From 1969 to 1993 the definition of program length commercials has not been consistent. The FCC's first involvement with program length commercials was in 1969 when "Hot Wheels," a cartoon based on Mattel Corporation's Hot Wheels cars, was alleged to be nothing more than a 30 minute commercial. The FCC made no formal ruling but did…

Contrary to the prevailing view that 1952 was the year of the first nationally televised political conventions, only 32 states had TV stations at that time; nor did the term "TV candidate" originate in the Kennedy (1960) or Nixon (1968) campaigns. In fact, it is Dwight Eisenhower and the campaign of 1956 that deserve this recognition.…

This paper assesses, by reference to contemporary issues of the "Radio Times" and the London edition of the "TV Times," the way in which Independent Television (ITV) separated itself from the traditional middle class attitudes typified by the British Broadcasting Company programs and, instead, expressed through its programming…

Two factors during the 1988 presidential campaign were largely responsible for the erosion of "women's issues" and the so-called "gender gap"--the perception that a candidate is unattractive to women voters. This perception is thought to be based upon the candidate's stand on issues such as abortion, day care and the Equal…