Global Television Broadcasting:
– British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a major international broadcaster.
– BBC funds itself through TV license fees and advertising.
– BBC started experimental TV broadcasts in 1929, with regular broadcasts beginning in 1934.
– BBC Television began expanded service in 1936.
– Germany demonstrated long-distance television transmission in 1936.
United States Television Broadcasting:
– Big Three networks dominated US TV until Fox joined, considered part of the Big Four networks.
– PBS is the largest non-profit, non-commercial network in the US.
– PBS member stations have freedom in scheduling shows.
– Some PBS stations have digital subchannel networks.
– NBC launched the first regularly operating television network in 1947.
Television Networks Development:
– NBC, CBS, and Mutual Broadcasting System set up radio networks in the 1920s.
– Bell Labs patented coaxial cable in 1929 for long-distance television transmission.
– Experimental television stations began sporadic broadcasts in the 1920s and 1930s.
– DuMont launched the country’s first permanent commercial television network in 1946.
– CBS and ABC joined DuMont and NBC in network broadcasting in 1948.
Television Distribution and Reach:
– Local affiliated television stations across the country carry network feeds.
– Cable and satellite providers pay networks a rate per subscriber.
– NBC connected Baltimore and Boston to its television network in late 1947.
– By 1951, the four major television networks stretched from coast to coast.
– FCC regulations in the US restricted ownership of television stations by any one network, company, or individual.
International Television Broadcasting:
– Television services outside North America are established by publicly funded and commercial broadcasters.
– Most nations established television networks with a public broadcaster funded by licensing fees.
– Commercial television services became available as private companies applied for broadcasting licenses.
– The UK television network landscape evolved from a dominant BBC to a dual system with commercial broadcasting.
– Major networks in other countries like Sweden, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines have unique characteristics and histories.
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A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or, in the United States, multichannel video programming distributors. Until the mid-1980s, broadcast programming on television in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of terrestrial networks. Many early television networks such as the BBC, CBS, CBC, NBC or ABC in the USA and in Australia evolved from earlier radio networks.
