National Broadcasting Company Research Articles

Joseph E. Maddy’s Instrumental Music Lessons via Radio

The purpose of this study was to examine instrumental music lessons taught for schoolchildren over the radio by Joseph Maddy in the 1930s and early 1950s. Research questions addressed (a) conditions, circumstances, and details surrounding the lessons and (b) pedagogical principles, strategies, methods, and didactic materials utilized in these broadcasts. Maddy, a pioneer in music education and a professor at the University of Michigan, taught band instruments over WJR in Detroit beginning in February 1931. He added lessons for strings in January 1933 and continued both series for the next four years. After a successful trial over WMAQ in Chicago during the 1935–1936 school year, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) scheduled Maddy’s band lessons nationwide starting with the 1936–1937 season. Maddy expanded the program beginning fall 1937 to include winds, percussion, orchestral strings, piano, accordion, and fretted instruments. The broadcasts ended in spring 1939 due to lackluster sales of instructional materials and other factors. String lessons returned in February 1950 and continued locally through the fall of 1951 over WUOM at the University of Michigan. These programs contributed to the development of school bands and orchestras in North America and hold implications for distance learning in music today.

A U.S. Medal Agenda? Clock-Time and Salience Analyses of Biological Sex Representation in the 2020 and 2022 NBC Olympic Telecasts

This report examines how the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) primetime telecasts of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games presented male and female athletes. Clock-time analyses (of how much time each sporting event was featured in primetime) and salience analyses (of the most mentioned athletes by NBC employees) are reported. Results show that women received the majority of clock-time and name mentions during both Olympiads, a further continuation of NBC’s most recent Olympic broadcast practices, which appears to continue to be driven by American women winning the majority of the United States’ medals during both the Summer and Winter Games.

TV Advertising, Corporate Power, and Latino Health Disparities

This study identifies mental health, tobacco prevention, alcohol/beer, food/beverage, pharmaceutical, and other health-related advertisements across Spanish- and English-language TV networks owned by the same parent media company in the U.S. as commercial determinants of health disparities for Latino populations and/or viewers of Spanish-language TV. A 3-week composite sample of Telemundo and National Broadcasting Company prime-time TV owned by the same parent media company was randomly drawn from March 31, 2021 to June 12, 2021 in Houston, Texas. A total of 1,593 health-related advertisements were yielded for systematic content analysis. Analyses included intercoder reliability, descriptive and bivariate analysis, and rate ratio and rate difference calculations. Telemundo had significantly more health-adverse and fewer health-beneficial advertisements than National Broadcasting Company. Telemundo broadcasted about 11 more alcohol (95% CI=9.1, 12.5) and 5 more unhealthy/noncore food/beverages (95% CI=2.0, 7.2) advertisements per hour of TV advertisement programming than the National Broadcasting Company. Telemundo also broadcasted about 1 fewer mental health/tobacco prevention (95% CI= -0.9, -0.2), 3 fewer healthy/core food/beverages (95% CI= -1.5, -4.3), and 4 fewer pharmaceutical (95% CI= -2.4, -5.7) advertisements per hour of advertisement programming than the National Broadcasting Company. Overall greater health-adverse and fewer health-beneficial advertisements are broadcasted on Spanish-language than on English-language TV. Unchecked corporate marketing strategies may serve as a commercial determinant of health disparities for Latino populations by Spanish-language TV.

Shared Narrative – Analysis on Finnish Socio-Educational Policy and National Broadcasting (YLE) Literacy during COVID-19 Variants 2021

This case study analyzed the Finnish National Broadcasting Company (YLE) literacy on socio-educational policies during the alpha and delta variant strategic turns 2021. The data comprised YLE releases, interdisciplinary global research, pandemic literacies, and statements of politicians/officials. Limitations occurred mainly in the data plenitude. Alpha variant caused socio-political responses maneuvered by politicians and officials. YLE supported without socially participating, competence-enhancing or motivating civic information. NPIs were linked to the political promises of national pandemic end during the summer. International pandemic studies were excluded from nationalized narrative, in which YLE strategically emphasized mutual experience, shared story, and approaching happy end. In August 2021, previously promised “liberation” was too close to change the narrative. Instead of delta mitigation, officials and politicians fortified the narrative towards the end. YLE conducted a closing story. Releases replaced international studies and responses with a small circle of domestic experts, who repeated the narrative they previously had manifested. No NPIs occurred, but remaining ones were lifted despite the rising incidence numbers. Conclusively, the lacking research in the YLE contributions indicated the absence of research literacy among politicians and reporters. Consequently, occurring sidetracks used modern nationalism rhetoric, supporting the main narrative. Children’s ‘absolute’ right was on-site schooling, regardless of safety research or practices developed abroad. In further studies, the post-pandemic status and goals of Finnish education need comparative reassessments other than a “trust”.

Summon the American Television Heroes: Nationalism in NBC’s Primetime Television Broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games

The National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) primetime broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics over 18 nights was analyzed to determine differences between the network’s treatment of U.S. and non-U.S. Olympians. Consistent with previous findings, an American athlete was the most mentioned athlete, and Americans composed the majority of the Top 20 most mentioned athletes. In contrast to previous findings, American athletes accounted for only 38.68% of the mentions, the lowest amount recorded since studies began with the 1996 Games. In addition, a sport-by-sport analysis revealed that an American was the most mentioned athlete in 8 of the 15 winter sports, and Americans received more mentions in 4 winter sports. Regarding descriptions ascribed to the Olympians, American athletes were more likely to be portrayed as succeeding due to superior concentration, composure, and commitment, while non-Americans were more likely to be portrayed as failing due to a lack of concentration, strength, and ability. Non-Americans were also more likely to be described as modest/introverted. Contextualization of these findings is provided.

A Cooperative Model for Preserving Historical Television News Content

The University of North Texas (UNT) and the Dallas-Fort Worth (Texas) affiliate station of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC 5/KXAS-TV) have partnered to preserve the archival programming content of the oldest television news station in Texas. This article addresses the partnership of the archives and the news station to create a fully digitally accessible archive, as well as the challenges of large-scale preservation and digitization of audiovisual materials. Using a custodial partnership model, the archives and the news station have leveraged their own unique talents and abilities to make significant progress toward the goal of digitizing this historic collection. This article highlights the progress made over the first five years of the partnership and the aspects of the partnership that have made the project successful.

Susan Murray, Bright Signals: A History of Colour Television

Bright Signals: A History of Colour Television by Susan Murray charts the development of colour television between 1928 and 1970 – the period in which the technology was invented, standardized and widely disseminated. The book adopts a media archaeological approach, depicting a broad yet integrated network of visual culture with colour television at its centre. Murray impressively draws upon the work of colour theorists, market researchers, psychologists, social scientists and film scholars to support and contextualize her arguments. Bright Signals offers a rich cultural, social, industrial and political context for the history of colour television, which has hitherto been lacking. The book is structured into six main chapters, the first two of which focus on early experimentation with colour television technology and the growing standardization of colour across several nationwide industries. The following three chapters focus predominantly on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Through the prism of CBS and NBC, these chapters address the technical refinement of colour television, its transformation into a commercially viable medium, colour aesthetics and programming strategies. The final chapter focuses on the global expansion of colour television, contextualizing it within the rhetoric of the Cold War and US imperialism.

Radio’s Waves of History: Media Activism and National Radio Network Historiography in the United States

The publication of U.S. radio network history began less than five years after the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) inaugurated national service. This descriptive analysis of U.S. radio network historiography periodizes the emergence of four waves of radio network history between 1930 and 2020, and illustrates how social, political, and regulatory activism influenced the emergence of new perspectives on the developmental period of U.S. network radio. Examining evolutions in radio network historiography reveals the continued applicability and relevance of radio history to contemporary debates concerning media activism and the applicability of historical inquiry in media controversies in the United States.

Биографический портретный очерк в экранной культуре (на материале Национально-вещательной компании «Саха»)

Статья посвящена культурологическому анализу развития биографического портретного очерка в региональной телевизионной публицистике. При этом используется авторский опыт создания документального видеоматериала в этом жанре. В ней рассматриваются основные этапы становления жанра портретного очерка на материале Национальной вещательной компании «Саха» (НВК «Саха»). Специфика предмета исследования предопределила биографический метод изучения процессов развития, формирования личности в культурном контексте. В начале ХХI в. на телеэкраны возвращаются портретные очерки, истории про людей. Биографический метод предполагает изучение жизни и формирования личности, осмысление ее внутреннего мира, который отражает систему культурных ценностей. Биографии в любом обществе представляют собой культурные образцы и служат средством социального развития. В связи с этим важным становится более глубокое изучение опыта публицистики, в частности актуальных на региональном телевидении биографических портретных очерков. Биографический портретный очерк был наиболее популярным на Якутском телевидении в советское время в 70-80 гг. ХХ в. В настоящее время телеочерки в жанре биографического портрета остаются востребованными в региональной телевизионной публицистике, распространяются через интернет и социальные сети. Необходимо сохранение жанра портретного очерка, телепроекты подобного рода способствуют развитию культурно-духовного потенциала населения. Знакомят новое поколение с биографиями известных людей, раскрывая различные грани их личности и общества. Результаты исследования могут быть использованы культурологами, философами, искусствоведами, социологами, журналистами, педагогами в качестве дальнейшего теоретического анализа проблематики жанра биографического портретного очерка. The article is devoted to the cultural analysis of the development of a biographical portrait essay in regional television journalism. It discusses the main stages in the formation of the portrait essay genre based on the material of the Sakha National Broadcasting Company (Sakha NBC). At the beginning of the 21st century, portrait essays and stories about people return to television screens. The biographical method involves the study of life and the formation of personality, the comprehension of their inner world, which reflects a system of cultural values. In any society, biographies make social examples and serve as an instrument of social development. In this connection, a study of journalism experience becomes important, in particular, that related to biographical portrait essays on regional television. Biographical portrait essays were the most popular on Yakutia television in the Soviet times in the 1970-80s. Presently, TV sketches in the biographical genre remain in demand in the regional television journalism and are distributed via the Internet and social networks. It is necessary to preserve the portrait essay genre, since television projects of this kind contribute to the development of the cultural and spiritual potential of the population. They introduce the new generation to the biographies of famous people, revealing various facets of their personality and the society. The results of the study can be used by culturologists, philosophers, art historians, sociologists, journalists, teachers as a further theoretical analysis of the problems of the genre of biographical portrait essay.

Equity Achieved? A Longitudinal Examination of Biological Sex Representation in the NBC Olympic Telecast (2000–2018)

This report focuses on (a) how National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) primetime Olympic telecasts have presented athletes competing as male and female, specifically in relation to the 2018 Pyeonchang Winter Olympic coverage and (b) how the Pyeongchang coverage fits into a longitudinal analysis of the past two decades of NBC’s coverage. Results show that women athletes received the majority of clock-time and name mentions during the 2018 coverage of the games, continuing a trend toward increased focus on women’s sports and athletics over the two-decade composite. The fact that American women are also winning a higher proportion of the medals at the Olympics is argued to be the most primary driver of this change over time. Implications and ramifications of the findings are also extrapolated.

Hold Your Liquor: NBC and Alcohol Advertising after Prohibition

This research provides context for controversy surrounding alcohol advertising policy in the United States, examining the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) policy on liquor advertising following the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933. Until the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol advertising had not been considered in the United States, giving broadcasters a new frontier to explore during radio’s golden age. This paper examines original inter-office memos illustrating the dialogue between NBC executives from 1932 to 1939 about whether or not to accept advertising accounts for alcoholic beverages. Out of respect for public interest, NBC ultimately decided against airing alcohol advertisements.

In Their Own Little Corner: The Gendered Sidelining of NBC’s Information Department

Despite their low pay and clerical status, the women who staffed the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) Information Department played an integral role in shaping the national network’s program and public relations policies. As the network’s first line of contact with its audience, Information Department workers influenced public opinion by shaping the networks’ responses to individual audience members’ written complaints. They also processed and molded the information NBC executives used to sell programming to advertisers. Still, as women, they were routinely devalued and their labor dismissed as simultaneously rote, irrelevant, and hyperemotional. This paper brings together internal documents from across NBC’s corporate structure to recover the careers of Anita Barnard and Kathryn Cole, two women who managed the Information Department through the 1940s and 1950s. During this period, the network underwent enormous transitions, including the shift from radio to television and renewed threats of federal regulation. The Information Department’s status waxed and waned along with NBC’s need to appease its audience and recruit and retain sponsors. Barnard and Cole’s status rose when audience information was at a premium, but it fell as soon as network dominance over television was established and financial returns assured.

(Broad)casting a Wider Net: Clocking Men and Women in the Primetime and Non-Primetime Coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics

This study analyzed the frequency with which the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic broadcasts featured men and women athletes. To understand these portrayals, all 557 hr and 15 min of National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) 2018 Winter Olympic telecasts were recorded. This recorded content included the 62 hr and 30 min of NBC’s primetime program and, for the first time, all of the remaining non-NBC primetime coverage on NBC’s other networks. Women athletes received the majority of the clock time on the NBC primetime broadcast; however, men received significantly more clock time on the remaining Olympic telecasts. Additionally, for both sets of broadcasts, differences were found between the amount of coverage for men and women athletes by sport. Through the lens of agenda-setting theory, potential reasons and ramifications for the different trends of coverage by broadcast are discussed.

Ecologies of user knowledge: linking user insight in organisations to specific projects

ABSTRACTFailure to meet user preferences continues to prevail as a major reason for innovation project failure despite wide arrays of methods and methodologies available for addressing it. The user research and user insight availability problem appears to have become replaced by a method and insight adequacy problem. This calls for the means to better address how organisations and project teams know their users, and how this knowing is intertwined in other organisational processes. A research challenge lies in developing representational templates that are both specific enough for addressing explicit and implicit user insight and encompassing enough for linking these to the relevant project and organisational issues. We develop such a representational template based on ecologies of knowledge mapping and discuss its potential through applying it to a comparative study on two social media web service projects of the Finnish National Broadcasting Company.

This Is My Becoming: Transformation, Hybridity, and the Monstrous in NBC's Hannibal

This article will interrogate the postmodern desire for a reclamation of queer monstrosity by examining Hannibal, the National Broadcasting Company's adaptation of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter series, a recent television show that deals explicitly with queerness and evil and found critical success and a cult online fandom. Holding in mind that show runner Bryan Fuller himself referred to the show as a “werewolf story,” this article will examine the ways in which the show uses the traditional trappings of werewolf narratives to craft a monster narrative that is both thoroughly postmodern and canonically queer. It will also examine the show as a transformational adaptation and look at Will Graham not only as a literal hybrid figure but also as a meta-textual one. Accordingly, this article will also analyze the show's fanatical fan following in the context of the reclamation of queer monstrosity and postmodern gothicism.

A Ransomware Case for Use in the Classroom

Given the global growth in ransomware attacks, employees need to understand the risks of ransomware and how to protect against it. This paper presents a teaching case based on an actual ransomware attack on a hospital that undergraduate or graduate course can use to teach students. The case introduces students to Wildcat Hospital, a fictitious 450-bed acute-care facility in a suburban location in the Northeastern United States. A ransomware attack hit Wildcat Hospital as the workday began. Malware infected the hospital's computers and demanded one bitcoin, a virtual currency that affords anonymity, as ransom to restore functionality of the information systems. The chief executive officer and the chief information officer led the organizational response to the attack. We include links to two videos, a demo of a Locky ransomware attack in action, and a National Broadcasting Company (NBC) TV network news report about a similar ransomware incident at another hospital (Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California) to engage students.

Men or Women, Only Five Olympic Sports Matter

This study is a descriptive content analysis of National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) prime-time broadcast coverage of the 2016 summer Olympic games. Olympic coverage is particularly important to the athletes of minor sports—including all women’s sports—because most receive little media attention beyond Olympic competition. The study found no evidence of sexism, but a clear lack of diversity in the sports covered, as NBC dedicated most of its prime time to superstars (Phelps, Biles, Bolt, Kerri Walsh, etc.) and unique stories and personalities (e.g., the Lochtegate and 74-year-old South African coach Botha).

The C.B.S. Problem in American Radio Historiography

The Columbia Broadcasting System (C.B.S.) emerged in the late 1920s as the only sustainable competitor to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in American network radio. But scholars know far less about C.B.S. than NBC because the C.B.S. corporation failed to retain, and make accessible to media historians, internal archival and documentary materials from its developmental era. This article examines the historical void created by America’s second network while offering two specific historical case studies to establish how the loss of C.B.S. materials continues to hinder knowledge about America’s second network, the American system of broadcasting, and the political economy of the commercial mass media in the United States.

The Finnish Twitter war: the Winter War experienced through the #sota39 project and its implications for historiography

This essay explores the #sota39 project by the Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE. The project is a chronological representation of the Finnish Winter War produced for the social media platform Twitter. The project remixes authored material with content produced by the project’s consumers to provide a multivocal representation of a seminal historical era which seems to excel in invoking experience to its readers. How can historical characters be transfigured to relive 105 days of national crisis, after 70 years of its passing, through a strict chronology and on a social media platform, in a manner that connects with contemporary media consumers and still maintains its relevance as a historical project? The social media form is radical for historians, yet well suited for presenting chronologically proceeding events. The authors consider #sota39 to be an example of a well-made and successful experimental history project. In this essay our attention is not in the content of #sota39 but in its experimental format, use of historical sources and the historiographical consequences. This paper analyzes the complexities of the #sota39 project to fully appreciate its nature as a historical endeavour and to understand the possibilities and support it offers traditional history in the digital era.

The Magic and Science of Grimm: A Television Fairy Tale for Modern Americans

The National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) Grimm uses fairy tales and an altered history to explore modern issues in American society such as environmental concerns, individuality, and social and cultural change through magic and magic-tinged science. Worldwide chaos and strife are easily explained as part of the Grimm universe (Grimmverse) through Wesen (humanoid creatures who share characteristics with animals such as appearance and behavior), leading to a more united view of humanity and equality of human experience. Evil is often more scientifically explained, and what may appear random within our reality becomes part of a pattern in Grimm. Grimm gives its American audience a form of societal unity through historic folklore and a fictional explanation for the struggles Americans perceive to be happening within their own society as well as in other parts of the world.