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CHAPTER 1 Media and I he Soo~al World 1]1--<
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distribute their products (for example, to newsstands, bookstores. or movie thealers) 'or t ~
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did the public have to travel physically to these locations to have access to mass med1a 'ow , ,. "~-.~
communicators could use the airwaves to transmit a media product directly to anyone whu
o~ned a radio re,.qeiver. Communicators could now cast m~d_i_~-~.essages broadly
' s;oadcasnng made another advance with the introduction or television \\'hen lhc
Pioneer Corporation introduced the first television sets to the United States in the 1 tJ4<h-.
their advertising boasted. "We bring the revolution home" (Tichi 1991: 12). They wrrr not
exaggerating. In the span of less than 10 years. between 1946 and 1955. televtston set!'.
made their way into 65% of American households (Spigel 1992). ' ~, .... \
In 1998, with television in nearly all American homes. the first digital telev1s1on broad
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casting began. However, faced with the slow sales of digital television sets. statums h~ad
little incentive to invest in new digital broadcasting equipment. At the urgmg or manuf.tr. .J
turers and broadcasters. the .government intervened and ord~e_Q_ ~.JUe!evisjon scauons to ,
convert to digital signals by june of 2009. This marked yet another medium maktng tltr '-
shift to the universal digital format. Digital television programming can be eas1ly swrcd on r .... · v
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DVRs, delivered "on demand" via cable and satellite services. or streamed on the lrHNnrl 1 A, r; ,."
via websites such as H ulu.
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The development of broadcasting fundamentally altered patterns of media consumption
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by creating the possibility of a largely erivatized andljndividualizeci}riedia e~rte~ <, •,
Consuming media or other formS of entertainment were often social actiVfti~. such as ..:
attending movies or going to concerts. These public activities have been replaced. or a1 >.-
least supplemented, by television, video, and DVD rentals. and recorded mustc. whtch ·' .\. '
people usually experience in the privacy of their own homes.
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The Internet and New Technologies
In more recent years, technological innovation has again changed the medta landscape
Cable television, satellites, fiber-optic technologies, computers, and mobile deviCes havt"
helped create an explosion in media products and formats. Ironically, much of thts change
has resulted in a move away from the mass broadcast audience toward smaller. more sp;­
cialized niche populations-a process called 1 hazmwcqstJna~ , H G Tv
As noted, traditional "media forms have changed as a common digital rormat en.1bl"
once-separatf§edia to merge} Books and newspapers. over-the-air radio. films 1n theaters.
and broadcast, cable. and satellite television all continue to exist. However. th~ oncr
separate media can now all be delivered in digital form over the Internet, somettmes blur
ring the distinctions between them. journalists, ror example. now routinely producr
content suitable for their newspaper's print edition as well as for the added VIdeo. aud1o
and interactive features of their paper's website.
The 11 digjta1 revolutjQP"' has also helped to transform the delivery or media Conlcnl "
newspaper story. television program. or musical recording can be delivered v1a lhe Internet
to desktop computers, wireless laptops. smartphones. and other devices_ Th1s. 100. has
blurred the distinction between once·separate forms of media.
Digitization, computers. and the Internet have also enabled guarer interacrivir.y hr""'etn
media users and media content. In some cases, this allows users to make more chrucr~