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The content of television programs may be factual, as in documentaries, news, and reality television, or fictional as in comedy and drama. It may be topical as in the case of news and some made-for-television movies or historical as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series. They could be primarily instructional, the intention of educational programming, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy, reality TV, or game shows, or for income as advertisements. A drama program usually features a set of actors in a somewhat familiar setting. The program follows their lives and their adventures. With the exception of soap operas, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, the main characters and the premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. (Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order.) Since the 1980s, there are many series that feature progressive change to the plot, the characters, or both. Common television program periods include regular broadcasts (like television news), television series (usually seasonal and ongoing with a duration of only a few episodes to many seasons), or television miniseries, which is an extended film, usually with a small predetermined number of episodes and a set plot and timeline. Miniseries usually range from about 3 to 10 hours in length. In the UK, the term "miniseries" is only usually used in reference to imported programmes, and such short-run series are usually called "serials". Older American television shows began with a pilot title sequence, showed opening credits at the bottom of the screen during the beginning of the show, and included closing credits at the end of the show. However, beginning in the 1990s some shows began with a "cold open", followed by a title sequence and a commercial break. Many serialistic shows begin with a "Previously on..." (such as 24) introduction before the teaser. And, to save time, some shows omit the title sequence altogether, folding the names normally featured there into the opening credits. The title sequence has not been completely eliminated, however, as many major television series still use them in 2010. While television series appearing on TV networks are usually commissioned by the networks themselves, their producers earn greater revenue when the program is sold into syndication. With the rise of the DVD home video format, box sets containing entire seasons or the complete run of a program have become a significant revenue source as well. Many of the prime-time comedy shows and Saturday morning cartoons were digitally remastered for United States television around mid-May 2008, as there will be more original and reissued DVD sets of television programs containing either entire seasons or complete series runs to come in the future. Television has changed throughout the years, from the classic family sitcoms, with the wholesome commercials during the break, to reality shows and random commercials. Television started out, one per household; now households have multiple sets. Television was something that the family watched together. Many channels have deviated from their original programming focus throughout the years as well because of channel drift. Because most networks throughout the world are ’commercial’, dependent on selling advertising time or acquiring sponsorship, broadcasting executives’ main concern over their programming is on audience size. Once the number of ’free to air’ stations was restricted by the availability of frequencies, but cable (outside the USA satellite) technology has allowed an expansion in the number of channels available to viewers (sometimes at premium rates) in a much more competitive environment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Production and distribution of films and television programs |
