Television's 3rd Wave - The Cable TV Multichannel Age: 1980s (MTV)

Welcome everyone... the summer television season is upon us as Memorial Day here in the US has come and gone, and June 1st, 2023 has arrived. We'll be here back behind the desk at our Television Vanguard studio all summer long, leading up to the fall 2023/fall 1973 retrospective come September, as our fall team has done each autumn for the past decade.

In parallel, we the 'summer season' team have worked each summer 'filling in the gaps'... doing specific reviews of certain aspects of television - The Television Talk Show, Cartoons, PBS, The Black and White era of television from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s, and commercials and televised events of the 1970s.

Having had our planning meeting this past winter with the full staff here, we came to a somewhat profound conclusion... we've pretty much told our story that we originally set out to tell back in 2013 when we started. We wanted to tell the story of television from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. We think those foundational decades of television were worth discussing and remembering. At this point, 'we're tapped out'... we think we've covered (or will cover for the remaining 1970's seasons) what we set out to do when we started out Television Vanguard in 2013.

So, where to go from here? After discussing this in detail at our winter staff planning meeting back in February, we realized that we originally wanted to tell a larger story about television - what were the four core 'ages' or 'eras' of US television, and how did they (and do they) compare with one another? What have we gained? What have we lost?

Back in 2012, we started hearing people in Hollywood talk about 'the second golden age of television' when describing the new and upcoming era of streaming television - NetFlix, and so forth. "Peak TV.' We were not certain how this current 2010-2020s era of streaming television compared with the other eras of television that came before it, but we wanted to find out for ourselves.

We think the history of US television can be broken down into four main eras, or ages: (note - we base this loosely on noted television historian Prof. Robert J. Thompson's work and analysis... he's one of the best)

1. The Golden Age [ 1948-1959 ]
* New York based programming, production and broadcasting.
* Live telecasts, with black & white production (film and kinetiscope).
* Anthology Series/Theater-like dramas, variety shows, etc.

2. The Mass-Media Age [ 1960-1979 ]
* Three primary broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC) and PBS.
* Syndication, network affiliates and independent local broadcasts.
* Production moved to LA area; integrated w/Hollywood Studio Sys.
* Black & White filming migrated to full 'living' color.
* The beginning of cable television (CATV - Community Antenna TV).

3. The Cable TV Multichannel Age [ 1980-2004 ]
* Multiple (hundred+) of channels available now to viewer.
* More and more viewers rely on cable TV system; antennas removed.
* Viewer control - VCR, TiVo.
* Channel surfing, fragmented audience.

4. The Internet-Broadband Steaming & 'Peak TV' Age [ 2005- ]
* Hand held streaming devices - iPod, iPhone, Internet access device.
* Streaming channels via Broadband/Internet: Netflix, YouTube, Hulu.
* OTT and SVOD, ISP based, MSO distribution and Net Neutrality.

With this in mind, we think we've covered to the best of our ability over the past ten years the first two eras, roughly beginning in the late 1940s and ending at the end of the 1970s. We'll certainly do more on this era in the future from time to time, but we want to begin to look more closely at the the third era: The Cable TV Multichannel Age from 1980 to around 2004.

Specifically, what have we lost from this 3rd wave of television as we've embarked on our current 4th wave of television viewing; the current 'Peak TV' era of streaming shows? What has happened to our viewing options as we've gone from a more 'programmed, time set schedule' of viewing linear television content to the now more viewer-defined time-shifting, binge watching, streaming of television content on a multitude of devices, anytime, anywhere.

And what of the slow decline and potential downfall of not only the broadcast television system of the first and second era of television, but now also the cable television system of the third era that we grew to know and love from our youth from the 1980s into the 2000s. What have we gained? And what have we lost?

First up in our look back at the 3rd wave of television: the 1980s and MTV and how it impacted the rise of cable television, particularly in households with young people.

This video clip is presented here on YouTube for the entertainment and informational value of the viewer, and no copyright infringement is intended. This video clip is from a CNN special (narrated by one of our favorite actors, Rob Lowe).

Видео Television's 3rd Wave - The Cable TV Multichannel Age: 1980s (MTV) канала TelevisionVanguard