The in class lecture today was about the history of both the radio and the television; however, one point that was brought up that really struck me was the relationship between the number of television channels and what it says about our society. Interestingly enough, from the 1950s, when the television began to become prominent in American homes, until about 1970 there was only a handful of channels available to watch. This would mean that if a kid when to school and had been watching television the night before, it is a very high possibility for the kid next to them in class to have watched the exact same show. The amount of specialization that exists today when it comes to television and radio was non-existent back then. There exists a channel for almost anything someone can think of with the availability of thousands of channels that some cable and satellite television provider packages give out today. Whether you enjoy sports, drama, crime, suspense, horror, documentaries, science, history or even nature, there exists a channel or show that will cater to your needs. At the same time people often like to complain that “there’s nothing on tv.” (I have definitely said this plenty of times myself) I think this shows how spoiled people are becoming in terms of access to entertainment with the advancement of technology. Honestly, it is difficult even for myself to imagine living in a world where I can’t turn on the television or look at my phone to get the latest sports updates (given I am a sport management major). In the 1950s I would have been lucky to even watch a football game (especially professional given the higher prominence of college football at the time) on television. I think it is definitely worth it, for people of my generation especially, to take a step back and acknowledge how far our society has come in terms of technology and how lucky we are to have access to the things we do today instead of simply saying “there’s nothing on tv.”