Television has become the new companion for a significant part of modern society, altering how people spend their leisure time and acquire information. TV viewership was a long pursuit of the privileged, given the hefty cost of a TV set until after the Second World War, when there was a sharp rise in ownership rates as more and more TV sets were produced due to technological improvements. Television transcended the privacy of classic residences and the realms of public spaces to break into the personal world, creating ripples in family dynamics and consumerism. Similarly, the Cold War era not only epitomized the supremacy of television but also brought it to political propaganda and social prophetic platforms.
The process of shaping television into a more integral part of everyday life was strengthened through various developments in broadcast technologies that enabled new formats and increased portability. The Internet, radio, and television era had produced new networks, such as cable and satellite networks, that splintered audiences and democratized content production. The digital era is so total that TV screens have become completely connected, combining broadcasting with on-demand streaming and social network platforms. As a result, the increasing popularity and availability have given us the excellent opportunity to access worldwide news and entertainment at all times.
Television has become prevalent in everyday life, but its role continues to be an object of debate among media scholars. On the one hand, for some people, the TV does great harm because it can push individuals into isolation and make them watch shows without interacting with what’s on the screen. On the one hand, it alienates fans who would rather sit in the front row when watching live events and shows. Some also say that it hampers the educational role of the media for ages. Thus, I will give a paper on the importance of television for modernity, its historical origin, cultural impact, technological improvement, and social outcomes. To be more exact, it will consider issues related to popular culture and commonly performed actions, mass media, and their impact through these lenses, like technological evolution and family life transformation.
Television can be traced back to the initial experimental broadcasts in the 1920s and 30s. Still, it was not until the Second World War ended that technology became available to the general public. The governments and companies in post-war America and Europe invested vast amounts of money in the television domain, namely, television infrastructure and research, making it possible to produce more affordable television sets.[1]. Television ownership soared in the 50s as households flocked to acquire the new gadget. Americans in the US owning a television grew from a value of 0.5 percent in 1946 to 87.4 percent in 1962.
This widespread adoption extensively reshaped how families interacted and organized. Television took a crucial position in the lounge, the center for family members, as they surrounded it with an evening to sip tea and share the viewing experience. Leisure activities also declined, and people focused more on lazy pastimes, which did not involve much activity and were mainly carried out in front of a TV.[2]. Parenting embraced similar challenges as television companies aspired to attract a diverse spectrum of households. At the same time, parents grappled with the overwhelming influence of TV on children’s entertainment and education.
Home TV has, to some extent, conquered the traditional male and female roles that were taken over by the streaming platforms. While women still held the knife and the dishpan in hand, it was the television set that later on gave husbands and wives equal time sharing in leisure activities instead of the traditional cooking and cleaning. Nevertheless, some critics pointed out that television habits weakened social contacts and supported the “atomized” nuclear families when fewer family members bonded together.[3]. At gross th, the absorption of TV in households around midnight changed Western cultures significantly at that time.
Television significantly impacted social life and people’s living habits when it was at its height of popularity in the 80s. It influenced how people began to live and molded the notion that comfort and affluence are the meanings of life, as shows seemed to be modeled by the upper class, and brands were actively being advertised. Television’s great authority in advertising was a matter that many marketers comprehended.[4]. Besides, this fantastic medium allowed them to address the audience in their sphere at home. The commercial systems’ targeted advertisements about style and status were about the conspicuous consumption of newly produced home appliances and automobiles.
Politically speaking, television considerably altered the public arena, and mass media were increasingly densified. Sitting rooms of ordinary people could become the theatre of powerful politicians’ speeches, debates, and news coverage, whereas they got through TV into surprising closeness. It was not enough to reach voters through television airtime or be inspired by charismatic persons on TV. The role of TV in molding public opinion for a particular purpose was challenged and often referred to as infringing on democracy. TV, among other things, became a revolutionary tool that formed the consumers’ news-watching habits and the messages they wanted to absorb daily.[5]. Through a small number of nationally broadcast TV channels, there was a chance for the public of different regions and economic classes to follow the same stories, using audio and visuals to recover the past.
In the cultural realm, shows such as sitcoms and soap operas not only mirrored but, to some extent, also defined the common ideals. At the same time, they gave the platform to those often marginalized voices to be heard. Television paves the way for wild and exaggerated pop culture fads and idol worship. Discussions were on the topic of children’s development behavior through television and screen time, gender role perception, and how family norms and concepts were being projected; sex and relationships were also a part of such discussions. In conclusion, in the end, television became a dominant mass medium of the twentieth century, bringing about erasable influences on social behavior.[6].
As the first public broadcasts were emerging, significant improvements and modifications were required for television to attract a wide audience and eventually become a standard household device. The development and refinement of communication and receiving equipment, along with the miniaturization of glass tubes, allowed for placing TV sets on each table by lowering the cost factor. The transition into the use of color in the technology of the 1960s is associated with the progress of picture quality and the technology of pay.[7].
With an increase in television ownership, companies from auxiliary industries took the chance to create additional products that would improve the watching experience. The remote control also made television viewing comforting because it enabled the freedom of a distance operation. At the same time, videotapes and recorders had time-changers that allowed viewers to shift television recordings on their lines. From the 1970s, cable and direct-broadcast satellite systems jumped in, and with this new technology, the number of television channels grew beyond the spectrum available.
The establishment of digitization in television production has also occurred recently. The Internet currently makes sets more than just simple media platforms since, with on-demand streaming added, conventional programming is just a supplement. The younger audiences instead click the streaming services, social media, YouTube, and gaming icons on the remote controls while watching television.[8]. This may even cause some experts to consider whether television will remain a singular medium in the future. Besides the latter, technology has paved the way since its invention, making TV a household item that massively impacts the daily lives of people across the globe.
Television significantly influenced social values and norms, having been a straightforward, direct transport of different customs, behaviors, and lifestyles into homes. Along with the programs of class aids, they also created an individualistic and materialistic lifestyle. There were contests over whether television would cause degradation in morals and culture, especially in violence and sex.
Communication between family members and the outside world suffered because television took people’s time by attracting them to entertainment instead of activities they could have spent outdoors. Gold said segmented viewing was a new way to consume media that allowed for solitary screen time. Stay-at-home activities accompany the deprivation of a connection to nature and the community’s life. Though TV did play a uniting role that brought people together through events televised live, it also proved to be a medium of disconnection between far-off units.[9].
Regarding the world level, television gave the opportunity for Western culture to rise fast and to become more global than it had been before, but more specifically, American culture became the most widespread everywhere and showed its qualities, different variants, and possibilities. Via satellite, international distribution agreements have enabled people’s exposure to entertainment, news, and fashion to be branded. At the same time, the positive side of it became visible as one could envisage the use of TV for educational functions and building understanding. But sometimes, people were worried that their culture was under threat because their values were being replaced. In the end, television became a significant globalizing agent not only as a representative and shaper of attitudes of the international community but also as the medium for mass communication that gave voice to the people of different nations.
Summing up, there is no doubt that TV has been one of the largest and most influential factors in the modern world since it was introduced in the post-war era as one of the first widely spread media types. It revolutionized how people enjoy audio channels and played a massive role in making home entertainment central within homes all over the globe. TV was also part of this changing environment, transmitting things like new politics and lifestyles in both good and bad ways, and increasing consumerism. Although critics questioned whether social interaction and community experience were terrible, there is no doubt that television unequivocally united people by offering live programs. It began the exposition of pop culture around the globe immediately. That capability of the television to piece together a reflection of attitudes and mentality simultaneously showed the role of television as a mass medium of today. Then, the further development of technology preserves the place of TV in our everyday lives, even as seeing it on digital platforms continues to change.
Caldwell, John Thornton. Production culture: Industrial reflexivity and critical practice in film and television. Duke University Press, 2020.
Liechty, Mark. “Media, markets and modernization: youth identities and the experience of modernity in Kathmandu, Nepal.” In Youth cultures, pp. 166-201. Routledge, 2022.
Morgan, Michael. “Television and democracy.” In Cultural politics in contemporary America, pp. 240-253. Routledge, 2022.
Nicolaou, Constantinos. “Media trends and prospects in educational activities and techniques for online learning and teaching through television content: Technological and digital socio-cultural environment, generations, and audiovisual media communications in education.” Education Sciences 11, no. 11 (2021): 685.
Pečiulis, Žygintas. “TV Media in the Soviet System: The Collision of Modernity and Restrictions.” Filosofija. Sociologija 31, no. 1 (2020): 34-42.
[1] Pečiulis, Žygintas. “TV Media in the Soviet System: The Collision of Modernity and Restrictions.” Filosofija. Sociologija 31, no. 1 (2020): 34-42.
[2] Liechty, Mark. “Media, markets and modernization: youth identities and the experience of modernity in Kathmandu, Nepal.” In Youth cultures, pp. 166-201. Routledge, 2022.
[3] Nicolaou, Constantinos. “Media trends and prospects in educational activities and techniques for online learning and teaching through television content: Technological and digital socio-cultural environment, generations, and audiovisual media communications in education.” Education Sciences 11, no. 11 (2021): 685.
[4] Morgan, Michael. “Television and democracy.” In Cultural politics in contemporary America, pp. 240-253. Routledge, 2022.
[5] Caldwell, John Thornton. Production culture: Industrial reflexivity and critical practice in film and television. Duke University Press, 2020.
[6] Pečiulis, Žygintas. “TV Media in the Soviet System: The Collision of Modernity and Restrictions.” Filosofija. Sociologija 31, no. 1 (2020): 34-42.
[7] Liechty, Mark. “Media, markets and modernization: youth identities and the experience of modernity in Kathmandu, Nepal.” In Youth cultures, pp. 166-201. Routledge, 2022.
[8] Liechty, Mark. “Media, markets and modernization: youth identities and the experience of modernity in Kathmandu, Nepal.” In Youth cultures, pp. 166-201. Routledge, 2022.
[9] Nicolaou, Constantinos. “Media trends and prospects in educational activities and techniques for online learning and teaching through television content: Technological and digital socio-cultural environment, generations, and audiovisual media communications in education.” Education Sciences 11, no. 11 (2021): 685.