COM 251 – Sample Exam Questions
In mobile
phone technology, city grids are divided into ~10 square mile areas called:
What is the name
of the Purdue researcher who developed one of the first television receivers?
She created
a.
Julia Child
b.
Katharine Graham
c.
Gloria Steinem
d.
Joan Ganz Cooney
e.
Susan Zirinsky
C-SPAN is funded by whom?
a.
Advertising
b.
The U.S government
c.
Endowments
d.
The cable industry
e.
Pay-per-view
What decade
is considered TV’s golden era?
List two
specific ways the invention of videotape affected broadcasting:
The part of
a satellite that carries a particular signal is called:
This 1963
rule requires cable systems to carry the signal of any station within 60-miles
of its system:
What
advantage did radio news outlets have over TV news stations during the 1950s?
Cable TV’s
most rapid growth occurred during what decade?
In the news
business, what does SNG stand for?
What is the
job title of the position at a local TV station that oversees the entire news
operation and is responsible for the station’s news content?
What job
position in a TV newsroom is responsible for overseeing the content of an
individual newscast?
This was one
of the first TV shows to be shot on film:
In 1961, FCC
Chairman Newton Minow referred to television as what?
What is the
name of the committee of engineers established to set technical standards for
North American television?
Charles Van Doren is most closely associated with what broadcasting
scandal?
Helical
scanning is an important technical process inside what invention?
W9XG,
Purdue’s first licensed TV transmitter, was located near what current landmark?
What’s the
name of the
Who is the
current chairman of the FCC?
What
are the three colors of television?
What
is the name of the largest radio group in the
Technically
speaking, engineers measure “one wave cycle per second” as:
A
family at an amusement park noticed their walkie-talkies worked better when Mom
(on the ground) was calling Dad—who was riding high atop the Ferris wheel. Technically speaking, why was their radio
reception better?
Pre-recording
a radio air-shift for later playback is called:
Removing
redundant information and electronically reducing the size of digital data is
called:
According to
legend, what was Philo T. Farnsworth doing when he envisioned image scanning?
What two
scientists discovered how the ionosphere affects radio waves?
In 1967, this organization was created to distribute
government funding to public stations and networks with the intention of
protecting those entities from outside interference and control:
a.
Carnegie Commission
b.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
c.
C-SPAN
d.
Public Broadcasting Service
Who was
A. Heinrich Hertz
B. Gugliemo Marconi
C. Nathan Stubblefield
Shield laws protect:
a. the FCC. b. judges. c. lawyers. d. reporters. e. all of these.
Counting or
coding violent acts in a television series is an example of what research
method?
a. Agenda setting
b. Content analysis
c. Mainstreaming
d. Resonance
A yearly fee
stations pay to play any music from the BMI and ASCAP libraries is called a:
a. blanket license b. copyright fee
c. program
fee d. public domain
contract
What
technology made Purdue’s MPATI project obsolete?
a. Cable b.
Fiber optics
c. Satellite d. Television
Why do network executives fear TiVo?
Which was developed first? AM or FM
A
typical television transmitter uses about as much energy as:
A. a Ray-o-vac
flashlight.
B. a Toro snowblower
C. a Volkswagon
Beetle car.
D. the
Early
cable TV was developed as a way to:
A. receive distant TV signals.
B. produce new programming alternatives.
C. compete with direct broadcast
satellites (DBS).
D. provide 24-hour news.
Draw a wave pattern that represents amplitude
modulation:
Where does “packet switching” take place?
Technically speaking, what is increased by
locating a TV tower atop a skyscraper?
Who is credited with “introducing TV to the masses”?
How old is the NBC network?
What delayed the development of television?
From a consumer standpoint, how did the introduction of
color television in the 1950s differ from the current DTV transition?
If Les Moonves is your boss, what
company are you working for?
What
does the acronym CBS stand for?
Radio stations WDIA, WLAC, and WHBQ were all located in what
What advantage did WLAC have over WDIA in the dissemination
of rhythm ‘n’ blues music?
Name a now famous musician who started at WDIA as a disk
jockey:
Who was the first disk jockey to play an Elvis Presley
record?
What radio station owner is credited with developing the Top
40 format?
Who coined the phrase, Rock ‘n’ roll?
An outcome of the payola scandal was DJs were removed from
the music selection process. Who took
over that role?
WLAC
advertised the live mail delivery of what kind of farm animal?
WJW
Cleveland disk jockey Alan Freed would add rhythm while playing records on the air. He would bang a cow bell and beat on this:
Name the presidential candidates in the first televised
debate:
Which has larger bandwidth? AM or
FM
Within the context of our class, what is SNL’s
link to the Golden Era of television?
Who
pays payola?
a. disc
jockeys b. program directors c. record promoters d. station owners
In the space below, sketch terrestrial radio:
What two (2) mid-1800s inventions were the earliest forms of
electronic communication?
What
electronic communication is roughly the same age as aviation? (Circle correct
answer)
a. Internet b. television c. telephone d. wireless
Only about 11 sketches make-air for an episode of SNL.
During the writing process, roughly how many are submitted by the
writers? (Circle correct answer)
a. 25 b. 50 c.
75 d.100
On what Golden Era TV show is My Favorite Year (1982) based?
During which World War did the government take control of
all radio transmission?
In a word, describe why Jerry Seinfeld and Sherwood Schwartz
will be millionaires for the rest of their lives:
Who
directed the film Quiz Show?
His nickname was Mr. Television. Who was
he? And what was his cultural impact?
Name one outcome of the TV Freeze:
Name one outcome of the Quiz Show Scandal:
The four months of the year when all TV stations are rated
is called:
The city of
Currently,
what is the only company to provide audience ratings data for radio stations?
a. Arbitron b. Clear Channel c. Infinity d.
Nielsen
You are a TV
salesperson. An advertiser wants to purchase a spot during a specific break
during a specific show? You will sell
them a:
A.
Run-of-schedule B. Fixed buy
C. P.I. D. Trade-out
E. Co-Op
John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter
Brattain share the Nobel Prize for their 1947 invention that “made possible the
marriage of computers and communication.”
What did
they invent?
Why
and how does radio reinvent itself during the 1950s?
You want to be a sportscaster at a local TV station. To whom
will you send your resume tape?
Who
was Purdue’s first electrical engineering professor and what was his
impact on electronic communication?
Name the two satellite radio providers:
How much will a 30-second spot cost during this
year’s Super Bowl?
A non-traditional marketing campaign to encourage consumers
to spread messages to each other is called:
Watching what you want to watch, when
you want to watch is called:
Sending two or more channels within the same
broadcast stream is called:
Fox Networks, My Space, and the new My
Network TV are all owned by this company:
“Toll broadcasting” was an early form of what?
What is considered to be the oldest commercial radio
station? (Call letters–city)
What is the origin of magnetic recording tape?
What is AOR?
Who
was Edward R. Murrow’s boss?
a.
Philo Farnsworth b. William
Paley c. David Sarnoff d. Vladimir Zworykin
Why did listeners panic during
the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast?
a.
It was presented like actual news broadcast
b.
It referenced actual geographic locations
c.
Listeners had less external sources available in 1938.
d.
All of the above are correct.
e.
None of the above is correct.
If a TV viewer has a complaint about a false
advertisement, what government agency is likely to investigate?
What is a weakness of ratings diaries?
What electronic device connects to a TV and
measures viewing instead of diaries?
You have been hired by TiVo
to determine why the company is losing market share. Explain why subscriptions
are leveling; and provide your detailed solution to maintain market share and
increase profits.
When it was created in 1946, the first computer
contained 18,000 of these:
Two or more computers connected together is called:
What electronic component allowed miniaturization – making radio
portable in the 1950s?
What are “persistence of vision” and the “phi phenomenon”
and to what do they apply?
What did Edwin Armstrong invent? And, what killed him?
We’re all vain. Why do some TV/movie stars fear
HDTV?