Broadcasting Hollywood: The Struggle Over Feature Films on Early Television uses extensive archival research into the files of studios, networks, advertising agencies, unions and guilds, theatre associations, the FCC, and key legal cases to analyze the tensions and synergies between the film and television industries in the early years of television. This analysis of the case study of the struggle over Hollywood’s feature films appearing on television in the 1940s and 1950s illustrates that the notion of an industry misunderstands the complex array of stakeholders who work in and profit from a media sector, and models a variegated examination of the history of media industries. Ultimately, it draws a parallel to the contemporary period and the introduction of digital media to highlight the fact that history repeats itself and can therefore play a key role in helping media industry scholars and practitioners to understand and navigate contemporary industrial phenomena.

Just a few years in the mid-1950s separated the "golden age" of television's live anthology drama from Newton Minow's famous "vast wasteland" pronouncement. Fifties Television shows how the significant programming changes of the period cannot be attributed simply to shifting public tastes or the exhaustion of particular program genres, but underscore fundamental changes in the way prime-time entertainment programs were produced, sponsored, and scheduled. These changes helped shape television as we know it today. William Boddy provides a wide-ranging and rigorous analysis of the fledgling American television industry during the period of its greatest economic growth, programming changes, and critical controversy. He carefully traces the development of the medium from the experimental era of the 1920s and 1930s through the regulatory battles of the 1940s and the network programming wars of the 1950s.

This collection of papers examines the evolving relationship between the motion picture industry and television from the 1940s onwards. The institutional and technological histories of the film and TV industries are looked at, concluding that Hollywood and television had a symbiotic relationship from the start. Aspects covered include the movement of audiences, the rise of the independent producer, the introduction of colour and the emergence of network structure, cable TV and video recorders. Originally published in 1990.

"Michele Hilmes has produced an excellent introduction to a most important subject. This is an invaluable work for both scholars and students that places film, radio, and television within the context of the national culture experience." --- American Historical Review "Hilmes is one of the few historians of broadcasting to move beyond a political economy of the media. . . . Her work should serve as a model for future histories of broadcasting." --- Journal of Communication "All media historians will find this work a critical addition to their bookshelves." --- American Journalism "A major addition to media history literature." --- Journalism History

Except for accounts of journalists, dissident employees, and an occasional congressional committee focusing on crime and unethical practices, we have known very little about how television programs are produced. The Hollywood TV Producer, originally published in 1971, was the first serious examination of constraints, conflicts, and rewards in the daily lives of television producers. Its insights were important at the time and have not been challenged. Using as her framework the social system of mass communications, Muriel G. Cantor shows how producers select stories for television series and how movies end up in prime time. In order to get a comprehensive look at the inner workings of the TV industry and its producers, the author interviewed eighty producers in Hollywood over a two-season period. She probed to discover how the people producers work for and where they work influences their decision-making. As Cantor shows, critics of television who suggest that to remain in production, a producer must first please the business organization that finances his or her operations, are largely correct. Cantor shows that content is determined by a combination of artistic and professional factors, as well as social, economic, and political norms that have developed over time in the industry.

The 1950s was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of motion pictures and television. During the decade, as Hollywood's most powerful studios and independent producers shifted into TV production, TV replaced film as America's principal postwar culture industry. This pioneering study offers the first thorough exploration of the movie industry's shaping role in the development of television and its narrative forms. Drawing on the archives of Warner Bros. and David O. Selznick Productions and on interviews with participants in both industries, Christopher Anderson demonstrates how the episodic telefilm series, a clear descendant of the feature film, became and has remained the dominant narrative form in prime-time TV. This research suggests that the postwar motion picture industry was less an empire on the verge of ruin—as common wisdom has it—than one struggling under unsettling conditions to redefine its frontiers. Beyond the obvious contribution to film and television studies, these findings add an important chapter to the study of American popular culture of the postwar period.

“Vitally important, devastatingly thorough, and shockingly revealing…. After reading Primetime Propaganda, you’ll never watch TV the same way again.” —Mark Levin Movie critic Michael Medved calls Ben Shapiro, “One of our most refreshing and insightful voices on the popular culture, as well as a conscience for his much-maligned generation.” With Primetime Propaganda, the syndicated columnist and bestselling author of Brainwashed, Porn Generation, and Project President tells the shocking true story of how the most powerful medium of mass communication in human history became a vehicle for spreading the radical agenda of the left side of the political spectrum. Similar to what Bernard Goldberg’s Bias and A Slobbering Love Affair did for the liberal news machine, Shapiro’s Primetime Propaganda is an essential exposé of corrupting media bias, pulling back the curtain on widespread and unrepentant abuses of the Hollywood entertainment industry.

Broadcasting Hollywood uses extensive archival research to analyze the tensions and synergies between the film and television industries in the early years of television. It draws parallels to today and the introduction of digital media to highlight how history can play a key role in helping media industry scholars and practitioners understand and navigate contemporary industrial phenomena.

Before the film industry arrived, Hollywood was filled with quaint bungalows, millionaires' estates, and churches dedicated to teetotalism. Movies shattered Hollywood's tranquillity, and brought wealth, fame and glamorous movie stars. The giants of the movie industry invented klieg-lighted movie premieres and the Academy Awards in Hollywood. Go beyond the star-studded surface to the district's days of union busting, gangsters, and scandal, foreshadowing Hollywood's seedy decline. The book concludes with Hollywood's redevelopment that continues today. The book features the famous faces and places that made the town legendary, offering a unique perspective on celebrity nightlife and the behind-the-scenes stories of day-to-day life. Lavishly illustrated with over 800 vintage images from the author's private collection, "The Story of Hollywood" brings new insights to readers with a passion for Hollywood and its place in the history of film, radio, and television.

Films and television shows aren’t just entertainment. They are powerful vehicles that influence social and political trends, ultimately shaping the very fabric of our culture. Because of this potential, there are various agencies which work behind the scenes in Hollywood to harness these forces for their own aims or those of their clients. Few people outside the industry are aware that such agencies exist and are hired by advocacy groups to lobby studios, writers, and producers in order to get their ideas inserted into plots of popular works. These Hollywood lobbyists have been instrumental in successfully paving the path for same-sex marriage to become legal, destigmatizing abortion, encouraging mass immigration, and sounding the alarm about climate change; all under the cloak of mere “entertainment.” More recently we’ve seen these same powers levied against President Trump, his supporters, and used to demonize “white privilege” as an invisible enemy that’s supposedly around every corner. Even sports and late-night comedy shows are employed for political causes, violating the once unwritten cardinal rules of their industries. In this groundbreaking work, media analyst Mark Dice details the true power of entertainment and proves how it is being used to wage a psychological war against the world.