TELEVISION
BROADCASTING AND
SCRIPT WRITING
REPORT BY: SO, NIÑA MARIE
BSED-ENGLISH
BRIEF HISTORY OF TELEVISION BROADCASTING
• When did TV broadcasting start? July 2, 1928: The first American TV
station began broadcasting on July 2, 1928. W3XK was the first
commercially licensed television station in the US, owned by inventor
Charles Francis Jenkins.
• What was the very first television broadcast? In 1928, WRGB (then
W2XB) was started as the world's first television station. It broadcast
from the General Electric facility in Schenectady, NY. It was popularly
known as "WGY Television".
• Television began as a black-and-white medium.
• Color television technology had been demonstrated in 1929, and
equipment had been developed as early as the 1940s, but the legal
battle over color television took several years.
• Who is the real inventor of television? Philo Taylor Farnsworth II
• Philo Farnsworth, in full Philo Taylor Farnsworth II, (born August 19,
1906, Beaver, Utah, U.S.—died March 11, 1971, Salt Lake City, Utah),
American inventor who developed the first all-electronic television
system. Also called the father of television
WHAT IS TELEVISION
BROADCASTING?
• Television broadcasting: form of broadcasting in which a
television signal is transmitted by radio waves from a
terrestrial (Earth based) transmitter of a television station
to TV receivers having an antenna.
• Basically, broadcasting serves three broad purposes; to
inform, educate and entertain the audience.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
BROADCAST TELEVISION?
• Audio-Visual – this gives television advertising (and TV
shows) the ability to tempt, tantalize, and convince by
appealing to the human senses of sight and sound.
• Live Medium/Informative – News programming dominates
broadcast television today. Many network stations now have
5-9 hours of news a day! In addition, in times of crisis, local
television is the key medium most of the population goes to
for information because of its capabilities to go live quickly.
• Reach – television is known as a reach medium. Advertising on television
enables one to easily reach targeted audiences based on demographics and
research. Media buyers and planners often use Nielsen or comScore ratings,
Scarborough research, and media buying software like BluHorn to ensure reach
is maximized based on the available budget.
• Nielsen measures and reports audience viewing for a demo.
• While, Comscore measures and reports audience viewing for a HH(households)
with a demo.
• Nielsen Scarborough provides local market research, shopping patterns, media
behaviors, lifestyle and demographic information of American consumers.
• BluHorn® is a web-based media buying software program designed to organize,
schedule and report media buys, whether for broadcast TV, cable TV, radio,
outdoor or print and digital media.
• Convenience – information and entertainment via television
is right at everyone’s fingertips.
• Many based their daily schedules around what television shows
they watch.
• For instance, they will watch their favorite early morning news
show such as the Today Show or Good Morning America when
they wake up, evening news when they come home from work,
and their favorite Prime Time show such as Big Bang Theory,
Dancing with the Stars, The Voice or NCIS.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
BROADCAST, CABLE, LOCAL TELEVISION?
• Whether at a restaurant, at the gym, in your living room, or in
a waiting room, we are constantly surrounded by screens. In
2019, it’s probably smartphone or tablet screens that come to
mind in this scenario.
• But television certainly hasn’t gone away.
• We have to assume at least some of those same adults are
also using the terms “cable,” “broadcast,” and “local”
interchangeably.
BROADCAST TELEVISION
• Broadcast television is the most common form of television.
• Broadcast channels use public airwaves to transmit programs
that are theoretically available to any TV set within range of a
broadcast transmitter, at no cost to the viewer.
• As such, most broadcast channels – so-called “commercial
channels” – gain revenue through advertising.
• CBS, ABC, NBC, or The CW. Non-commercial channels, such as
PBS, gain revenue through donations or other means.
CABLE TELEVISION
• Unlike broadcast channels, cable channels like Animal Planet, AMC, or
Comedy Central do not use public airwaves. Instead, they charge
viewers subscription fees for transmission.
• Cable channels are private entities offering all the pros and cons of
private, demand-driven media.
• Cable channels offer a ripe advertising landscape, just like broadcast
channels.
• Nowadays, cable television refers to any system that distributes signals
through coaxial or fiber optic cables.
LOCAL TELEVISION
• Local programming includes local news stations or syndicated
programs.
• Example: In Los Angeles, they receive local news and weather
channels related to what is going on in our local area
• As of the 1960’s, cable operators are required by Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) regulation to reserve
specified allotments for local channels, preventing them from
being charged for airtime and financially edged out.
BASIC EQUIPMENT IN A TELEVISION STATION
All of the gear should be top notch, licensed and approved for the
country in which it is operating in.
• Studio mixing board • Hardware encoder
• Microphones • STL studio transmitter link
• Headphones • Streaming receiver
• Cameras • Digital TV transmitter
• Broadcast Media Server for • Digital Modulator
television automation • Power supply
• Capture cards for ingesting Live • Lightning protector
material • Transmission line
• Scheduler • Antenna
TYPES OF TELEVISION BROADCASTING
• Terrestrial television: is a type of television broadcasting in which
the television signal is transmitted by radio waves from the terrestrial
(Earth-based) transmitter of a television station to a TV receiver having
an antenna.
• Closed-circuit television: the cameras, monitors and/or video recorders
communicate across a proprietary coaxial cable run or wireless
communication link. Access to data transmissions is limited by design.
(CCTV is commonly used for a variety of purposes, including:
Maintaining perimeter security.)
• Outside broadcasting: is the electronic field production (EFP)
of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television
news and sports television events) from a mobile remote
broadcast television studio.
• Direct broadcast satellite (DBS): Type of satellite used for
consumer services, primarily the transmission of radio and TV
programs. A direct broadcasting satellite is similar to a fixed-
service satellite (FSS); however, it offers a higher power
output, requiring smaller antennas to receive the signal.
PURPOSE OF TELEVISION BROADCASTING
• Television is a system for transmitting visual images and sound
that are reproduced on screens, chiefly used to broadcast
programs for entertainment, information, and education.
• To inform, educate and entertain; to build a healthy national
consciousness; to inspire a positive sense of shared national
purpose; to create necessary ethical sensibilities - surely, all
these must be among the purposes of the broadcasting
profession.
IMPORTANCE OF TELEVISION BROADCASTING
• Television is a fantastic educational tool.
• It broadens knowledge of different cultures, promotes
tolerance and global understanding of international issues.
• Through current affairs, discovery, lifestyle, cooking shows and
children's programmes, television encourages scientific and
cultural curiosity.
• Hence, it plays an important role in empowering communities
around the world, bringing people together and fostering
positive dialogue for change.
BROADCAST SCRIPT
WRITING
WHAT IS BROADCAST SCRIPT
WRITING?
• Means writing for radio and television.
• It can also be explained as writing for ears and eyes.
• It is different from print media. In the print media, one
can write.
HOW DO YOU WRITE A BROADCAST?
• Be Sure to Write for the Ear: always read your script out loud in a
conversational tone so you can judge if an audience will be able to
understand it. Unlike a newspaper story, your broadcast audience only
gets one chance to understand your story. Also, beware of words that
sound alike but mean different things. Be sure to make your sentences
sound lively and interesting as opposed to flat and monotone.
• Avoid the Passive Voice: Passive voice writing jumbles up the usual
sequence of subject, verb, object in active voice writing.
Example: an active sentence would be, "The burglar fired the gun," as
opposed to a passive sentence such as, "The gun was fired by the
burglar." You can see in the passive sentence that viewers have to wait
until the end of the line to know who did what.
• Use Present Tense Wherever Possible: TV news is timely as opposed to
print news writing that relates a bigger story, putting facts and
information into context.
Example: let's look at a mayor's news conference that you covered at 2
p.m. that afternoon to appear on the nightly news. You might want to
write, "Mayor Johnson held a news conference earlier today.“
• Write Stories for People: Viewers need to feel your stories are directed
at them, or else they'll turn away. You have to direct the story to them.
Example: you can say, "Your drive to work or school will soon be
smoother, thanks to a big project by the DOT to fill in potholes and
uneven streets suffering from wear and tear." This way you've telling
viewers how an upcoming project will change their lives for the better.
• Befriend Action Verbs: In news writing, verbs are your best friend. Verbs
are the part of speech that adds life and verve to your stories. If you can,
always avoid words like "is, are, was, and were." All of these dilute the impact
of the action.
Example: Instead of saying, "Residents are requesting information." Say
something like, "Residents want to know." That slight change makes the
information more compelling.
• Be Careful With Numbers: Numbers are hard to absorb, especially if
there are a lot of them. Try to make your point with a number or two, then
move on.
Example: "The company's profit was $10,470,000, then fell to $5,695,469 a
year later," is just too much information. "The company's profit was about 10
and-a-half million dollars, then fell to about half that the following year." The
last example gives the viewer the information without having to listen to
every last digit.
• Sell the Story: That means a news writer has to be a salesperson and
sell the product as something superior to the competition.
Example: If you can combat the perception that all newscasts are the
same by leading the segment with, "We have an NBC exclusive of Kim
Kardashian with the woman she got pardoned from prison," viewers will
flock to your TV station because you've set yourself apart.
• Move the Story Forward: A good TV news story ends telling the
audience what will happen next.
Example: "The school board will take a vote on whether to cut teachers'
pay at its next meeting a week from today" doesn't leave the audience
hanging and, it forces viewers to tune in next week. If you wrap-up the
segment with, "We will be at that meeting and tell you the outcome of
the vote," your viewers know your news team is on top of the story.
TELEVISION NEWS WRITING
• News is very important thing in todays media scenario and there are a
numbers of factors to modify the importance of news in actual
practice.
• The policy of news medium may increase or diminish the importance
of the story. The class of viewers and listeners that dominates the
audience of a channel determines largely what is news for that
medium.
• The amount of time available on television determines whether is told
briefly or in detail and thus time alters the value of a news story.
• Repeating the same news also sometimes decreases the importance of
a news story.
CONTENTS OF NEWS
• What? What happened? What is the event?
• When? When it occurred, at what time it took place?
• Where? The place, where the incident occurred.
• Who? The persons involved at that occasion.
• Why? The reason of that particular issue.
• How? The sequence of the event
CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITING
• There are four Cs to broadcast journalism:
• Correctness or accuracy
• Clarity: clear, precise language that contains no ambiguity;
viewers cannot re-hear broadcast news, they must
understand it the first time.
• Conversational: broadcast news must sound more
conversational b/c people will be reading it aloud.
• Color: writing that allows the listener to paint a picture of the
story or event being reported.
• News more than an hour or two old may be considered
stale.
• The maximum length for almost any story is two
minutes; normal length is 30 seconds.
• Slang and colorful phrasing is generally not permitted in
broadcast news.
• Should be written in the present tense.
• Omit the time element in most news stories.
• Broadcast writers have to produce in a highly
pressurized atmosphere: deadlines are imminent.
END
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING
SOURCES:
• https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2017/6-tips-for-writing-broadca
st-stories/
• https://www.slideshare.net/arzoosahni/television-news-writing
• https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-write-a-news-script-for-tv-news-
2315281
• http://blog.bloomads.com/blog/broadcast-local-cable-whats-the-difference#:
~:text=Broadcast%20Television&text=Think%20CBS%2C%20ABC%2C%20NBC
%2C,to%20be%20major%20legacy%20networks
.
