Television in the 1980s
If the 1970s were the age of exploration, then the 1980s were a time of all-out assault on the public.
Television was transformed in those years. First, with
the advent of cable, the three major US networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, lost their
monopoly on what Americans viewed in their living rooms. In 1980, Ted Turner
unveiled the Cable News Network (CNN) and media baron Rupert Murdoch paid a
billion dollars for Twentieth Century Fox and, with Barry Diller, created TV's
fourth network, Fox.
By 1985, 68% of all American households (60 million)
had cable television service, while 88% of those subscribed to a pay cable
service like HBO or Showtime. In 1986, 82% of American adults watched
television daily, and the average household had the television set on for seven
hours a day[1]. Sunday
was the most popular night for television viewing, and the most popular form of
television entertainment was the mini-series, followed by made-for-TV movies.
Turn out that Americans watched an average of 39 minutes of television news
daily.
But cable was not the only culprit in ending the era
of network television. New technologies resulted in the videocassette recorder,
home video games and remote control devices revolutionized the way people
watched TV in the 80s.[2]
The decade was the golden age for primetime soap
operas such as Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest to name
a few and new life was breathed into the sitcom, with hit series like The
Cosby Show, Cheers, Family Ties, the irreverent Married.
. .With Children on the American side and Yes Minister, ‘Allo
‘Allo, Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder e The Young Ones
in England. It must also be mentioned that the animated sitcom The Simpsons debuted in 1989. The
world of cartoons in the 1980s changed to adapt to the new environment. Many
children were having to deal with more real life situations, they had to deal
with life whether they were ready or not. Their cartoon heroes began to change
also: Out Batman, Superman and Flash Gordon, in Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe and the
Ghostbusters.
Top crime dramas like Magnum P.I. and Hill
Street Blues enjoyed long runs in the 80s, while the innovative Miami
Vice had a significant impact on television imagery. TV Talk Shows hosted
by the likes of David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey became more provocative and
occasionally outrageous.
And if you could not find anything on television to
watch, then you could always plug in the Atari or Commodore and play video
games.
Is interesting to notice that the explosive growth of
the video industry in the 1980s caused television executives to seriously think
about what they put on TV. Not that they really cared about quality per se but
they now had to compete much more vigorously for the attention of TV viewers.
They would have to be able to grab the viewers attention in a few seconds, or
that viewer would, thanks to the above mentioned remote control devices, change
the channel to something else.
Principally for this reason television shows soon
changed from a family oriented environment, toward more cutting edge
programming. They began to experiment and push the envelope more and more, to
see what the public would accept. Executives soon realized their audience was
more sophisticated now. Suddenly producing good shows was not enough they now
had to have shock value, be sensational: executives began to produce shows that
would show more and more nudity, and increased in their use of street language.
On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 AM something completely
new and fresh called MTV: Music Television launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack[3]. It was not just a TV Show, it was an entire channel,
a new medium for music that would have also bring the birth of the music video.
Suddenly the question was “Do you remember when you use to listen to music
without pictures?”.
But the real turning point for television in the 1980s
was the creation of video games. Many people young and old would opt for
turning the television off, and hooking up their games to the TV. The 1980s
were the spawning ground for companies like Atari and Apple. When other
companies began to see the amount of money being made and the market for video
games, the industry just exploded: Pac Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Mario
Bros. Jobs were being created faster
than the workforce could keep up. [4]
Last, but not least, another piece of technology
introduced in the 1980s was the creation of the Video Recorder: not only were
audiences given choices of what to watch but they were also given the option of
recording what they wanted to see, and viewing it whenever they wanted.
They finally had the freedom they never had.
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