Sonceria Garrett
Communication 120
January 20, 2015
Laurie Hodge

Media Convergence and the SMART TV

Media Convergence is the coming together of multiple forms of media. This includes newspapers, magazines, television, internet, film and music. In today’s society that involves technology. Technology in the modern age has connected all forms of media into a new machine. In a fast moving and ever changing industry multi-media devices must be created to give access to the masses. These devices have to be state of the art, reliable, flexible and affordable. Electronic company’s such as Samsung, Sony, LG and Phillips Magnavox have found a way converge multiple forms of media. The creation of the SMART TV has connected television with the internet, and in turn created the most accessible form of media convergence. This paper will walk through the history of television and how it’s advances has brought it the ultimate media convergence.
The first successful use of a television was demonstrated in 1927. The unit was created by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Farnsworth created a system that could capture moving images in a form that could be coded into radio waves and then transformed back into a picture on a screen. The images produced were very primitive but television would grow in the years to come. After Farnsworth invention RCA invested $50 million in the development of television. This investment was used to update broadcasting systems for the new content and to create a television set that could be used in homes. In 1939 RCA televised its first baseball game and a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt and some regular programming. By 1941 Columbia broadcasting was televising a daily news cast.
The first televisions were in broadcast in black and white. Color television would not be available until 1964. The 3 big broadcasting networks ABC, NBC and CBS invested millions in creating color television and colored format for audiences. Shows such as the “Beverly Hillbillies” and “All in the Family” dominated primetime television in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s
The next advance in television would come in the form of cable. Cable would give the 3 big stations a run for their money. “Cable television originated in the United States in 1948. The purpose of cable at the time was to enhance poor reception of over-the-air television signals in mountainous or geographically remote areas. By 1952, 70 “cable” systems served 14,000 subscribers nationwide. In 1971 cable had more than 80,000 subscribers just in New York. This gave way to networks specifically designed to be distributed by the cable. Networks like HBO, C-SPAN, Nickelodeon, ESPN and CNN were created by 1979.
“In the 1980s, home videocassette recorders became widely available. Viewers gained the ability to record and replay programs and, more significantly, to rent and watch movies at times of their own choosing in their own homes. Video games also became popular during this decade, particularly with the young, and the television, formally just the site of passive entertainment, became an intricate, moving, computerized game board. The number of cable networks grew throughout the 1980s and then exploded in the 1990s as improved cable technology and direct-broadcast satellite television multiplied the channels available to viewers. The number of broadcast networks increased also, with the success of the Fox network and then the arrival of the UPN and WB networks.”
In 1999 the Digital Video Disk or DVD was released as the new form of VHS. Instead of watching movies on big tapes of film. The film is lasered on to a disk and can be watched a DVD Player. The film industry makes a majority of its profits on DVD sales. By 2005 the world was introduced to Flat screen TV’s. Television is no longer watched on big projector screen with a huge back side. The new TV is flat in the back and sleek by design. Instead of a projection system, the television is uses plasma or LCD screen to show its picture. This type of screen enables High Definition television. HD provided a clearer and more realistic picture.
The invention of the TiVo allowed consumers digitally record programming that can be watched at anytime. The cable companies took this idea and created a Digital Video Recorder that is attached to your cable service. This game way to On-Demand television where consumers can pull up any shows they missed without having to record the shows
The Next big thing to hit television was the Smart TV. The smart TV is the ultimate multi-media convergence. These televisions combine TV with the Internet. Smart TVs allow people to surf the web, stream videos and use services such as YouTube, Netflix and Hulu Plus. Internet radio and services such as Pandora, Rhapsody and social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram can be accessed. Games and apps that can be downloaded to the smart phone are also available. Smart TVs are also typically DLNA certified, enabling the sharing of movies, photos, music and similar multimedia content from other DLNA-compliant PCs, tablets, smart phones and similar devices.
Television has always been considered media convergence. Medias such as news, radio, film and music can all be accessed via television. Cable stations have channels that only play music. There also cable channels such as STARZ that only plays films. Networks such as CNN and FOX News only report news 24hours a day. All these forms of media can be accessed by clicking on the television.
Now that the Smart TV has been created the media convergence has moved into a whole new realm. Research shows that there are a rising number of TV viewers are surfing the internet while watching television. This provides an avenue for social interaction with people talking about TV shows as they are watching them. Shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol”, are made specifically for this medium. Audiences watch and then go online or call in and vote on contestants. Viewers enjoy being a part of the interactive experience of viewing, discussing, recommending and sharing comments and content social networking sites.
Since the creation of television, it has built its way into the ultimate media convergence. From the programming, to films people choose to watch via DVD or streamed on the internet and the gaming capabilities television has become a multi-media Mecca. The Smart TV has taken a computer, a cell phone and television and combined it into one device. A consumer can watch television comment on Facebook and listen to music all at the same time. That is the ultimate form of media convergence.

REFERENCES:
Newman, M., & Levine, E. (2012). Legitimating television: Media convergence and cultural status. Oxon: Routledge.
Narang, N. (2012). Digital Media Convergence: Are Stakeholders listening? Infosys Lab Breifings, 10(01). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.infosys.com/infosys-labs/publications/Documents/winning-it/digital-media-convergence.pdf
History of Cable - CCTA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.calcable.org/learn/history-of-cable/
Stephens, M. (n.d.). History of Television - Mitchell Stephens. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from https://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History of Television page.htm
Smart TV. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/smart_tv.html
Dominick, J. (2011). Broadcast Television. In Dynamics of mass communication: Media in transition (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
What is Media Convergence ? (2011, December 12). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from https://mconvergence.wordpress.com/about/
History of Television. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.high-techproductions.com/historyoftelevision.htm