Table Of Contentcontinued from front flap
growth into a convergent technology, a COlUMBIA “Gary Edgerton’s book has wisely told a story that focuses on single and Television is a form of media without
t h E c o l u m b i a h i s t o ry o f
global industry, a social catalyst, a viable UNIVERSITy representative events rather than trying to be encyclopedic. And he pulls equal. It has revolutionized the way
art form, and a complex and dynamic re- it off. This is an accessible and compelling narrative of the complicated we learn about and communicate with
PRESS
flection of the American mind and char- forces that went into creating our most enigmatic of mediums.” a m E r i c a n the world and has reinvented the way we
NEW yORK
acter. It took only ten years for television experience ourselves and others. More
KEN BURNS, filmmaker
to penetrate thirty-five million house- www.columbia.edu/cu/cup than just cheap entertainment, TV is an
holds, and by 1983 the average family undeniable component of our culture
“Concise, complete, readable, and up-to-date, following television from
kept its set on for more than seven hours and contains many clues to who we are,
t E l E v i s i o n
its inception to its role in a global media age and placing it in cultural
a day. The Columbia History of American what we value, and where we might be
context. Destined to become a classic in the field.”
Television illuminates our complex rela- headed in the future.
tionship with this singular medium and KATHy MERlOCK JACKSON, Media historian Gary R. Edgerton fol-
provides historical and critical knowledge editor of the Journal of American Culture lows the technological developments and
for understanding TV as a technology, an increasing cultural relevance of TV from
industry, an art form, and an institutional “Gary Edgerton covers an astonishing amount of material, examining its prehistory (before 1947) to the Net-
force. with great intelligence and insight the dynamic growth and develop- thE columbia work Era (1948–1975) and the Cable Era
(1976–1994). He begins with the laying
ment of television. His work is all the more noteworthy for the skill with
h i s t o r y o f
of the first telegraph line in 1844, which
which he covers politics, economics, sociology, technology, aesthetics,
gave rise to the idea that images and
and cultural impact in a highly readable and deftly organized manner.” a m E r i c a n
sounds could be transmitted over long
BRIAN ROSE,
tElEvision distances. He then considers the remod-
professor of communication and media studies,
eling of television’s look and purpose
Fordham University
during World War II; the gender, racial,
and ethnic components of its early broad-
“With a sweeping narrative and a close eye for detail, Gary Edgerton has casts and audiences; its transformation of
written a compelling, scholarly history of America’s favorite art form, postwar America; and its function in the
which will surely set the standard in the years to come.” political life of the country. He talks of the
Edgerton
birth of prime time and cable, and the in-
RON SIMON, curator,
fluence of innovators like Sylvester “Pat”
television and radio, The Paley Center for Media
Weaver, Roone Arledge, and Ted Turner.
Gary r. EdGErton is professor He further discusses television’s entrance
and chair of the Communication and into the international market, describing
Theater Arts Department at Old Domin- the ascent of such programs as Dallas and
Columbia Histories of Modern American Life
ion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He The Cosby Show and the impact these ex-
has published eight books and more than Jacket images ports have had on transmitting American
© Don Carstens/Jupiter Images
seventy book chapters and journal articles culture abroad.
© Bettmann/CORBIS
on a wide assortment of television and Edgerton concludes with a discerning
media history topics, and is coeditor of the Jacket design look at our current Digital Era (1995–pres-
Journal of Popular Film and Television. In Chang Jae Lee ent) and the new forms of instantaneous
2004 he received the American Culture 9!BME=H<:PQPUSS! communication that continue to change
Association Governing Board Award for America’s social, political, and economic
ISBN 978-0-231-12164-4
Outstanding Contributions to American landscape. Richly researched and engag-
Cultural Studies. ing, Edgerton’s history tracks television’s
Gary r. Edgerton
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. columbia continued on back flap
the columbia history of
american television
Columbia Histories of Modern American Life
Columbia Histories of Modern American Life
The books in this new series are concise interpretive histories focusing on
major aspects of the American experience since World War II. Written by
leading historians, the books draw on recent scholarship to create a lively and
interesting account of the subject at hand. The books are written accessibly
with a general reader/student audience in mind. Each volume includes an
excellent bibliography and a detailed index.
Religion in America Since 1945: A History, Patrick Allitt
More Than Just a Game: Sports in America Since World War II, Kathryn Jay
T H E C O L U M B I A H I S T O RY O F
A M E R I C A N
T E L E V I S I O N
Gary R. Edgerton
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress C atal oging-i n-P ublication Data
Edgerton, Gary R. (Gary Richard), 1952–
The Columbia history of American television / Gary R. Edgerton.
p. cm. — (Columbia histories of modern American life)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-12164-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Television broadcasting—United States—History. 2. Television broadcasting—Social
aspects—United States. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1992.3.U5E34 2007
791.450973—dc22
2007012701
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable a cid- free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Ac know ledg ments vii
Introduction xi
Part I. Going Public 1
1. An Idea Whose Time Had Come:
Imagining Television—Before 1940 3
2. Not Going According to Plan:
Remodeling the Tube in a Time of Crisis—1940–1947 60
3. Learning to Live with Tele vi sion:
Technology, Gender, and America’s Early TV Audiences
Kathryn H. Fuller- Seeley 91
Part II. Becoming National 111
4. Here Comes Tele vi sion:
Remaking American Life—1948–1954 113
5. The Halcyon Years:
Beyond Anyone’s Wildest Dream—1955–1963 156
6. Tele vi sion and the Presidency: Eisenhower and Kennedy
Mary Ann Watson 205
Part III. Becoming International 235
7. A Great Awakening:
Prime Time for Network Television—1964–1975 237
8. The Sky’s the Limit:
Satellites, Cable, and the Reinvention of Television—
1976–1991 285
9. The Changing Face of Tele vi sion: Turner Broadcasting System
Jimmie L. Reeves and Michael M. Epstein 323
vi CONTENTS
Part IV. Becoming Global 347
10. The Business of America Is Show Business:
U.S. TV in Global Context—1992–Present 349
11. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Cosby Show and the Ascent
of U.S. Sitcoms in the Global Tele vi sion Marketplace
Timothy J. Havens 390
12. Tune in Locally, Watch Globally:
The Future of Tele vi sion in the Age of the Internet 410
Notes 427
General Index 477
Tele vi sion Programming Index 489
AC KNOW LEDG MENTS
Researching and writing a history of American telev i sion has been an
a ll-c onsuming activity for me. Despite the enjoyment I have derived
from the experience, it has sometimes been a daunting project as
well, given the topic’s enormous size and scope. Early on I adopted as
my own personal mantra the old children’s j oke—how do you eat an
e lephant?—and just kept on chewing away, one bite at a time. For
readers interested in an overview reference to this vast subject area, a
number of ser viceable timelines already exist. For example, Erik Bar-
nouw’s Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele vi sion, 2nd Re-
vised Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 549–560,
includes an extremely concise chronology, as does David E. Fisher and
Marshall Jon Fisher, Tube: The Invention of Tele vi sion (San Diego: Har-
vest, 1996), pp. 357–366. In contrast, Robert Hilliard and Michael
Keith’s The Broadcast Century and Beyond: A Biography of American
Tele vi sion (Oxford: B utterworth-H einemann, 1992) is basically a 340-
p age chronology of radio, TV, and the newer w eb-r elated electronic
media.
One of the genuine pleasures of preparing this Columbia History of
American Tele vi sion was meeting for the fi rst time or reconnecting
with a wide assortment of professional colleagues and friends. Liter-
ally dozens of individuals were invaluable to me at all stages of pro-
ducing this book. James Warren at Columbia University Press (CUP)
was instrumental in getting this whole project off the ground. Later,
Juree Sondker became my primary editorial contact, and she and her
colleagues at CUP w ere most helpful in shepherding this volume to
completion. A particularly heartfelt thank you goes to the very tal-
ented handful of scholars who contributed cameo chapters to the
Columbia History of American Tele vi sion. It was a delight to once again
collaborate with Kathryn Fuller- Seeley of Georgia State University,
Mary Ann Watson of Eastern Michigan University, and my former
colleague at Old Dominion University, Timothy Havens, who is now at
the University of Iowa. I also enjoyed my initial working experience
with Jimmie Reeves of Texas Tech University and Michael Epstein of
Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. All fi ve of these authors
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
added an indispensable dimension to the book from their own special
perspectives and areas of expertise that simply wouldn’t have been
part of this history without them.
Many other people helped me in both researching the Columbia
History of American Tele vi sion and securing the wide array of accom-
panying images that are included inside this volume. Overall, I want
to acknowledge the generous assistance of Bernard Finn, Charles Mc-
Govern, and Elliot Sivowitch at the National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution Archives in Washington, D.C.; Karen
Fishman and Michael Henry of the Library of American Broadcasting
at the University of Maryl and, College Park; Alexander Magoun, exec-
utive director of the David Sarnoff Library in Princeton, New Jersey;
Colleen Cooney of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in Boston,
Massachusetts; Kathy Struss of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in
Abilene, Kansas; Dorinda Hartmann of the Wisconsin Center for
Film and Telev is ion Research at the Wisconsin Historical Society in
Madison; Susanne Belovari of the Murrow Center in the Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massa-
chusetts; Ron Simon of the Museum of Telev i sion and Radio in New
York; Robert Spindler, university archivist, and Marilyn Wurzburger,
special collections librarian of the Department of Archives and Special
Collections at Arizona State University Libraries in Tempe, Arizona;
Camille Ruggiero of Landov (an image rights management agency) in
New York; and John Rockwell of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency
in Antrim, New Hampshire.
Thanks, too, to the many helpful colleagues and friends who have
aided me over the years in either researching or thinking through
much of the material covered in Columbia History of American Telev i-
sion, including Carolyn Anderson, Erik Barnouw, Larry Bonko, Ray
Browne, Gary Burns, Glen Creeber, Chris Geist, Donald Godfrey,
Douglas Gomery, Bill Hart, Fran Hassencahl, Kathy Merlock Jackson,
Jeff Jones, Bill Jones, Terry Lindvall, Michael Marsden, Michael Mur-
ray, Jack Nachbar, Kyle Nicholas, Marty Norden, George Plasketes, Pe-
ter Rollins, Brian Rose, Maury Shelby, Chris Sterling, and Rick
Vincent, among many others too numerous to list but whose conver-
sations with me w ere all greatly appreciated and essential in shaping
my own developing ideas concerning the history of American telev i-
sion. I acknowledge the support of Dean Chandra de Silva and Provost
Tom Isenhour at Old Dominion University for enabling me to take a
sabbatical leave during which I wrote most of this manuscript. All of
my colleagues in the Communication and Theatre Arts Department
at Old Dominion University have helped me immeasurably during
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
the time when I was working on this book, and I thank them for their
friendship and support.
My deepest gratitude goes to my family for their seemingly bound-
less reservoirs of love and understanding. Nan, Katherine, and Mary
Ellen’s many enthusiasms and insights are a source of continuing in-
spiration, expanding my horizons in countless ways each and every
day. This book is dedicated to them with all my love.
