Live Television

Unique to television, live broadcasting—the ability to record and broadcast the sounds and images from events as they occur—endures as one of the industry's most debated, inflated, and promoted terms. Although the majority of television programming has been filmed (or taped) since the early fifties, live broadcasting—from the Superbowl to the Academy Awards, from presidential debates to international coverage of wars and "low-speed" car chases—plays a central role in the identity of the television industry, representing its technological potential, if not the essence of the medium.

The prominent role that live broadcasting plays is not surprising when one considers that television as a technology emerged from the interests and investments of corporations responsible for radio, which was itself developed as a form of wireless point-to-point, or live, communication. From the beginning, television producers and critics pointed to live broadcasting as a way of differentiating television from other media. Jack Gould, television critic for the New York Times during the fifties, went so far as to describe the difference between watching a film and viewing a live program on TV as "the difference between looking at somebody and being with somebody." Live programming in the 1950s included the great variety spectaculars like The Colgate Comedy Hour, sporting events, and anthology dramas such as Studio One and The Alcoa Hour.

Still in its infancy from a technological perspective, live television during this period—the Golden Age of Television—consisted of events staged before several large and static cameras. Unlike today's coverage, live broadcasting in the 1950s required a stable physical location and an event that was either scheduled or long enough in duration to justify the movement of studio cameras. This limited the types of event that could be covered live, but the attraction to these broadcasts and their impact on the country was tremendous. In 1949, three-year-old Kathy Ficus captured the hearts and minds of the country as rescuers in California attempted to free her from the well she had fallen into. In 1951, the Kefauver hearings on politics and organized crime mesmerized a nation that watched the American political process in action on TV. The routine coverage of breaking stories and international events we now associate with live broadcasting would not arrive on the airways until technology advanced to allow for more portable cameras. As networks recognized the value of broadcasting live events, live television coverage increased during the 1960s, and the list of most-watched programs and events from that decade is dominated by live broadcasts. Coverage of the Nixon-Kennedy debates (viewed by 91.8 percent of all homes with televisions), Kennedy's assassination and funeral coverage (viewed by 96.1 percent of all television homes), and the Apollo XI moon landing (viewed by 93.9 percent of all television homes) demonstrates not only the popularity of the medium, but how live television events came to function as defining cultural moments for an entire generation.

Although the presentation of live special events increased during the 1960s, regularly scheduled live programs began to disappear from the prime-time schedule. By the early 1950s, television had moved from a real time (9:00 EST and 6:00 PST) to a TV time schedule that made the presentation of live programs more difficult. Further complicating the situation was the fact that kinescopes of live shows (a copy of the program filmed off the television screen) looked flat, which made them unattractive to viewers in other time zones and limited the programs' usefulness in syndication as reruns. The high cost of producing live television programming also contributed to its gradual disappearance.

The networks nonetheless recognized viewer attraction to this type of broadcast and searched for new models that could incorporate qualities of live broadcasting. During the 1960s and on through the 1970s, networks employed techniques such as "live on tape" in an effort to capture the feeling of live television. Media critics have noted that the ideology of liveness functions to create a feeling of a viewing community that overcomes the physical distance separating viewers. Presenting programs as if they were live suggests a shared experience with television functioning as a site of national unification. The fact that very few programs actually unite viewers in even the minimal sense of all watching the same thing at the same time is not nearly as important to the networks as the impression of a shared viewing experience. Morning news programs such as Good Morning America, network nightly news, and various talk shows work diligently to create the impression that one is viewing up-to-the-minute news and events along with millions of other viewers around the country. The truth is, of course, that these programs are taped, and though they may indeed be broadcast live for parts of the nation, they are broadcast to most viewers several hours after taping. The sensation of experiencing these programs as a live broadcast is created through the use of stylistic conventions associated with live broadcasting: the placement of graphics—such as the temperature or time of day—by local affiliates on the television screen, and the speakers' use of language, in phrasing such as "we take you NOW…."

The television industry has become increasingly sophisticated in its ability to blur the visible boundaries between live and taped programming while at the same time exhibiting an increased ability to meet the demand for coverage of live events. Occurrences taking place anywhere, at any time, are now instantaneously beamed into living rooms and public spaces around the world. Whether it is a bombing in the Gulf War, police pursuit of a celebrity murder suspect moving slowly along the Los Angeles freeway, a bank robbery, or school violence, television brings it to us live. Duration and location are no longer barriers to live coverage, as helicopters and mobile units scour the world in an effort to break the stories that will capture our attention. What was once reserved for the occasional and unusual occurrence, live breaking stories have now become so commonplace that they appear as mere interruptions. The exception is, of course, the live televising of sporting events. Sports, along with important political speeches and some ceremonies, seem to demand a live presentation; and the coverage and presentation of these types of events has grown dramatically during the last twenty years.

With the simplicity of early broadcasting behind us, terms like "live" have become complicated and difficult to define. In fact, the definition of live—"broadcast directly at the time of production instead of from recorded or filmed material"—does not apply to many of the programs which one might generally think of as "live." Contemporary broadcasting practices regularly present news programs as live even though they are primarily produced from taped material and broadcast (for most of the country) hours after they are taped. Live sporting events include filmed segments which are planned to illustrate predetermined points within the broadcast and include pregame and half-time shows constructed from taped materials. Even special events like the Olympics mix filmed biographies, taped events, and live coverage.

While the boundaries between live and taped programming remain blurred, and broadcasts often include portions of both, the attraction to witnessing an event live, with millions or even billions of other viewers, as it occurs has by no means diminished at the turn of the century. From the monumental to the mundane, live coverage of breaking events has become such an attraction that recently in Los Angeles two breaking stories—occurring simultaneously—were both presented live on local television at the same time via split screen.

Caldwell, John. Televisuality: Style, Crisis, and Authority in American Television. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1995.

Dyan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz. "Performing Media Events." Impacts and Influences: Essays on Media Power in the Twentieth Century, edited by James Curran, et al. London, Methuen, 1987.

Feuer, Jane. "The Concept of Live Television: Ontology as Ideology." Regarding Television, edited by E. Ann Kaplan. Los Angeles, American Film Institute, 1983.

Friedman, James, editor. Reality Squared: Televisual Discourse on the Real. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 2000.

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