TelevisionVanguard | Television's 3rd Wave - Multichannel Cable TV Era: Rock Concerts on Network Television- U2 Zoo TV'92 @TelevisionVanguard | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 2 hours ago
We are wrapping up our summer programming tonight, as we head off into the summer sunset until next summer. Our work this past summer has been somewhat 'an experiment', as we've tried to see what our concept of 'Television's 3rd Wave of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s might create.
The historical transition from the first wave of television (the golden age of the late 1940 to the mid 1960s... 'the black and white era' of television), to the second wave (the color-tv era of four broadcast networks from the mid 1960s to 1979) was near seamless. The television medium was booming back then... the 'one-eyed monster' taking over the airwaves and the earth.
The transition to the third wave, the 'cable-television era' from 1980 to 2005, was perhaps less of a smooth transition, but the idea of 'more must be better', gave all of us kids of that era the idea that if we just kept channel surfing, we'd find something worth watching. But the transition we are undergoing now into mid-way(?) through the fourth era of television - the streaming era of anytime, anywhere user defined access, may not end well.
Our theory is that we as television viewers have 'lost something' (our minds?) in this transition we're all undertaking from old-school linear network 'programmed' television, into the fourth wave of television in which streaming allows anytime, anywhere viewing. Viewers now do 'the programming', deciding what goes, what doesn't, and when.
In a sense, Television Vanguard is no better (or worse) than what we here lament... guys with some (but limited) free time in the wee small hours of the mornings, running through near endless reams of VHS tapes and DVDs from twenty, thirty to sometimes near forty years ago, trying to make some sense as to the hows and whys of what made programmed linear television valuable to viewers, even when their cable subscriptions included near hundreds of channels that no one seemed to want to watch.
We have 'book-ended' our summer tribute to 'the third wave' with MTV starting things out in 1981, and then closing out the summer with U2's rock concert of 1992 - the 'Zoo TV' tour broadcast on 11/26/92. Bono, the Edge and the guys of U2 were already starting to question the sanity of 'mass-television' in the early 1990s... years before Apple and Steve Jobs developed/marketed the iPod (& iPhone) music file sharing (post Napster) to the music industry. And who better to help promote (and perhaps legitimize) that endeavor by Apple than U2 and Bono? U2 helped make the concept of music/video file sharing understandable/acceptable to the mass of music and entertainment consumers (like us here at Television Vanguard) who never got involved with Napster and file sharing because 'it didn't seem right.'
And so, here we are... in 2023, where now 'everything is in the cloud', and no apparent need for physical media (tapes, vinyl, CDs/DVDs, etc.). What we have for television in fall 2023 is an entertainment industry in Hollywood on strike (writers and actors), no apparent end in sight, as the industry grapples with AI, and new forms of software code that *might* circumvent 'people talent.' Genie out of the bottle moment.
We don't know how this will all end, but we do have one word of caution (and we do, btw, support the actors and writers union strike): the last time both the actors and writers union were on strike at the same time was in 1960, as the relatively young television industry was on its ascent, ready to pivot from the first era (golden age) to the second era ( life defining programmed and live entertainment for the masses). The industry could afford to help lift the writers and actors up in 1960 because television was booming, the end-all-be-all of the American/North American public.
However, in 2023, despite Hollywood's view that we are in a 'second golden age of television' at the mid-point of the streaming era, the question that we all must ask ourselves is this - 'is television in the same position in the lives of the public as it was back in the 1960s?' Is it as essential now as it apparently was back then?
The answer to that question will probably help guide us all who love television during the challenging times that lie ahead. As cable companies begin to lose their sports networks to streaming companies, and heads of streaming companies are beginning to question the financial value of 'bundled' streaming packages (hello cable tv-bundles part deux) with commercials embedded to help fund their services, we the consumers are left to ponder what the future of television will look like.
The Fall 2023 television season is essentially 'on hold', awaiting a resolution to the union strike; the 1973 television season kicks off on time and on Monday night, here on Television Vanguard. Stay tuned for the media ride of your life.
This video clip is presented here on YouTube for the entertainment and informational value of the viewer, and no copyright infringement is intended.
We are wrapping up our summer programming tonight, as we head off into the summer sunset until next summer. Our work this past summer has been somewhat 'an experiment', as we've tried to see what our concept of 'Television's 3rd Wave of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s might create.
The historical transition from the first wave of television (the golden age of the late 1940 to the mid 1960s... 'the black and white era' of television), to the second wave (the color-tv era of four broadcast networks from the mid 1960s to 1979) was near seamless. The television medium was booming back then... the 'one-eyed monster' taking over the airwaves and the earth.
The transition to the third wave, the 'cable-television era' from 1980 to 2005, was perhaps less of a smooth transition, but the idea of 'more must be better', gave all of us kids of that era the idea that if we just kept channel surfing, we'd find something worth watching. But the transition we are undergoing now into mid-way(?) through the fourth era of television - the streaming era of anytime, anywhere user defined access, may not end well.
Our theory is that we as television viewers have 'lost something' (our minds?) in this transition we're all undertaking from old-school linear network 'programmed' television, into the fourth wave of television in which streaming allows anytime, anywhere viewing. Viewers now do 'the programming', deciding what goes, what doesn't, and when.
In a sense, Television Vanguard is no better (or worse) than what we here lament... guys with some (but limited) free time in the wee small hours of the mornings, running through near endless reams of VHS tapes and DVDs from twenty, thirty to sometimes near forty years ago, trying to make some sense as to the hows and whys of what made programmed linear television valuable to viewers, even when their cable subscriptions included near hundreds of channels that no one seemed to want to watch.
We have 'book-ended' our summer tribute to 'the third wave' with MTV starting things out in 1981, and then closing out the summer with U2's rock concert of 1992 - the 'Zoo TV' tour broadcast on 11/26/92. Bono, the Edge and the guys of U2 were already starting to question the sanity of 'mass-television' in the early 1990s... years before Apple and Steve Jobs developed/marketed the iPod (& iPhone) music file sharing (post Napster) to the music industry. And who better to help promote (and perhaps legitimize) that endeavor by Apple than U2 and Bono? U2 helped make the concept of music/video file sharing understandable/acceptable to the mass of music and entertainment consumers (like us here at Television Vanguard) who never got involved with Napster and file sharing because 'it didn't seem right.'
And so, here we are... in 2023, where now 'everything is in the cloud', and no apparent need for physical media (tapes, vinyl, CDs/DVDs, etc.). What we have for television in fall 2023 is an entertainment industry in Hollywood on strike (writers and actors), no apparent end in sight, as the industry grapples with AI, and new forms of software code that *might* circumvent 'people talent.' Genie out of the bottle moment.
We don't know how this will all end, but we do have one word of caution (and we do, btw, support the actors and writers union strike): the last time both the actors and writers union were on strike at the same time was in 1960, as the relatively young television industry was on its ascent, ready to pivot from the first era (golden age) to the second era ( life defining programmed and live entertainment for the masses). The industry could afford to help lift the writers and actors up in 1960 because television was booming, the end-all-be-all of the American/North American public.
However, in 2023, despite Hollywood's view that we are in a 'second golden age of television' at the mid-point of the streaming era, the question that we all must ask ourselves is this - 'is television in the same position in the lives of the public as it was back in the 1960s?' Is it as essential now as it apparently was back then?
The answer to that question will probably help guide us all who love television during the challenging times that lie ahead. As cable companies begin to lose their sports networks to streaming companies, and heads of streaming companies are beginning to question the financial value of 'bundled' streaming packages (hello cable tv-bundles part deux) with commercials embedded to help fund their services, we the consumers are left to ponder what the future of television will look like.
The Fall 2023 television season is essentially 'on hold', awaiting a resolution to the union strike; the 1973 television season kicks off on time and on Monday night, here on Television Vanguard. Stay tuned for the media ride of your life.
This video clip is presented here on YouTube for the entertainment and informational value of the viewer, and no copyright infringement is intended.
