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Answer Key
1. A
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45. B
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107.
108.
109.
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114.
115.
116.
1. Many of the program conventions in television actually came from radio.
A) True
B) False
2. Television has been praised as unbiased and removed from partisan politics.
A) True
B) False
3. Idahoan Philo Farnsworth is credited with transmitting the first TV picture electronically
when he was only twenty-one years old.
A) True
B) False
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4. Between 1948 and 1952, hundreds of new licenses were issued to construct and operate
TV stations in the United States.
A) True
B) False
5. In the first years of television, cities that had operating television stations saw 20 to 40
percent increase in people going to movie theaters.
A) True
B) False
6. The sale of spot ads within such shows as Today and TV specials like Peter Pan helped
to end sponsor control of TV content.
A) True
B) False
7. The quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s encouraged sponsors to create TV content.
A) True
B) False
8. The quiz-show scandals of the 1950s provided the first indication that TV images could
be manipulated.
A) True
B) False
9. CATV stands for “cable access television.”
A) True
B) False
10. A communication satellite that is in geosynchronous orbit circles the earth at the same
speed at which the earth revolves on its axis.
A) True
B) False
11. As a result of the number and diversity of cable offerings, the “Big Three” major
networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) have lost a significant portion of the viewer base they had
prior to 1980.
A) True
B) False
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12. Premium cable channels lure customers with the promise of no advertising.
A) True
B) False
13. Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) does not pose a significant threat to the cable industry.
A) True
B) False
14. Time shifting refers to the delay of broadcast programs because of different time zones
across the United States.
A) True
B) False
15. Today, with the advent of DVR, viewers are moving away from the trend of time
shifting that affected advertisers in previous decades.
A) True
B) False
16. Third screens typically function as “catch–up services,” allowing consumers to watch TV
shows or movies that played earlier.
A) True
B) False
17. The ability to stream TV shows on fourth screens such as smartphones and the iPad
hasn’t changed consumers’ viewing habits.
A) True
B) False
18. Only a few TV series from the 1950s have survived, and that is because these few were
the only ones originally shot on film.
A) True
B) False
19. The narrative situation and complications in a sitcom are typically resolved by the end of
the episode.
A) True
B) False
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20. Cable News Network (CNN) premiered in 1970.
A) True
B) False
21. CNN showed an immediate profit and was met with widespread cultural success when
Ted Turner introduced it in 1970.
A) True
B) False
22. Reality TV shows cost more for networks and cable to make than sitcoms or dramas.
A) True
B) False
23. Few children’s programs are aired on network television because most advertisers are
less interested in reaching that audience.
A) True
B) False
24. The federal government funds 90 percent of public television’s annual budget.
A) True
B) False
25. With the establishment of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967, nonprofit
radio and television stations no longer had to ask their audiences for financial support.
A) True
B) False
26. Concerned with the power that the Big Three networks had, the FCC enacted the Prime
Time Access Rule.
A) True
B) False
27. Must-carry rules require cable operators to assign channels to and carry all local TV
broadcasts on their systems.
A) True
B) False
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28. Cable systems that operate as common carriers are required by law to approve the
content of all programs they provide their subscribers.
A) True
B) False
29. In the landmark Midwest Video case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the cable
industry was a form of electronic publishing with the same First Amendment rights as print
magazines.
A) True
B) False
30. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, cable operators are allowed to offer
telephone services.
A) True
B) False
31. Triple play is what cable companies call sports programming.
A) True
B) False
32. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a mixed bag for cable companies. While they
argued this would bring more competition, about 60 percent of communities in the United States
still have only one local cable company.
A) True
B) False
33. An FCC study found that local cable TV companies that face competition have lower
monthly rates than cable companies in noncompetitive markets.
A) True
B) False
34. After completing its first five television episodes, an independently produced TV
program no longer requires deficit financing to fund its production.
A) True
B) False
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35. Evergreens are TV shows that are currently popular.
A) True
B) False
36. In TV syndication, barter deals are usually arranged for new or untested shows.
A) True
B) False
37. Under a cash-plus syndication deal, a TV station pays less for a popular syndicated show
than it would under a straight cash deal.
A) True
B) False
38. In TV measurement, a rating is a statistical estimate, a percentage, of households turned
to a program in the market sample.
A) True
B) False
39. Niche markets are fragmented TV’s audience not the broad public.
A) True
B) False
40. Audience measurement isn’t particularly useful to advertisers because it only tells them
how many people are watching a particular program, not what kind of people.
A) True
B) False
41. At the network era’s peak, a prime-time series with a rating of 17 or 18 and a share of
between 28 and 30 was generally a success.
A) True
B) False
42. Cable systems in the United States are increasingly owned by fewer and fewer
companies, called multiple-system operators.
A) True
B) False
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43. Comcast is the nation’s largest cable TV system operator.
A) True
B) False
44. Some U.S. cities are challenging privately owned cable giants by building competing,
publicly owned cable systems.
A) True
B) False
45. Who transmitted the first electronic TV picture?
A) John Grierson
B) Philo Farnsworth
C) Vladimir Zworykin
D) Thomas Edison
E) None of the options are correct.
46. In the TV freeze of 1948–1952, ______.
A) the FCC halted technological experiments in order to decide on a workable model
for American color television
B) a number of television stations froze new programming in order to make decisions
about sponsorship issues and advertising
C) advertisers boycotted television programming as a way of ensuring their own
monopolies
D) the FCC declared a freeze on new licenses because of concerns about
frequency-interference problems
E) None of the options are correct.
47. Which of the following was not one of Sylvester “Pat” Weaver’s strategies for forcing
advertisers to relinquish some of their power over television programming?
A) The introduction of magazine shows like the Today show
B) The development of television specials, such as the TV versions of Richard III and
Peter Pan
C) The development of spot ads — shorter ads to be sold to individual sponsors
D) Decreasing the length of television programs, allowing for fewer advertisements to
go to any one sponsor
E) None of the options was a strategy.
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48. Which development was a consequence of the quiz-show scandal?
A) The patent pool was declared a monopoly and dismantled.
B) The networks couldn’t keep control over programming, and the sponsors became
the sole authority.
C) Quiz-show hosts were no longer allowed to have stock in the company.
D) Quiz-show contestants had to be vetted by the show’s sponsors first.
E) None of the options are correct.
49. The final part of the cable system that actually brings the cable into the home is called
the ______.
A) feeder or trunk cable
B) headend
C) cathode ray tube
D) fiber-optic cable
E) drop or tap line
50. The development of satellites in the 1970s ______.
A) brought an end to the franchising frenzy
B) encouraged competition between K-band and C-band technologies
C) enabled premium channels like HBO to be born
D) made the FCC instigate must-carry rules
E) All of the options are correct.
51. Which of the following is a way cable channels have achieved success?
A) Creating programs that target the largest possible mass audience
B) Avoiding being “bundled” with other channels as part of a package deal
C) Finding and catering to the needs of a niche audience with specific interests
D) Emulating broadcast network programming
E) None of the options are correct.
52. Why have TV broadcasters been threatened by cable?
A) Cable systems have better satellites.
B) Cable systems might choose not to carry the signal of a local broadcast station.
C) Since cable’s inception, the FCC has favored the cable industry over the
broadcasting industry.
D) Cable’s clearer signal and ability to target niche audiences attracted viewers away
from their programming.
E) Broadcasters never felt threatened by cable.
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53. Which of the following is a premium cable channel?
A) ESPN
B) CNN
C) MTV
D) C-SPAN
E) HBO
54. How have direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services challenged cable?
A) They offer a lot more stations than cable.
B) They are able to send signals directly to small satellite dishes where the installation
of cable wires hasn’t been possible.
C) They have started to create their own programming, while cable still only shows
reruns of old network programs.
D) They have a better relationship with broadcast networks than cable does, and thus
have lower retransmission fees than cable.
E) All of the options are correct.
55. VHS outsold the technically superior Betamax videocassette format because ______.
A) VHS offered high-definition playback
B) VHS offered more tape space and could record longer programs
C) more money was spent advertising the Betamax format than the VHS
D) consumers couldn’t tell the difference between the two formats
E) All of the options are correct.
56. Differences in, and competition over, technical standards ______.
A) caused the FCC to temporarily ban any new TV licenses in the late 1940s and early
1950s
B) meant that it took over a decade before all three of the major networks started
broadcasting in color in the mid-1960s
C) resulted in a “war” between the Beta and VHS formats of home videocassette
recorders
D) resulted in a “war” between Blu-ray and HD DVD formats for high-definition
movie recordings
E) All of the options are correct.
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57. One potential drawback for consumers who use a DVR (digital video recorder) is that
______.
A) they have to be at home to press “record” in order to tape a program
B) they can’t skip past commercials
C) marketers and advertisers might be able to “see” what they watch
D) they can only use them to record broadcast network programming, not cable
programming
E) DVRs can be unreliable and don’t always record what you program them to record
58. The practice of recording shows and watching them later when it is more convenient is
called ______.
A) fin-syn
B) viewer’s choice
C) time shifting
D) stripping
E) syndicating
59. A catch-up service ______.
A) lets you watch episodes after they air on TV
B) is an online fan site with plot descriptions
C) refers only to DVD players
D) usually refers to something you see in a movie theater
E) None of the options are correct.
60. Smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices used to watch videos are sometimes
referred to as ______.
A) first screens
B) time shifting
C) fourth screens
D) off-network
E) headends
61. In a situation comedy ______.
A) character development is emphasized over plot twists
B) characters change dramatically over the course of the series
C) characters are under a great deal of stress
D) viewers consider themselves slightly smarter than the characters
E) viewers consider themselves slightly inferior to the characters