Introduction of Television to Australia in 1956 - Essay Example

Introduction In September 1956, television was introduced in Australia. It had a major impact on the on the Australians lifestyles. The government policy played a key role in the television introduction and it largely depended on the Royal Commission on Television findings (Ward, 2008 pp.79-77). Between 1953 and 1954, the royal commission was put in place to handle different issues such as; to give an adequate report on the total number of the commercial television stations that could be established and operated effectively in the whole nation. It was also suppose to give a clear outline on the standards required in different programs so that the television broadcasting could be used in an appropriate manner for the sake of the public interest. In Australia, the television was new and everything that took place on it was also new. Most of the first shows that took place in the Australian television were mainly from different radio shows. Among the early broadcasts were; different events on sports, news concerning the current affairs, game shows and other different shows which had been acquired from overseas (Allen and Hill, 2004 p. 56). When television was first introduced, few individuals had television sets as compared to the current situation. Hence, most individuals would gather in different places such friends or family member’s homes who owned televisions so as to watch news and various programs. In some cases, individuals would even gather in streets in order to watch televisions from different stores. The new technology gained popularity within a short period. The change was felt by other different business in Australia within the first year of television launching. Most individuals in the country opted to remain indoors in the evening to watch television instead of socializing with friends. Cinemas located in different parts of the country had to be closed and in the transport sector, several taxis operators realized most people were no longer using their services. The lifestyle of Australians was transformed significantly in just one year. In Australia the research on television history is viewed as being undeveloped as compared to that the film and the radio. Before the establishment of the television in Sydney and Melbourne in 1956, significant debate concerning the television’s cultural values and capabilities had been conducted. This debate had great influence on the nature and the regulatory framework of operation of the Australian television. Several arguments which took place clearly portrayed different attitudes which still remain in the country’s public debate today. The public discussions of television mainly focused on the appropriate forms of ownership and control, and the possible television virtues and vices (Andrews and Curtis, 1998 p.43). Majority of the individuals, who took part in the discussion concerning the television and the future of the new technology in Australia, had not had a chance to see it. Different cultural bodies, public interest groups and those with commercial interest participated actively in defining the television system. The main issue in the debate was whether the television services should be introduced in Australia; whether the television system should be owned publicly or privately or both; the degree of government agencies control on the privately owned system; and whether the Australian-made television material would be accorded protection against the imported material. Most of the debated issues concerning ownership control and regulation focused mainly on the cultural questions. The government consideration of the television introduction was first conducted with the joint parliamentary committee who were appointed by the Menzies government. The report of the committee was of great importance especially for the public regulation of the media. The committee dealt with the witnesses of the future TV, among these was witnesses from the electronic equipment manufacturers. They also heard other views from the radio broadcasting and the Postmaster Generals Department (PWD). The PWD in their submission had a pessimistic view on the new technology. They perceived that the television introduction did not posses any future, considering it being one of the mass medium of communication. On the other hand, the manufacturers and the broadcasters had an optimistic perspective. The committee suggested that more development had to be conducted before the introduction of the television. The government policy had to critically look into the overseas development before proceeding further. The Menzies-led conservative government was optimistic about the introduction of television and preferred commercial TV licenses to be granted. However, when a new government later came into power, they did not have any given television policy in place and were not enthusiastic about the introduction of the new medium (Phillips, 1958 p.66). The government optimistic perspective was opposed mainly by its own rivals from the Labor Party. Different social groups in the country who were known to be sympathetic to the government, such as the churches, the conservative women groups, and the farmer’s organizations were anxious on the issue of television introduction. Most of them perceived the television to be a luxury, which would mainly serve individuals who lived in the urban areas. Their perception was that the introduction of television would greatly interfere with the development of the countrys rural telephone system which was important to them. This led to the establishment of the Royal Commission of Enquiry which would give a clear report on how the television dual system similar to the one which was already in existence in the radio media would be put in place. It mainly focused on the ownership and control of the television. The enquiry was of great help in that, it was not only a forum for the social groups to express their ideas but also gave guidance to the government regarding the television policy which it did not possess. The commission of enquiry attracted significant responses from the public through written submissions and evidence given orally. Different views were given by several groups which included; the artistic and cultural organisations, different women organizations, the trade unions together with the ACTU, different potential TV licenses applicants most of whom were the newspaper interests, the radio broadcasters, and the electronics manufacturers (Jupp 2001, pp.53-54). The farmer’s organizations and the Australian Broadcasting Commission were also involved. Other individuals were academicians who played a key role in the education of the adults. Majority of the submissions were against the television introduction especially the commercial one. The commission report which was released later supported the introduction of the television through the dual system ownership similar to that which was applied in radio. It also added that the government regulation had to be in place regarding the licenses issuance and revocation. The commission report further gave a recommendation on the number of television stations which could be owned by a given company or consortium. However, the multi-media ownership was not limited. In 1954, the government was in agreement that the appropriate period had come for the new media to be introduced. This consideration was as a result of the Olympic Games which would be held in 1956 in Melbourne. The cultural and the moral criticisms which were in place came up as a result of the opposition to the introduction of television and particularly the commercial one. When the introduction of the new media seemed inevitable, most individuals shifted their stand and opposed the commercial television. Later, when they perceived the commercial television introduction was inevitable, they focused mainly on the regulation of television by the state. The audience had different perspectives regarding television introduction. Most of them were against it, grounding their arguments on different articles and studies which revealed effects which the television had on the United States (Spigel, 1992 p.78). They insisted that television would have different impacts which included; posing negative effects on the children, affecting the sociability of the adults, and distracting women from their various domestic roles (Brown, 1990 p 84-85). They further added that the television would affect children severely in that it would force them to remain indoors, strain their eyes and interfere with both their reading and home work. They insisted that television will make adults to keep distance from each other hence, most people becoming anti-social and the family life would impoverish in the end. The argument of most individuals was that the new medium was more of a commercial television rather than just a television in general. The main problem was on the fact that the commercial television would attract most audience hence, bringing forth a culture which is debased. Most critics insisted that popularity did not necessarily mean the television was desirable with regard to culture. Thus based on this, people should necessarily conclude on the kind of medium they wanted in place. Different individuals who were involved in the debate expressed this perspective in unique ways. Those in the industry came up with a detailed report which they submitted to the government. Their main focus was the ABC monopoly case. They mainly compared both systems belonging to the British and the Americans and their conclusion was that superiority existed in the British system. According to O’Sullivan (1991 p.85-86), the British were keen on issues regarding morals and the cultural values when developing the television. On the other hand, in the United States, much of this was not put into considerations hence; television had greater impact on their lives. Most of those in the industry supported the British system as opposed to the American one. The labour party was also against the establishment of a commercial television. Those in the party further added that the magazines and newspaper will incur a great loss since the television will dominate most of the advertising activities. They therefore insisted that the interest of most publics was for the country to be able to control television using the national stations. It was also clear that the perception of the labour party was that the opponents would receive much support from the entrepreneurs in the private media. They also viewed that that the policies regarding nationalization and social welfare will not receive adequate support from the private media hence were against the commercial television. However, the labor party could not provide adequate opposition to the plans of the government to establish the commercial television. The church and several other groups which included the women, the cultural and the educational groups gave their views which were based on different arguments including culture and morality (Miller and Yúdice, 2002, p. 66-68). They were also against the commercial television and suggested all the television services to be under the provision of an independent statutory authority. Conclusion In the introduction of television in Australia different groups came up with different perspectives. The government supported the introduction of the commercial television. However, majority of the groups were greatly against this idea. The different groups such as the audience and all those in the industry were against the commercial television. They all suggested that the television services should be under the provision of an independent statutory authority. Most of the groups gave their views which were based on different arguments, which were cultural and moral oriented. Bibliography Allen, R, & Hill, A 2004, The television studies reader, Routledge, London. Andrews, K , & Curtis, M 1998, Changing Australia: social, cultural and economic trends shaping the nation, Federation Press, Sydney Brown, M 1990, Television and womens culture: the politics of the popular, SAGE, London. Jupp, J 2001, The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins, Cambridge University Press, UK. Maddock, R, & McLean, I 1987, The Australian economy in the long run, CUP Archive, New York. Miller, T, &Yúdice, G 2002, Cultural policy, SAGE, London. O’Sullivan, T1991,‘Television Memories and Cultures of Viewing’ Popular Television in Britain: Studies in Cultural History, BFI Publishing, London. Ozolins, U 1993, The politics of language in Australia, Cambridge University Press, UK. Phillips, A 1958,The Australian Tradition: Studies in Colonial Culture, Cheshire, Melbourne. Sedlmaier, A 2005, From department store to shopping mall: transnational history of large-scale retail, Akademie Verlag, Germany. Spigel, L1992, Make Room for TV: Television and the Family Ideal in Post-war America, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Ward, D 2008, Television and public policy: change and continuity in an era of global liberalization, Taylor & Francis, New York. 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