Producing for TV and New Media, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2

Television: Its Past, Present, and Future

Television: “the art of distant seeing…the possibilities of the new art are as boundless as the imagination.”

David Sarnoff, 1927

This Chapter’s Talking Points

I.	Television Is a Unique Medium
II.	How Television Works
III.	The Impact of Human Vision on Television
IV.	The Creators of Television
V.	Television’s Evolution
VI.	Television’s Transitions: From the 1920s to the Present
VII.	Television Merges with New Media

I.  Television is a Unique Medium

Television is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself.

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

Television wields an undeniable impact on the lives of literally billions of people around the globe. Clearly, ...