Introduction: It is difficult to imagine of times without the telly in your drawing room since it has been replaced with the radio as the most popular mass media. An integral role has been played by the television in shaping and influencing modern lives with its ability to create a common viewing experience for all its viewers around the globe. Although the criticism it faced for its negative impact on children, it has also been applauded for its capability to unite millions of viewers in shared tragedy and hope. The emergence of the Internet has though changed the way how people watch TV but evolving still continues. It has been by far one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and strives to strengthen its solidarity for centuries to come.
The Golden Age of Television: This medium of interconnectedness gained massive popularity during the 1950s. Its mass production substantially reduced the cost of purchasing it and became easily accessible to the public at large. With a small count confining to only 10,000 sets in the United States in the 1940s to a massive roar of around 6 million sets by 1950s. The percentage of households owning a television in the United States rose from a mere 9 percent to a hefty 95.3 percent. Most of the programs then were based on network radio shows and lacked the potential it could offer. The cable television was developed in areas to enhance the reception of signals. Cable antennas were erected and connected at homes to provide broadcast signals. Later the experiment with microwave helped bring signals from far off distances and support a variety of channels to watch out for.
Development of Studios: A Television Production Studio is a workspace where video production takes place either for live telecast or for post-production purposes. A professional TV studio comprises of several rooms for noise and practicality reasons. It has a Production Control Room (PCR) where the composition of the ongoing program takes place and is often also called a ‘gallery’. The studio also comprises the Master Control Room (MCR) which installs types of equipment that is too noisy for the PCR. The room controls which programs to play and which commercials to switch to. It also monitors the transmitters and also records satellite feeds. The studio in terms of function and design is similar to a movie studio. The studio floor is the area where the show will be recorded with professional video cameras, monitors and controlled stage lighting system. The director, producer and script supervisor is usually found in the production room where the show is directed.
Chicago School of Television: NBC’s Chicago TV Studio produced five programs between 1949 and 1955 which paved the way for critics calling the Chicago School of Television. The performers and production staff were guided by the axiom that telly was neither film nor theatre. And it was directed to the viewers at home watching in small groups. Spontaneity and informality were the hallmarks as it was infrequently scripted. The success of the School was coupled with technological advances but the Chicago television studios saw its demise. The principal exponents that were crucial to the production team were later summoned to New York. By the mid-1950s, the extension of coaxial cable to West Coast deprived Chicago of network productions.
Conclusion: The emergence of studios has led to a new platform and a new profession for a lot of people across the globe. It paves a path for the emerging talents to showcase what they have stored for the mass as no matter what people do not stop watching television. Despite the over-achieving advancement in technology resulting in the development of tabs, mobile phones, laptops, and other devices, the unity that a telly beholds is beyond words.
