| all-channel legislation | 1962 law requiring all television sets imported into or manufactured in the United States to be equipped with both VHF and UHF receivers
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| audimeter | device for recording when the television set is turned on, the channel to which it is tuned, and the time of day; used in compiling ratings
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| bandwidth | a communication channel's information-carrying capacity
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| broadband | a channel with broad information-carrying capacity
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| channel surfing | traveling through the television channels focusing neither on specific programs nor on the commercials they house
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| clear time | when local affiliates carry a network's program
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| coaxial cable | copper-clad aluminum wire encased in plastic foam insulation, covered by an aluminum outer conductor, and then sheathed in plastic
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| compensation | network payments to affiliates for clearing content
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| digital must-carry | rules in cable television, rules requiring that cable systems carry the signal of every television station, both analog and digital, within a specified radius
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| digital video recorder | video recording device attached to a television, that gives viewers significant control over content
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| fiber optics | signals carried by light beams over glass fibers
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| Financial Interest and Syndication Rules | FCC rules delineating the amount of ownership the television networks are allowed in the programming they air
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| first-run syndication | original programming produced specifically for the syndicated television market
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| grazing | watching several television programs simultaneously
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| iconoscope tube | first practical television camera tube, developed in 1923
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| importation of distant signals | delivery of distant television signals by cable television for the purpose of improving reception
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| interlaced scanning | television format in which electron beams sweep the picture tube twice, creating half the image's lines on the first pass and then filling in the gaps in the second
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| kinescope | improved picture tube developed by Zworykin for RCA
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| microwave relay system | audio and video transmitting system in which super-high-frequency signals are sent from land-based point to land-based point
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| MNA reports | multinetwork area television ratings based on the 70 largest markets
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| multiplexing | the practice of using one channel to transmit multiple forms of content; in television and cable, through signal compression
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| network | centralized production, distribution, decision-making organization that links affiliates for the purpose of delivering their viewers to advertisers
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| news staging | re-creation on television news of some event that is believed to have happened or which could have happened
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| Nipkow disc | first workable device for generating electrical signals suitable for the transmission of a scene
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| off-network | broadcast industry term for syndicated content that originally aired on a network
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| overnights | television ratings data gathered from homes connected by phone lines to Nielsen computers
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| peoplemeter | remote control keypad device for recording television viewing for taking ratings
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| pilot | a sample episode of a proposed television program
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| pixels | the smallest picture element in an electronic imaging system such as a television or computer screen
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| pocketpieces | television ratings based on a national sample, computed and reported every 2 weeks
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| portable peoplemeter | pager-like ratings device worn by audience members that "reads" embedded audio signals in electronically delivered media content
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| progressive scanning | digital television format compatible with personal computers in which the entire picture is built line by line in one scan of the television's electronic beam
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| put | agreement between a television producer and network that guarantees that the network will order at least a pilot or pay a penalty
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| short ordering | network practice of ordering only one or two episodes of a new television series
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| spot commercial sales | in broadcasting, selling individual advertising spots on a given program to a wide variety of advertisers
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| stripping | broadcasting a syndicated television show at the same time five nights a week
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| sweeps periods | special television ratings times in February, May, July, and November in which diaries are distributed to thousands of sample households in selected markets
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| Term26(Fin-Syn) | FCC rules delineating the amount of ownership the television networks are allowed in the programming they air
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| time-shifting | taping a show on a VCR for later viewing
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| vast wasteland | expression coined by FCC Chair Newton Minow in 1961 to describe television content
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| WebTV | online delivery of high-definition television to special home receivers
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| zapping | using the remote control to switch to other content when a commercial appears
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| zipping | fast-forwarding through taped commercials on a VCR
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