Television Connects Cultures In a discussion of art and culture television may not immediately spring to mind Yet television has a broad cultural influence On average Americans spend more than 20 hours each week watching television 1 In contrast few people visit a museum or attend a concert every week For decades television has been a major part of people’s lives This has allowed the medium to influence both individual and national identities Millions of people spread thousands of miles apart share the same experiences through television Television as an art form is dependent on the art forms that came before it Television is a direct descendent of radio in terms of both the technology 6 Chapter 1
Television brings families and cultures together through shared experiences 7
used and the content presented Many of the program genres popular today from soap operas to detective stories to family comedies started with radio Movies also influenced how stories are told and the visual tools used to tell them Even politics have played a part with government funding and regulations controlling how the television industry grew In the early days of television it was viewed as a savior of culture It would make society better by teaching people about the world and bringing quality entertainment directly into family homes A few years later the true nature of television became clear It was primarily a way to provide mainstream How Much Television Although children and teenagers are often accused of watching too much television viewing rates are actually dropping among young adults In addition statistics show older adults watch more television than teenagers Nielsen a company that measures television audiences reported in 2014 that Americans aged 18 to 24 were watching slightly less than 22 hours of traditional television each week This continued a downward trend dropping approximately 4 5 hours compared to three years before It is possible teenagers and young adults who are watching less television are watching DVDs or playing video games instead In contrast television watching increased among people age 50 and older Those above age 65 spend an average of almost 48 hours watching television each week 2 8
their name because they were often sponsored by the manufacturers of household cleaning Soap operas got products entertainment and sell products for the advertisers who paid for the shows Still television developed as a cultural art form experimenting with new genres new storytelling techniques and new ways to entertain Television also educates the public exploring issues through fiction and nonfiction programs and bringing news from around the world This helps reveal the full diversity of our world Combining Cultures Television is an example of the way technology and society intertwine For example television news does not always cover the most important nationwide events Instead it may focus on the most visual In 1949 three-year-old Kathy Fiscus fell into a well in Los Angeles California A local television station joined the print and radio reporters covering the story Rescue efforts lasted more than 50 hours and more than half of those were shown live on television People gathered around television sets in store windows and at neighbors 9
