Page 177 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

A New Electronic Mass Medium Is Born

the late 1800s. In time, TV would become the most dominant mass
medium of its time and advertising would be the sole economic force
behind its growth. Consumers had adopted no other media as quickly
as they adopted TV. In 1950, only 10 percent of homes had TVs. By
1956, that figure grew to 67 percent.
TV’s success was a threat to radio and movies. Because TV was
initially considered radio with moving pictures, many large advertisers
switched their budgets from radio advertising to TV. Movie audiences
also declined because TV was perceived as being free and many movie
stars became TV stars. Advertisers were quick to realize the poten-
tial of reaching millions of homes with one medium. Early TV ads
were sponsorships by companies that demonstrated new products, like
washers and dryers. It wasn’t until the “Creative Revolution” in adver-
tising began in the late 1950s that the 30-second commercial became
popular.
From a cultural standpoint, advertising reflects the society of the
times. During the mid-1950s, most advertising reflected the straight-
forward, button-down mentality of the Cold War era. Political realities
were reflected in the hard-sell approach used to market products. It was 167
called the scientific approach to advertising. Repeat, repeat, repeat the
message was the mantra of advertising agencies. TV was the perfect
mass medium for that mantra.
In the late 1950s, as many teenage Baby Boomers began to question
authority and a new form of music called rock ’n’ roll swept the country,
advertising began to change. The hard-sell approach gave way to a soft-
sell approach, which was more emotional and often irreverent. Humor
became a popular way to advertise products.
No mass medium has dominated our lives as long as television.
Advertising has been the key revenue source and beneficiary of that
dominance. During the peak of TV viewership in the late 1970s, only
three broadcast TV networks existed—ABC, CBS, and NBC. An adver-
tiser could have its commercial seen in 75 percent of all homes in the
country in one evening by running one ad on those three networks
during prime time.
Like the mass media before it, broadcast TV was vulnerable to new
technology and forms of communication. In the 1970s, HBO was intro-
duced as the first premium cable channel. Within the next decade
satellite TV could deliver new cable channels like ESPN, MTV, CNN,
and BET across the country. Broadcast TV’s prime-time audiences
began to decline.