years without leaving their homes. Although social contact is important to a healthy development of the human psyche, the new-networked society allows some people to work, shop, and get entertainment without leaving their homes, though all this is done in a socially neutered way.
These people are a modern type of hermit, lacking any type of social abilities, and are mostly disinterested in all matters that do not directly affect them. While this type of situation is not caused by television nor the Internet, current society facilitates the aggravation of these symptoms, allowing socially inept people to willingly isolate themselves. The recent boom of portable consumer electronics such as laptops, mp3 players and cellular telephones created yet a new form of social reclusion, leading to an increasing disconnection between people sharing the same physical space. Skip Clarke published an article in which he suggests that the capability to be connected to the entire world, instead of connecting people with the reality around them, fosters isolation from the ones physically close.
It is a fact that social interaction with surrounding human beings used to be much more important to ordinary people than it is today. An intercontinental plane trip, in which a person shares the same physical space with others for an extended period of time, used to be a regular place to strike a conversation with a stranger. As time goes by, more people hide behind their laptops and portable entertainment systems, which allow them to sit in excess of 10 hours next to a person without exchanging any words.
With the rise of television and other forms of entertainment in portable packages such as cell phones, this situation may be aggravated, leading to an increasing difficulty in social interaction. Isolated people tend to be egotistical and, if the current tendency increases, modern society may find itself in distress as the social tissue crumbles under the weight of increasingly self-centered individuals, unwilling to communicate with a fellow human being and with no desire to reproduce, due to the sacrifices a family implies.
The democratic system stands on the basic principle that the benefit of many outweighs the benefit of one, and for a democratic society to properly function, there must be an active interest for the well fare of the community in at least a small part of the population. The possible negative effects of the globalization of television as a mean of entertainment and political propaganda cannot yet be predicted.
Conclusions
It is fundamental to acknowledge the power and influence of television over society. It is true that TV’s position as the central hub of entertainment in a household is largely threatened by the new technologies, and there is a need for evolution to avoid it becoming obsolete. Still, instead of replacing television, the new technologies will find their own place and, as both evolve, they will surely be able to complement and enhance one another.
However, the importance of television is not the medium but the content. As Edward R. Murrow so eloquently said, “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire, but it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.” Governments, parents, and society should strive for a healthy use of television. Cultural programs should be stimulated, children programming should be heavily regulated, and oriented towards education, and schools should absorb the concept of healthy TV habits and teach them to young children. It would serve the public to have an organization responsible for measuring not the ratings, but the quality of a network’s programming, in order to properly compensate those who commit to the public interest.
It must be remembered that the airwaves are public and that broadcasts should use that medium for the improvement of civilization. Television has been, in general, beneficial to current society, and it should continue to be so during the following decades. However, the concerns about the decaying quality of programs are well funded, as the constant pressure of ratings lowers the average quality of broadcasted shows. State sponsored incentives should be created in order to reverse this trend.
As in many other issues, the most important answer to this problem is education. Parents and teachers should play an active role in transmitting healthy habits and controlling addictive behaviors, allowing for the future generations to adapt to the wonders of new technologies and their beneficial consequences.
Democracy and society depend on human interaction. While the evolution of television and new technologies may be paramount in nourishing it, when properly used, it can also neuter social contact in a gradual, almost invisible way.
As Murrow himself would put it: "Good night, and good luck."
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