Broadcast Media

Broadcast media, including over-the-air radio and television, have been the primary drivers of consumer culture in the United States, and, increasingly, since the latter part of the twentieth century, across much of the world. Broadcast television in particular is the most powerful vehicle that drives consumer culture for three reasons. First, among all mass media, broadcast television reaches and is used by the greatest number of people. It can in fact be argued to be the most “massive” of all mass media. Second, one of the factors that accounts for this widespread use is ease of use. We are able to watch television (and listen to radio) on a continuum from absolute passivity to absolute engagement, but always take in some measure of information as long as our eyes are open and because our ears cannot be closed. Third, the commercial model of broadcasting took hold from early on in the United States and, despite efforts and sympathies against this and in favor of the social or public broadcasting model, is increasingly becoming the preferred standard across the globe. According to this commercial model, the attention of listeners and viewers is paramount; this is the commodity the broadcasting industry buys and sells. As a result, the nature of broadcast programming is shaped and determined, first and foremost, by decisions about what will best attract and hold audiences' attention.

Another way to frame broadcast media's power in the creation, maintenance, and growth of consumer culture is to place it within the context that is the history of media. Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press in Mainz, Germany, in AD 1455. This invention not only brought about the first medium of mass communication, but also one of the original inventions of the Industrial Revolution: the printing press is a literal assembly line for text, and the assembly line is the key invention of the Industrial Revolution. The assembly line allows for the mass production of goods, which in turn means we are able to produce goods to support a growing population, and that we can do so based on economies of scale that reduce production costs and thereby make goods more affordable. However, we sometimes also produce more goods than there is demand for them. This leads to a situation in which we need to create demand for the excess goods. And this creating or ensuring of demand becomes one of the main entry points to what is called mass culture.

Mass culture is the modern condition in which mass media, the mass production of goods, and the establishment of a mass public intersect. Goods themselves are mass produced with the onset of the Industrial Age—and continue to be so in our information and service-based economy. Media fare itself also becomes a mass-produced commodity at this juncture, bringing about our modern media industry and connecting people as audiences, markets, readerships, and so on. In addition, mass media become the means by which messages about goods and services are brought to such people's attention—to assist in the selling of goods and services, to help one company win out over its competitors, and to lay the very foundation for the commercial mass media industry. The latter comes about through two important developments.

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