Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-314) and indexes.

"Nearly fifty years after the first commercial television show aired, American TV viewers have begun in large numbers to reject the monopolistic offerings of the networks. With viewers now exercising greater choice in what to watch and when to watch it, the era of network television is coming to an end. One Nation Under Television is a timely history of network television and of the decisions taken by ABC/CBS/NBC to create an America forever safe for national broadcasting. It is the long and controversial story of broadcast empires in conflict -- From David Sarnoff's maneuverings to obtain the most advantageous broadcast regulations for RCA/NBC, to William S. Paley's efforts at CBS to outprogram his rivals, to the belated but influential strategies of ABC to find its place in the television sun. The book also deals with the way the three major networks operated in unison to co-opt local programming stations. Equally important, Fred MacDonald shows how all three networks managed, despite the rhetoric of commissioner after commissioner, to keep the FCC at bay as well. The result of these victories was the creation of limited and rigidly standardized television fare consisting of little more than cycle after cycle of crime shows, doctor shows, situation comedies, and television news made up of micro-minute sound bites. In a final section, MacDonald shows what happened when the house of cards built by the networks finally collapsed. He discusses the impact on the old monopoly of cable, pay television, interactive television, and VCRs. But more important, he discusses the fact that the long-range threat to television is likely to come not from these alternative electronic forms but from transnational multimedia conglomerates." -- Provided by publisher

SACFinal081324