On Air! Television - How It Became What It Is

Germans love their telly! Over 95 per cent of households have at least one television. Despite the rise of the internet, millions of Germans still watch over three hours of television a day. Viewers also make great consumers and as such are an indispensable target group: television therefore remains an important medium for the advertising industry.

What is television?

Television is a combination of sound and moving images to inform and entertain the masses - a mass medium! Television broadcasts live or pre-recorded. But TV is not the Internet. This is because the transmission is aimed uniformly at an audience without the viewer controlling what is shown or broadcast (apart from reaching for the remote control). Television comes into the living room via three reception paths: via aerial and terrestrial radio transmission, via satellite or via cable using the broadband distribution network. Although analogue reception more or less became history in 2012 since the rise in satellite network.

What do we actually see when we watch television?

50 fields per second: This so-called interlaced scanning process has become established in today's PAL, NTSC and SECAM television formats. Germany and other European countries use PAL television, while NTSC dominates in the USA and SECAM in France. The trick of the interlaced scanning process? To double the refresh rate subjectively perceived by the TV viewer so that the television picture does not flicker annoyingly. It works as follows: first one field is transmitted, then the other. Only our eyes combine the two fields into one - at 25 full frames per second. This saves transmission bandwidth. Televisions with cathode ray tubes have had their day: today, flat plasma and OLED screens have taken over.

Who invented the television?

TV programmes were broadcast in Germany for the first time in 1935, but the first attempts were made much earlier. In 1843, Alexander Bain applied for a patent for a copying telegraph that could transmit drawings as black and white images electrically. The world's first fax machine was born! Because the patent used electrical image decomposition, it laid the foundation for image telegraphy and television. In 1883, Paul Nipkow followed up with television technology: his electric telescope split images into light and dark signals and put them back together again. Too bad - there was still no television process to utilise this practical invention. It was not until 1906 that Max Dieckmann built a TV set from the Braun tube of his foster father Ferdinand Braun, which showed moving images in modest resolution. But Dieckmann's invention also disappeared into nirvana: there were no suitable television cameras, nor was the complicated picture tube available at a reasonable price. So a Hungarian developed the first electronic television. In the mid-1920s, the first attempts at wireless image transmission were made in Great Britain, the USA and Germany - and in 1926, the prototype by electrical engineer Kálmán Tihanyi was ready for operation. The patent for his "radioscope" is now part of the world's documentary heritage.

When did the first images flicker across the screen?

In December 1930, Manfred von Ardenne launched the world's first television transmission with reproduction on cathode ray tubes and presented the very first system at the Radio Exhibition in Berlin, which was to characterise television for a long time to come. The broadcast of the Olympic Games united Germans in front of their screens in 1936, but the start of the war in 1939 signalled the end of TV in Germany for the time being. After the Second World War, German television made a fresh start: Christmas 1952 saw the launch of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) programme - which later became Das Erste. A decentrally organised radio programme, modelled on the British BBC, to prevent the media from being forced into political conformity as it had been during the Nazi era. The programme was also inspired by the British, whether it was a crime thriller or a news magazine. However, only around one per cent of Germans were watching television in 1957: The sets were expensive and the programme was limited. Television? Nah, how boring - I'd rather go to the cinema!

How did today's variety of channels come about?

In 1963, ZDF came onto the scene with the aim of providing pure entertainment. The new channel showed films, shows and series. In addition, the third channels from WDR to NDR were gradually established from 1964 onwards in order to fulfil an educational mission: Learning English on screen with Telekolleg or brushing up on algebra from the sofa? Find out what's happening in your own region? A matter for the third parties. Still black and white until then, the screen finally shone in colour from 1967. It took until 1981 for the dual system to be introduced, an unwieldy term that concealed a new variety of programmes - public and private television, available via satellite and cable. The new private channels were financed by advertising and filled the entertainment gap left by the public broadcasters with game shows , cookery shows, talk and dating shows and erotic formats. The MPEG standard (Moving Pictures Expert Group) expanded the TV options once again. MPEG brought digital picture and sound compression - for digital television.

How does the channel scan work?

There it is, the new flat-screen TV. But before you can zap to your heart's content, you first have to tune in the channels. The built-in channel scan automatically searches for transmission frequencies in a fixed wave spectrum of a tuner and saves them, whether digital TV receiver, satellite receiver, aerial or cable TV. The technology recognises: Is this a transmission frequency - or just background noise? Manually tuning channels and saving programme positions by hand is a thing of the past.

How does broadcasting programmes actually work?

Each programme has its own transmission path. Playout software controls the video server or LMS (Library Management System). Everything runs via this, whether starting audio or video signals or mixing. Today, supervisory engineers can monitor the broadcast of many television programmes simultaneously. Sudden changes? Then he or she intervenes at short notice instead of spending time going to the basement archive. Required scenes are cut from the archive on the PC and integrated directly into the current programme, all data is transferred fully automatically to the video server.

How do broadcasters finance themselves and their programmes?

Public broadcasters have a state programme mandate. They therefore finance production largely from licence fees and only secondarily from advertising and the sale of licences for their own TV productions . Private broadcasters, on the other hand, often do not produce themselves, but commission programme content for production or buy content such as highly rated US series. As a viewer, you can buy entire TV formats or individual pay TV programmes individually. Once you have paid, a decoder activates your favourite TV programme. Private providers are financed by advertising. After all, the medium of television is particularly good at arousing emotions in consumers! Sales shows and permanent advertising programmes on home shopping channels even run around the clock.

Where does television stand today? To each his own ...

In view of the growing diversity of channels, programmes and stations as well as Internet use, television is history. Everyone can be their own programme director , whether for entertainment or opinion-forming. Television is endeavouring to keep pace: In 2007, ZDF launched an internet platform called Mediathek. From now on, public television programmes could not only be watched live, but also time-shifted.

Fancy working in television?

Tnhe camera focuses on you and you get to know stars up close. Television offers numerous perspectives: production companies shoot daily soaps, primetime shows or reality TV on behalf of broadcasters. But whether you are in front of the camera or working behind it, you should be open and communicative. The motto "work hard, party hard" also applies to television. The web is also hot on the heels of traditional television: it is often home to particularly creative, experimental minds - and other ways of generating funds for productions. Nevertheless, what looks fluffy and light on TV is hard work at unconventional times - whether as a make-up artist , actor or presenter. You are employed and paid per engagement. Newcomers also have good opportunities here: conjuring up cool hairstyles as a hairstylist for a private primetime format in makeover shows ? Take part in a Kika quiz and game show as a clever child? Or let the camera follow you as a pensioner in your everyday life? Models and new faces of all ages are also constantly being sought for a wide variety of TV projects.

Want to be on TV? Apply now!

The starboxx database currently contains over 100,000 people, models and actors , presenters , candidates and extras . Producers benefit from over twenty years of experience, top (inter)national networking and proven full service. Are you a TV professional? Or a committed newcomer? Starboxx is looking for you - for advertising, TV and film productions. Curious? Then go ahead: Simply register online, upload your photos and get started!