This course material © 1994 James A. Brown. It may be reproduced for non-profit, educational uses, but publication in any profit-making form or in any book or magazine form must first be cleared with the author.

James A. Brown (jbrown@bamanet.ua.edu), Telecommunication and Film Department, P.O. Box 870152, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.


TELECOMMUNICATION MEDIA MANAGEMENT

"Study of station, cable TV, and network organization, decision-making process, and research techniques." [Catalog description]

Rationale

This course is intended for seniors and graduate students. It seeks to synthesize material covered in previous courses by majors in broadcasting, to evaluate major patterns and trends in professional broadcasting, and to apply those findings and assessments to contemporary radio-television networks and local stations and cable operations. The course attempts to bridge between previous classroom study (coupled with applied work in campus media--WVUA, Cable 34, WUAL, CPT--as well as internships and practicums) and contemporary commercial broadcasting.

The course is based on a textbook for structure, hand-out sheets to update factual information in the text, a weekly industry magazine for current trends and applications, guest lectures by radio-TV managers (on audio- and videotape and "live"), on-site visits by individual students and a field trip by the entire class, culminating in a major class project simulating management issues and challenges in FCC license applications. Options for "mini-assignments" are selected by personal choice from a range of related activities and readings. Graduate students must also complete a term paper, in proper form, of 12 to 20 pages based on research of a management-related topic selected with the approval of the instructor.

The overall purpose is to understand: the structure and function of key areas of management in broadcasting/cable; how policies are formulated and implemented in professional media companies; impact of personnel, policies, and procedures on programming content; implications of management decision-making for broadcasters' audiences and communities.

An important outcome of the course is to recognize the value-oriented relationships and distinctions between a skill, a job, and a career; between a business, an industry, an art, and a profession; between success and personal growth and fulfillment; between what is considered legal, ethical, and moral.

In short, a major function of this course is to reflect on how integrity, in all its meanings, applies to broadcasting and to oneself. This is at all times analyzed in the real-world context of competitive free enterprise, in a volatile industry, with daily ambiguity and risk, with enormous opportunities for success or failure as well as for impact on society.

Interaction of students with the instructor and with one another during lectures and especially during discussion periods makes possible serious reflection and judgments about how broadcasting operates and who is responsible for its success and for its social outcomes. Therefore attendance at class and participation in those sessions is significant for success in this course. Effective collaboration with team members on the major management project is particularly important. How these factors affect computation of course grades is detailed in the accompanying syllabus sheet.

The course begins by surveying literature in the field and patterns of issues in broadcast management. After analyzing theories of management, we look at the structure of the broadcast/cable media in the U.S.--emphasizing statistical data. Then topics in the text are successively explored (policies, personnel, audiences, programming, sales, finance, engineering, and regulation), supplemented with updated information sheets. The first third of the course looks at theories and concepts, the next third stresses applications to contemporary broadcasting, and the final third focuses on a "hands-on" management project to be reviewed and judged by television station managers from Birmingham.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
        Barry L. Sherman.  Telecommunications  Management:  the Broadcast & Cable Industries.  N.Y.:  McGraw-Hill, 1987.
        James A. Brown.  Telecom. Media Management  Course Notes.  Supe Store, 1994.
        Broadcasting  magazine.  Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc., 1992.  Subscription (or weekly access).

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
        Ward L. Quaal & James A. Brown.  Broadcast Management: Radio-Television.  2nd rev. ed.  N.Y.: Hastings House, 1976.
        Howard W. Coleman.  Case Studies in Broadcast Management.  2nd rev. ed.  N.Y.: Hastings House,  1978.
        George Dessart.  Television  in the Real World.  N.Y.: Hastings House, 1978.
   + SEE  BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  COURSE:  "Resource  Books  Available"  (6 pp.)

COURSE STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURE
        Classes will consist of lecture, discussion, audio- and videotapes, reports and panel presentations by students, and guest speakers.
        Field trips: Each student will visit and write a report about a selected station; the class will visit managers/staffs at a radio & a TV station.
        Class project: A major part of the course consists of student team applications for F.C.C. broadcast license, with formal panel presentation by all students during final week of semester.  Systematic and productive participation at all stages of this project is essential.
        Specific "mini-assignments" will involve various topics, small projects.  All assignments must be typewritten and carefully proofread and corrected using proper format.  Carefully follow guidelines for each assignment.
        Grad students add a major term paper, plus separate meetings with instructor.
        Examinations will be written (mostly essay questions): 5-Week, 10-Week, and a Final Exam. Exams are partly take-home and partly in-class.
        Grades are based on:    attendance & participation      10+points
                        mini-assignments         5*
                                2 field-trips/reports (10+5)    15         *[TCF 545 graduate
                        major team projects ("FCC")      25           students:  add a
                        5-Week exam     15            major term paper]
                        10-Week exam    15
                        Final Exam      15       
                        TOTAL Possible:                  100 points
INSTRUCTOR
        James A. Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor

SELECTED LIST OF RESOURCE BOOKS

Most of the books (up to the late 1970s) are referred to in foot- notes in the Quaal-Brown book. More recent books are cited in the Sherman textbook and in the Kinko's notes. Others will be noted during the course. Other published materials will be called to your attention; they will be available for consulting in your instructor's office (#432d) throughout the semester. They may not be removed from the office. Use them to find more information about specific topics of special interest to you which are not treated in the limited class time. Numbers refer to labels on books shelved in instructor's office.

A. COURSE TEXTBOOKS: BROADCAST MANAGEMENT

83 Barry L. Sherman. Telecommunications Management: the Broadcast & Cable Industries. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1987. 417 pp. [REQUIRED TEXTBOOK]

1 Ward L. Quaal & James A. Brown. Broadcast Management: Radio and Television. 2nd ed. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1976. 464 pp.

2 George Dessart (and International Radio & Television Society). Television in the Real World. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1978. 434 pp.

3 Howard W. Coleman. Case Studies in Broadcast Management. 2nd ed. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1978. 154 pp.

B. OTHER TEXTS ON BROADCAST MANAGEMENT

81 Peter K. Pringle, Michael F. Starr, & William E. McCavitt. Electronic Media Management. 2nd ed. Boston: Focal Press, 1991. 403 pp.

82 Norman Marcus. Broadcast and Cable Management. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1986. 308 pp.

84 Michael C. Keith & Joseph M. Krause. The Radio Station. Boston: Focal Press, 1986. 256 pp.

85 Lewis B. O'Donnell, Carl Hausman, & Philip Benoit. Radio Station Operations: Management and Employee Perspectives. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1989. 409 pp.

86 John M. Lavine & Daniel B. Wackman. Managing Media Organizations: Effective Leadership of the Media. N.Y.: Longman, 1988. 454 pp.

87 W. John Blyth & Mary M. Blyth. Telecommunications: Concepts, Development, and Management. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1985. 325 pp.

87a Stephen Lacy, Ardyth B. Sohn, & Jan LeBlanc Wicks, Media Management: A Casebook Approach. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1993. 391 pp.

87b Stephen Lacy, Ardyth B. Sohn, & Robert H. Giles (eds.). Readings in Media Management. Columbia, S.C.: AEJMC, 1992. 260 pp.

87c Jim Willis & Diane B. Willis. New Directions in Media Management. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1993. 403 pp.

C. MANAGING THEORIES, PRACTICES (IN GENERAL, NOT BROADCAST)

54 Richard S. Sloma. No-Nonsense Management: A General Manager's Primer. N.Y. & London: Macmillan & Collier Macmillan, 1977. 157 pp.

55 Thomas J. Peters & Robert H. Waterman, Jr. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1982. 360 pp.

57 Bernadette McGuire, ed. Radio in Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Radio Stations. Washington, D.C.: National Assoc. of Broadcasters, 1985. 150 pp.

58 David L. Bradford & Allan R. Cohen. Managing for Excellence: the Guide to Developing High Performance in Contemporary Organizations. N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, 1984. 301 pp.

59 Robert N. McMurry. The Maverick Executive. N.Y.: Amacom, 1974. 191 pp.

60 William F. Christopher. Management for the 1980s [originally The Achieving Enterprise. N.Y.: Amacom/American Management Assoc., 1974; 1980 ed. 295 pp.

61 Peter F. Drucker. Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1973. 839 pp.

62 Richard M. Hodgetts. Management: Theory, Process and Practice. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1975; 1979 ed. 504 pp.

63 Harold Koontz & Cyril O'Donnell. Essentials of Management. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1974; 1978 ed. 562 pp.

64 Phillip V. Lewis. Organizational Communications: the Essence of Effective Management. Columbus, Ohio: Grid, Inc., 1975. 254 pp.

65 Stephanie Winston. The Organized Executive: New Ways to Manage Time, Paper, and People. N.Y.: Warner Books, 1985. (original ed. 1983) 345 pp.

65a Lester R. Bittel. The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Management Course. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1989.

88 Tom Peters & Nancy Austin. A Passion for Excellence: the Leadership Difference. N.Y.: Random House, 1985. 437 pp.

89 John Naisbett & Patricia Aburdene. Re-inventing the Corporation: Transforming Your Job and Your Company for the New Information Society. N.Y.: Warner, 1985. 308 pp.

90 Mark H. McCormack. What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School. Toronto/N.Y.: Bantam, 1984. 256 pp.

91 James S. Ettema & D. Charles Whitney (eds.). Individuals in Mass Media Organizations: Creativity and Constraint. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982. 259 pp.

92 Paul M. Hammaker & Louis T. Rader. Plain Talk to Young Executives. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1977. 223 pp.

93 Don Beveridge & Jeffrey P. Davidson. The Achievement Challenge: How to Be a 10 in Business. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1988. 167 pp.

94 Stephanie Winston. The Organized Executive: New Ways to Manage Time, Paper, and People. N.Y.: Warner, 1983. 345 pp.

95 W. L. Laney. How to be Boss in a Hurry: A Primer for New Managers. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1982. 182 pp.

96 Matthew J. Culligan & Keith Sedlacek, M.D. How to Avoid Stress Before It Kills You. N.Y. Gramercy: 1980 ed. 192 pp.

97 Kenneth Blanchard & Norman Vincent Peale. The Power of Ethical Management. N.Y.: Wm. Morrow, 1988. 139 pp.

D. BACKGROUND SOURCES: HISTORY, STRUCTURE/PROCESS OF INDUSTRY, ETC.

4 Sydney W. Head & Christopher Sterling. Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. 615 pp.

5 F. Leslie Smith. Perspectives on Radio and Television: An Introduction to Broadcasting in the United States. 2nd ed., N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1985.

5a Joseph Dominick, Barry L. Sherman, & Gary Copeland. Broadcasting/Cable and Beyond: An Introduction to Modern Electronic Media, 2nd ed. N.Y.. McGraw-Hill, 1993.

6 Erik Barnouw. The Tube of Plenty: the Evolution of American Television. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1975. 518 pp.

65 Christopher Sterling & Timothy R. Haight. The Mass Media: Aspen Institute Guide to Communication Industry Trends. N.Y.: Preager, 1978. 457 pp.

72 Yale Roe (ed.). Television Station Management: the Business of Broadcasting. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1964. 251 pp.

74 Yale Roe. The Television Dilemma: Search for a Solution. N.Y.: Hastings Housed, 1962. 184 pp.

74a Thomas F. Baldwin & D. Stevens McVoy. Cable Communication. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988.

E. TV NETWORKS

7 Les Brown. Televi$ion: the Business Behind the Box. N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. 374 pp. 8 Robert Metz. Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1975. 428 pp.

9 William S. Paley. As It Happened: A Memoir. N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979. 418 pp. [Also #71]

10 Sterling Quinlan. Inside ABC: American Broadcasting Company's Rise to Power. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1979. 290 pp.

11 Bob Shanks. The Cool Fire: How To Make It in Television. N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 1976. 318 pp.

12 A. Frank Reel. The Networks: How They Stole the Show. N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979. 208 pp. 66 Mark Christensen & Cameron Stauth. The Sweeps: Behind the Scenes in Network TV. N.Y.: William Morrow & Co., 1984. 416 pp.

67 Todd Gitlin. Inside Prime Time. N.Y.: Pantheon, 1983/1985. 369 pp.

68 Barbara Matusow. The Evening Stars: the Making of the Network News Anchor. N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin, 1983 / Ballantine Books, 1985. 367 pp.

70 David Halberstam. The Powers That Be [Time, CBS, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times]. N.Y.: Knopf, 1979. 771 pp.

75 Robert Slater. This...Is CBS: A Chronicle of 60 Years. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1988. 354 pp.

F. RADIO STATIONS: MANUALS FOR DAILY OPERATIONS

13 Joseph S. Johnson & Kenneth K. Jones. Modern Radio Station Practices. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1972. 269 pp.

14 Jay Hoffer. Organization and Operation of Radio Stations. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1971. 256 pp.

15 Jay Hoffer. Managing Today's Radio Station. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1971. 288 pp.

16 Sol Robinson. Broadcast Station Operating Guide. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1969. 256 pp.

17 Edd Routt. The Business of Broadcasting. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1972. 400 pp.

18 Claud & Barbara Hall. The Business of Radio Programming. N.Y.: Billboard Publications, 1977. 360 pp.

19 J. Leonard Reinsch & Elmo Israel Ellis. Radio Station Management. 2nd ed. N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1960. 337 pp.

G. PROGRAMMING: FORMATS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS

20 Edd Routt, James B. McGrath, & Frederick A. Weiss. The Radio Format Conundrum. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1978. 314 pp.

21 Phillip Keirstead. Modern Public Affairs Programming. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1979. 251 pp. 22 Susan Tyler Eastman, Sydney W. Head, & Lewis Klein. Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strategies & Practices. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1989. 583 pp.

22a Raymond L. Carroll & Donald M. Davis. Electronic Media Programming: Strategies and Decision Making. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1993. 532 pp.

23 Phillip O. Keirstead. All-News Radio. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1980.

24 Ed Shane. Programming Dynamics: Radio's Management Guide. Overland Park, Kansas: Globecomm, 1984. 119 pp.

25 Bob Paiva. The Program Director's Handbook. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1983. 162 pp.

26 Edd Routt. Dimensions of Broadcast Editorializing. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1974. 204 pp.

27 Rolf Gompertz. Promotion & Publicity Handbook for Broadcasters. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1977. 334 pp.

69 William A. Belson. The Impact of Television: Methods and Findings in Program Research. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1967. 400 pp.

76 Michael C. Keith. Radio Programming: Consultancy and Formatics. Boston: Focal Press, 1987.

196 pp.

77 Richard A. Blum & Richard D. Lindheim. Prime Time: Network Television Programming. Boston: Focal Press, 1987. 226 pp.

78 Richard Levinson & William Link. Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time Television. N.Y.: New American Library, 1986. 280 pp.

79 Tony Verna. Live TV: An Inside Look at Directing and Producing. Boston: Focal Press, 1987. 288 pp.

H. SALES

28 Jay Hoffer & John McRae. The Complete Broadcast Sales Guide for Stations, Reps, and Ad Agencies. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1981.

29 Jonne Murphy. Handbook of Radio Advertising. Radnor, PA: Chilton, 1980. 29a Josh Gordon. Competitive Selling: A Fundamental Approach. Stamford, Conn.: Cowles Business Media, 1991. 177 pp.

30 Elizabeth Heighton & Don R. Cunningham. Advertising in the Broadcast Media. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1976.

31 Charles Ribner Associates, Inc. The Audience-Revenue Relationship for Local Television Stations. Washington, D.C.: National Assoc. of Broadcasters, 1978.

32 Franceso M. Nicosia. Advertising, Management, and Society: A Business Point of View. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1974. 386 pp.

32a Barton C. White & N. Doyle Satterthwaite. But First, These Messages... The Selling of Broadcast Advertising. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1989. 389 pp.

80 Charles Warner. Broadcast and Cable Selling. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1986. 452 pp.

80a Bruce M. Owen & Steven S. Wildman. Video Economics. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992. 364 pp.

J. AUDIENCES

33 G.J. Goodhardt, A.S.C. Ehrenberg, & M.A. collins. The Television Audience: Patterns of Viewing. Westmead, England & Lexington, Mass.: Saxon House & Lexington Books, 1975. 157 pp.

34 Ronald E. Frank & Marshall G. Greenberg. The Public's Use of Television: Who Watches and Why. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980. 368 pp.

98 David F. Poltrack. Television Marketing: Network/Local/Cable. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1983. 395 pp.

99 Robert T. Bower. The Changing Television Audience in America. N.Y.: Columbia University Press, 1985. 172 pp.

100 Hugh Malcolm Beville, Jr. Audience Ratings: Radio, Television, Cable. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1985. 363 pp.

K. OWNERSHIP/MANAGEMENT & FINANCE/ECONOMICS

35 Paul I. Bortz, March C. Wyche, & James M. Trautman. Great Expectations: A Television Manager's Guide to the Future. Washington, D.C.: National Assoc. of Broadcasters, 1986. 138 pp.

36 Benjamin M. Compaine (ed.) Who Owns the Media? Concentration of Ownership in the Mass Communications Industry. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1979. [Also published as: Anatomy of the Communications Industry: Who Owns the Media? 527 pp. 1982 ed.

38 Bruce M. Owen, Jack H. Beebe, & Willard G. Manning, Jr. Television Economics. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1974. 218 pp. 38a Bruce M. Owen & Steven S. Wildman. Video Economics. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992. 364 pp.

38b Alison Alexander, James Owers, & Rod Carveth (eds.). Media Economics: Theory and Practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1993. 391 pp.

39 Paul W. Cherington, Leon V. Hirsch, & Robert Brandwein (eds.). Television Station Ownership: A Case Study of Federal Agency Regulation. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1971. 304 pp.

L. LAW, REGULATION

37 Don R. LeDuc. Beyond Broadcasting: Patterns in Policy and Law. N.Y.: Longman, 1987. 216 pp.

40 Barry Cole & Mal Oettinger. Reluctant Regulators: the FCC and the Broadcast Audience. Revised ed. Reading, Mass.:Addison-Wesley, 1978. Rev. ed. 310 pp.

41 Erwin G. Krasnow & Lawrence D. Longley. The Politics of Broadcast Regulation. 3rd ed. N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1982. 304 pp.

42 William E. Francois. Mass Media Law and Regulation. 2nd ed. Columbus, Ohio: Grid, 1978.

43 Douglas H. Ginsburg. Regulation of Broadcasting: Law and Policy Towards Radio, Television, and Cable Communications. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1979.

44 National Association of Broadcasters, Legal Department. Legal Guide to F.C.C. Broadcast Rules, Regulations and Policies (+ Supplements). Washington, D.C.: N.A.B., 1984.

45 Don R. Pember. Mass Media Law. 2nd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown, 1981.

46 Harvey L. Zuckman & Martin G. Gaynes. Mass Communications Law in a Nutshell. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1977.

73 S.M. Besen, T.G. Krattenmaker, A.R. Metzger, Jr., & J.R. Woodbury. Misregulating Television: Network Dominance and the FCC. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1984. 202 pp.

M. ISSUES IN BROADCASTING

47 Robert H. Stanley (ed.) The Broadcast Industry: An Examination of Major Issues. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1975. 256 pp.

48 Charles S. Steinberg (ed.). Broadcasting: the Critical Challenges. N.Y.: Hastings House, 1974. 315 pp.

49 Geoffrey Cowan. See No Evil: the Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence on Television. N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1978/80. 323 pp.

50 Richard Levinson & William Link. Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television. N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1981. 253 pp.

51. David L. Paletz & Robert M. Entman. Media Power Politics. N.Y. & London: The Free Press & Collier Macmillan, 1981. 308 pp.

52 Howard Simons & Joseph A. Califano, Jr. The Media and Business. N.Y.: Random House (Vintage), 1979. 227 pp.

53 Sally Bedell. Up the Tube: Prime-Time TV in the Silverman Years. N.Y.: Viking Press, 1981. 313 pp. 56 Daniel J. Czitrom. Media and the American Mind: From Morse to McLuhan. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1982. 254 pp.

101 Joshua Meyrowitz. No Sense of Place: the Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1985. 416 pp.

102 John Naisbitt. Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives. N.Y.: Warner, 1982. 290 pp. 103 David H. Hosley & Gayle K. Yamada. Hard News: Women in Broadcast Journalism. N.Y.: Greenwood Press, 1987.

104 Gary N. Powell. Women & Men in Management. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.

105 Clint C. Wilson II & Félix Gutiérrez. Minorities and Media; Diversity and the End of Mass Communication. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985.