Deck 6: Television and Cable: the Power of Visual Culture

Question 1

The narrative situation and complications in a sitcom are typically resolved by the end of the episode.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Between 1948 and 1952, hundreds of new licenses were issued to construct and operate TV stations in the United States.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The sale of spot ads within such shows as Today and TV specials like Peter Pan helped to end sponsor control of TV content.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Cable News Network (CNN) premiered in 1970.

Question 5

Time shifting refers to the delay of broadcast programs because of different time zones across the United States.

Question 6

Idahoan Philo Farnsworth is credited with transmitting the first TV picture electronically when he was only twenty-one years old.

Question 7

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) does not pose a significant threat to the cable industry.

Question 8

CATV stands for "cable access television."

Question 9

Today, with the advent of DVR, viewers are moving away from the trend of time shifting that affected advertisers in previous decades.

Question 10

The quiz-show scandals of the 1950s provided the first indication that TV images could be manipulated.

Question 11

Television has been praised as unbiased and removed from partisan politics.

Question 12

In the first years of television, cities that had operating television stations saw 20 to 40 percent increase in people going to movie theaters.

Question 13

Only a few TV series from the 1950s have survived, and that is because these few were the only ones originally shot on film.

Question 14

The quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s encouraged sponsors to create TV content.

Question 15

Many of the program conventions in television actually came from radio.

Question 16

Third screens typically function as "catch-up services," allowing consumers to watch TV shows or movies that played earlier.

Question 17

A communication satellite that is in geosynchronous orbit circles the earth at the same speed at which the earth revolves on its axis.

Question 18

As a result of the number and diversity of cable offerings, the "Big Three" major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) have lost a significant portion of the viewer base they had prior to 1980.

Question 19

Premium cable channels lure customers with the promise of no advertising.

Question 20

The ability to stream TV shows on fourth screens such as smartphones and the iPad hasn't changed consumers' viewing habits.

Question 21

Under a cash-plus syndication deal, a TV station pays less for a popular syndicated show than it would under a straight cash deal.

Question 22

After completing its first five television episodes, an independently produced TV program no longer requires deficit financing to fund its production.

Question 23

In TV syndication, barter deals are usually arranged for new or untested shows.

Question 24

Evergreens are TV shows that are currently popular.

Question 25

In the landmark Midwest Video case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the cable industry was a form of electronic publishing with the same First Amendment rights as print magazines.

Question 26

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, cable operators are allowed to offer telephone services.

Question 27

The federal government funds 90 percent of public television's annual budget.

Question 28

In TV measurement, a rating is a statistical estimate, a percentage, of households turned to a program in the market sample.

Question 29

Few children's programs are aired on network television because most advertisers are less interested in reaching that audience.

Question 30

Must-carry rules require cable operators to assign channels to and carry all local TV broadcasts on their systems.

Question 31

With the establishment of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967, nonprofit radio and television stations no longer had to ask their audiences for financial support.

Question 32

CNN showed an immediate profit and was met with widespread cultural success when Ted Turner introduced it in 1970.

Question 33

An FCC study found that local cable TV companies that face competition have lower monthly rates than cable companies in noncompetitive markets.

Question 34

Concerned with the power that the Big Three networks had, the FCC enacted the Prime Time Access Rule.

Question 35

Niche markets are fragmented TV's audience not the broad public.

Question 36

Triple play is what cable companies call sports programming.

Question 37

Cable systems that operate as common carriers are required by law to approve the content of all programs they provide their subscribers.

Question 38

Reality TV shows cost more for networks and cable to make than sitcoms or dramas.

Question 39

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a mixed bag for cable companies. While they argued this would bring more competition, about 60 percent of communities in the United States still have only one local cable company.

Question 40

Audience measurement isn't particularly useful to advertisers because it only tells them how many people are watching a particular program, not what kind of people.

Question 41

How have direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services challenged cable?

A) They offer a lot more stations than cable.
B) They are able to send signals directly to small satellite dishes where the installation of cable wires hasn't been possible.
C) They have started to create their own programming, while cable still only shows reruns of old network programs.
D) They have a better relationship with broadcast networks than cable does, and thus have lower retransmission fees than cable.
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 42

Smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices used to watch videos are sometimes referred to as ______.

A) first screens
B) time shifting
C) fourth screens
D) off-network
E) headends

Question 43

Which of the following is a premium cable channel?

A) ESPN
B) CNN
C) MTV
D) C-SPAN
E) HBO

Question 44

Differences in, and competition over, technical standards ______.

A) caused the FCC to temporarily ban any new TV licenses in the late 1940s and early 1950s
B) meant that it took over a decade before all three of the major networks started broadcasting in color in the mid-1960s
C) resulted in a "war" between the Beta and VHS formats of home videocassette recorders
D) resulted in a "war" between Blu-ray and HD DVD formats for high-definition movie recordings
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 45

At the network era's peak, a prime-time series with a rating of 17 or 18 and a share of between 28 and 30 was generally a success.

Question 46

VHS outsold the technically superior Betamax videocassette format because ______.

A) VHS offered high-definition playback
B) VHS offered more tape space and could record longer programs
C) more money was spent advertising the Betamax format than the VHS
D) consumers couldn't tell the difference between the two formats
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 47

The final part of the cable system that actually brings the cable into the home is called the ______.

A) feeder or trunk cable
B) headend
C) cathode ray tube
D) fiber-optic cable
E) drop or tap line

Question 48

Which of the following was not one of Sylvester "Pat" Weaver's strategies for forcing advertisers to relinquish some of their power over television programming?

A) The introduction of magazine shows like the Today show
B) The development of television specials, such as the TV versions of Richard III and Peter Pan
C) The development of spot ads - shorter ads to be sold to individual sponsors
D) Decreasing the length of television programs, allowing for fewer advertisements to go to any one sponsor
E) None of the options was a strategy.

Question 49

Which of the following is a way cable channels have achieved success?

A) Creating programs that target the largest possible mass audience
B) Avoiding being "bundled" with other channels as part of a package deal
C) Finding and catering to the needs of a niche audience with specific interests
D) Emulating broadcast network programming
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 50

Some U.S. cities are challenging privately owned cable giants by building competing, publicly owned cable systems.

Question 51

Comcast is the nation's largest cable TV system operator.

Question 52

In the TV freeze of 1948-1952, ______.

A) the FCC halted technological experiments in order to decide on a workable model for American color television
B) a number of television stations froze new programming in order to make decisions about sponsorship issues and advertising
C) advertisers boycotted television programming as a way of ensuring their own monopolies
D) the FCC declared a freeze on new licenses because of concerns about frequency-interference problems
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 53

Which development was a consequence of the quiz-show scandal?

A) The patent pool was declared a monopoly and dismantled.
B) The networks couldn't keep control over programming, and the sponsors became the sole authority.
C) Quiz-show hosts were no longer allowed to have stock in the company.
D) Quiz-show contestants had to be vetted by the show's sponsors first.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 54

Who transmitted the first electronic TV picture?

A) John Grierson
B) Philo Farnsworth
C) Vladimir Zworykin
D) Thomas Edison
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 55

The development of satellites in the 1970s ______.

A) brought an end to the franchising frenzy
B) encouraged competition between K-band and C-band technologies
C) enabled premium channels like HBO to be born
D) made the FCC instigate must-carry rules
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 56

A catch-up service ______.

A) lets you watch episodes after they air on TV
B) is an online fan site with plot descriptions
C) refers only to DVD players
D) usually refers to something you see in a movie theater
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 57

The practice of recording shows and watching them later when it is more convenient is called ______.

A) fin-syn
B) viewer's choice
C) time shifting
D) stripping
E) syndicating

Question 58

Cable systems in the United States are increasingly owned by fewer and fewer companies, called multiple-system operators.

Question 59

Why have TV broadcasters been threatened by cable?

A) Cable systems have better satellites.
B) Cable systems might choose not to carry the signal of a local broadcast station.
C) Since cable's inception, the FCC has favored the cable industry over the broadcasting industry.
D) Cable's clearer signal and ability to target niche audiences attracted viewers away from their programming.
E) Broadcasters never felt threatened by cable.

Question 60

One potential drawback for consumers who use a DVR (digital video recorder) is that ______.

A) they have to be at home to press "record" in order to tape a program
B) they can't skip past commercials
C) marketers and advertisers might be able to "see" what they watch
D) they can only use them to record broadcast network programming, not cable programming
E) DVRs can be unreliable and don't always record what you program them to record

Question 61

In its early days, television drama drew on ______ for many of its ideas, sets, actors, technicians, and directors.

A) the music industry
B) radio
C) movies
D) New York theater
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 62

______ are one of the longest-running serial programs in the history of television.

A) Workplace comedies
B) Daytime soap operas
C) Sitcoms
D) Hybrid dramas
E) Anthology dramas

Question 63

Which of the following is not true about the aftermath of the Telecommunications Act of 1996?

A) Competition from allowing regional and long-distance phone companies as well as cable companies into each other's markets has kept cable rates low.
B) Consolidation of regional phone, long-distance, cable, and Internet service companies has decreased competition and left consumers with high cable bills.
C) The cable industry has spent almost $150 billion installing and upgrading its technological infrastructure in the United States.
D) Cable companies now bundle digital cable television, Internet, and phone services.
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 64

In 1972, the FCC required cable systems to provide and fund a tier of ______ dedicated to local education, government, and the public.

A) DBS services
B) must-carry rules
C) access channels
D) pay-per-view channels
E) superstations

Question 65

In 1970 the FCC created the ______, which "constituted the most damaging attack against the network TV monopoly in FCC history."

A) Prime Time Access Rule
B) must-carry rules
C) access channels
D) Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 66

Programs that are in off-network syndication are ______.

A) programs that were made specifically for syndication
B) older programs that no longer run during network prime time
C) programs that are produced by broadcast networks for cable channels
D) programs that are too risqué for network television
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 67

What is the difference between a common carrier and an electronic publisher?

A) A common carrier may examine content before distributing it; an electronic publisher may not.
B) A common carrier is not allowed to import any foreign programming; an electronic publisher may.
C) A common carrier may not transmit video images; an electronic publisher can send both analog and digital images.
D) A common carrier must offer at least part of its services on a first-come, first-served basis; an electronic publisher can pick and choose its channels.
E) There is no difference between a common carrier and an electronic publisher.

Question 68

Which of the following statements about reality television is false?

A) The genre includes programs like Survivor, Top Chef, and The Voice.
B) The shows introduce us to characters/people who seem more like "us" and less like celebrities.
C) The inspiration for reality TV can be traced to MTV's Real World.
D) Reality TV is much more expensive to make than typical comedies or dramas.
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 69

The game show Wheel of Fortune is an example of ______.

A) off-network syndication
B) first-run syndication
C) fringe time
D) an O & O
E) hybrid syndication

Question 70

During the 2013-2014 season, NCIS on CBS drew an average audience of about _______.

A) 22 million
B) 20 million
C) 25 million
D) 15 million
E) 18 million

Question 71

According to the textbook, which of the following statements about television news is true?

A) There have been relatively few changes to the television news industry since the start of the 24/7 cable news channels.
B) From the very start of television, networks were concerned with keeping their news departments separate from big commercial sponsors like tobacco companies.
C) ABC News was the first news program to be aired by a major television network.
D) Since the 1960s, national polls have shown local television news is typically thought of as more trustworthy than newspapers.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 72

In a situation comedy ______.

A) character development is emphasized over plot twists
B) characters change dramatically over the course of the series
C) characters are under a great deal of stress
D) viewers consider themselves slightly smarter than the characters
E) viewers consider themselves slightly inferior to the characters

Question 73

In 1965, the FCC established must-carry rules, which ______.

A) required cable operators to carry local TV broadcasts
B) established technical standards for cable broadcasts, regulating the signals carried by cable systems
C) blocked cable systems from bringing distant television stations into cities with local stations
D) blocked cable operators from carrying local TV broadcasts
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 74

Which term best describes the financial arrangement that most TV producers and movie studios enter into to make prime-time TV shows?

A) Prime Time Access Rule
B) Above-the-line costs
C) Below-the-line costs
D) Economy of scale
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 75

Below-the-line costs for a TV program include the ______.

A) writer
B) camera crew
C) actors
D) director
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 76

When might broadcast networks air syndicated programs?

A) During prime time
B) During fringe time
C) During time shifting
D) Only during the daytime
E) Only during the evening

Question 77

Anthologies were replaced by other types of programming in the 1950s because ______.

A) advertisers didn't like anthologies
B) they were expensive to produce
C) the television audience changed as it expanded
D) some were considered too controversial
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 78

Which of the following statements about public broadcasting is true?

A) It would have lost all funding from the government if the Senate hadn't killed a 2011 effort by a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
B) Public broadcasting hopes to increase corporate contributions with on-air promotional messages.
C) One of its main missions continues to be providing educational children's programming.
D) The bulk of the funding for public broadcasting comes from viewers, listeners, and corporations.
E) All of the options are correct.

Question 79

An airing of the television show Friends on Fox at 6:30 P.M. is an example of ______.

A) off-network syndication
B) first-run syndication
C) video-on-demand
D) an O & O
E) hybrid syndication

Question 80

Which of the following is the best way to erase the losses of deficit financing for a TV show?

A) Selling the program into rerun, or off-network, syndication
B) Selling national and local advertising spots
C) Selling the program to individual affiliates
D) Renting the program to the networks
E) Time shifting