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62. In its early days, television drama drew on ______ for many of its ideas, sets, actors,
technicians, and directors.
A) the music industry
B) radio
C) movies
D) New York theater
E) None of the options are correct.
63. Anthologies were replaced by other types of programming in the 1950s because ______.
A) advertisers didn’t like anthologies
B) they were expensive to produce
C) the television audience changed as it expanded
D) some were considered too controversial
E) All of the options are correct.
64. ______ are one of the longest-running serial programs in the history of television.
A) Workplace comedies
B) Daytime soap operas
C) Sitcoms
D) Hybrid dramas
E) Anthology dramas
65. According to the textbook, which of the following statements about television news is
true?
A) There have been relatively few changes to the television news industry since the
start of the 24/7 cable news channels.
B) From the very start of television, networks were concerned with keeping their news
departments separate from big commercial sponsors like tobacco companies.
C) ABC News was the first news program to be aired by a major television network.
D) Since the 1960s, national polls have shown local television news is typically
thought of as more trustworthy than newspapers.
E) None of the options are correct.
66. Which of the following statements about reality television is false?
A) The genre includes programs like Survivor, Top Chef, and The Voice.
B) The shows introduce us to characters/people who seem more like “us” and less like
celebrities.
C) The inspiration for reality TV can be traced to MTV’s Real World.
D) Reality TV is much more expensive to make than typical comedies or dramas.
E) All of the options are correct.
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67. Which of the following statements about public broadcasting is true?
A) It would have lost all funding from the government if the Senate hadn’t killed a
2011 effort by a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
B) Public broadcasting hopes to increase corporate contributions with on-air
promotional messages.
C) One of its main missions continues to be providing educational children’s
programming.
D) The bulk of the funding for public broadcasting comes from viewers, listeners, and
corporations.
E) All of the options are correct.
68. In 1970 the FCC created the ______, which “constituted the most damaging attack
against the network TV monopoly in FCC history.”
A) Prime Time Access Rule
B) must-carry rules
C) access channels
D) Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
E) None of the options are correct.
69. In 1965, the FCC established must-carry rules, which ______.
A) required cable operators to carry local TV broadcasts
B) established technical standards for cable broadcasts, regulating the signals carried
by cable systems
C) blocked cable systems from bringing distant television stations into cities with local
stations
D) blocked cable operators from carrying local TV broadcasts
E) None of the options are correct.
70. In 1972, the FCC required cable systems to provide and fund a tier of ______ dedicated
to local education, government, and the public.
A) DBS services
B) must-carry rules
C) access channels
D) pay-per-view channels
E) superstations
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71. What is the difference between a common carrier and an electronic publisher?
A) A common carrier may examine content before distributing it; an electronic
publisher may not.
B) A common carrier is not allowed to import any foreign programming; an electronic
publisher may.
C) A common carrier may not transmit video images; an electronic publisher can send
both analog and digital images.
D) A common carrier must offer at least part of its services on a first-come, first-served
basis; an electronic publisher can pick and choose its channels.
E) There is no difference between a common carrier and an electronic publisher.
72. Which of the following is not true about the aftermath of the Telecommunications Act of
1996?
A) Competition from allowing regional and long-distance phone companies as well as
cable companies into each other’s markets has kept cable rates low.
B) Consolidation of regional phone, long-distance, cable, and Internet service
companies has decreased competition and left consumers with high cable bills.
C) The cable industry has spent almost $150 billion installing and upgrading its
technological infrastructure in the United States.
D) Cable companies now bundle digital cable television, Internet, and phone services.
E) All of the options are correct.
73. Below-the-line costs for a TV program include the ______.
A) writer
B) camera crew
C) actors
D) director
E) All of the options are correct.
74. Which term best describes the financial arrangement that most TV producers and movie
studios enter into to make prime-time TV shows?
A) Prime Time Access Rule
B) Above-the-line costs
C) Below-the-line costs
D) Economy of scale
E) None of the options are correct.
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75. Which of the following is the best way to erase the losses of deficit financing for a TV
show?
A) Selling the program into rerun, or off-network, syndication
B) Selling national and local advertising spots
C) Selling the program to individual affiliates
D) Renting the program to the networks
E) Time shifting
76. When might broadcast networks air syndicated programs?
A) During prime time
B) During fringe time
C) During time shifting
D) Only during the daytime
E) Only during the evening
77. Programs that are in off-network syndication are ______.
A) programs that were made specifically for syndication
B) older programs that no longer run during network prime time
C) programs that are produced by broadcast networks for cable channels
D) programs that are too risqué for network television
E) All of the options are correct.
78. An airing of the television show Friends on Fox at 6:30 P.M. is an example of ______.
A) off-network syndication
B) first-run syndication
C) video-on-demand
D) an O & O
E) hybrid syndication
79. The game show Wheel of Fortune is an example of ______.
A) off-network syndication
B) first-run syndication
C) fringe time
D) an O & O
E) hybrid syndication
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80. During the 2013–2014 season, NCIS on CBS drew an average audience of about
_______.
A) 22 million
B) 20 million
C) 25 million
D) 15 million
E) 18 million
81. Online advertisers pay a rate called a ______.
A) share
B) CPM
C) retransmission fee
D) software cost
E) None of the options are correct.
82. What does the term digital divide refer to?
A) Nobody watches them anymore.
B) They are all owned by Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.
C) They remain attractive business investments despite losing viewers to cable and
other new technologies.
D) They own all of the stations that carry their programming.
E) None of the options are correct.
83. What did major networks do to combat audience erosion in the 1990s?
A) They threatened not to allow cable operators to carry any of their programming.
B) They started making edgier and more controversial programming.
C) They acquired cable channels.
D) They acquired cable operators.
E) None of the options are correct.
84. Which of the following statements about municipal cable television systems is false?
A) Communities can build their own municipal cable systems.
B) Consumers in cities with municipal cable systems typically pay less for cable.
C) There are only about a hundred municipal cable services across the country.
D) In most cases, municipal cable systems are operated by community-owned
nonprofit electric utilities.
E) None of the options are correct.
85. CATV stands for “______________________ antenna television.”
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86. A tier of channels that subscribers can order at an additional monthly fee over their basic
cable service is referred to as ______________________.
87. ______________________, satellite-based services that for a monthly fee downlink
hundreds of television channels, began distributing video programming directly to households in
1994.
88. A relatively recent technology, ______________________ are devices that enable users
to find and record specific television shows (and movies) and store them in computer memory to
be played back at a later time.
89. A popular form of early TV programming that brought live dramatic theater to
television, ______________________ were influenced by stage plays.
90. Though independently owned, ______________________ are radio or TV stations that
sign a contract to carry its programs.
91. After years of going back and forth on cable rates and rules, Congress enacted the
______________________ and brought cable fully under the federal rules that had long
governed the telephone, radio, and TV industries.
92. In television, ___________________ is the process whereby a TV production company
leases its programs to a network for a license fee that is actually less than the cost of production.
93. O & Os refer to TV stations that are ______________________ by networks.
94. In TV audience measurement, a ______________________ is a statistical estimate
expressed as a percentage of households tuned to a program in the market being sampled.
95. MSO stands for “___________________–system operator.”
96. Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, president of NBC, introduced the TV spectacular, now known
as ____.
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97. Charles van Doren, was behind the ____ scandals , which undermined the democratic
promise of television.
98. Ted Turner revolutionized cable through his Atlanta-based station _____.
99. Breaking Bad is an example of a ____ drama because it mixes comic situations and grim
plots.
100. The ____ processes signals received from program suppliers.
101. The ____ distributes a signal around a community on utility poles.
102. The ____ runs from the utility pole to a subscriber’s home.
103. Popular old network reruns, such as I Love Lucy, are called ____
104. _____ or “software,” costs include the actors’ salaries.
105. Humorous sitcoms that primarily take place at home, like Modern Family, are called
_____ comedies.
106. Third-screen sites like Netflix offer _____ that allow viewers to stream movies and
programs at a later time directly on television sets or electronic devices.
107. Explain the two key developments that pushed network television from sponsored
programming to spot ads.
108. What are the major differences between basic cable services and premium cable
services?
109. The late 1970s saw the introduction of two major threats to the television networks.
What were they?
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110. What services does PBS provide, and how has it fared in comparison with the major
networks?
111. How has the Telecommunications Act of 1996 affected television viewers, both
positively and negatively?
112. Explain the effect that third- and fourth-screen viewing habits have had on traditional
broadcast television and cable.
113. If reality-based programs are cheaper to produce, why might television production
companies continue to make more traditional programs like dramas and comedies?
114. Why might a city decide to start its own municipal cable service?
115. Explain how cable and satellite television could be made into more democratic media.
116. How has television served as a national cultural reference point over the years?
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Answer Key
1. A
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45. B
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91. Telecommunications Act of 1996