NBC: America's Network [Hardcover]

Michele Hilmes (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520250796 | ISBN-13: 978-0520250796 | Publication Date: August 1, 2007 | Edition: 1

Spanning eight decades from the beginnings of commercial radio to the current era of international consolidation and emerging digital platforms, this pioneering volume illuminates the entire course of American broadcasting by offering the first comprehensive history of a major network. Bringing together wide-ranging original articles by leading scholars and industry insiders, it offers a comprehensive view of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) that brings into focus the development of this key American institution and the ways that it has intersected with, and influenced, the central events of our times. Programs, policy, industry practices and personnel, politics, audiences, marketing, and global influence all come into play. The story the book tells is not just about broadcasting but about a nation's attempt to construct itself as a culture--with all the underlying concerns, divisions, opportunities, and pleasures. Based on unprecedented research in the extensive NBC archives, NBC: America's Network includes a timeline of NBC's and broadcasting's development, making it a valuable resource for students and scholars as well as for anyone interested the history of media in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"NBC: America's Network makes a significant contribution to our understanding of American broadcasting. Hilmes makes a convincing case for the appropriateness of an examination of a single firm, NBC, to illuminate the major themes and events of American broadcast history. In addition, she adeptly synthesizes a strong set of individually-authored chapters on specific historical periods, controversies, and program genres into a coherent whole. The writing is concise and lively and the breadth and depth of the material makes this a exceptional work."--William Boddy, author of New Media and Popular Imagination

"NBC: America's Network is an outstanding book about one network across US television history. Hilmes is an excellent editor who brings broad insights about the television industry to bear on this volume. The individual essays present different approaches and methods, and together provide an integrated history of NBC with analysis that respects the medium and the people that worked in it."--Mary Beth Haralovich, co-editor of Television, History, and American Culture: Feminist Critical Essays.

"Filled with highly readable essays by the top scholars in the field, NBC: America's Network explores key, often watershed moments in the network's history to illuminate the central role broadcasting has played in constituting public discourse about what is-and what is not-in the public interest. A welcome addition to the history of broadcasting, and essential reading for anyone interested in the transformative role of radio and TV in modern life."--Susan J. Douglas, author of Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination

About the Author

Michele Hilmes is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies in the Department of Communication Arts and Director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is author of Only Connect: A Cultural History of Broadcasting in the United States and The Television History Book, among other books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520250796
• ISBN-13: 978-0520250796
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,812,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NBC: America's Network, May 14, 2008

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Hispanic Book Reviewer (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: NBC: America's Network (Paperback)

This is a well-edited book that clearly details the history of the NBC network. The chapters are written by several authors who are experts of NBC's different eras and this makes for interesting reading. This book is a must-read for anyone who is studying Communications, Radio and TV, PR, Journalism, or just plain interested in television history in America.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise, September 13, 2010

By 

Roy Williams (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: NBC: America's Network (Paperback)

I did not do any of homework on this book. I was expecting a work crammed with publicity photos along the lines of NBC's 75th birthday book. Bob Hope Specials, Daytime Soaps, life on the Ponderosa, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice in living color.

This is not that.

Michelle Hilmes edited a serious study of the National Broadcasting Company. I learned how MCA (Lew Wasserman) saved NBC in the late 1950's and 60's. This in turn broadened my insight into Sonny Werblin's ownership of the AFL New York Jets (and Casey Wasserman's possible involvement with a future NFL team here in Los Angeles). I now understand why General Sarnoff and his son were destructive forces in the long run. And I rethought my estimation of Pat Weaver. He's still a giant, but a doomed one under Sarnoff. General Electric is (happily) leaving the scene at NBC. Comcast presents another chapter in the life of the company.

I am disappointed about the lack of insight into why NBC Radio was destroyed by GE or by Grant Tinker. Howard Stern's movie draws a picture.
This is a very worthwhile work.