Television Today and Tomorrow; It Won't Be What You Think

In recent years, the media has been awash in exuberant tales of the arrival of the information superhighway, when television will explode with exciting possibilities, offering some 500 channels as well as a marriage of TV and computer that will provide, on command, access to the latest movies, magazines, newspapers, books, sports events, stock exchange figures, your bank account, and much, much more. And the major TV networks, pundits add, will be doomed to extinction by this revolution in cable, computers, and fiber optics. But in Television Today and Tomorrow, Gene Jankowski--former President and Chairman of the CBS Broadcast Group--and David Fuchs--also a former top executive at CBS--tell a different story. They predict a bumpy road ahead for the information superhighway, and the major networks, they say, are abundantly healthy and will remain so well into the next century.
The information superhighway, Jankowski and Fuchs admit, will dramatically increase the distribution channels, but it will have little impact on the amount of programming created--and this may spell disaster. The authors show how the networks began as a way to provide programs to local stations (who could not afford to produce their own), who in turn provided the distribution that gave networks access to mass audiences and ultimately large advertising dollars. They then offer us an inside look at television production--showing us, for instance, a veteran scriptwriter putting together a breakfast table scene for "Cloud Nine"--to underscore how much effort goes into producing just two minutes of primetime programming. They reveal that the present 20 channels require some 20,000 hours of programming each year, which is more than all the Broadway plays produced in this century, and they conclude that without a dramatic increase in programming (which won't happen if only because of the very finite supply of talent), the superhighway will be jammed bumper-to-bumper with reruns, old movies, and inexpensive programming aimed at tightly focused audiences ("narrowcasting" as opposed to "broadcasting"). This is hardly the bonanza the pundits have promised. The authors point out that the media blitz about the new technology has hardly focused on programming, or on funding, or on what needs these 500 channels will fill. The major networks, on the other hand, will remain the only means of reaching the whole country, and the only channels that offer a full schedule of current, live, and original programs, free of charge. And thus they will continue to attract most of the audience of TV viewers. The real loser in the cable revolution, the authors contend, is PBS, whose role as an alternative to network TV has been usurped by cable stations such as The Discovery Channel and Nickelodeon.
This is a brass tacks look at television with an eye on the bottom line by two men who boast over sixty years of experience in the medium. If you want to understand television in America, where it came from and where it is going, you will need to read this book.

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Gene Jankowski and David Fuchs predict a bumpy road ahead for the information superhighway, and the major TV networks, they say, are abundantly healthy and will remain so well into the next century.

Gene F. Jankowski is Chairman of Jankowski Communications Systems. He served as President and Chairman of the CBS Broadcast Group from 1977 to 1989. David C. Fuchs, now retired, was Senior Vice President, Corporate and Broadcast Affairs, of the CBS Broadcast Group.

The title might have included "yesterday" because the authors, former CBS Broadcast Group senior executives, begin by tracing the history of television. Emphasized are the production-distribution-funding paradigm, the unique network/affiliate system, and such seminal events as Newton Minow's 1961 "vast wasteland" speech. The authors believe that traditional networks and additions like Fox can thrive; they argue that centrist networks alone can serve a mass public with news and entertainment, while specialty channels will serve specialty audiences. Along the way, they chide intellectual elites who want TV to raise the cultural standards of common folk. The last of six chapters deals specifically with the future, including views by such TV luminaries as Walter Cronkite and Bill Moyers and a thought-provoking?and timely?analysis of public broadcasting. Appropriate for larger public as well as academic media collections.?Kim Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, Pa. Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.

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Jankowski, former president and chairman of the CBS Broadcast Group, and Fuchs, a former senior v-p there, here present a comprehensive history of TV, new developments in the industry, and what they predict the future holds: network TV will better than hold its own. They point out that cable TV ``began life as a reception improver, not a maker of products.'' They also demonstrate that CBS's and NBC's ventures into cable have been unsuccessful and a drain on their resources. Network balance sheets are examined, showing why, in 1991-92, ABC finished third in the ratings but made a profit, while CBS was rated first yet had a loss. We also learn that news programs such as 60 Minutes and 20-20 are popular with producers because of their low production costs; the importance of NFL football, whose defection devastated CBS, which lost many affiliates to the fledgling Fox network; and why Fox has had a bigger competitive impact on the other networks than all of cable combined. FCC regulations are scrutinized, as well as the impact of PBS and whether television remains a ``vast wasteland.'' This textbook on how TV works will appeal most to those involved in the industry. Photos not seen by PW. (May) Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.