Television

:{{redirect|TV}} See also Television (band) for the rock band

Social aspects

Alleged dangers

Paralleling television's growing primacy in family life and society, an increasingly vocal chorus of legislators, scientists and parents are raising objections to the uncritical acceptance of the medium. For example, the Swedish government imposed a total ban on advertising to children under twelve in 1991 (see advertising). In the U.S., the National Institute on Media and the Family (not a government agency) points out that U.S. children watch an average of 25 hours of television per week and features studies showing it interferes with the educational and maturational process.

Related Topics:
Scientist - Parent - Swedish - Children - Advertising - Hour - Education

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A February 23 2002 article in Scientific American suggested that compulsive television watching was no different from any other addiction, a finding backed up by reports of withdrawal symptoms among families forced by circumstance to cease watching.

Related Topics:
February 23 - 2002 - Addiction

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A longitudinal study in New Zealand involving 1000 people (from childhood to 26 years of age) demonstrated that "television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with poor educational achievement by 26 years of age". In other words, the more the child watched television, the less likely he was to finish school and enroll in a university.

Related Topics:
New Zealand - University

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The 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd" critiques the television industry, in this tale of a TV reporter who turns a hobo into a TV star.

Related Topics:
1957 - A Face in the Crowd - Reporter - Hobo

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Technology trends

In its infancy, television was an ephemeral medium. Fans of regular shows planned their schedules so that they could be available to watch their shows at their time of broadcast. The term appointment television was coined by marketers to describe this kind of attachment.

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The viewership's dependence on schedule lessened with the invention of programmable video recorders, such as the Videocassette recorder and the Digital video recorder. Consumers could watch programs on their own schedule once they were broadcast and recorded. Television service providers also offer video on demand, a set of programs which could be watched at any time.

Related Topics:
Videocassette recorder - Digital video recorder

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Both mobile phone networks and the internet are capable of carrying video streams. There is already a fair amount of internet tv, while mobile phone tv is planned to become mainstream, if it can be effectively sold, early in 2006.

Related Topics:
Mobile phone - Internet - 2006

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Suitability for audience

Recently, television broadcasting companies have come under fire in the US, for the content of their shows. A flurry of fines by the FCC have fallen on various stations following the Janet Jackson affair at the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show. Even radio shows have been affected. Measures are being considered to have certain shows only air past certain times of night.

Related Topics:
Janet Jackson - Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show

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