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...