TelevisionBeginning of cableThree major networks- ABC, CBS, and NBC

Home Box Office started in 1980

Ted Turner unveiled Cable News Network (CNN)

Rupert Murdoch paid a billion dollars for 20th Century Fox, and with Barry Diller, created Fox

1986: 82% of American adults watched television daily

Average household had the television set on for 7 hours a day

Sunday was the most popular night for televison

Most popular: mini-seriesMade for tv moviesAmericans watched an average of 39 minutes of tv everyday

1985: 68% of all American households (60 million) had cable television

88% of those subscribed to pay cable service like HBO or Showtime

New technology: videocassette recorder, home video games, remote controls

TV Guide: “the remote control switch revolutionized the way we watched TV in the 80’s”

Primetime soap operas- Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, and Knots Landing

Sitcoms- The Cosby Show, Cheers, Family Ties

The Simpsons- debuted in 1989- Bart Simpson had previously been on Fox’s The Tracey Ullman Show

Crime dramas- Magnum P.I. and Hill Street Blues

Miami Vice- television imagery

Yuppies: thirtysomething and Moonlighting

TV talk shows- Geraldo

Music VideosTime Magazine Dec 26, 1983 cover: Video Rocks! A Musical Revolution

Music video came into its own when MTV premiered on August 1, 1981

Music business revived and reborn

Image was nearly everythingArtist was able to define and redefine image almost at will

“illustrated radio”“a subliminal fashion show”

Some artists felt it elevated image above music

Industry had been in a decline in 1979, revenues plunged more than 10% that year

“I Want My MTV” a phrase popularized by Dire Strait’s megahit “Money For Nothing”

Target audience was 12-24 years old

1987: MTV was available in nearly 36 million homes- up from 2.5 million in 1981

$47 million profit when in 1986 they started VH-1 for older viewers and Nickelodeon for pre-teens

Video was a 3-5 minute promotional tool to sell albums

Record companies paid $20,000 to $50,000 for video production of singles

A new video was provided for MTV for free, and placed in rotation based on viewer response

Major record labels started to court Hollywood studios

Music video approach could succeed in a feature film format

1983: FlashdanceSoundtrack earned $47 million, moving 50,000 to 100,000 tracks a day

Vision Quest, Electric Dreams, Footloose

The director of Footloose actually prepared for his job by watching MTV music videos

The Big Chill, Purple Rain, To Live And Die In LA- music and music videos could sell movies

Three singles from Footloose were Billboard hits before it even premiered in Feb 1984

NBC and TBS- Friday Night Videos and Night Tracks

1984- NBC had Miami Vice- MTV inspired score and cinematography, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas changed the look of evening drama

Macy’s created a Miami Vice section in it’s men’s department

Soundtrack was a best sellerCritics said it sacrificed a plot for visual impact

Much attention was paid to sets and fashion- earned 1 5 Emmy nominations

Duran Duran- first to release a “video album”

Michael Jackson’s $1.1 million video for Thriller appeared on MTV the album’s sales rose 600,000 units in just five days

Madonna- no one topped taking advantage of image based music revolution

Tub skirts, white lace tights, tank tops, black lace corsets, flourescent bracelets, cross shaped earrings

1985: Madonna’s 1st album sold nearly 3 million units in the U.S.

Like a Virgin- quadruple platinum

Desperately Seeking Susan- big success

Live concert- sold out in 34 minutes

Self-absorption, materialism of teen culture

“Madonna’s whole image is like a finger flip to feminists and earnest liberals.”

Video “Like a Prayer” she caused turmoil by killing a black saint and dancing seductively in front of burning crosses

Radio was forced to play a greater variety of music- video dance clubs sprung up

Whitney Houston, Steve Winwood, etc started to appear in video commercials

MoviesSummer of 1982 was huge-Poltergeist, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Rocky III, The World According to Garp, An Officer and A Gentleman, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

People sought cinematic escape from realities of nation struggling with a deep recession and high unemployment

Biggest hit was E.T.

Grossed a record $89.6 million in the first 25 days

Reached $200 million mark in 66 days