broadcasting

broadcasting
/brawd"kas'ting, -kah'sting/, n.
1. the act of transmitting speech, music, visual images, etc., as by radio or television.
2. radio or television as a business or profession: She's training for a career in broadcasting.
[1920-25; BROADCAST + -ING1]

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I
Transmission of sound or images by radio or television.

After Guglielmo Marconi's discovery of wireless broadcasting in 1901, radio broadcasting was undertaken by amateurs. The first U.S. commercial radio station, KDKA of Pittsburgh, began operation in 1920. The number of stations increased rapidly, as did the formation of national radio networks. To avoid radio monopolies, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Communications Commission to oversee broadcast operations. In the 1930s and '40s, the "golden age of radio," innovations in broadcast techniques and programming made radio the most popular entertainment medium. Television broadcasting began in Germany and Britain in the 1930s. After World War II, the U.S. took the lead, and television stations soon overshadowed radio networks. Color television broadcasts began in 1954 and became widespread in the 1960s. By the 1980s, satellite transmission of live television further expanded the field of broadcasting. See also ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS.
II
(as used in expressions)
American Broadcasting Co.
British Broadcasting Corp.
National Broadcasting Co.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

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Introduction

      electronic transmission of radio and television signals that are intended for general public reception, as distinguished from private signals that are directed to specific receivers. In its most common form, broadcasting may be described as the systematic dissemination of entertainment, information, educational programming, and other features for simultaneous reception by a scattered audience with appropriate receiving apparatus. Broadcasts may be audible only, as in radio, or visual or a combination of both, as in television. Sound broadcasting in this sense may be said to have started about 1920, while television broadcasting began in the 1930s. With the advent of cable television in the early 1950s and the use of satellites for broadcasting beginning in the early 1960s, television reception improved and the number of programs receivable increased dramatically.

      The scope of this article encompasses the nontechnical aspects of broadcasting. It traces the development of radio and television broadcasting, surveys the state of broadcasting in various countries throughout the world, and discusses the relationship of the broadcaster to government and the public. Discussion of broadcasting as a medium of art includes a description of borrowings from other media. For more detailed information about electronic components and techniques used in radio and television communications, see the articles electronics; telecommunication system (telecommunication); radio; and television.

Jorge A. Camacho Ed.

History

Radiobroadcasting
      The first known radio program in the United States was broadcast by Reginald Aubrey Fessenden from his experimental station at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, on Christmas Eve, 1906. Two musical selections, the reading of a poem, and a short talk apparently constituted the program, which was heard by ship wireless operators within a radius of several hundred miles. Following the relaxation of military restrictions on radio at the conclusion of World War I, many experimental radio stations—often equipped with homemade apparatus—were operated by amateurs. The range of such broadcasts was only a few miles, and the receiving apparatus necessary to hear them was mostly in the hands of other experimenters, who, like the broadcasters, pursued radio as a hobby. Among the leading personalities of this early period was David Sarnoff (Sarnoff, David), later of the Radio Corporation of America and the National Broadcasting Company, who first, in 1916, envisaged the possibility of a radio receiver in every home.

Growth of commercial radio
      From this beginning the evolution of broadcasting was rapid; many persons who wanted to hear music from the air soon created a demand for receivers that were suitable for operation by the layman. The increase in the number of listeners in turn justified the establishment of stations especially for the purpose of broadcasting entertainment and information programs. The first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which went on the air in the evening of November 2, 1920, with a broadcast of the returns of the Harding–Cox presidential election. The success of the KDKA broadcast and of the musical programs that were initiated thereafter motivated others to install similar stations; a total of eight were operating in the United States by the end of 1921.

      The popularity of these early stations created two possible sources of financial support to offset the operating costs of broadcasting. First, there were possibilities for profit in the manufacture and sale of radio receiving equipment; and, second, the fame attained by the organizations operating the first broadcasting stations called attention to the value of broadcasting as an advertising medium. Advertising eventually became the principal means of support for broadcasting in the United States.

      Between 1921 and 1922 the sale of radio receiving sets and of component parts for use in home construction of such sets began a boom that was followed immediately by a large increase in the number of transmitting stations. By November 1, 1922, 564 broadcasting stations had been licensed.

Interconnection of stations
      The use of long-distance wire telephone lines in 1922 to connect a radio station in New York City with one in Chicago to broadcast a description of a gridiron-football game introduced a new idea into radiobroadcasting. In 1926 the National Broadcasting Company purchased WEAF in New York and, using it as the originating station, established a permanent network of radio stations to which it distributed daily programs. Some of these programs were sponsored by advertisers and furnished revenue to both the network and its associated stations, while others were supported by the network, with a portion of the time being set aside for public-service features.

Government regulation
      Although the growth of radiobroadcasting in the United States was spectacularly swift, in the early years it also proved to be chaotic, unplanned, and unregulated. Furthermore, business arrangements that were being made between the leading manufacturers of radio equipment and the leading broadcasters seemed to threaten monopoly. Congress responded by passing the Radio Act of 1927, which, although directed primarily against monopoly, also set up the agency that is now called the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate wavelengths to broadcasters. The government's attack on monopoly resulted eventually in four radio networks—the National Broadcasting Company, Columbia Broadcasting System, Mutual Broadcasting System, and American Broadcasting Company—while the FCC permitted orderly growth and ensured the survival of educational radio stations.

Early development
      Radiobroadcasting in Great Britain eventually developed in quite a different way from that in the United States. The first initiatives after World War I were taken by commercial firms that regarded broadcasting primarily as a means of point-to-point communication. The first successful broadcasting of the human voice, from a transmitter in Ireland across the Atlantic in 1919, led to the erection of a six-kilowatt transmitter at Chelmsford, Essex. From this spot two daily half-hour programs of speech and music, including a well-received broadcast by the opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, were broadcast for about a year between 1919 and 1920. Opposition from the armed services, fear of interference with essential communications, and a desire to avoid the “commercialization” of radio led, however, to a ban on the Chelmsford broadcasts, which the Post Office claimed the right to impose. Experimental broadcasts, the Post Office ruled, had to be individually authorized. Nevertheless, about 4,000 receiving-set licenses and 150 amateur transmitting licenses issued by the Post Office by March 1921 were evidence of growing interest. When these amateurs, grouped into 63 societies with a total of about 3,000 members, petitioned for regular broadcasts, their request was granted in a limited form: the Marconi Company was authorized to broadcast about 15 minutes weekly.

      The first of these authorized broadcasts, from a hut at Writtle, close to Chelmsford, took place on February 14, 1922; the station call signal was 2MT. Shortly thereafter an experimental station was authorized at Marconi House in London, and its first program went on the air May 11, 1922. Other stations were soon to follow.

Formation of the British Broadcasting Company
      By this time developments in the United States had demonstrated the commercial possibilities of radio but also suggested a need for greater order and control. The Post Office took the initiative in encouraging cooperation between manufacturers, and on October 18, 1922, the British Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (British Broadcasting Corporation), was established as a private corporation. Only bona fide manufacturers were permitted to hold shares, and the directors of the firm, all of whom represented manufacturing interests, met under an independent chairman. The company's revenue came from half of the 10-shilling license fee for receivers and a 10-percent royalty on the sale of receiving sets and equipment. Provincial stations were provided for, and all stations were to broadcast “news, information, concerts, lectures, educational matter, speeches, weather reports, theatrical entertainment. . . .”

      Already several precedents had been established that were later followed in many other countries; of these the license revenue was the most important, but the royalty on sets and equipment was also adopted elsewhere, even after its abandonment in Britain. Because the British Broadcasting Company was a monopoly and because British radio as a result developed in a more orderly manner than elsewhere, such problems and issues of broadcasting as control of finance, broadcasting of controversy, relations with government, network organization, and public-service broadcasting became apparent, and solutions were sought in the United Kingdom earlier than elsewhere.

      In 1927, upon recommendation of a parliamentary committee, the company was liquidated and replaced by a public corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), answerable ultimately to Parliament but with day-to-day control left to the judgment of the Board of Governors appointed on the basis of their standing and experience and not representing any sectional interests. A key figure, the chief executive of the original company and director general of the corporation, was John Reith (Reith, John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron) (later Lord Reith), whose concept of public-service broadcasting prevailed in Britain and influenced broadcasting in many other countries. The BBC retained its monopoly until the creation of the Independent Television Authority (ITA) in 1954. The BBC experimented with local radio in the late 1960s and expanded the number of local stations in the early 1970s. In 1972 the ITA became the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which assumed responsibility for establishing and regulating independent radio and television stations. Regional and network production companies are appointed by the IBA; the companies sell advertising time, but advertisers are not allowed to sponsor programs.

Radio developments in other countries
      Even before the pioneer station in Pittsburgh commenced operations, regular broadcasts began from The Hague, running from November 1919 until 1924. In Canada the first regular broadcasts from Montreal began in 1920, while in Australia a small station in Melbourne opened in 1921, though the official start occurred in Sydney in 1923. In New Zealand several low-powered stations were operating in 1921, though the Radio Broadcasting Company was not founded until 1927. In Denmark experimental amateur stations went on the air in 1921, and the official State Broadcasting System was instituted in 1925. France began regular transmissions from the Eiffel Tower in 1922, and the first Soviet station commenced broadcasts from Moscow in the same year. By the end of 1923 there also were radio stations established in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Spain. The list of countries lengthened rapidly, with Finland and Italy beginning broadcasts in 1924 and Norway, Poland, Mexico, and Japan in 1925. In India organized broadcasting began in 1926; the Indian Broadcasting Company had stations in Bombay and Calcutta in 1927.

      In most of these countries, the problem of control arose. In some countries private enterprise was given free rein, subject to licensing by a government department or agency and to agreement upon the wavelengths or frequencies to be used. In others there was closer control (e.g.,France) or encouragement for cooperation between potentially conflicting interests (e.g.,Germany and Japan). Britain's example was followed in Denmark, Sweden, several Commonwealth countries, and some British colonies. In Canada and France, state and private enterprise operated side by side. Private stations were well established in Canada, for example, before the Canadian Broadcasting Commission was formed in 1936.

      In France the Administration of Posts and Telegraphs handled early broadcasts; although a state monopoly was declared in 1923 and state broadcasting remained a department of the Administration of Posts and Telegraphs until World War II, some private stations were granted licenses, including Radio Normandy, which broadcast to the United Kingdom. Some of these private commercial stations continued operation, broadcasting under government control until 1945, when their licenses were withdrawn and radio became a complete state monopoly, independent of the Administration of Posts and Telegraphs but answerable to the government.

      In Germany the Ministry of Posts controlled and owned all technical equipment, while private companies started programs in various cities. Soon the Reich Broadcasting Company acquired controlling interests in these companies; in 1932 all were nationalized.

International conferences
      The wavelength problems that created so much confusion in the United States and provided a strong argument for monopoly in Britain also arose internationally, particularly in Europe, where the concentration of heavily populated and technologically advanced sovereign nations compelled international agreement. Telegraphy had led to an early conference in Paris in 1865 that created what later became the International Telecommunications Union. This event was followed by the Berlin conference of 1885 to discuss international telephone communications, two further conferences in Berlin in 1903 and 1906 on radiotelegraph, and still another in London in 1912 to cover the whole field of radio communications. An informal conference of 10 countries held in London in 1925 created the Union Internationale de Radiophonie. The union was based in Geneva, with a BBC representative as president and another as secretary-general, and was the first international broadcasting organization. The use of wavelengths (wavelength), copyright problems, and international program exchanges inevitably were discussed, and a plan was drawn up.

      Agreement on wavelength allocation, implemented in November 1926, was based on a formula involving area, population, and the extent of telephone and telegraph traffic. In spite of its dominating position, the BBC, which had been using 20 medium wavelengths, emerged with one long wavelength, 10 medium wavelengths, and five further medium wavelengths shared with others but below the Post Office limit range for broadcasting of between one megahertz and 600 kilohertz (300 and 500 metres). (Long waves range from 30 to 300 kilohertz; medium waves from 300 kilohertz to three megahertz; and shortwaves from three to 30 megahertz.) All of the more advanced participating countries (which had risen to 16: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) had to make some sacrifices, and some, such as the United Kingdom, had to persuade their post offices to agree to the use of wavelengths outside the broadcasting range; but the principle of international agreement had been established. The Washington Conference of 1927 widened the area of cooperation in respect to radiotelegraph, broadcasting, and the international allocation of wavelengths, or frequencies. It was followed by the Madrid Conference of 1932, which codified the rules and established the official international frequency list. This agreement stabilized the situation until World War II, after which the European scene was substantially changed, and a conference in Copenhagen in 1948 reallocated frequencies in the European Broadcasting Area. The Atlantic City Conference in 1947 had already created the International Frequency Registration Board. A conference in Buenos Aires in 1952 prepared the text of the International Telecommunications Convention. The text was revised at Geneva in 1959, where radio regulations were also revised. Geneva also was the site of the 1963 conference for the allocation of frequency bands for space and Earth–space communications.

International organizations
      The International Telecommunications Union (International Telecommunication Union), created in 1865, has worldwide membership. In 1947 it became a specialized agency of the United Nations. Within the union are the International Frequency Registration Board, the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee, and the International Radio Consultative Committee. Apart from the International Telecommunications Union, a number of organizations have been established, primarily on a regional basis, since World War II. When tensions between the East and West made the Union Internationale de Radiophonie almost unworkable, a strong organization, the European Broadcasting Union, was created by the countries of western Europe in 1950, with its administrative headquarters in Geneva. It has a membership of more than 30 nations that includes not only all nations of western Europe but also others such as Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. In addition it has more than 40 associate members, including the United States and most Commonwealth and former French colonial countries, as well as Japan and several Latin-American countries. A parallel organization, the International Radio and Television Organization, was created in 1950 to serve nearly all Communist countries (excluding Yugoslavia) and allies of the Communist bloc.

      The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, which was formally established in 1964 as a union of national broadcasting organizations in Asia and the Pacific, includes Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, as well as Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and most of the non-Communist countries of Asia; its headquarters are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Union of National Radio and Television Organizations of Africa, which was formed in 1962, includes most former French and British colonies. The union is based in Dakar, Senegal, and has its technical centre at Bamako, Mali. The Arab States Broadcasting Union was formed in 1969 as an intergovernmental organization within the framework of the Arab League; the secretariat is in Cairo, and the technical centre is located in Khartoum, The Sudan. The Asociación Internacional de Radiodifusión primarily covers North, Central, and South America but includes some European countries. Its central office is in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, established in 1945 as a standing association of national public-service broadcasting organizations in the independent countries of the Commonwealth, bases its secretariat in London. The North American National Broadcasters Association, with its headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, began as an ad hoc group in 1972 and became a formal organization in 1978. Its members are Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Caribbean Broadcasting Union is headquartered in Christ Church, Barbados, and is an association of National Broadcasting Systems of the Commonwealth, Caribbean, and Other Regional States. The International Broadcasting Society was formed in 1985 to improve the information flow between Third World and advanced countries and to foster cooperation among developing countries. Its headquarters are in Seoul, South Korea.

      There are other international broadcasting bodies, including the United Nations Department of Public Information and the Culture and Communication Sector of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The International Broadcast Institute, created in 1968 as a nonprofit and nongovernmental association supported by charitable foundations, with headquarters in London, fosters a free flow of communications for informational, cultural, and educational purposes. There are also a substantial number of religious broadcasting bodies, some of regional and some of worldwide proportions; among the most important are the World Association for Christian Communications, set up in 1968 and based in London, and the Association Catholique Internationale pour la Radio, la Télévision, et l'Audiovisuel, based in Brussels. Radio Free Europe, based in Munich and financed by U.S. government funds, was established to broadcast pro-Western propaganda to eastern Europe.

Television broadcasting
Early developments
      Through a series of technical developments in Great Britain, Europe, the Soviet Union, and the United States, television reached a state of technical feasibility by 1931. In that year a research group was established in Britain under Isaac (later Sir Isaac) Shoenberg (Shoenberg, Sir Isaac), an inventor with vast experience in radio transmission in the Soviet Union. He fostered the evolution of a complete and practical television-broadcast system based on a camera tube known as the Emitron and an improved cathode-ray tube for the receiver. Shoenberg saw the need to establish a system that would endure for many years, since any subsequent changes in basic standards could give rise to severe technical and economic problems. He therefore proposed a system that, though ambitious for its day, was fully justified by subsequent events. Shoenberg's electronic scanning proved far superior to the mechanical scanning method that had been developed by the pioneer John Baird. The government authorized the BBC to adopt Shoenberg's standards (405 lines) for the world's first high-definition service, which was launched in London in 1936. So adequate were they that they formed the sole basis of the British service until 1962, when they gradually were superseded by the European continental standard of 625 lines. The first notable outside broadcast by the BBC was the procession of the coronation of King George VI from Hyde Park Corner in November 1937; a portable transmitter mounted on a special vehicle made its first public appearance. Several thousand viewers saw the transmission.

      Television developments were slower in the United States. It was not until April 30, 1939, at the opening of the New York World's Fair, that a public demonstration was made by the National Broadcasting Company, which announced in that year that it was ready to begin broadcasting for two hours per week. The Columbia Broadcasting System and the Dumont network began telecasting in 1939 and 1940, respectively. By mid-1940 there were 23 television stations in the United States. World War II, however, brought nearly all activity to an end, as electronics factories were converted to wartime production. The Federal Communications Commission had authorized only limited commercial operation (the first sponsored television broadcasts began in 1941), and gradually stations closed down; only six were left with limited programs to serve the owners of about 10,000 sets. When wartime restrictions governing the manufacture of receivers were removed in 1946, the stage was set in the United States for a rapid growth of the television-broadcasting industry. By 1949 there were 1,000,000 receivers in use; the 10,000,000 mark was passed in 1951, and the 50,000,000 mark eight years later. In England the BBC's television service was resumed in June 1946; by 1949 there were 126,567 television licenses, and by 1950 there were 343,882, equal in proportion to 1,000,000 in the United States. Other nations did not begin television broadcasting on anything resembling a wide scale until the 1950s.

Transoceanic broadcasts
      The initial attempt to interconnect the television networks of Europe and North America came in 1962, when the American Telephone and Telegraph Company used its satellite, Telstar, to relay television signals between Andover, Maine, U.S.; Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall, England; and Pleumeur-Bodou, Brittany, France. The first transmission, of a purely experimental nature, originated in the United States on July 10, 1962, and this was followed the next day by transmissions to the United States from France and England; the first colour transmission occurred on July 16. Reception was limited to about 15 minutes, the period during which the satellite was within sight of the sending and receiving stations. To maintain continuous transmissions, the planners of the system proposed using a series of satellites, so that at least one would always be in position to relay signals. In the mid-1960s, however, an alternative technique came to the fore: a single relay satellite in a “stationary” orbit, so adjusted that it would always remain above the same point on the surface of the Earth. The first public demonstration of this system was on October 10, 1964, when television coverage of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games was relayed from Tokyo to North America via a Syncom satellite positioned above the Pacific Ocean. The so-called synchronous communications satellite maintained an altitude of about 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometres), its position fixed with respect to the Earth, their periods of rotation being identical. In the early 1970s such satellites were so placed that virtually any area of the Earth was within reach of any other by space-relay circuits. The transmitters and receivers used in space are capable of carrying many television channels simultaneously, in addition to telephone and other communications. The landing on the Moon by the American astronauts in 1969 was carried by satellite to an estimated audience of more than 100,000,000 viewers (see also telecommunication system (telecommunication)).

Broadcasting systems

The broadcaster and the government
      Most observers recognize that no broadcast organization can be wholly independent of government, for all of them must be licensed in accordance with international agreements. Although broadcasters in democratic countries pride themselves on their freedom in respect to their governments, they are not always free of stockholder or advertiser pressure, nor are producers and editors truly independent if senior executives, under pressure from whatever source, interfere with their editorial functions. Independence, therefore, is a relative term when it is applied to broadcasting.

      In a monograph that was written for the European Broadcasting Union, broadcasting systems are classified under four headings: state-operated, those that work under the establishment of a public (public enterprise) corporation or authority, those whose systems are a partnership blend of public authorities and private interests, and those under private management. A brief summary of these systems provides an indication of the complex variations that have arisen.

State operation
      Grouped under this heading are broadcasting systems that are operated by a government department or delegated to an administration, perhaps with a legal personality and even possibly independent in financial and administrative matters, but subject to the government and not essentially autonomous. Under this heading came the systems in most Communist countries. In the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) a special committee was set up in 1957 to be in charge of Soviet radio and television under the direct authority of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers. Similar arrangements were made in Czechoslovakia and Poland, except that the committees were given a legal personality. Romania had delegated broadcasting to a committee attached to the Council of Ministers. All- India Radio is a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Similar arrangements are common in countries that were colonies but have gained their independence since World War II.

Establishment of a public corporation or authority
      The BBC has been the prototype of this kind of system. Provided it abides by the charter and terms of the license under which it operates, the BBC has maximum independence as regards the disposal of its funds (although its revenue is subject to governmental decision as to the cost of the license that is required for every television or radio receiver), the production and scheduling of programs, and, above all, editorial control. Certain residual government powers are either hedged around with agreed provisos or never exercised. Its income, save for profits on the sale of programs abroad and the sale of various phonograph records and publications, is exclusively derived from licenses. External broadcasting (i.e., broadcasting to areas outside national boundaries) is separately financed. The chairman and Board of Governors constitute the legal personality of the BBC; they are chosen by the government not as representatives of sectional interests but on the basis of their experience and standing. Political parties in office have been careful to avoid political prejudice in these appointments.

      The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), or Société Radio-Canada, also has substantial independent powers as determined by the Broadcasting Act of 1958 and its two successors, passed in 1968 and 1991 respectively. These later acts responded to technological as well as social changes, such as the specific needs of the regions and the aspirations of French-speaking Canadian citizens. The CBC is dependent on an annual parliamentary grant for its finance, supplemented by an income derived from advertising that amounts to about one-quarter of its annual revenue. Canadian broadcasting as a whole is a mixed system, with private broadcasting companies operating alongside the CBC.

      The Japan Broadcasting Corporation, or the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK), was charged by a series of acts in 1950 with the task of conducting “its broadcasting service for the public welfare in such a manner that its broadcasts may be received all over Japan.” The NHK Board of Governors is appointed by the prime minister with the consent of both houses of the Diet. The system is financed almost exclusively from the sale of licenses for receiving sets. Private broadcasting, allowed since 1950, has led to the creation of 170 private broadcasting companies.

      Though German broadcasting is properly included in this category, the situation there is substantially different, for the basic radio and television services are not a matter for the federal government but for the individual states (Länder). The state broadcasting organizations are also grouped together in a national organization, the First German Television network. In each state, though there are some variations, there are a broadcasting council that is appointed by the legislature or nominated by churches, universities, associations of employers or trade unions, political parties, or the press; an administrative council; and a director general. Their revenue comes from receiving-set licenses and sometimes also from advertising.

      The broadcasting system in Belgium provides an interesting example of a device that has been used successfully for coping with a two-language country. There are three public authorities: one for French broadcasts, a second for Flemish, and a third that owns the property, owns and operates the technical equipment, and is responsible for the symphony orchestra, record library, and central reference library.

Partnership of public authorities and private interests
      In many cases this partnership is nominal and historical rather than substantial and actual. The outstanding example is Radiotelevisione Italiana (Italy) (RAI), originally founded in 1924. In 1927 an agreement was made with the government for a 25-year broadcasting concession. The charter was extended to cover television in 1952. Two years later a government agency acquired control, and in 1985 it owned 99 percent of the shares. RAI's administrative council consists of 20 members, six of whom are elected by the shareholders' assembly, 10 elected by a parliamentary commission, and four selected from a list of candidates representing the regional councils. A parliamentary committee of 40 members is in charge of running the service. The organization must also prepare an outline of programs on a quarterly basis for approval by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, aided by an advisory committee concerned with cultural, artistic, and educational policies. A separate organization runs the broadcast advertising business, which, together with receiving-set licenses, provides the revenue of RAI. State monopoly of broadcasting was terminated in 1976. By the early 1990s there were about 450 private television stations operating in Italy alongside the RAI.

      In Sweden the broadcasting monopoly is technically a privately owned corporation in which the state has no financial interest, thus emphasizing the independence of Sveriges Radio from the government. The shares of the corporation must be held by the Swedish press (20 percent), large noncommercial national bodies or movements (60 percent), and commerce and industry (20 percent). The board of governors is made up of a chairman and government nominees and an equal number elected by the shareholders; there also are two employee representatives of Sveriges Radio on the board. The government reserves the right to determine the amount of revenue from receiving-set licenses on an annual basis and thus controls both investment and the amount of broadcasting. The government, however, does not control how that revenue is spent. On balance, Sveriges Radio has a substantial measure of freedom.

      In Switzerland, too, there are elements of partnership between private interests and public authorities, but the federal constitution, the need to broadcast in three languages, and geographical factors have led to a system by which the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is composed of three regional societies based in Lausanne, Zürich, and Lugano-Besso.

Private management
      Most of the broadcasting organizations under this heading are commercial firms that derive their revenue from advertising, which takes the form of brief announcements scheduled at regular intervals throughout the day. In some cases a program, such as a sports event or concert, may be sponsored by one advertiser or group of advertisers. Methods and degree of government control vary, and no general characteristics may be isolated. Private-enterprise radio predominates in the United States and Latin America.

      Subject to similar controls in these countries are many nonprofit educational stations, financed by universities, private subscriptions, and foundations. There is a public-service network, the Public Broadcasting Service, in the United States.

      Other methods of distributing sound and vision programs by wire and cable are not strictly broadcasting. In the main, wire-diffusion enterprises concentrate on giving efficient reception of broadcast programs in densely populated areas, large blocks of buildings, and hotels. A tall apartment building, for example, may have one television antenna on its roof to which residents may attach their receivers. “Pay TV,” the provision of such programs as sports, special events, films, and theatrical performances via direct cable lines to subscribers, has been growing in popularity. Cable television reached about 56,100,000 homes in the United States in 1991 and has created two industries in broadcasting: one to hook up homes, the other to supply the programs. Cable television has drawn viewers away from the major commercial television networks, whose share of the prime-time audience has fallen and is expected to decline further.

The broadcaster and the public
Nature of the broadcast audience
      The psychology and behaviour of a radio or television audience, which is composed principally of individuals in the privacy of their own homes, differs considerably from that of an audience in a theatre or lecture hall. There is none of the crowd atmosphere that prevails in a public assembly, and listeners are only casually aware that they are actually part of a large audience. This engenders a sense of intimacy that causes the listener to feel a close personal association with the speaker or performer. Furthermore, many people will not accept in their own homes many of the candid forms of expression that they readily condone or support on the stage or in literature.

      Because it owes its license to operate to the state, if indeed it is not state-operated, and because of its intimate relationship to its audience, broadcasting functions in a quasi-public domain, open in all its phases to public scrutiny. It is therefore held to be invested with a moral as well as a legal responsibility to serve the public interest and must remain more sensitive to public sentiment and political opinion than most other forms of public expression.

Audience measurement
      For economic reasons, as well as those outlined above, evaluation of audience opinion and response to radio or television programs is important to the broadcaster. Audience measurement presents difficult problems, because there is no box office by which to determine the exact number of listeners. Mail received comes principally from those who have the time and inclination to write and cannot be regarded as wholly representative. Audience-measurement information may also be obtained by telephone-sampling methods, interviews in the home by market-research organizations, or by special recording devices attached to individual receiving sets. The latter, installed with the owner's consent, record the amount of time the set is used, when it is turned on and off, and the stations tuned in. These devices are expensive, however, and do not necessarily indicate whether someone is actually watching or listening, and they are therefore limited to small samples of the total audience. Whatever the method of rating, commercial broadcasters are quick to alter or discontinue any program that shows lack of audience appeal, and the listeners are thus influential in determining the nature of the programs that are offered to them. In commercial broadcasting, sponsored programs also are affected by their apparent success or failure in selling the goods advertised.

Educational (education) broadcasting
      It is difficult to give an account of educational broadcasting in countries where broadcasting is largely or wholly a matter of private management and where the larger and more important stations and networks are private commercial enterprises. Nevertheless, considerable numbers of educational transmissions are made in the United States and Latin America by universities and colleges and sometimes by municipal or state-owned stations. The Public Broadcasting Service in the United States has increased the amount of educational and generally more thought-provoking material available on the air, and in Latin America some countries use broadcasts not only to support the work of teachers in schools but also to combat illiteracy and to impart advice to isolated rural populations in matters of public health, agricultural methods, and other social and practical subjects. The Roman Catholic Church has been in the forefront of the latter activity, operating, for example, the Rede Nacional de Emissôras Católicas in Brazil and the Acción Cultural Popular in Colombia. A similar use of broadcasting is made in most of the tropical countries of Africa and Asia.

      Japan's NHK has the most ambitious educational-broadcasting output in the world. Each of its two television and AM radio services is devoted wholly to education, while general television services and FM radio also transmit material of this nature. Japan prepares programs for primary, secondary, and higher education, special offerings for the mentally and physically handicapped, and a wide range of transmissions under the general heading of “social education,” which includes foreign languages, vocational and technical instruction, advice on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and business management, plus special programs for children, adolescents, and women. The educational broadcasts of NHK reach more than 90 percent of Japan's primary and secondary schools.

      In Europe the French state broadcasting service devotes more than one-half of its radio output to educational and cultural broadcasts in the arts, letters, and sciences; and on television about 14 percent of its first and second networks are devoted to adult education. Primary and secondary instruction is offered, as are refresher courses for teachers and university-level courses.

      Although Italian radio devotes less than 1 percent of its output specifically to educational programs for children, nearly 20 percent is given to cultural and allied offerings. Educational television began in Italy in 1958 with courses of a vocational nature, followed by transmissions aimed at secondary schools. In 1966 special programs were initiated for areas where there are no secondary schools. By the early 1980s, 17 percent of Italian television time was devoted to educational and school broadcasts and 4 percent to cultural programs.

      Swedish radio offers a comprehensive service of educational and cultural broadcasting, with the output on television higher than that on radio. There is also a substantial output of adult education at the primary, secondary, and university levels, with about 1,400 school broadcasts a year, and Sweden has concentrated on vocational training and refreshment for teachers. German broadcasting, by contrast, has been used much less for formal education. In The Netherlands more than two and a half hours of school and continuing education broadcasting are broadcast weekly on the radio; in addition, nearly eight hours of educational television are transmitted every week.

      The BBC pioneered in education; its work, in both radio and television, has steadily expanded. The BBC offers primary and secondary students more than 100 radio series and nearly 40 television series. The BBC also offers a wide range of biweekly programs especially designed for study in degree courses with the Open University, created and financed by the government, with the broadcast teaching supplemented by publications and correspondence work. By the mid-1970s, BBC broadcasts for the Open University averaged 16 hours weekly on radio and more than 18 hours on television. In addition, the Independent Broadcasting Authority in the United Kingdom has required the commercial-program companies to contribute educational material both for schools and for adults; by 1970 this amounted to 10 hours weekly during periods totalling 28 weeks of the year.

      In Australia there is a small educational output on the commercial stations, both radio and television, but by far the greater part of educational broadcasting is undertaken by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Educational programming accounts for about 4 percent of radio time and 18 percent of television output, the majority of which is broadcast to schools and kindergartens. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is required to provide educational programs in both English and French and does so on its AM and FM radio networks, as well as on television.

Broadcasts for external reception
      International broadcasting—the transmission of programs by a country expressly for audiences beyond its own frontiers—dates from the earliest days of broadcasting. The Soviet Union began foreign-language transmissions for propaganda purposes in the 1920s. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany made such broadcasts at a later date. France, Great Britain, and The Netherlands were next in the field among European countries, though their first use of shortwave broadcasting was aimed at French-, English-, or Dutch-speaking populations overseas. Great Britain began foreign-language broadcasting early in 1938 with a program in Arabic and transmissions in Spanish and Portuguese directed to Latin America. By August 1939, countries broadcasting in foreign languages included Albania, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Romania, the Soviet Union, Spain, the United States, and Vatican City.

      During World War II foreign-language broadcasting continued; the programs of the BBC in particular, because of their reliability and credibility, had an important effect in maintaining morale among the countries that were under German occupation. The continuance of international tension after World War II led to remarkable growth of foreign-language services. In 1950, for example, all of the Communist countries of eastern Europe except East Germany had launched external services, although these were on a small scale, and even the Soviet Union was transmitting a total of more than 500 hours of broadcasts weekly in all foreign languages. The United Kingdom's output, which had once led the field, had been reduced to slightly more than 600 hours a week and the Voice of America to less than 500 hours per week. By the early 1980s the situation had changed radically. The Soviet Union alone broadcast more than 2,000 hours per week, and the output of all Communist countries of eastern Europe (excluding Yugoslavia) totalled about 1,500 hours. The United Kingdom logged 744 hours in 1981, West Germany 785 hours, and the United States broadcast over the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 1,925 hours a week. The output of China had risen from 66 hours weekly in 1950 to 1,375 hours by 1981. The increase in Chinese broadcasts reflected in part the rising tension between China and the Soviet Union; significantly, the output of China's ally for much of this period, Albania, rose from 26 to 560 hours weekly during the same period. By the early 1980s Japan was transmitting for 263 hours, while Australia and Canada also sponsored external broadcasts.

Monitoring and transcriptions
      A logical development following from external broadcasting is the monitoring of foreign broadcasts and their analysis for intelligence purposes. The BBC in particular has a highly developed monitoring service; this activity often yields valuable information. The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States is also active in monitoring and analyzing foreign broadcasts. Transcriptions (recordings) of programs produced in either the domestic or the external services of one country can be acceptable for broadcast in others. Radio broadcasts of an educational nature can be used in different countries speaking the same language. Although many radio transcriptions are supplied free, in television the situation is different, and there is a substantial trade in television films.

Pirate and offshore stations
      In some countries where broadcasting in general or radio alone is a monopoly, radio has had to compete for brief periods with independent commercial stations mounted on ships anchored at sea outside territorial waters. Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have been the countries most affected by these stations, which have made use of unauthorized wavelengths, thus endangering other radio communications and operating free of any copyright obligations in respect to any of their broadcast material. Government action gradually has forced closure of such operations: in Sweden a competitive service of popular music proved effective; and in Denmark naval police action (the international legality of which may be questioned), followed by confiscation and heavy penalties, brought an end to the pirate station. The United Kingdom combined legislation penalizing any party who advertised or supplied such ships with the launching by the BBC of Radio 1, substantially a popular music service, to solve the problem. The French have had a particular problem of competition from the so-called postes périphériques, which include Europe No. 1 in the Saar and Radio Andorra in the Pyrenees, not to mention the French-language broadcasts of Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The strongest competition came from Europe No. 1, in which the French government finally purchased a controlling interest.

Jorge A. Camacho Ed.

Broadcasting as a medium of art
      The artistic potential of any medium is determined by the unique form it offers and forces on the artist and by its capacity as an effective vehicle of communication in its own right. The form of any art includes the circumstance through which it reaches its public. William Shakespeare's stage was little more than an open platform on which any action he cared to represent could be compassed provided he gave his actors the necessary words to indicate the place, circumstance, and atmosphere of the action. But his plays would have been null as practical drama without the circumscribing enclosure of the Elizabethan circular theatre auditorium—the “wooden O”—which gathered the audience around the platform, sealing them off from the outside world and concentrating their attention on the performance. As active auditors they became an integral part of the drama, and one must be constantly aware of them in the very writing, structure, and timing of the plays. Shakespeare's art was born of the discovery of the potentialities of the actor–audience relationship.

The art of radio
      In a similar way the art of radio began to be discovered when those engaged in broadcasting became aware of the nature of the medium in which they were working and of their special relationship to their audience. The discovery took time. (The artistic potential of radio was not explored until the 1930s.) Radio was the only medium in which performers were invisible to their audience. Broadcasters tended at first to adopt the manner of the stage or the pulpit: thinking in terms of a mass audience, the inexperienced broadcaster gave his voice (oratory) and style an artificial inflation totally unsuited to the new medium. His actual audience was composed of small groups and individuals, usually at home or in informal circumstances, often doing other things at the same time. The basic art of radio consisted in adapting manner and style to these new circumstances. Few programs could expect to take their audiences for granted.

      News broadcasts (newscast) were among the exceptions, and news broadcasts in most countries came to be delivered in a fixed, impersonal manner, the newsreader suppressing his personality as far as possible and adopting a “team” voice. Most other spoken radio formats required using the voice in such a way as to hold the attention of the listener, and this in turn meant recognizing the nature of the microphone as a medium. The public's span of attention was found to be limited. The news summary was allotted five or 10 minutes, while a talk might last 15 minutes or in special instances up to 30 minutes. Much consideration was also given to the appropriate styles for various audiences, depending on the classes of listeners to whom broadcasts were addressed.

      The art of radio emerged in Britain (United Kingdom)—and in certain other countries adopting the same “public service” approach—as a medium nominally addressed to everyone but actually resembling a kind of broad-based national journal with special sections addressed to specific interests and tastes, some more demanding on the intelligence than others. The popular radio talk (a form of spoken journalism, or essay, often excellently composed and delivered) was shorter and more informal in style than that of the “serious” or purely educational talk. Broadcasting offered unique opportunities for bringing the nation's highest intelligences into the living rooms of so-called minority audiences (often amounting to millions) who were prepared to listen to concentrated exposition and argument. From this, particularly in Europe, developed channels specializing in minority interests for part or all of the day. The listeners supported the service by paying an annual license fee. In the United States, on the other hand, privately owned broadcasting companies got their revenues from advertising and tied their programming to the advertiser's desire to reach the widest possible public. In Japan there were both public and commercial broadcasting services, the former being financed, as in Europe, by license fees from owners of receiving sets. In the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) broadcasting was recognized, in the words of Pravda, as “one of the most powerful weapons of the cultural revolution.” Under Stalin virtually all receivers were wired to local exchanges so that the listener could choose only among approved programs. The service had to be regionalized because the U.S.S.R. included populations speaking about 80 principal languages. Aside from news and commentary, the broadcasts were generally cultural rather than directly propagandistic.

      The development of radio as an art form was thus dependent on the way it was organized and financed. There were rich new fields to be opened up in drama, light entertainment, and documentary programming, conceived specifically for the medium, while at the same time some traditional art forms (notably stage drama and music) were transmitted with success. Fiction and poetry reading also became a staple part of sound broadcasting.

The art of television
      In the 1950s and '60s, radio was overtaken by television. At first television as a medium was considered to be little different from film (motion picture). But, although television was a hungry user of film, it needed film in forms that differed from those required by the theatres.

      The difference between film and television as art forms stemmed from the physical and financial conditions governing production, distribution, and exhibition. The relationships between the media and their publics were also different. The initial difference lies in the cameras and their function in production. The film camera supplies a record on celluloid in the form of a two-dimensional image, which, suitably edited, can be subsequently projected onto a screen. The television camera accepts and makes available for immediate transmission a two-dimensional image that remains unrecorded and passes with the event, like the image in a mirror (though this image can, by using additional equipment, be recorded on film or videotape). The film camera is associated with a lengthy effort of photographing, cutting, editing, and dubbing—an elaborate process of selection and assembly that may involve months of work. Although television images may also be stored and edited through videotape, the essential television form is the immediate transmission to the public of events occurring at the moment—political and social events, news summaries, commentary, and discussion.

      The basic art of television is the control of this immediate flow of images. They can be preselected insofar as the cameras may be set up at chosen vantage points; after that, however, the director (directing) must select among the images they give him. The director-editor uses his skill to secure an immediately effective flow of images from the multiple viewpoints his cameras and their lenses collectively represent. In the film the same end is achieved by the quite different process of fragmenting and recording the action piecemeal, thus creating a succession of images that can be subsequently put together by editing and dubbing.

      Those who first struggled with the practical aesthetics of television attempted to see the medium on the one hand as a kind of visual radio and on the other as a form of “diluted cinema,” a rather poor cousin of the theatrical film. This was in part because they came either from radio or from filmmaking and saw the medium in relation to their previous occupations. Writers, directors, and performers from radio tended at first to reduce the television image to a “talking head,” with the addition of occasional still pictures, film clips, or cut-ins from other broadcasting stations. This was especially the case in countries in which television initially lacked adequate financing (such as France) and directors could not afford costly pictorialization. On the other hand, personnel coming from filmmaking were appalled at the speed with which they were required to prepare and mount their television programs.

      Television differs most from film in its relationship to the audience. The film is an event designed for a theatre with an audience specially assembled for the performance. Television, on the other hand, resembles a private performance in the home. The attitude of a person sitting perhaps alone and often for hours on end before a comparatively small picture screened in the familiar surroundings of his living room is quite different from that of a person who has gone out to share the special audience experience of a theatre. The tension is more slack; concentration is constantly threatened by irrelevant interruption. Whereas one is absorbed by a good film in a theatre to the exclusion of all else, one merely “watches” television. The television audience is preoccupied not so much with an individual item as with the free flow of item after item. Television is like a talking picture magazine, going on daily and nightly, asking little, giving out along with its entertainment a quantity of easily assimilated information ranging from formal news coverage to informal, gossipy discussions of the lighter affairs of the day.

      Television also differs from film with respect to its visual impact. In the movie theatre a highly magnified image fills the central part of the field of vision in an otherwise darkened hall, exciting curiosity and response to a degree far beyond that obtained by a standard-size television screen in a relatively undarkened, and much smaller, living room. The great, fully loaded images of the big screen, from D.W. Griffith's Intolerance of 1916 to the Russian War and Peace of 1968, have involved the investment of large sums of money in what is called “production value”—the accumulated content of those images with their crowds of people and their elaborate sets. Skilled viewers in the movie theatre perceive and appreciate an astonishing amount of detail. In comparing television, however, one has only to watch a film produced for big-screen theatre to realize the limitations of the small television screen, in which the actors, speakers, or commentators must occupy most of the visual field.

Techniques and borrowings
       Relationship of a Performer to His Audience, Table Relationship of the Medium to the Performance, TableIt is useful to view all of the media together, ranging from the individual performer appearing in the flesh before his audience to the complex presentations of the electronic and allied media. They may be compared in terms of the relationship of the performer to his audience as shown in Table 1 (Relationship of a Performer to His Audience, Table). The media also vary in the kind of performance on which they can draw, either derivatively or creatively, as shown in Table 2 (Relationship of the Medium to the Performance, Table).

      The tables make clear the extent to which the various media borrow from each other. Just as the Greek drama drew on ancient myths and legends and the Renaissance drama on classical and contemporary material alike, so the voracious demands of the new 20th-century media have driven producers and scriptwriters to acquire the rights to existent material in other media, particularly the novel and the drama. Radio and television have overlapped increasingly with journalism, many journalists becoming broadcasters and commentators.

      But much of the borrowing has been mechanical and technical rather than artistic in nature. Radio broadcasting exploited the phonograph record as a means of preserving sound; in a similar way, television drew upon the film. The invention of magnetic (magnetic recording) tape for recording both sound and video signals has now linked together all of the mechanized media—phonograph, telephone, radio, sound film, and television—and made available a virtually complete record of the sights, sounds, arts, and culture of modern society.

      Preservation by recording is in itself not a creative art but a service to art created elsewhere. A principal function of radio and television broadcasting has been the dissemination of works of art created for other media. This is particularly true of radio; in television these works are more often transformed to meet the requirements of the medium and become different art forms. When an opera is performed in a television studio in a way that meets the potentialities of the electronic cameras, the result is television opera—a different form from stage opera. When an opera is commissioned and composed specifically for television (as was Benjamin Britten's (Britten, Benjamin) Owen Wingrave), then television may be considered an artistic medium in its own right.

Dramatic techniques
      Radio began by restoring the ancient art of the storyteller. Writers for radio next learned how to suggest place and time by word of mouth, accompanied by the impressionistic use of sound and music. Thus was born the genre of radio drama (dramatic literature). The radio dramatist must address himself to the imagination of listeners who are unable to see what they are experiencing. This limitation carries with it a certain freedom. Just as Shakespeare's independence from stage decor left him free to move his action widely in time and space (Antony and Cleopatra, for example, has 42 wide-ranging changes of scene), so radio has been free to create its own plastic continuities of action and time-space reference. Radio has been highly creative in the fields of drama and documentary and also in quite new forms of imaginative light entertainment.

      Television, on the other hand, adapted techniques already established by the sound film of the 1930s and 1940s. In the initial rivalry between film and television, economic and technical factors both played a part. The first television plays were like the simplest kind of film dialogues; they avoided elaborate sets or large casts, because the screen was not large enough and because they cost too much. Television material was highly expendable, like newspapers and journals that are discarded after a single use. Only gradually did the international distribution of selected television programs, particularly within the large Anglo-American market, permit more money to be spent on “production value” in television.

      Television drama came into its own during the 1950s with the emergence of writers and directors who shook themselves free from the old models and began to develop their own techniques—an extension of the two-dimensional image with sound into fields that the cinema could not or would not enter. The creativity of television in the purely artistic sense lies in the unique opportunities it offers the maker. These opportunities were beyond the reach of the filmmaker, who had no way of impelling his sponsor to finance him in such ventures. Here art and the nature of sponsorship can be said to overlap, as is so often the case in the history of art.

Film techniques
      The basic principles that the television image shares with the film image are, of course, its freedom to select the compass of each individual shot and its freedom to determine the nature of the movement within it. The form of presentation depends in both cases on a continuity of such shots in order to build up a narrative flow. Film and television narrative are based on the same principles of mobile composition—the selective (or edited) flow of selective shots of the action. Despite the technological differences in their production, they are aesthetically closely linked and will continue to have a close relationship with each other. This relationship naturally extends into the technical field. Television adopted videotape in order to achieve an immediate high-quality record of the electronic image. This seemed at first to be a threat to the use of film in television, but that has not proved to be so; the film camera is indispensable in many branches of television production. On the other hand, filmmakers have found videotape to be useful in cinema production, since it provides the capability of checking the shot before the film is processed.

      The development of television as an art form has not excluded its use as a channel for works produced in other media. On the contrary, production in other media increasingly has been financed out of revenues from its subsequent transmission on television. Since the earliest years of its existence, television has depended on the regular screening of a vast backlog of movie films. The high rentals paid on old films have induced television interests themselves to undertake the production of new films to be shown in theatres and subsequently on the television channels they operate. The feature films they produce often have relatively small casts and a higher ratio of in-close shooting, making them suitable for the smaller TV screen, just as most films now shot for wide screens keep the essential action in the centre so that they can later be shown on television.

Roger Manvell

Broadcasting operations

Types of programs and development of studios
      There are a number of distinguishable types of programs that are broadcast, but they often overlap in technique, subject matter, and style. Radio, for example, broadcasts speech and music, but in an endless number of combinations. Television adds the visual element, greatly increasing the number of possible program forms. Most sizable broadcast organizations, however, have several categories for administrative convenience. But the definitions cannot be too precise, and lines of demarcation are necessarily vague.

      Entertainment can include comedy, impossible wholly to differentiate from drama; quizzes, not always easily distinguished from relatively serious programs of information and education; popular music, in which the frontier with jazz and serious music is anything but rigid; and variety (music hall and variety), or a series of unrelated acts, nearly always linked by a popular presenter or established performer.

      From the early days of radio there was a tendency to make use of a variety format, and, as this approach represented an extension of old music-hall traditions, success was achieved by many programs in this vein. From the music-hall–variety-type program emerged the “gang show,” in which a cast of performers remaining the same from week to week would make use of a series of humorous situations or catchphrases, gradually building up a familiar background against which the incongruities of the script could exploit humour to the full. A further development was the “situation comedy,” in which a number of characters, such as the members of a family, remain in the same situation week after week but experience comic adventures. Though these laughter programs lost popularity on radio as television gained popular acceptance, they have become the mainstays of television. A contemporary phenomenon has been the comedy program involving substantial amounts of political and social satire. The situation comedy has also been influenced by this trend.

      The many types of comedy entertainment programs that are produced around the world all have one common characteristic: not only have the performers needed the stimulus of a studio audience, but also the listeners and viewers are stimulated by the laughter and applause of the audience. This has led to some abuses, such as the superimposition of laughter and applause on prerecorded programs, a practice that is frowned upon but still practiced. It has also meant that large studios are required to accommodate not only the performers, frequently including more than one music combination, but also the audience. In television there must be room for settings that have become increasingly ambitious and for dancers and choruses. Broadcasting organizations have generally been able to build studios of appropriate size, though radiobroadcasters in the early days preferred to purchase or rent small theatres.

      In their form and structure, children's entertainment shows resemble those for adults. Animated cartoons, however, represent an exception to this rule; the Hungarians, Poles, and French have achieved genuine distinction in this area.

      Radio and television drama is not best produced in a theatre; the nature of the studio is therefore different. Early radio drama was produced in a relatively small studio, often with a single microphone, just as early television plays were produced with a single camera. Radio engineers soon began to employ a control panel with inputs from more than one studio and sound effects ingeniously achieved; their counterparts in television expanded their use of cameras and sets. Mixing in radio from one studio to another and in television from one set to another, plus increasingly sophisticated sound effects and background music, have all become accepted techniques in drama production. Inevitably, television drama has borrowed substantially from the techniques of film production.

      Feature films, usually originally made for the cinema, continue to form an accepted and important element in television schedules throughout the world. Both radio and television occasionally broadcast live stage plays from theatres, but there is a general feeling that such offerings do not adequately exploit the advantages of either medium. From the earliest days of radio and television, the studio-produced drama has been an important ingredient in program schedules; in television, as in films, it was not long before shooting on location also became an accepted practice. Offerings have included classical Greek drama, Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists, the Spanish and French theatre, Russian and Scandinavian plays, and modern works.

       serial presentations on television and radio have included adaptations of famous works of literature, such as the novels of Charles Dickens, Honoré de Balzac, and Leo Tolstoy, the Forsyte Saga of John Galsworthy, historical costume dramas based on the lives of such figures as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I of England, and, of course, the romantic melodramas aimed largely at the daytime viewer or listener, known as “soap operas.” Radio and television serials of fantasy and adventure are also produced for children.

      Three other distinguishable types of drama have achieved almost universal popularity: western adventures; shows involving gangsters, crime, and police; and shows set in hospitals and other medical situations. Violent episodes in some crime and western adventure programs have drawn criticism from those who believe that such violence is harmful to children. In response, many broadcasting organizations have introduced codes of practice to minimize such scenes.

       western adventure programs, largely produced in the United States, have been popular with studios because of their relatively low production costs and ready salability abroad. Dramatic series of this type have been shown all over the world, often with dubbed sound tracks. Although these exported U.S. productions are often much less expensive than home-produced programs, Australia has been able to produce some western-type series, and Canada has exploited its legendary “Mounties.” So many U.S. television programs have been exported, however, that broadcasting organizations in some nations, such as Japan and the United Kingdom, have taken steps to assure that home-produced dramas should have priority in terms of percentage of schedule hours and prime time (peak placing).

Spoken word
      Spoken-word programs have included entertainment types, such as “This Is Your Life” and many of the “talk shows,” in which a personality interviewer questions celebrities, sometimes with interludes of music or comedy or with serious discussions, documentaries, or lectures. A fear of controversy, the problem of maintaining an overall impartiality, and sometimes the belief that the mass audience would be alienated by programs demanding a conscious effort and concentration, combined, in the early days of radio, to limit the time given to serious spoken-word programs. It was not long, however, before many broadcasters developed a sense of pride and responsibility in their function and regarded it as their duty to provide information and opinion. In countries where broadcasting achieved a substantial measure of independence, some broadcasters gradually became concerned not only with the exposition of fact and controversy but also with the task of exposing the ills and abuses of their society.

      News (newscast) continues to be the most important element in spoken-word radio. Since it was inescapable that broadcast news would affect the industry, newspaper proprietors in the early days of radio either made efforts to restrict the sources of news and the times at which it could be broadcast or sought themselves to enter the field. In areas where broadcasting was commercialized, the press was further concerned, because radio competed with it for advertising revenues and because radio could almost always get a story to the public before the newspapers could. Nevertheless, there is no evidence that radio news reduced the circulation of newspapers; some have even maintained that radio whetted the appetite of listeners for news and increased newspaper sales. It would seem, however, that television has adversely affected the daily press and, even more so, weekly or monthly magazines. Long before television outstripped radio, broadcasting organizations were employing reporters and special and foreign correspondents and were supplementing the service received from news agencies. Some broadcast reporters became public personalities in their own right.

      Television news presented additional production problems; the announcer at the microphone reading from a script or TelePrompTer was not satisfactory, and it was not long before the greater part of television news was appropriately accompanied by relevant pictures. The need for film shots and the cost and difficulty of obtaining them were, and to some extent remain, serious problems. In spite of substantial expenditure on the supply of such shots, television news is open to the criticism that news values and objectivity are distorted by the availability or nonavailability of pictures.

      In general, however, broadcasting organizations have adjusted to the much higher cost of television news. The syndication of film reports, the development of live networks on an international basis, such as Eurovision, and satellite communications (satellite communication) have overcome most problems of news reporting on television. On the other hand, it has become apparent that the psychological impact of film shots of war and civil disturbance, as of accidents and disasters, is far greater than that of the radio report. Television reports of, for example, the Vietnam War did far more to influence public opinion than radio news bulletins could have done. Radio has the advantage, however, of not requiring the same degree of attention; the trend has been toward frequently repeated short bulletins. In the United States there are radio stations that restrict themselves entirely to news, usually in a continuous magazine format, plus, of course, the advertising spots. The news magazine, or newsreel, in radio was introduced even earlier on BBC. A series of brief reports, interviews, and extracts from speeches, making use of many voices and exploiting the technique of frequent renewal of stimulus, proved to be a successful formula. This technique has spread into news bulletins and is increasingly used in the coverage of current affairs, both in radio and television. In all these programs of news and comment, one of the problems has been that of the anchors, or presenters, and the degree to which they may be given freedom to project their personalities or express their views. In the United States there have been fewer inhibitions in this area than in countries where broadcasting is or has been a monopoly and where the need for and tradition of impartiality have been dominant. In the case of the BBC, newsreaders were long anonymous; but on television the identity of a newsreader, or of the presenter of a magazine of news or comment, cannot be concealed, and these inhibitions have broken down. Nevertheless, in western Europe and Commonwealth countries the impartiality of broadcasting services remains an issue of greater importance than in the United States or Latin America. In Britain, when the Independent Television Authority was created, it was enjoined to see that in the coverage of controversial matters each program should be balanced in itself. The BBC, with greater freedom, makes no effort to ensure balance in any one program, provided that an overall balance in respect of any issue is achieved over a reasonable period of time. In all developed countries elaborate programs are prepared to report the results of elections, though it is in the United States and the United Kingdom that these are most ambitious.

      In radio straight talk persists in some countries, though less so than in the heyday of the medium. Nevertheless, some successful lectures at much greater length have been scheduled occasionally on television and in some countries on radio. Straight talk of 10 minutes or more does not lend itself to exciting television production, unless accompanied by filmed illustrations to the point where it all but becomes a documentary.

      Another pattern popular in many countries involves a panel of distinguished figures under a chairman, answering questions of a topical nature from members of a studio audience. In some cases a parabolic microphone is employed so that questions may be asked from any part of the studio or hall in which the program is mounted; others may call for written queries in advance so that questioners can be conveniently seated in the first row. Some radio panel programs also solicit queries from members of the listening audience who call them in on the telephone.

      Development of the radio documentary stemmed from drama, as writers searched for new material especially appropriate for broadcasting. Not surprisingly, early documentary was in dramatic form, and most of it was based on well-known historical events, of which the programs were in effect dramatic reconstructions. Production of radio documentaries was simplified by the invention of magnetic recording tape that was far easier to edit and use on location than its predecessors, the wax-coated disc and the wire recorder. Ironically, just when these technical advances had made the best form of radio documentary possible, the television documentary on contemporary themes began to supplant its radio counterpart. Documentaries have become more expository of public (current) affairs concerned with international relations, domestic politics, and social problems.

      There have been, in the main, two types of religious program: devotional and information–discussion. The former comprises prayer, religious services, or hymn singing, either mounted in a studio or as outside broadcasts from a church, chapel, or hall. A third type is the dramatization of a religious theme, though the tendency has been to devote a good proportion of religious broadcasting time to documentaries, discussions, and interviews. Some sects have produced broadcasts that combine political and religious material. Missionary bodies, mostly under the control of one of the many international or regional religious broadcasting organizations, either buy time on commercial stations or operate stations in many parts of the world, including Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Outside broadcasts
      Although broadcasts do not constitute a distinct and definable form, they nevertheless have been since the birth of radio the most popular and arresting of all material transmitted on either medium. Sports of every description and ceremonial and political events have exercised an unfailing appeal and, in general, attract the largest audiences. Outside broadcasts have stimulated the imagination and taxed the ingenuity of television-broadcasting engineers to such an extent that they have accustomed the public to feats unimaginable to the pioneers of radio. The improvement of line communications, the development of mobile transmitters, and, above all, the use of satellite communications have given the outside broadcast an elasticity and an almost limitless range.

      Radio has had two important effects on the musical life of the world: it has widened the audience for all forms of music and has made easier the development of new forms, such as electronic music. Music remains a staple ingredient of radio in its own right, whereas in television, though there are programs of music as such, it is more often an adjunct to something else, as, for example, dancing, or as a small component of a mixed program. In the field of popular music, radio has immensely aided the rapid changes of fashion, which have coincided with technical advances in the making of recordings and their popularity and sales. A recognition by recording companies of the enormous power of radio in popularizing a song or performer has led to some abuses. In the United States “payola,” or bribes, were given to prominent radio personalities by record companies in return for promotion of their songs.

      The development of stereophonic sound (stereophonic sound system) techniques has revolutionized the record industry and has played an important role on radio, though earliest in the field of serious music. Frequency modulated (FM) radio broadcasts of serious music, and later of other forms of music, have been popular in many areas; some recordings are broadcast stereophonically but can be received on monophonic radios (see sound (acoustics)).

       opera, too, has profited from broadcasting, and outside broadcasts from opera houses, as well as studio performances on both radio and television, have done much in European and many other countries to bring this form of music to a large public. Music programs have presented more difficulties than most others in the matter of studios, partly because of the size of studio required for a full symphony orchestra and partly because of the delicate balancing of acoustics for proper reproduction of such performances.

Relations with artists, speakers, authors, and unions
      In the early days of radio, problems of fees, royalties, performing rights, copyright, and relations with unions rarely were regarded. Entertainers performed largely for publicity purposes. Only gradually did performers appreciate radio's effect, first, as a threat to their theatre earnings and, second, as a highly lucrative substitute. To try to trace how a modus vivendi was reached in these matters in different countries would present a picture of baffling complexity in the light of the different prevailing laws and different union structures. Generally speaking, copyright issues have revolved around the rights of record manufacturers and fees for composers. Rates and fees for reproducing recordings often have been the subject of disputes with the unions. Radiobroadcasters soon found that purchasing records or making their own recordings from live musical performances meant substantial economies; these, however, came at the expense of the musicians. Consequently, the musicians' unions sometimes attempted to prevent use of phonograph records or recording of live performances. In some countries, such as The Netherlands, the repeat problem has been solved by the performers receiving a fee for each repeat, the fee rising with each successive use of the recording until it ceases to represent an advantage to the broadcaster.

      Relations of the broadcasting organizations with their staffs have also been complex. In Canada attempts to exercise a restrictive control have led to revolts and resignations, while in France editors and producers who have been unwilling to conform to government policy have been removed from their jobs, though often under other pretexts. The position of staff is particularly vulnerable in those countries where broadcasting is a state monopoly: an example is Czechoslovakia, where senior broadcasting officials were ousted after the fall in 1968 of Premier Alexander Dubček, who had attempted to liberalize the Communist regime.

Internal organization, administration, and policy control
      The organization and administration of broadcasting bodies can, in the case of a small independent station, be relatively simple, and the policies can be implemented with ease. Sizable organizations, however, have a complex problem because it is not possible to determine success or failure purely on the basis of financial returns. Monopoly organizations, though in theory their sole purpose is public service, in practice often must take into account the views of the government. In the case of nonprofit–public-service operations dependent upon license fees for revenue but with commercial competition, ratings cannot be completely ignored, and these organizations must compete for mass audiences to some extent in order to justify their existence at the expense of the listening and viewing public.

      The broadcasting administration has two essential functions: first, programming—i.e., allocation of funds and setting of schedules—and, second, production, the preparation of programs. The former is in effect a branch of direction, and those in charge of planning program schedules and allocating funds have a power that if not checked can be absolute. On the other hand, these planners are dependent on the goodwill of the production and supply departments.

      A main problem arises in the treatment of controversial subjects in the field of current affairs. Where broadcasters are under no obligation to be impartial, as in The Netherlands, or where, as in totalitarian countries, only one point of view may be aired, the problem does not arise. In democratic countries, however, where the broadcaster has independence and where there is a need to achieve an overall impartiality, the problem is very serious. Even though decisions may be reached by discussion and a consensus of opinion, the responsibility usually has to be carried by one person. No broadcasting organization has been able to find a complete solution to the problem that does not involve rigid control and intrusion on the independence of the editorial and production staff.

      Administration must also deal with routine matters, such as staff pay and conditions of service, recruitment, finance, accounting, negotiations with unions, procurement of equipment, and provision of office and studio space. In general, it has been found best to subordinate such routine management operations to the needs of those directly concerned with the principal function of broadcasting. Much the same may be said of engineering and technical staff, though their research work and technical advances influence the decisions of direction and development of broadcasting.

The state of broadcasting in selected countries
      Broadcasting in Argentina is wholly controlled by the government but only partly operated by government agencies. Partly for historical reasons, the method of control is not clear-cut: all broadcasting is subject to the approval of the Consejo Federal de Radio y Televisión (Federal Radio and Television Council), a body working under the State Secretary of Communications, though the Secretary of Information can and does intervene on behalf of the president of the republic. All political activities were suppressed between 1966 and 1971, and, even after the government of Alejandro Agustín Lanusse lifted the ban, the restored freedom was not reflected in broadcasting. Of the approximately 150 radio stations in the country, nearly half are grouped into two large networks: an official cultural noncommercial network with about 30 stations, some strategically placed in relation to broadcasts from other countries; and a government-controlled commercial network. There are more than 70 private commercial stations; some are small and low-powered. Television is primarily commercial, and many channels are administered by the state. LS82 Canal 7 in Buenos Aires is state-owned; the other three stations in that city have separately owned provincial affiliates. Argentina has more than 80 television stations, about 20 of them private.

      Early television in Argentina depended on U.S.-produced telefilms dubbed into Spanish, but today, though U.S.-dubbed feature films are still used, Argentine-produced programs dominate the market. Some material comes from Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Argentine-produced programs can rarely be exported, because the Argentine accent in Spanish, particularly that of Buenos Aires, is not acceptable elsewhere in Latin America.

      Australian broadcasting comprises four sectors: the national sector, the public sector, the commercial sector, and the Special Broadcasting Service. National broadcasting is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission), which provides a wide range of programming—including educational, news, sports, religious, and entertainment—designed to promote Australian culture. Public broadcasting serves specific interest groups and is sometimes associated with a college or university. Its primary outlet is radio. Commercial broadcasting seeks a wide appeal, and almost 50 percent of it is locally produced, as required by law. The Special Broadcasting Service provides programming in more than 50 languages for Australia's ethnic communities. Both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service are unlicensed, publicly funded government instrumentalities empowered under the Broadcasting and Television Act of 1942. Public broadcasting is funded by subscription, sales of air time to community groups, and sales of publications. Public stations are not-for-profit. Commercial stations are funded primarily through advertising. Both public and commercial broadcasting stations are subject to licensing renewal review every three years. Until it was abolished in 1976, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board was responsible for all aspects of broadcasting in Australia. Since that time, however, the Australian government's Department of Transport and Communication has overseen that organization's planning and technical aspects, while an independent, statutory authority, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, is responsible for regulation and licensing as well as for determining programming and advertising standards.

      The Australian Broadcasting Corporation operates about 240 radio stations and 360 television stations. In addition, Australia has about 140 commercial radio stations and 50 commercial television stations. Public broadcasting is heard on about 70 radio stations. The Special Broadcasting Service has two radio stations and two television stations and is Australia's only UHF (ultrahigh frequency) outlet. Radio Australia broadcasts in nine different languages to foreign countries, primarily in Asia and in the Pacific. It operates 13 shortwave stations. The Australian National Satellite System has been in operation since 1985 with the launching of AUSSAT-1 and AUSSAT-2. Through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation it provides television and radio broadcasting to homes in outback regions as part of the Homestead and Community Broadcasting Satellite Service. An additional satellite, AUSSAT-3, launched in 1987, supplements the program with a similar commercial service known as the Regional Commercial Television Service.

      There are more than 2,400 radio and about 180 television stations in Brazil; the majority are commercial. In general they are under the authority of the Ministry of Communications. All broadcasting is subject to censorship, and any station that runs counter to the government's wishes can be closed. There are radio stations of the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília; some of the states have official radio outlets, and a few have television installations. There are also some university radio stations and a few television stations, apart from the Roman Catholic educational radio network. The remaining stations are private commercial enterprises, operating independently or linked to one of the networks, of which the best known are associated with large newspaper concerns, such as Diarios Associados or O Globo. The larger radio networks use shortwave broadcasting, which permits simultaneous transmissions on medium-wave provincial stations. Provincial television stations prepare their newscasts, often in cooperation with a local newspaper and radio station. The others employ film, telefilm, and videotape to supplement local production. All radio stations must devote one hour each day to “The Voice of Brazil,” a government news program supplied by the official Agencia Nacional; radio stations must also broadcast at least five hours a week of educational programs. Television stations may be called upon to broadcast programs produced by the Agencia Nacional, consisting mainly of government statements and ministerial and presidential speeches. In 1975 the government created Radiobras, the Brazilian Broadcasting Company, which broadcasts to the remote regions of the Amazon Basin, bringing those regions into closer contact with the political and cultural mainstream of Brazil. Television entertainment consists substantially of Brazilian-produced serials, supplemented by U.S.-produced and dubbed films and telecine programs. Brazil's first communications satellites, Brasilsat I and Brasilsat II, were launched in 1985.

      Canadian broadcasting is overseen by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, which administers, regulates, and supervises the country's broadcasting. The principal broadcasting organization is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which is financed primarily by public funds supplemented by television advertising. The CBC has two main television networks, one in French and another in English, and two main AM and FM radio networks, one in each language. In addition, there are small FM networks and some shortwave transmission. The CBC has more than 90 principal radio stations and more than 600 low-power relay transmitters; in addition, more than 60 privately owned stations are affiliated with it and are paid for transmitting its output. The CBC has more than 25 television stations and more than 600 rebroadcasters. There are more than 250 private affiliates and rebroadcasters. In addition to the CBC television network, there are four commercially operated networks: CTV Network broadcasts in English from coast to coast; TVA and the Réseau de Télévision Quatre Saisons broadcast in French across Quebec; and the Global Communications Ltd. network broadcasts in English in parts of Ontario. In 1972 Canada became the first country in the world to offer a domestic communications satellite system with the establishment of its satellite company, Telesat, and the launching of its first Anik satellites. Remote communities receive satellite broadcasts through its CANCOM program. External services are smaller than in most comparable countries; there are broadcasts on shortwave to the Canadian armed forces overseas and an international service, Radio Canada International, in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian for listeners in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States.

      Until it was disbanded in 1974, the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), under the direction of the Minister of Information, oversaw all aspects of French broadcasting. It was replaced first by seven independent state-financed companies, then by a nine-member committee, followed in 1986 by the 13-member Commission Nationale de la Communication et des Libertés (CNCL). The CNCL was finally replaced by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, which is charged with supervising all aspects of French broadcasting, including administration, programming, distribution of networks and frequencies, licensing, deregulation, and allocation of concessions for privatized channels. The following organizations are responsible for other aspects of French broadcasting: Télédiffusion de France operates the national transmitters; the Institut National de la Communication Audiovisuelle is responsible for broadcasting research and professional training as well as archival work; Radio Télévision Française d'Outre-Mer controls broadcasting to French overseas départements and territories; Société Française de Production et de Création Audiovisuelles is the national production company; Société France Media International is the national distribution company; and La Sept produces programs broadcast via satellite. Radio France comprises six national radio networks: (1) France-Inter, network A, a 24-hour service of entertainment and news, integrated with Inter-Variétés on regional transmitters and carrying programs produced by regional stations and France-Inter Paris, a morning program of popular music, and news flashes for Paris and the surrounding area; (2) Network B, a medium-wave network that includes Radio Bleue (programs for the elderly), programs for foreign workers, school programs, and university broadcasts; (3) France-Culture, network D, information and public affairs along with cultural programs; (4) France-Musique, network E, musical programming; (5) regional stations, network F, music and news, based in six major cities, along with Sorbonne R. France, with university lectures for the Paris region; and (6) France Info, 24-hour news and information. Radio France International broadcasts 24 hours daily to Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America, and Asia in seven different languages. There are also more than 1,500 private radio stations.

      Regular television service began in 1938, was interrupted by World War II, and recommenced in 1945. Colour television was inaugurated in 1967. France has two state-run television channels, Antenne 2 and France Régions 3, and four private stations. The formerly state-run Télévision Française 1 was privatized in 1987. Canal Plus was the country's first private channel in 1984. It is financed by subscription and broadcasts mostly films and sporting events. La Cinq broadcasts foreign light entertainment programs, sports, and films. M6 broadcasts general interest programs. TV5 broadcasts programs via satellite for Francophones in foreign countries. There are three private local stations. Cable television has been slow to develop in France and is primarily concentrated in the Paris region.

      The origin and development of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) is discussed above. Regular television broadcasts began in January 1954. RAI has three radio services on national networks on AM and FM: a First, or National, Program offering a balanced output; a Second Program essentially of entertainment; and a Third Program, which is educational. In addition, there is a substantial regional output. There are three television services: the first, on VHF (very high frequency), broadcasting 63 hours weekly, is the National Program; the Second Program also transmits 63 hours weekly on UHF; the Third Progam transmits 19 hours a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. The RAI provides limited regional television on special occasions only, except for a daily one and one-half hours in German for the German-speaking minority of the Trentino-Alto Adige region. RAI has 18 production centres and 21 regional offices. The Trieste and Bolzano offices are responsible, respectively, for radio output weekly in Slovene for the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and, apart from the German television output, for broadcasts in German and in Ladin (Romansh) for the Trentino-Alto Adige region. RAI's revenue comes from a proportion, determined by the government, of the proceeds of the sale of radio- and television-receiving licenses and from advertising. Advertising is closely regulated and may not “prejudice the good quality of programs”; it is guided by a code, and the percentage of time given to it is limited. RAI devotes 70 percent of its radio output to light entertainment, 16 percent to news and information, 4 percent to cultural programs, and 1 percent to youth and educational programs. On television 36 percent is news and information, 19 percent is entertainment, 4 percent is cultural, and 17 percent is programs for schools and education.

      Radio Roma broadcasts to Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand in 27 languages.

       Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) is the sole broadcast authority in Japan. A noncommercial, not-for-profit public station, it has two television and three radio networks (two AM and one FM), of which one television and one AM network are almost entirely devoted to education. The General Television program gives a balanced service, as does the First (AM) Radio service, while the FM (VHF) service is concerned mainly with cultural and local music programs. There is relatively little political broadcasting in Japan, and the first occasion on which candidates for election to the Japanese Diet were able to present their political views on television was in December 1969.

      NHK has installed a system of computerized automation for its scheduling, resource allocation, and transmitting operations, probably the most advanced in the world, with a view to giving its production staff a maximum freedom for creative work. In 1978 the organization installed the 12,000,000,000-hertz (2.5-centimetre) wave for metropolitan area broadcasting and for broadcasting two television sound outputs simultaneously so that a single television image can be received with sound in either of two languages. NHK has 173 medium-wave transmitters for the First Radio network, 141 for the Second, and 474 for the VHF-FM network. General and educational television use about 2,800 transmitters each, most of which are rebroadcasting or relay stations. The so-called regional broadcasting is not so much regional as local and concerned mainly with news and practical information. Local television output averages one and a half hours, and local radio averages more than three and a half hours daily. In addition to NHK there are more than 130 broadcasting organizations that are members of the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan. They offer about 6,200 television stations and about 300 radio stations.

      NHK is also responsible for Japan's external services, which are divided into a general service—i.e., a worldwide service in English and Japanese that broadcasts daily—and a regional service for the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, in about 20 languages.

      There are about 850 radio stations in Mexico. Most are commercial, and more than 120 are grouped into two nationwide networks. There is a smaller, constantly growing number of television stations, many of which are grouped into networks of varying size. There are two nationwide networks: Televisa, which combined the former Telesistema Mexicano and Televisión Independiente de Mexico and is seen around the world, and the state-owned Imevision. Television, too, is nearly all commercial, though there are some university stations, of which the best-known is Radio Universidad, run by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City; in addition, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional operates a cultural station in the capital. In theory there is no government control over broadcasting, but in practice there is no political broadcasting critical of the government or of the leading political party. Most stations carry the Hora Nacional, an hour-long officially produced program, every Sunday morning. The government has the right to use 12.5 percent of the total transmitting time of all radio and television stations. This right so far has not been fully exercised, though the announced intention is that the Comisión de Radiodifusión should acquire the resources to make full use of the time. Except for the few noncommercial stations, the majority of radio stations do little more than broadcast recorded popular music, news, and spot advertisements.

      Television, with few exceptions, is substantially devoted to entertainment; a good proportion of material originates in the United States, though the government has banned some of the more violent shows. Production of programs for other Spanish-speaking countries is on the increase, with programs made for Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Central American countries, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and the Hispanic community in the United States. The government has proposed a network of officially operated small stations to provide cultural and educational programs.

The Netherlands (Netherlands, The)
      In all democratic countries, governments have found it difficult to reflect minority views in broadcasting. The Netherlands has made perhaps the most determined attempt to deal with this problem. The Dutch system basically consists of two national organizations, the Nederlandse Omroepprogramma Stichting (NOS), which is responsible for the transmission of general-interest programs and the promotion of Dutch broadcasting interests, and the Nederlandse Omroepproductie Bedrijf, an independent production company, and eight broadcasting societies (or organizations) that, through the size of their membership, have earned the right to produce a proportion of NOS's output. The Broadcasting Act of 1966 called upon the responsible minister to allocate time on the air, in both radio and television, to bodies that fulfilled certain conditions, in particular a sufficient membership; by October 1971 those bodies included broadcasting associations or organizations, groups aspiring to recognition as broadcasting societies, churches, associations of a nature comparable to churches, political parties, other reputable associations of approved purpose, an advertising foundation, and educational bodies. As far as the full-fledged associations are concerned, the amount of time they have on the air is determined by their category, in turn dependent upon the number of subscribers, whose subscriptions pay for a weekly program bulletin. Some of the other bodies with time on the air may prepare their own programs or have them produced by groups with more experience. Organizations with at least 60,000 members may petition to broadcast from one hour per week to four hours. The government, however, has moved to restrict access to broadcasting, with legislation requiring aspirant broadcasting groups to offer innovative proposals to the existing range of programs in order to qualify. The financing of broadcasting, when production time is allocated among so many, presents a complex problem of accountancy. The revenue comes from the sale of receiving-set licenses and from advertising profits. Advertising on radio and television was first permitted in 1967 and is provided by the Stichting Ether Reclame.

      The Netherlands has five radio networks and three independent television services. There is no regional television, but there are several regional radio organizations. The main categories of overall radio output are 25 percent news, public affairs, and information, 22 percent classical music, 14 percent light music, and 28 percent entertainment and other light programs. Television output is more diversified, with 32.3 percent entertainment (of which more than half is of foreign origin), 2.9 percent Dutch-produced drama, 5 percent films (mostly foreign), and 31.2 percent news, public affairs, and information.

      Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (Radio Netherlands International) broadcasts daily shortwave transmissions to most areas of the world in Dutch and eight other languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Papiamentu, Arabic, English, French, and Indonesian).

      In New Zealand the relatively small population means that broadcasting personnel are closely in touch with their audience, whose demand for a high-standard broadcasting service presents financial problems. The National Broadcasting Service, a government department set up in 1936, was faced with the competition of the National Commercial Broadcasting Service a year later. The two were amalgamated and reorganized as a government department, the New Zealand Broadcasting Service, in 1946. The service had some degree of independence from the start, and the inauguration of a television service in June 1960 provided the opportunity for the Broadcasting Act of 1961, by which was created the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. In 1977 the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand was created, incorporating two previously independent networks. Dissolved in 1988, it was replaced by Radio New Zealand Ltd and Television New Zealand Ltd. Radio New Zealand has two radio medium-wave networks that include some broadcasts in Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Niuean, and Tokelauan. The corporation has more than 50 radio stations in more than 30 cities and towns. Television New Zealand operates two television networks, TV 1 and TV 2. It has more than 10 television stations with more than 600 relay stations, mainly low-powered. TV 3 is a private commercial station. The corporation is also responsible for the Foreign Service (Radio New Zealand), which broadcasts to Australia, the Pacific Islands, and the Ross Dependency in the Antarctic in English, twice a week to Samoa in Samoan, and once a fortnight to the Cook Islands, in Rarotongan, and to Niue, in Niuean. There are nine private radio stations.

      In the former Soviet Union the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting operated a substantial undertaking under the Council of Ministers. The chairman of the committee had four deputies, one each for television, external services, domestic radio, and for administration and finance, and there was an editorial board of 13 members. The committee controlled output and was responsible for the equipment of television centres and for all personnel, but all lines, radio stations, and studios were under the control of the Ministry of Communications. Under the committee, domestic radio was run by seven Chief Editorial boards: program planning and presentation; propaganda; information (news); children; youth; literature and drama; and music, comedy, and satire. There was a joint radio and television department for sports. No program could go on the air without the approval of the editor in chief (or his deputy) of the appropriate editorial board. Though regional stations had a measure of autonomy, the committee controlled the work of the regional committees handling radio in the various republics, regions, and districts. Radio required between 300 and 400 transmitters for its networks and regional broadcasts. To achieve maximum coverage, it made use of long waves, medium waves, and shortwaves, as well as FM. Moscow was responsible for five outputs as follows:

      Program I was a mixed program covering the entire union. Program II was a 24-hour musical service with news and commentaries every half-hour, also covering the entire population. Program III was primarily a musical and literary program for the European regions of the Soviet Union and reached more remote regions by shortwave and FM. There was also a local output of some three half-hours a day for the Moscow area on some of the channels used for Program III. Program IV was on FM and offered classical music nine hours a day. Program V was directed toward Soviets abroad. The regional effort was impressive, with broadcasts in about 70 languages in use within the territory of the Soviet Union. There were 23 principal regional stations. With so diverse an output there was no means of making a meaningful percentage breakdown of program categories, but Soviet radio on the whole devoted more time to information, educational, and cultural programs and less to entertainment than other countries.

      The Moscow television station began broadcasting in 1939 and claimed to have been the first European television station to renew operation after the World War II interruption. Colour was introduced in 1967. About four-fifths of the population was within reach of a television signal, for which there were about 900 main and 4,000 relay transmitters. In most of the principal cities there were at least two outputs to choose from. The satellites Molniya I and Ekran, combined with 90 Orbita ground and relay stations, greatly increased the size of the potential audience. At the Moscow television centre, Ostankino, the 1,739-foot (530-metre) tower was used for television and other communications. The services broadcast could not be easily analyzed, and it was claimed that from Moscow six could be broadcast simultaneously. There were four main channels: the First Program, all-Union since 1962; the Second Program, all-Union since 1982; the Third Program, educational at primary, secondary, and university levels; and the Fourth Program, which featured locally produced programs in the various regional languages.

      The external services described above were probably the largest for any country. The output could be divided into six types: (1) for foreign countries from Moscow, (2) for foreign countries from regional stations, (3) relays of domestic services for listeners abroad, (4) broadcasts for Soviets abroad, under the aegis of the Committee for Cultural Relations, (5) a service for the merchant marine and for fishermen, and (6) the “Peace and Progress” station. It was the Moscow output, supplemented by the foreign services from the regional stations, that had the widest coverage and made use of more than 70 languages, including more for Africa and Asia than any other country and including even, for example, Quechua (for Peru). The “Peace and Progress” output was in German and English for Europe; in Persian, Azerbaijani, and English for Asia; in Arabic and Hebrew for the Middle East; and in Spanish, Portuguese, Creole (for Haiti), and Guaraní (for Paraguay) for Latin America. In 1978 Soviet broadcasting initiated its “World Service in English.”

      Two important developments affecting Sveriges Radio, the Swedish broadcasting corporation, occurred in 1967, embodied in the Broadcasting Law, effective from July 1 of that year. Public authorities and agencies were specifically forbidden to examine programs in advance or to attempt to prevent them from being broadcast; this meant that the government had not even the power of veto. The legal responsibility for any program rests not with the organization, its board of directors, or even the director general but with the program supervisor, and no program may be broadcast against his will. Program content is ultimately controlled by the Radio Council, which supervises both radio and television. The Radio Council may rule only on shows that have already been aired, thus avoiding a role of censorship. The financing is almost entirely from licenses for receiving sets (a small amount of revenue is derived from the international sale and distribution of some radio and television programs), but the proceeds are allocated by Parliament to Sveriges Radio, which produces most of the programs; the Swedish Telecommunications Administration, which transmits them; and the Swedish General Services Administration, which is responsible for the construction of broadcasting facilities. In 1979 Sveriges Radio was broken up into several subsidiary companies: Swedish Radio Company, Swedish Television Company, Swedish Local Radio Company, and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company. Sveriges Radio became the parent company responsible for long-range planning and development and the distribution of finances to the subsidiaries.

      Sweden has three radio and two television networks. A substantial number of stations and transmitters on long waves, medium waves, and shortwaves ensures national coverage of the three radio services, as well as allowing for regional broadcasting. Twenty-four regional stations have substantial autonomy and their own budgets, but they must negotiate with the heads of the national networks to opt out, with their own regional programs, of up to a total of 25 percent of the network programming. In radio, one network broadcasts spoken-word programs almost exclusively, with some classical music during the day; the second consists of education and light as well as classical music in the evening; and the third, a 24-hour operation, features popular music, news, light entertainment, and regional broadcasts. The two television networks offer a wide variety of features, which include information (17.9 percent), drama and film (13.6 percent), entertainment (13.1 percent), programs for children (10.8 percent), news (9.6 percent), sports (9.5 percent), and education (8.9 percent). Colour television was inaugurated in April 1970.

      Sveriges Radio is also responsible for Sweden's external services, the cost of which (as with the cost of educational broadcasts) is separately budgeted and paid for from government funds. The broadcasts are in Swedish and six foreign languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. They are beamed as appropriate to all parts of the world.

      A monopoly until 1954, the BBC operates under a royal charter. It is funded from a fixed-term license fee paid by households with a television set. The BBC has four national radio networks: Radio 1, broadcasting mostly popular music, mainly during the day; Radio 2, primarily transmitting light music, sports, and entertainment; Radio 3, broadcasting mainly classical music and news during the day and cultural programs in the evening; and Radio 4, scheduling spoken word primarily, school programs in the midmorning and early afternoon, and a mixed program in the evenings. The main ingredients of overall output are 42.9 percent entertainment and music, 21.2 percent classical music, 9.1 percent news and outside broadcasts, 4.8 percent drama, 3.6 percent education, and 2.2 percent features. Some 30 local radio stations have been added to the BBC since 1967. The BBC has two national television services, which together transmit more than 200 hours a week; both have mixed programs that are coordinated to avoid conflicts. The main ingredients are news, documentaries, and information (31 percent); British and foreign films and series (15.5 percent); outside broadcasts, substantially sports, and sports news (14 percent); drama (8 percent); “family” programs and light entertainment (13.5 percent); education (11.1 percent); and religion (2.2 percent).

      There is substantial regional activity in both media. Of the six regions in the kingdom that formerly operated with a fair degree of autonomy, only the “national” regions remain for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In place of the other three regions, North, Midland, and West and South, there are 20 production centres for both radio and television. Regions broadcast their own programs by opting out of Radio 4 or BBC 1 and using their own section of the corresponding network. Radio Cymru broadcasts in the Welsh language for Wales. There are about 50 local FM (VHF) stations as authorized by the government: these are mostly placed to cover the larger city areas. Many competitive commercial local stations have been set up under the supervision of the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

      The BBC is also responsible for the United Kingdom's external services, which are paid for by annual grants-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Though no longer among the leaders in quantity of output, the BBC remains among them in terms of penetration. Seventy transmitters, of which 13 are overseas relay stations, provide a shortwave worldwide service and a medium-wave service in many areas, including Europe (from Berlin), Asia, East Africa, and Latin America. Of the weekly output of about 740 hours, roughly one-third in the World Service is in English, and the remainder is in nearly 40 foreign languages.

Independent broadcasting
      Independent broadcasting was established by an act of Parliament in 1954. Broadcasting began under the control of the Independent Television Authority (ITA) a year later (it was renamed Independent Broadcasting Authority [IBA] under the terms of the Sound Broadcasting Act in 1972). Although the authority had substantial independence, it did not produce any programs or advertising; these tasks were performed by commercial program companies. These latter, organized on a regional basis, supplied all the material broadcast except for news, for which a separate group, Independent Television News, was created; it was jointly owned and financed by the program companies. TV-am originated in 1983 and operated outside the system with an early morning breakfast-show format. Channel 4 was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, which was funded through compulsory annual subscriptions of Independent Television companies in exchange for advertising rights. It was authorized by the Broadcasting Act of 1980 and began broadcasting in 1982. A separate Welsh fourth channel was authorized at the same time; it is funded by the government. The cable system, created in 1985, was placed under the control of the Cable Authority.

      The Broadcasting Act of 1990 substantially reorganized independent broadcasting. It reassigned the regulatory duties of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and Cable Authority to two newly formed bodies, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority. The ITC is in charge of licensing and regulating all non-BBC television services, including ITV (renamed Channel 3 in 1993), Channel 4, and cable and satellite services. The Radio Authority has responsibility for granting franchises for up to three new national commercial radio channels and for licensing and regulating local commercial stations.

      The television program companies are under a substantial measure of control from the Independent Television Commission, which is responsible for the appointment of program companies, control of program and advertising output, and its transmission. The commission enforces codes with respect to advertising and violence on the screen. Television companies broadcast throughout the week within their respective areas, except for two that share the London area. The program companies are entirely financed by spot advertising in “natural breaks” in and between programs, by commercial sponsorship, and, on some cable and satellite services, by subscription; they pay a rental to the commission to cover the latter's transmitting and administrative costs and a fiscal levy to the exchequer. The program companies cooperate in a network committee, and a substantial number of the principal programs are broadcast by all companies. The contribution to the network made by each company varies in accordance with its size and resources. The revenue of each company is substantially dependent upon the number of homes with television receivers able to receive the Independent Television Commission signal in the area it covers, which varies significantly from the Channel Islands to the London area. The diversified output makes valueless any percentage analysis of program categories; but the principal types of output, in order of size, are as follows: drama, including telefilm series; light entertainment; children's programs; news, news magazines, features, and documentaries; sports; feature films (British and foreign); education; and religion.

      Broadcasting in the United States is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), created in 1934, which assigns frequencies and grants licenses. So great is the broadcasting operation in the United States, so many are the stations, both radio and television, and so extensive are the ramifications and links with other industries that it is not possible to produce a summary on the lines of those for countries where broadcasting has been more tightly organized. Some idea of the magnitude of the broadcasting scene is provided by the number of broadcasting stations in operation in the late 1980s, as authorized by the FCC: radio AM, about 5,000; radio FM, about 4,000; educational radio FM, about 1,200; commercial television, about 1,000; educational television, about 300; and television relay stations, more than 4,000. In most categories more stations have been authorized than are operating. The largest proportional increase has been in educational radio FM. Commercial broadcasting on television, as on radio in the past, is dominated by the three great national networks: the American Broadcasting Company, Columbia Broadcasting System, and the National Broadcasting Company. In radio, where the networks are no longer dominant, there is also the Mutual Broadcasting System; the majority of radio stations are as independent of the large networks as of the government, and many of the commercial stations specialize in a single type of output, which may be one or another of various kinds of popular music, classical music, news, or even traffic information. A few are owned by or affiliated with the national networks or with smaller local networks; some even are small local stations offering a basic fare of neighbourhood gossip interspersed with recorded music and spot advertising. After a slump following the major onset of television, radio, even network radio, has again become profitable. In television the three major networks own and operate their own stations in some of the larger cities and substantially control a majority of affiliates.

      Noncommercial broadcasting has risen in the United States. The National Association of Educational Broadcasters serves educational stations with transcriptions produced by its members and by other domestic as well as foreign broadcasters. The National Public Radio is also largely educational, supported by donations from foundations and other sources. There are radio stations supported by donations and subscriptions from listeners, in particular the Pacifica group. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has a loose organization. Its production facilities are not jointly organized, and it makes use of noncommercial stations for its network. Its revenue is uncertain; for example, it received $137,000,000 in 1982 from a congressional appropriation (such must be renewed annually) and the rest from foundations, public contributions, and individual stations.

      Another system is community antenna television (CATV), increasingly known as cable TV (cable television), originally set up in areas of poor reception or where the choice of television services was poor and cable television could offer additional choices. By 1964 about 1,000 such systems were in operation. At the time, no one thought of “cablecasting”—i.e., that the cable television companies should originate their own programs—but in many areas cablecasting has proved a success. Cable television, transmitted via direct cables connected to each television set, offers viewers a large choice of programs, as well as excellent reception.

      Official external services are operated by the Board for International Broadcasting, known as the Voice of America. They are broadcast to all parts of the world and have a number of relay stations overseas. Apart from English, 41 languages are used. In addition there are the international broadcast station KGEI, offering a shortwave service to Latin America in English, Spanish, and German and to Asia in Russian, Belorussian, Polish, and Ukrainian; and World International Broadcasters, whose shortwave commercial service is broadcast in English to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service has a network of shortwave stations broadcasting a worldwide service; stations are located in Alaska, Canada, Europe, North Africa, Ethiopia, the Caribbean, East Asia, the Middle East, Antarctica, the North Atlantic, and the Pacific.

      Although Germany was one of the first countries to begin radio transmissions (October 1923), the state organization owes nothing to earlier development. It was the occupying powers at the end of World War II that established the present system based on state (Länder) organizations.

      All state organizations have a First Radio service on medium wave, supported by FM. Several have a Second, Third, and Fourth Radio service on FM, and the Cologne group has a Fifth. Berlin has an AM channel, as well as FM for each of its three radio services. In many cases, two or more Länder organizations cooperate and broadcast simultaneously a single output on one of their FM services. The latter in most cases is broadcast for only three to four hours daily and is substantially, sometimes entirely, devoted to foreign languages for foreign workers in Germany. The output of the First and Second Radio services is to some extent mixed, but the Second focuses on more serious output.

      The First German Television service is nationally coordinated with contributions from each Land organization. Each organization broadcasts a substantial amount of regional material for its own audience. The Second Television service is centrally planned and produced, with headquarters in Mainz; schedules are coordinated to give the viewer a maximum choice. Each organization also has a Third Television service for only a few hours a day, often of an educational nature; this service, like the Third Radio service, is sometimes produced and simultaneously broadcast by groups of two or three Länder organizations. The Federal government has no authority for the control of broadcasting within the German territory, and legislative and administrative competence for broadcasting rests with the Länder. But even the Land governments and parliaments are legally barred from intervening beyond a statutory supervision and may not interfere with the basic independence of the broadcasting organizations.

      There are two external service organizations. Deutschlandfunk broadcasts to France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and northern and eastern Europe in 12 languages. Deutsche Welle broadcasts in 34 foreign languages to most areas of the world for a total of about 800 hours weekly.

Jorge A. Camacho Ed.

Additional Reading

The history of radio and television broadcasting
Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 4 vol. (1961–79), is a solid and detailed study. Erik Barnouw, A History of Broadcasting in the United States, 3 vol. (1966–70), is a lively and revealing journalistic account, while his Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television (1975) condenses and updates the three-volume work but focusses more on the development of television. Fred Shunaman (ed.), From Spark to Satellite: A History of Radio Communication (1979), is a basic overview. Hugh G.J. Aitken, Syntony and Spark: The Origins of Radio (1976, reprinted 1985), covers early technology, from Hertz's experiments in 1888 to events in 1912. W.J. Baker, A History of the Marconi Company (1970), studies the development and commercial exploitation of radio in the 20th century, with particular reference to Guglielmo Marconi and the Marconi company. S.G. Sturmey, The Economic Development of Radio (1958), reviews the economic forces governing the worldwide development of radio. Albert Abramson, The History of Television, 1880 to 1941 (1987), chronicles in detail television's worldwide development. Jeff Greenfield, Television: The First Fifty Years (1977), a popular, heavily illustrated overview, focusses on the United States. Francis Wheen, Television: A History (1985), contains a wealth of illustrated reference material organized by genres.

The broadcaster and the public
Audience measurement is discussed in William A. Belson, The Impact of Television: Methods and Findings in Program Research (1967); and Hugh Malcolm Beville, Jr., Audience Ratings: Radio, Television, and Cable, rev. ed. (1988), which includes a discussion of Peoplemeters (trademark). Les Brown, Television: The Business Behind the Box (1971), takes a critical look at network policies in programming. A history and description of radio broadcasts for external reception is found in Donald R. Browne, International Radio Broadcasting: The Limits of the Limitless Medium (1982), which gives special attention to the BBC, Voice of America, and Radio Moscow and to religious and Third World broadcasting. Philip Lewis, Educational Television Guidebook (1961), presents information on instructional television from the educational and technical points of view. Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting, A Public Trust (1979), is a report on the future of public broadcasting. Razelle Frankl, Televangelism: The Marketing of Popular Religion (1987), is a descriptive study of the religious television industry. Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music Television and Popular Culture (1992), treats both the production and consumption of this visual medium.Sociological aspects of broadcasting are explored in Raymond Williams, Britain in the Sixties: Communications (1962), on the role of mass media in dissolving class structure; Jean Cazeneuve, Sociologie de la radio-télévision, 6th ed. corrected (1986); and Paddy Scannell and David Cardiff, A Social History of British Broadcasting (1991– ), addressing the impact of broadcasting on modern British life. Works focussing specifically on television's impact include Harry J. Skornia, Television and Society (1965), a critical view of broadcasting in the United States; George Comstock et al., Television and Human Behavior (1978), a summary of research findings; Hilde T. Himmelweit, A.N. Oppenheim, and Pamela Vince, Television and the Child (1958, reprinted 1979), an authoritative study of the impact of television on children; R.J. Thomson, Television Crime-Drama (1959), an early study of the impact of violence on children and adolescents; Irene S. Shaw and David S. Newell, Violence on Television: Programme Content and Viewer Perception (1972), focussing on the United Kingdom; and United States, Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior, Television and Growing Up: The Impact of Television Violence (1972), the summary volume of a three-year inquiry, supplemented by Television and Behavior: Ten Years of Scientific Progress and Implications for the Eighties (1982), an elaborated update with broader coverage of topics and age groups.

Broadcasting operations
Studies of the state of broadcasting in various countries and regions, some now useful only for historical purposes, include Sydney W. Head, World Broadcasting Systems (1985), a comparative analysis of all aspects of radio, television, and cable systems in developed, developing, and undeveloped countries worldwide; Philip T. Rosen (ed.), International Handbook of Broadcasting Systems (1988), including coverage of broadcasting history, government regulations, and industry economics for 24 countries, with a bibliography for each; Burton Paulu, Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent (1967), Radio and Television Broadcasting in Eastern Europe (1974), and Television and Radio in the United Kingdom (1981); E.G. Wedell, Broadcasting and Public Policy (1968), a critical view of broadcasting in the United Kingdom; Sydney W. Head (ed.), Broadcasting in Africa (1974), a comprehensive survey, including a bibliography; Elihu Katz et al., Broadcasting in the Third World: Promise and Performance (1977), an analysis of broadcasting in developing countries; John A. Lent (ed.), Broadcasting in Asia and the Pacific: A Continental Survey of Radio and Television (1978); Anthony Smith (ed.), Television and Political Life (1979), a collection of essays describing patterns of control by political parties over television broadcasting in six European countries; William E. McCavitt (ed.), Broadcasting Around the World (1981), generally useful, though the chapter on the former Soviet Union should be read with caution; Douglas A. Boyd, Broadcasting in the Arab World: A Survey of the Electronic Media in the Middle East, 2nd ed. (1993); Sydney W. Head and Christopher H. Sterling, Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media, 6th ed. (1990); Eva Etzioni-Halevy, National Broadcasting Under Siege: A Comparative Study of Australia, Britain, Israel, and West Germany (1987); and Peter M. Lewis and Jerry Booth, The Invisible Medium: Public, Commercial, and Community Radio (1989), on radio's changing roles in selected countries.

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Universalium. 2010.

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