Customer Reviews

Same Time, Same Station: Creating American Television, 1948-1961

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SAME TIME, SAME STATION: CREATING AMERICAN TELEVISION, 1948-1961 comes from a historian who examines early broadcasting history, corporate influences on the future of television, and cultural concerns which influenced early decision makers as they developed and promoted radio, TV and film. As such college-level collections strong in media history will find this an attractive addition, offering an engaging survey of American media history during its formative years and including enough lively dialogue to make it accessible even to lay readers.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

For all studiers of media history (and those like me who were students of Prof. Baughman), this book represents a millstone event. It is essential reading for understanding how the landscape of American broadcast media fed on itself to become indistinguished, neutered and banal. Also, it is an open window into the fascinating mind of the author, who sees the sweep of media history with a passionate, alluring set of eyes. For fans of Prof. Baughman, this is the moment so long we've waited for.

I found the stories of early television great fun. They brought back memories of all the shows I watched in those fuzzy black and white days. I learned a lot about UHF and VHF that failed to impress me at the time. I have only one caveat don't take all this too seriously. When an author states that the Korean War took place in the mid-fifties (actually 1950-1953) it calls into question many other facts that may or may not be accurate. Wasn't this book edited?