Television as popular culture:

an attempt to influence North American Society?

An Ideological Analysis of Leave It To Beaver (1957-1961)

Introduction

Television has had a profound influence and impact on North American society. The medium is simultaneously a reflection of, and an influence on, societal beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. In essence, television is an educational tool, which gathers, synthesizes and disseminates information in four basic formats of news, formal education, advertising and entertainment. Of these four constructs, entertainment, with its strong links to advertising, is by far the most influential method of broadcasting purportedly acceptable social customs to the viewing public. Therefore, with such a prominent role in society, this raises questions about the medium of television as a pedagogical instrument.

The importance and wide ranging effects of television can be examined by referring to the historical growth of broadcasting. From this is will be possible to analyze a specific entertainment program, Leave It To Beaver, in terms of program content. This examination will reveal what messages and specific cultural ideologies were promulgated by the writers and creators of this program between 1957 and 1961.

Television broadcasting was an outgrowth of radio. It simply added a visual image to an audio performance. This close relationship between these two forms of communication allowed television to draw substantially on the knowledge acquired from the evolution of commercial radio.

The technological invention of radio was linked to a number of scientific experiments and research in the field of electricity and electromagnetics, which eventually led to the ability to transmit sound waves through the air. In November 1920, the Westinghouse Corporation launched the first government approved radio station in Pittsburgh (KDKA) by broadcasting the news of Warren Harding's election as President of the United States. The success of this broadcast, heard by an estimated audience of 500 to 1,000, created an increased public demand for radios.

Based on this initial success the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) joined Westinghouse in the race to sell radios by building radio stations and attracting listeners. The American public, infatuated with gadgetry, reacted in an overwhelmingly positive manner and radio became a national craze. By 1922, there were 576 stations broadcasting in the United States and two years later there were more than 1,400. In addition, by 1924 Americans were spending one-third of their furniture budget on radios enclosed in wooden cabinets which dominated their living rooms. However, this rapid growth created a number of problems for the fledgling radio industry, such as programming and funding.

Broadcasters recognized the importance of offering programming which appealed to the public in order to retain and/or increase their audience. Initially, news broadcasts were the mainstay or radio along with some musical interludes, and the occasional church service. However, as radio increased in popularity the stations were faced with the necessity of creating other programs to fill the airtime. As a result, the networks turned to comedy, drama, education and sports to attract listeners. When the mounting costs of producing these programs could no longer be borne solely by the sales of radios, the stations felt the need to tap another market for revenue.

In 1922 AT&T introduced the idea of selling airtime to a sponsor to help offset mounting production costs. WEAF on Long Island became the first commercial radio station when it sold ten minutes of airtime to a local realtor for one hundred dollars. Other stations soon followed suit. At first, the sponsor's name and product were simply mentioned at the beginning and end of each program in a very low-key manner. However, this soon led to more direct and frequent advertisements on the airwaves as corporate America found it could sell more products to the listening public by advertising. Moreover, the radio networks, underwritten by corporate sponsorship, had more funds available and could improve the quality of their programs by attracting higher priced talent. Thus, everyone seemed to benefit from advertising.

The link between corporate sponsors and networks created a symbiotic relationship with respect to programming - with the advertising agencies providing the necessary nexus. The sponsors wanted only positive identification with their products. Therefore, it was incumbent upon the advertising agencies to develop programs which did not offend the listening public in return for continued advertising revenues for themselves and the networks. As a result, the networks broadcast commercial programs which appealed to white middle-class America. The favoured format was the family serial.

The family serial accomplished two things for the advertisers and radio stations: identification and trust. The family aspect provided listeners with something to which they could relate. Problems encountered by the actors allowed the audience to identify with the characters in the program, but more importantly, the predicaments were always satisfactorily resolved by the end of each episode. By embracing this style of programming, allowing the listener to identify with the actors through problem resolution, the audience learned to trust the program. If the show could be counted on to provide continuously high levels of entertainment value then both the sponsor and the network became the recipients of audience trust and support. The networks attracted listeners who tuned in to a specific program on a daily or weekly basis. In turn, sponsors advertised their products because the audience listened to the program. The audience rewarded the sponsors by purchasing the advertised products. Thus, the audience, networks and sponsors created a never-ending continuum built on identification and trust, arising out of the popular appeal of the radio program developed by the advertising agencies.

Radio established the ground rules for commercial broadcasting and thus allowed television to enter the arena with a well-defined formula for programming and funding. Television was developed almost simultaneously with radio, once the technology was in place. However, television in these early years, did not attract the same level of popularity as radio due to the high costs associated with producing the receiver.

Other factors associated with the high cost also interfered with the ability of the major corporations to promote this medium of mass communication: the depression, World War II and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Television sets cost anywhere from $200 to $1,000 and during the depression years people simply could not afford the purchase price. World War II forced the industrial corporations to turn away from the production of non-essential items, and focus their attention on producing weapons and armaments to supply the military. The FCC, dominated by 'New Dealers', was wary of corporate sponsorship of television. However, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) lobbied the Commission and eventually persuaded the FCC that commercial support was the only way to fund the fledgling television networks.

With the end of the war and the depression, and with the sanction of the FCC, the networks were finally in a position to promote commercial television. However, there were still problems to be overcome. From a financial perspective, television programs were much more expensive to produce than radio programs, and were available to a much smaller audience. In 1946 there were only 10,000 privately owned television sets, and over half of them were located in New York City. The networks needed something to convince their commercial sponsors television was the medium of the future.

In May 1947, NBC decisively displayed the effectiveness of television advertising. The network, in collaboration with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, produced and aired in New York City, the Kraft Television Theatre, a classy dramatic program. The sponsor, of course was Kraft Foods. The advertising campaign focused on promoting Imperial Cheese, a product that was not selling well. Three weeks after the program aired, Imperial Cheese was no longer available in New York grocery stores because it had sold out. Recognizing the potential of this new medium, new sponsors such as Chevrolet, Ford and Philco rushed to advertise their products on television.

The link between sponsors and programs is an important element of television. Building on the knowledge they had acquired during the commercialization of radio, both the corporate sponsors and the networks were well prepared for television programming. They adopted the same format of producing programs, especially family oriented shows, which did not offend the viewing public, and at the same time, created trust and good-will for their product. However, the increased costs associated with television shows caused the sponsors to substantially increase their degree of control over program content. By extension, this meant the programs reflected the ideas of America's corporate elite.

In most instances the viewer is led to believe that when they turn on their television to watch a specific program, the commercials are simply a necessary intrusion, which interrupts the storyline. However, this is not the case as both the commercials and the programs are subsidized by corporate America. Both the programs and the commercials promote and encourage uniformity by reinforcing, or reflecting, what are considered to be popularly held societal beliefs and customs. In order to determine what entertainment television was advocating, an analysis of Leave It To Beaver, a family oriented program, will be made.* This examination is based on viewing 145 episodes of the program with specific focus on recurring themes, moral messages, parenting techniques and personal relationships. In doing so, it will illustrate the degree to which the program writers and creators influenced or promoted North American culture and ideologies in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

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