Bibliography and Glossary---Air Time: An Intro to Television Broadcasting

Ashley, Paul. Say It Safely: Legal Limits in Publishing, Radio, and Television. 4th ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969.

Bretz, Rudy. Techniques of Television Production. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1953.

Hilliard, Robert L. Writing for Television and Radio. New York: Hastings House, 1968.

Laughton, Roy. TV Graphics. Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1966.

Lewis, Colby. The TV Director/Interpreter. New York: Hastings House, 1968.

Millerson, Gerald. The Technique of Television Production. 9th rev. ed. New York: Hastings House, 1972.

Nisbett, Alec. The Technique of the Sound Studio. 3d rev. ed.

New York: Hastings House, 1972.

Oringel, Robert S. Audio Control Handbook. 4th ed. New York: Hastings House, 1972.

Ouaal, Ward L., and Martin, Leo A. Broadcast Management. New York: Hastings House, 1968.

Roe, Yale, ed. Television Station Management. New York: Hastings House, 1964.

Stasheff, Edward, and Bretz, Rudy. The Television Program, Its Direction and Production. 4th ed. New York: Hill & Wang, 1968.

Zettl, Herbert. Television Production Handbook. 2d ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Co., Inc., 1968.

Glossary

Adjacency Announcements next to programs. Commercials in station breaks fill adjacencies.

Aerial The wire that is attached to a home radio receiver or television receiver and picks up the broadcast signal.

Amplifier An electronic unit which is used to enlarge electronic signals, whether audio or video.

Antenna A transmitting radiator to send out radio or television signals.

Attenuator A pot or slider.

Availability Time open or available for sale on a station.

Blast-in Sound volume that is too high and out of pro portion to the sound that immediately preceded it.

Blocking Planning out the movements of all actors and cameras.

Boom A moving microphone stand, generally tall enough to hold a microphone above the heads of the actors.

Bridge A musical transition between scenes.

BT A Best time available. Same as run of station, but with a more positive sound to it.

Bulk To erase all of a tape at once.

Call letters The identifying letters assigned to a station by the FCC. In this country the first letter is K or W, in Canada C, etc.

Campaign Planned advertising drive.

Cans Earphones.

Cartridge A plastic box containing an endless loop of tape. The tape will run continuously unless electronic cues are put on it to indicate starting and stopping points.

Cassette A plastic box containing a length of tape which runs between two hubs within the box. The tape runs from one hub to the other, but does not run continuously.

Channel, mixing On a radio board, a key, a pot or a slider, and the pre-amplifier for that channel.

Channel, output The program amplifier or amplifiers for the entire radio board. The output channel of a stereo board will have two amplifiers.

Clearance Permission obtained from authors or publishers to use their material on a broadcast.

Clip To cut off sharply, usually cutting off part of a word or sound. Also called up-cut.

Commercial protection A specific amount of time allowed by a station or demanded by an advertiser between competitive commercials.

Continuity Written script material, also called copy.

Control console The radio board.

Copy The material read on the air, also called continuity.

Cross talk A spillover of sound from one line to another.

The print-through of sound from one layer of tape to another.

Crawl Credits that move slowly up the screen, can include the device used to hold and turn the credits.

Cue The signal to start.

Cueing Setting a record or tape at the beginning so as to be ready to start.

Cumulative audience, Cume Total audience which listens to a given station or program over an extended period of time, rather than at any one time.

Dead Highly absorbent of sound. Inactive, not working. A "dead" mike.

Feed The transfer of program material from one location to another. A remote feed from, say, the State House to the studio.

Filter A device to eliminate unwanted frequencies.

Fixed position Usually refers to commercial announcements where the station promises an advertiser that his announcements will be given at a specific time.

Flight The period of time during which an advertiser runs his campaign.

Floating announcement One that can run any time between specified hours.

Frequency In sound, the tone or pitch.

Frequency discount A lower rate charged advertisers as they buy more and more time on the station. As the frequency of their spots goes up, their cost per spot goes down.

Frequency response The range which equipment will handle without distortion.

Gain Amplification of sound. Riding gain is constantly watching the volume level.

Gen lock Locking the synchronizing generators of different sources together, such as a remote and the studio, so as to prevent the pictures from rolling.

Head The start, or beginning, of a recording. That portion of the machine which touches the tape and is involved in the recording process.

Homes using radio (HUR) Homes using TV (HUT) A figure used in audience surveys indicating the number of homes whose radio or TV sets are in use at a given time.

Hot Instruments turned on, as in a hot mike.

Input That part of electronic equipment into which signals are fed.

Jack A socket or plug receptacle.

Kill To eliminate, to cut out, to remove, to stop, i.e., "kill the mike." Level The degree of sound volume.

Limbo An area of the set having a plain, light, nondescript background.

Limiter An electronic device which eliminates sudden high level sounds which might damage equipment.

Line Wires which carry programs.

Live Equipment which is turned on, a live mike. Programs done at that moment, not presented from recordings.

Monitor Television receivers used in studios or control rooms. Loudspeakers used for program sound. To listen to or watch a program going out on the air for the purpose of making technical adjustments should they be necessary.

Multiplexing Mixing the two separate stereo channels to one signal to be carried by the radio station's carrier wave.

Multi-spot plan A special plan or package rate for announcements.

Music bed Music used as background only.

National representative A firm representing several radio or television stations and selling time on those stations to advertising firms or national advertisers.

Nemo Remote broadcast.

Non-directional A microphone pick-up pattern that is the same as omnidirectional.

Off mike Not in the pick-up pattern of the mike.

On mike In the pick-up pattern of the mike.

Output The terminal point on electrical equipment from which sound or picture or both can be taken.

Package A particular combination of announcements that is put together to earn a special rate.

Participating program A program containing commercials for various advertisers as opposed to a program sponsored totally by one advertiser.

Receiver An electronic device used to receive sounds or pictures or both.

Reel A metal or plastic wheel used to hold tape.

Relay An electrically operated switch.

Rep Same as national representative.

Ride gain See Gain.

Riser A small platform.

Run of station--Announcements purchased on a run-of station basis give a station the right to place the announcements wherever they please in a given broadcast day. Generally abbreviated R.O.S. Sets in use The same as Homes using radio or Homes using TV. Share of audience In audience surveys, the percentage of the audience watching or listening to a particular station at a particular time. This is a relative figure, as the total audience size changes with different times.

Spillover A loud sound volume causing the VU meter needle to go above the 100 mark. The leakage of sound from one line to another or from one level of tape to another.

Strike To clear a studio, restoring everything to its original, stored, neutral position.

Strip A program which runs every weekday (sometimes every day) at the same time.

Tag Announcement added to the end of a commercial.

Talent Anyone other than the announcer who appears on a broadcast.

Talkback Conversation between the studio and control room which does not go on the air.

Telco The telephone company.

T.F.N. Till further notice. Advertising whose air schedule has no termination date and so runs "till further notice." Some stations also use "I.E." for Till forbid.

Transcription A record made strictly for broadcast purposes.

VTR Abbreviation for videotape recording or videotape recorder.

Wow The low, growling sound of a record starting slow and coming up to speed.

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