Growing up in an era and place before cable television, our options were ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation,) CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System,) and NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation.) All of these were air-wave broadcasts, received on a large antenna. All of them had genuine news programs, with real verify the facts journalists. PBS (Public Broadcasting) came late to the countryside and reception was spotty. I recall the family switching between the NBC and CBS for the evening news. NBC had the funny weatherman. CBS had Walter Cronkite.
In an era of air wave broadcast, television required a federal license, permission to use a specific radio frequency. The bandwidth licensed was quite wide, limiting the number of licenses available in a given area. This same system is still in place. With improvements in technology the bandwidth is narrower, allowing more licenses hence Fox and others have joined the fray. When the administration threatens the media, the strongest power is the authority to revoke a broadcast license. YouTube does not have a broadcast license. With online access does the broadcast license really mean that much today?
There are still areas in the country that do not have cable television, and where high speed internet is difficult or expensive to access (The United States and Canada are immense land masses.) The majority of the population in both countries live in area where high speed data is widely available by cable, fiber or phone networks.
For the majority of us, if NBC, ABC, and CBS left the broadcast world and went to streaming video only, we would hardly notice the difference. I am not sure why they don't just shrug their shoulders, tell the news the way they want to, and say "see you on CBS-Tube, NBC-Tube, and ABC-Tube." The advertising model is slowly changing to support this move, if the broadcasters all moved - the money would move with them.
That's thought provoking. I assume you watch Evan Ettinger.
ReplyDeleteEdinger, that is.
DeleteYes, almost every week.
DeleteIt's interesting that Emperor Trump is pretty obsessed about suppressing any media outlets that do not sing his praises. He sues here and threatens there and treats female journalists like shit if they dare to ask him awkward questions. Funny how he came up with the term "fake media" when he is in most ways a fake president - painted orange with fake hair, lying, exaggerating and bursting with self-importance.
ReplyDeleteSomedays, no one seems to know that tune.
DeleteIt’s difficult to know what to trust in these days of censorship in the USA.
ReplyDelete