The Emergence of Television as a Mass Communication Medium Was the Key Turning Point in Improving the Leisure Opportunities for the Ordinary Pe

The Emergence of Television as a Mass Communication Medium

Was the Key Turning Point in Improving the Leisure Opportunities for

the Ordinary People of Britain

I believe the emergence of television as a mass communication medium

was the key turning point in improving the leisure opportunities for

the ordinary people of Britain. I believe this turning point was not

its first broadcast in 1936 but the introduction of ITV in 1956. I

think television is only just the most important factor, there are

other factors that also had a large effect on improving leisure

opportunities for the ordinary people. Other reasons why leisure

opportunities have improved are: increasing income, a reduction in

working hours, the development of the cinema, improvements in

education and the invention of youth culture. I interpret the

'ordinary people of Britain' as the working and lower-middle classes

because this definition encompasses the majority of the British

population.

British television broadcasting began in 1936. Initially there was

only the one channel run by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) so

there was no choice of what to watch and the reception was not very

good at all. The Director-General of the BBC John Reith fully intended

television to follow in the footsteps of radio, in the sense that he

wished it to be used to educate the masses. The emphasis was not at

all with providing the ordinary people with their programming

preferences, but with attempting to educate them in the areas of

politics, history and high culture. To begin with very few ordinary

people could afford a television and the necessary license. The 30s

and 40s were...

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...f youth culture and improvements in education all affected

leisure opportunities none have been so significant as the emergence

of television. Television has played the key role over the last 50

years in terms of reflecting the values established in the 1950s and

the cultural changes that took place after the war. As a result

television is now the most popular form of entertainment for the

ordinary people of Britain with over 95% of households owning a

television set.

Bibliography

T.O'Sullivan, B.Dutton & P.Rayner, Studying the Media - (2nd edition,

Arnold, London, 1998)

A.Marwick, British Society since 1945 - (Penguin, 1982)

P.Johnson ed. 20th century Britain; Economic, Social and Cultural

Change - (Longman,

1994)

The People's Amusement - BBC History Magazine

The Showbiz Set - Channel 4