1.
Turner Broadcasting System
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The company was founded in 1970, and merged with Time Warner on October 10,1996. It now operates as a unit of Time Warner. The companys assets include CNN, HLN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, the companys current chairman and CEO is John K. Martin. Across Interstate 75/85 from the Techwood campus is the home of Turners WTBS superstation. By careful programming acquisitions, Turner guided the station to success, during December 1976, WTCG originated the superstation concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems. On December 17,1976 at 1,00 pm, WTCG Channel 17s signal was beamed via satellite to its four cable systems in Grand Island, Nebraska, Newport News, Virginia, Troy, Alabama, and Newton, Kansas. All four cable systems started receiving the 1948 Dana Andrews - Cesar Romero film Deep Waters already in progress, the movie had started 30 minutes earlier. WTCG went from being a television station to a major TV network that every one of the 24,000 households outside of the 675,000 in Atlanta was receiving coast-to-coast. WTCG became a so-called Superstation and created a precedent of todays basic cable television, HBO had gone to satellite transmissions to distribute its signal nationally in 1975, but that was a service cable subscribers were made to pay extra to receive. Ted Turners innovation signaled the start of the cable revolution. In 1979, the changed its name to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. On June 1,1980, CNN was launched at 17,00 EST becoming the first 24-hour news cable channel, in 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Brut Productions from Faberge Inc. In 1984, Turner initiated Cable Music Channel, his competition for WASECs MTV, the channel was short-lived, but helped influence the original format of VH1. In 1986, after an attempt to acquire CBS, Turner purchased the film studio MGM/UA Entertainment Co. from Kirk Kerkorian for $1.5 billion. Following the acquisition, Turner had a debt and sold parts of the acquisition. MGM/UA Entertainment was sold back to Kirk Kerkorian, the MGM/UA Studio lot in Culver City was sold to Lorimar/Telepictures. Turner kept MGMs pre-May 1986 and pre-merger film and TV library Turner Entertainment Co. was founded on August 4,1986, on October 3,1988, the company launched Turner Network Television. Turner expanded its presence in movie production and distribution, first with the 1991 purchase of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio, on December 22,1993, Turner acquired Castle Rock Entertainment
2.
1080i
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1080i is an abbreviation referring to a combination of frame resolution and scan type, used in high-definition television and high-definition video. The number 1080 refers to the number of lines on the screen. The term assumes a widescreen ratio of 16,9, so the 1080 lines of vertical resolution implies 1920 columns of horizontal resolution. A1920 pixels ×1080 lines screen has a total of 2.1 megapixels and this format is used in the SMPTE 292M standard. The choice of 1080 lines originates with Charles Poynton, who in the early 1990s pushed for square pixels to be used in HD video formats, within the designation 1080i, the i stands for interlaced scan. A frame of 1080i video consists of two fields of 1920 horizontal and 540 vertical pixels. The first field consists of all odd-numbered TV lines and the second all even numbered lines, 1080i differs from 1080p, where the p stands for progressive scan, where all lines in a frame are captured at the same time. In native or pure 1080i, the two fields of a frame correspond to different instants, so motion portrayal is good and this is true for interlaced video in general and can be easily observed in still images taken of fast motion scenes. However, when 1080p material is captured at 25 or 30 frames/second, it is converted to 1080i at 50 or 60 fields/second, respectively, in this situation both fields in a frame do correspond to the same instant. The field-to-instant relation is more complex for the case of 1080p at 24 frames/second converted to 1080i at 60 fields/second. Both field rates can be carried by digital television broadcast formats such as ATSC, DVB. The frame rate can be implied by the context, while the rate is generally specified after the letter i. In this case 1080i60 refers to 60 fields per second, the European Broadcasting Union prefers to use the resolution and frame rate separated by a slash, as in 1080i/30 and 1080i/25, likewise 480i/30 and 576i/25. Resolutions of 1080i60 or 1080i50 often refers to 1080i/30 or 1080i/25 in EBU notation, 1080i is directly compatible with some CRT HDTVs on which it can be displayed natively in interlaced form, but for display on progressive-scan—e. g. Most new LCD and plasma TVs, it must be deinterlaced, depending on the televisions video processing capabilities, the resulting video quality may vary, but may not necessarily suffer. For example, film material at 25fps may be deinterlaced from 1080i50 to restore a full 1080p resolution at the frame rate without any loss. Preferably video material with 50 or 60 motion phases/second is to be converted to 50p or 60p before display, worldwide, most HD channels on satellite and cable broadcast in 1080i. This also allows local newscasts on these ABC affiliates to be produced in the resolution to match the picture quality of their 1080i competitors
3.
Letterboxing (filming)
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Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the films original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it, these mattes are part of the image, LBX or LTBX are the identifying abbreviations for films and images so formatted. The term refers to the shape of a box, a slot in a wall or door through which mail is delivered, being rectangular. Letterboxing is used as an alternative to a full-screen, pan-and-scan transfer of a film image to videotape or videodisc. This was often done for letterbox widescreen anime on VHS, though the practice of hiding subtitles within the lower matte also is done with symmetrical mattes, albeit with less space available. The placing of soft subtitles within the picture or matte varies according to the DVD player being used, the first use of letterbox in consumer video appeared with the RCA Capacitance Electronic Disc videodisc format. Initially, letterboxing was limited to several key sequences of a such as opening and closing credits. The first fully letterboxed CED release was Amarcord in 1984, and several others followed including The Long Goodbye, Monty Python, each disc contains a label noting the use of RCAs innovative wide-screen mastering technique. In some continents such as North America, almost all VHS titles were released in pan-and-scan versions. However, most later Laserdiscs and some VHS releases were released in their original widescreen versions, some DVD releases of films are in full screen only, due to whatever existing master is available or basing on what format demographics prefer to see on a certain title. In other territories, such as Europe and Asia, widescreen versions of films on VHS and Laserdisc were much more common in those territories and this is more apparent in pan-and-scanned movies that remain entirely on the center area of the film image. The term SmileBox is a trademark used to describe a type of letterboxing for Cinerama films. The image is produced with 3D mapping technology to approximate a curved screen, some titles that were previously released in full screen only on VHS and DVD are now being issued in their original widescreen ratio on recent DVDs and Blu-rays. Digital broadcasting allows 1.78,1 widescreen format transmissions without losing resolution, most television programming in the United States, Britain and France is in standard-definition 16,9 and is transmitted in anamorphic format on digital platforms. When using a 4,3 television, it is possible to display such programming in either a letterbox format or in a 4,3 centre-cut format. A letterboxed 14,9 compromise ratio was often broadcast in analogue transmissions in European countries making the transition from 4,3 to 16,9. Current high-definition television systems use video displays with an aspect ratio than older television sets. In addition to films produced for the cinema, some programming is produced in high definition
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Subtitle (captioning)
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The encoded method can either be pre-rendered with the video or separate as either a graphic or text to be rendered and overlaid by the receiver. Teletext subtitle language follows the audio, except in multi-lingual countries where the broadcaster may provide subtitles in additional languages on other teletext pages. EIA-608 captions are similar, except that North American Spanish stations may provide captioning in Spanish on CC3, DVD and Blu-ray only differ in using run-length encoded graphics instead of text, as well as some HD DVB broadcasts. Sometimes, mainly at festivals, subtitles may be shown on a separate display below the screen. Television subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing is referred to as closed captioning in some countries. The word subtitle is the prefix followed by title. In some cases, such as opera, the dialog is displayed above the stage in what are referred to as surtitles. Today, professional subtitlers usually work with specialized software and hardware where the video is digitally stored on a hard disk. Besides creating the subtitles, the subtitler usually also tells the computer software the exact positions where each subtitle should appear and disappear, for cinema film, this task is traditionally done by separate technicians. The end result is a file containing the actual subtitles as well as position markers indicating where each subtitle should appear and disappear. These markers are based on timecode if it is a work for electronic media. For multimedia-style Webcasting, check, SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, same-language captions, i. e. without translation, were primarily intended as an aid for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Internationally, there are several studies which demonstrate that same-language captioning can have a major impact on literacy. This method of subtitling is used by television broadcasters in China. Same Language Subtitling is the use of Synchronized Captioning of Musical Lyrics as a Repeated Reading activity, the basic reading activity involves students viewing a short subtitled presentation projected onscreen, while completing a response worksheet. Closed captioning is the American term for closed subtitles specifically intended for people who are deaf and these are a transcription rather than a translation, and usually contain descriptions of important non-dialog audio as well such as or and lyrics. From the expression closed captions the word caption has in recent years come to mean a subtitle intended for the hard of hearing, be it open or closed. In British English subtitles usually refers to subtitles for the hard of hearing, however, programs such as news bulletins, current affairs programs, sport, some talk shows and political and special events utilize real time or online captioning
6.
Atlanta
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs
7.
TBS (U.S. TV channel)
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Turner Broadcasting System is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner, which shares its name with the channel. TBS carries a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy, along with sports events, including Major League Baseball. In its current form, TBS was originally established on December 17,1976 as a feed of Turners local, independent broadcast television station in Atlanta. The channel broadcast a variety of programming during this era, including films, syndicated series, Atlanta Braves baseball, wTBSs local programming was nearly identical to the national feed, aside from FCC-mandated public affairs and educational programming that only aired on the local signal. By the early 2000s, TBS had begun to more intensively on comedic programming, including sitcoms. As of February 2015, TBS is available to approximately 96.5 million pay television households in the United States, TBS is available on cable and satellite providers throughout the entire United States. The national TBS feed became available to cable and satellite subscribers within channel 17s viewing area as a result, TBSs programming was previously made available to cable and satellite subscribers in Canada through the WTBS Atlanta feed. As a result, following the separation of TBS and WTBS/WPCH in 2007, Canadian cable and satellite subscribers received access to WPCH/Atlanta, instead of TBS. Most of TBSs flagship programming, such as Major League Baseball and original series, are not broadcast on WPCH-TV, TBS originated as a broadcast television station in Atlanta, Georgia that operated on UHF channel 17, and maintained a general entertainment format as an independent station. Early programming included movies from the 1930s and 1940s, sitcoms, the station also carried sports, such as Atlanta Braves baseball, Atlanta Hawks basketball, Atlanta Flames hockey, and Georgia Championship Wrestling. WTCG also bid very low on programming, leaving the stations in the market – WSB-TV, WAGA-TV. By the mid-1970s, The Andy Griffith Show, The Flintstones, Leave It to Beaver, The Little Rascals, My Three Sons, Star Trek, The Three Stooges, cable providers in these areas carried stations from neighboring markets, and if possible, an independent station. Ted Turner decided to distribute his station through satellite, enabling WTCG to be received nationwide, the first broadcast was the 1948 Dana Andrews-Cesar Romero film Deep Waters, which had been in progress for 30 minutes on channel 17 in Atlanta. Instantly, WTCG went from being an independent television station that was available only in Georgia. WTCG became a superstation and set a precedent for todays basic cable television. By 1978, WTCG was carried on cable providers in all 50 states, TBS became only the second U. S. Ted Turners innovation signaled the start of the basic cable revolution. WTCG changed its callsign to WTBS on August 27,1979, the new call letters were acquired via a monetary donation to the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys student radio station for the construction of a new transmitter. In the late 1970s, WTBS continued to acquire second-hand programming such as made-for-TV Popeye cartoons, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, and other programs
8.
TNT (U.S. TV network)
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TNT is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. As of July 2015, TNT is available to approximately 94.259 million cable, satellite and telco households in the United States. The channel launched at 8 p. m. Eastern Time on October 3,1988 with a performance of The Star Spangled Banner. Its inaugural telecast was the 1939 classic film Gone with the Wind and it was said that the movie was chosen as the channels first program because it was Turners favorite movie. It would also serve as the first program aired on sister channel Turner Classic Movies, incidentally, Gone With the Wind had its premiere held in Atlanta, Georgia, Turners hometown and the headquarters of the channels corporate parent, Turner Broadcasting System. The city served as the setting for the film, TNT was initially a vehicle for older movies and television shows, but slowly began to add original programming and newer reruns. At one point, Monday Nitro was regularly the highest-rated weekly program on cable television, the program beat Monday Night Raw, the flagship show of the World Wrestling Federation, in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks from 1996 to 1998. The channel was known for its late night programming. One such program was MonsterVision, a Saturday night B movie showcase that aired from 1993 to 2000 It featured a Godzilla movie marathon at the end of every month. This running joke culminated in a Friday the 13th all-night Halloween marathon in 1998, the Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show, which ran from 1995 to 1997, was an original childrens program on the channel featuring classic Warner Bros. MGM, and Popeye shorts, hosted by a pair of a marionette. In 1998, TNT dropped all of its cartoons, relegating those shows to Cartoon Network. Most of the series and shorts that were dropped would also serve as the core of Boomerang. During the 1990s, TNT scheduled an afternoon block that included Due South, Kung Fu, The Legend Continues, Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman. In 1998, TNT took over production of the fifth and final season of Babylon 5 from the Prime Time Entertainment Network after the syndication block ceased operations. The following year, TNT produced the Babylon 5 spinoff series Crusade, in 2001, TNT debuted what became its most successful original series at the time, Witchblade, which ran for two seasons, ending in 2002. On June 12,2001, TNT underwent a rebrand, with the introduction of a new logo designed by Trollbäck + Company as well as a new slogan. The slogan emphasized the new focus on dramatic programming, including sports and off-network syndicated dramas such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, ER
9.
Cartoon Network
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Cartoon Network is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Time Warner through the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary. It was founded by Betty Cohen and launched on October 1,1992, the channel primarily broadcasts childrens shows, mostly animated programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. It operates daily from 6,00 AM to 11,00 PM, a Spanish language audio track for select programs is accessible via second audio programing, some cable and satellite companies offer the Spanish feed as a separate channel. It is also the channel of Turner-owned Boomerang. As of January 2016, Cartoon Network is available to approximately 94.0 million pay television households in the United States, however, Turner kept much of MGMs film and television library made prior to May 1986 and formed Turner Entertainment. On October 3,1988, its cable channel Turner Network Television was launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1991, Turner Entertainment purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions for US $320 million, on February 18,1992, Turner Broadcasting System announced its plans to launch the Cartoon Network as an outlet for Turners considerable library of animation. Initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of reruns of classic Warner Bros. cartoons, the 1933–1957 Popeye cartoons, MGM cartoons, at first, cable providers in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D. C. and Detroit carried the channel. By the time the network launched, Cartoon Network had an 8, from its launch until 1995, the networks announcers said the networks name with the word The added before Cartoon Network, thus calling the network The Cartoon Network. By the time that the network debuted, Cartoon Network also operated a block that aired on TNT. Cartoon Network was not the first cable channel to have relied on cartoons to attract an audience, however, Turner Broadcasting System had defied conventional wisdom before by launching CNN, a channel providing 24-hour news coverage. Initially, the channel would broadcast cartoons 24 hours a day, late Night Black and White showed early black-and-white cartoons, and ToonHeads would show three shorts with a similar theme and provide trivia about the cartoons. There was also an afternoon block called High Noon Toons. The majority of the animation that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer air on a regular basis, with the exception of Tom and Jerry. A challenge for Cartoon Network was to overcome its low penetration of existing cable systems, when launched on October 1,1992, the channel was only carried by 233 cable systems. However, it benefited from package deals, New subscribers to sister channels TNT and TBS could also get access to Cartoon Network through such deals. The high ratings of Cartoon Network over the couple of years led to more cable systems including it. By the end of 1994, Cartoon Network had become the fifth most popular channel in the United States
10.
Adult Swim
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Adult Swim is a programming block of the American cable network Cartoon Network that operates at night from 8,00 p. m. to 6,00 a. m. It is programmed by Williams Street Productions, a subsidiary of Turner, the name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools in the United States to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults. Much of Adult Swims general content is known for its risqué, unorthodox, the network was granted its own Nielsen ratings report from Cartoon Network due to targeting a separate demographic. In the United States, Adult Swim has frequently aired adult animation features, anime, mockumentaries, sketch comedy, live-action, shows may have sexual themes, frank sexual discussion, nudity, strong language, and graphic violence. While the network features comedies and dramas of all types, many of its programs are aesthetically experimental, transgressive, improvised, Adult Swim has contracted with various studios known for their productions in absurd and shock comedy. In February 2015, Adult Swim was available to approximately 96,390,000 pay-television households in the United States, Cartoon Networks original head programmer Mike Lazzo conceived Adult Swim. The network grew out of Cartoon Networks previous attempts at airing content appropriate for teenagers, the network began experimenting with its late night programming by airing anthology shows like ToonHeads and Late Night Black and White, both of which presented uncensored classic cartoon shorts. Space Ghost Coast to Coast, one of Cartoon Networks first forays into original programming, was created in 1994 specifically for late night audiences. The series was created by Mike Lazzos Ghost Planet Industries, which eventually became Williams Street Studios, during early mornings in December 2000, several new Williams Street series made unannounced stealth premieres. Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Brak Show all premiered unannounced, the official schedules listed the shows as Special Programming. Adult Swim launched on September 2,2001 with the airing of the Home Movies episode Directors Cut. The first anime broadcast on Adult Swim also aired on the night of its launch, the block initially aired on Sunday nights, with a repeat of the same block on Thursday nights. On March 28,2005, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System began recording Adult Swim Nielsen ratings separately from Cartoon Network for demographic purposes, promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and those in their twenties and thirties, constituting the majority of their viewers. Adult Swim also had a direct and important role in the revival of two animated series, the aforementioned Family Guy and Futurama. On March 29,2004, less one year later, Fox announced it would be renewing Family Guy for a fourth season. Futurama was also revived in 2007 by Comedy Central for similar reasons, Adult Swim obtained Futuramas exclusive cable syndication rights in March 2002 for a reported $10 million, and the series first aired on the network in January 2002. These devices were in part of a guerrilla marketing advertising campaign. The next day, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the incident, on February 5, Turner Broadcasting and marketer Interference, Inc. announced that they would pay $2 million in amends, one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds
11.
Boomerang (TV channel)
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Boomerang is an American digital and satellite television channel that is owned by Time Warner through the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary. Launched in 1992 globally and in 2000 for the United States, Boomerang originated as a programming block and it eventually grew into its own separate channel and identity, and similarly shares the same brand and likeness as Cartoon Network. It has a fluid and improvisational schedule of programming blocks and television shows. As of February 2015, approximately 43.6 million households access the channel, much of the programming that made up the core of Boomerangs lineup was originally part of TBSs Disaster Area, a block of childrens programming that aired on that network from 1997 to 1999. Boomerang had originated a programming block airing on Cartoon Network that debuted on December 8,1992 and it was aimed towards the generation of baby boomers and was similar to the Vault Disney nostalgia block that would debut five years later on the Disney Channel. It originally aired for four hours every weekend, but the start time had changed frequently. The Saturday block moved to Saturday afternoons, then back to the morning. Eventually, Boomerang was shortened by an hour, reducing it from four hours to three each weekend, Turner Broadcasting System eventually converted Boomerang into a standalone cable channel that debuted on April 1,2000. On February 4,2014, as part of the companys 2014 upfronts, Turner Broadcasting announced that Boomerang would become advertising-supported, on January 19,2015, the U. S. A few providers do not carry the channel, instead only offering the networks video on demand service bundled with Cartoon Network. The network is offered exclusively in standard definition, with no current plans for a high definition simulcast, historically, Boomerang avoided overt channel drift and, despite adding newer content to its library, continued to air programming from the breadth of its archives. As of spring 2014, however, most of its programming has been relegated to graveyard slots while the daytime schedule has increasingly been dominated by programming from the 1990s. Most other programs aired by Boomerang stay on the schedule for several weeks, then are rotated out, not all of the Time Warner animation library is currently available to Boomerang. Boomerang also occasionally licenses programming from other distributors, such as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon shorts, which were dropped by Boomerang since 2007, returned to the schedule on October 5,2013. Although Boomerangs programming philosophy was originally intended to showcase classic cartoons, on January 1,2012, the channel began airing episodes of Puppy in My Pocket, Adventures in Pocketville, which ended in February 2013. On November 17 and 24,2012, Boomerang aired new episodes of Ben 10, Omniverse, Boomerang reintroduced the Wedgies series of animated shorts in 2013. Boomerang also began airing Teen Titans Go. and The Amazing World of Gumball on December 1,2014, numb Chucks was picked up by Boomerang for first-run broadcast in the United States on January 10,2015, after initially having been announced for Cartoon Network. On June 28,2015, it was announced that Boomerang would receive original programs such as Wabbit, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo. and an animated adaptation of Bunnicula
12.
CNN
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The Cable News Network is an American basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. It was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel, upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States. While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from the Time Warner Center in New York City and its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta is only used for weekend programming. CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U. S. to distinguish the American channel from its sister network. As of August 2010, CNN is available in over 100 million U. S. households, broadcast coverage of the U. S. channel extends to over 890,000 American hotel rooms, as well as carriage on cable and satellite providers throughout Canada. Globally, CNN programming airs through CNN International, which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories, as of February 2015, CNN is available to about 96,289,000 cable, satellite, and telco television households in the United States. The Cable News Network was launched at 5,00 p. m. Eastern Time on June 1,1980, after an introduction by Ted Turner, the husband and wife team of David Walker and Lois Hart anchored the channels first newscast. Burt Reinhardt, the vice president of CNN at its launch, hired most of the channels first 200 employees, including the networks first news anchor. Since its debut, CNN has expanded its reach to a number of cable and satellite providers, several websites. The company has 36 bureaus, more than 900 affiliated local stations, the channels success made a bona-fide mogul of founder Ted Turner and set the stage for conglomerate Time Warners eventual acquisition of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. A companion channel, CNN2, was launched on January 1,1982, on January 28,1986, CNN carried the only live television coverage of the launch and subsequent break-up of Space Shuttle Challenger, which killed all seven crew members on board. On October 14,1987, Jessica McClure, an 18-month-old toddler, fell down a well in Midland, CNN quickly reported on the story, and the event helped make its name. This was before correspondents reported live from the capital while American bombs were falling. Before Saddam Hussein held a press conference with a few of the hundreds of Americans he was holding hostage. Before the nation watched, riveted but powerless, as Los Angeles was looted and burned, before O. J. Simpson took a slow ride in a white Bronco, and before everyone close to his case had an agent and a book contract. This was uncharted territory just a time ago. The moment when bombing began was announced on CNN by Bernard Shaw on January 16,1991, as follows, lets describe to our viewers what were seeing. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated, were seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky
13.
HLN (TV network)
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HLN is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The channel is a spin-off of the U. S, since 2005, however, its format has increasingly shifted to long-form tabloid-, opinion-, crime-, and entertainment news-related programming. In 2014, the network further re-focused with an emphasis on social media, as of July 2015, HLN is available to approximately 97 million American households in the United States making it the most distributed American cable network. Since the mid-2000s, HLN has been available internationally on cable and satellite in parts of Asia, the channel originally launched as CNN2 on January 1,1982. In January of the year, it was renamed Headline News. From around that point until 1992, the channel was often abbreviated as HN, another regular feature, the Hollywood Minute, was often fitted-in after the Headline Sports segment. In the channels early years, a recap of the hours top stories. Its longest-serving news anchor was Chuck Roberts, who retired on July 30,2010, during its first year, Headline News had a competitor in the form of ABC/Group Ws Satellite News Channel, which operated from June 21,1982 to October 27,1983. SNCs satellite slot was purchased by Ted Turner to expand Headline News reach further into additional homes. Jon Petrovich was hired in the mid-1980s by Turner to lead Headline News, the channel included the CNN branding in its name intermittently for most of its history, before being incorporated on a regular basis from 1997 to 2007. In 1992, the added the Headline News SportsTicker, which showed sports scores and schedules for the days upcoming games. Cities to the ticker, the ticker itself would add the Headline News logo, on January 8,1992, Headline News almost became the victim of a hoax. At 9,45 a. m. anchor Don Harrison prepared to break the story, stating This just in to CNN Headline News, Executive producer Roger Bahre, who was off-camera, immediately yelled No. After glancing away momentarily, Harrison continued, We are now getting a correction and we will not give you that story. It was regarding some rather tragic news involving President Bush, but updating that story and it turned out that an Idaho man, James Edward Smith, called CNN posing as the presidents physician. A CNN employee entered the information into a computer used by both CNN and Headline News, and it nearly got out on the air before it could be verified. Smith was subsequently questioned by the Secret Service and hospitalized at a medical facility for evaluation. In 1992, Headline News pioneered the use of a video jukebox to recycle segments of one newscast seamlessly into another
14.
TruTV
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TruTV is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The network was launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focused on crime-themed programs such as documentary series, legal dramas. With its relaunch as truTV in 2008, the network revamped its lineup with a focus on reality shows and caught on camera programs, in October 2014, TruTVs lineup was reoriented with a focus on comedy programming and comedy-based reality series. As of February 2015, approximately 89.7 million US households receive truTV, the Courtroom Television Network, or Court TV for short, was launched on July 2,1991, and was available to three million subscribers. Its original anchors were Fred Graham, who was still at the twenty years later, and Cynthia McFadden. Both projects were present at the National Cable Television Association in June 1990, rather than trying to establish two competing networks, the projects were combined in December 14,1990. Liberty Media would join the venture in 1991, the channel featured continuous live trial coverage, with analysis by anchors. It was led by law writer Steven Brill, who left the network in 1997, the network came into its own during the Menendez brothers first trial and later during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. In 1998, NBC sold its share of the network to Time Warner and that same year, it began running several original and acquired programs in prime time, such as Homicide, Life on the Street and Forensic Files. In 2004, recognizing the growth of its programming, Court TV split itself into two brands. Daytime trial coverage was branded as Court TV News, while prime-time and weekend programming took on a legal reality. Time Warner bought full control of Court TV in 2006 and began running it as part of the companys Turner Broadcasting System division, the buyout of Court TV marked Time Warners first television network acquisition – rather than a sale – since the acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System in 1996. On July 11,2007, it was announced that Court TV would be relaunched as TruTV on January 1,2008, the network promoted these series under the slogan Not Reality. TruTV staff argued that the reality had become associated with unrealistic programming. On March 4,2013, In Session was cut to a two-hour, on September 30,2013, In Session was cancelled, and replaced by a block of archived programming under the banner In Session Presents. As part of the re-launch, a new branding campaign and refreshed logo were introduced on-air on October 27,2014, puja Vohra, TruTVs senior vice president of marketing and digital, explained that the campaign was intended to portray the networks brand as being fun and self-aware. In December 2016, TruTV unveiled a new marketing campaign and slogan, the campaign reinforces the networks focus on comedy by showcasing its stars in advertising that parodies the cliches of network television promos. The 1080i high definition simulcast feed of TruTV is available on all major cable, in March 2011, the channel saw carriage of its HD feed increase, due to its coverage of the 2011 NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Tournament, which was its first ever live sports telecast
15.
DirecTV
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DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider based in El Segundo, California and is a subsidiary of AT&T. Its satellite service, launched on June 17,1994, transmits digital television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America. Its primary competitors are Dish Network and cable television providers, DirecTV provides television and audio services to subscribers through satellite transmissions. Services include the equivalent of local television stations, broadcast television networks, subscription television services, satellite radio services. Subscribers have access to hundreds of channels, so its competitors are cable television service, most subscribers use reception antennas which are much smaller than the first generation antennas, which were typically a few yards across. Advances in antenna technology, including fractal antennas, have allowed a reduction in antenna size across all industries. Receiving equipment includes a dish, an integrated receiver/decoder and a DirecTV access card. Consumers who purchase DirecTV subscribe to various packages of DirecTV programming for which the subscriber pays a monthly fee, additional monthly fees may include a protection plan, DVR, additional receivers, HD channels, and other premium channel packages. A subscriber also can order pay-per-view and video on demand events, all programming distributed by DirecTV is delivered to its broadcast centers in Castle Rock, Colorado, and Los Angeles, where it is then digitized and compressed. The resulting signal is encrypted by DirecTV to prevent its unauthorized reception, DirecTV then transmits these signals to several satellites located in geostationary orbit. As of the quarter ended September 30,2012, DirecTV U. S. had 19.981 million subscribers, for the same period, DirecTV Latin America ended with 9.666 million subscribers and revenues of US$1.577 billion. In addition to serving residences, DirecTV offers service to bars, restaurants, hotels, dorms, the company also offered mobile service for cars, boats, and RVs as well as aircraft in cooperation with Connexion by Boeing. On November 30,2016, DirecTV Now, an internet streaming TV service was launched, in 1953, Howard Hughes created the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, to which he transferred full ownership of Hughes Aircraft. Ostensibly created as a medical research foundation, HHMI was accused of being used by Hughes as a tax shelter. Following Hughes death in 1976, HHMI was incorporated in 1977, in 1984, the court appointed a new board for HHMI, which proceeded to sell off Hughes Aircraft to General Motors on December 20,1985, for an estimated $5.1 billion. General Motors then merged Hughes Aircraft with its subsidiary Delco Electronics to create Hughes Electronics Corporation, the new subsidiary was initially composed of four units, Delco Electronics Company, Hughes Aircraft Company, Hughes Space and Communications Company, and Hughes Network Systems. Stanley E. Hubbard founded United States Satellite Broadcasting in 1981 and was a proponent for the development of direct-broadcast satellite service in the United States. USSB was awarded five frequencies by the FCC, at the coveted 101 degree west satellite location, Hughes Communications, Inc. was also awarded 27 frequencies at the same 101-degree location
16.
Dish Network
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Dish Network is an American direct-broadcast satellite service provider. The company provides satellite television, satellite Internet access, audio programming, as of November 2016, the company provided services to 13.7 million television and 580,000 broadband subscribers. The company has approximately 16,000 employees, the company is headquartered in Meridian, Colorado, though the postal designation of nearby Englewood, Colorado is used in the corporate mailing address. In January 2008, Dish Network was spun off from its parent company EchoStar. The company began using Dish Network as its brand in March 1997, after the successful launch of its first satellite, EchoStar I. That launch marked the beginning of its television services, and EchoStar has since launched numerous satellites. EchoStar continues to be the technology partner to Dish Network. Joseph Clayton became president and chief officer of the company in June 2011. Clayton remained in the position until March 31,2015 when he retired leaving Ergen to resume the post, Dishs main service is satellite television. Its offerings are similar to satellite and cable companies. Viewers can choose from a series of bundles, paying more money for more channels. A la carte programming is available, however limited other than Premium channels, the company is currently working on diversifying its offerings. With its purchase of Blockbuster LLC, it now owns the Blockbuster trademarks and has used its intellectual property agreement to offer streaming, Dish Anywhere is Dishs subscriber-only streaming video service, which includes HBO and Cinemax programming. In May 2012, the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Dish second among American television providers and it weighs ten pounds, is protected from weather, and automatically searches for a signal. The only satellites that are compatible with the Tailgater are at Dishs 119,110. In March 2012, Dish began offering a video recorder called Dish Hopper that can automatically record all prime time programming on the four major television networks. The other half is for video on demand, a Hopper feature, called AutoHop, enables customers to view these programs without commercials, subject to time restrictions. AutoHop has attracted enthusiasts, critics, boycotts and legal action, at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show Dish won an award for their AutoHop feature on the Hopper
17.
Shaw Direct
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Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada. Known for their direct broadcasting by satellite distribution, it is majority-owned by cable TV operator Shaw Communications Inc, as of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. The company was known as Star Choice until April 15,2009. A full list of channels carried by these three satellites is available from satellite-related sites such as Lyngsat, Anik F1 carries most mainstream English-language programming, Anik F2 programming includes French-language and HDTV broadcasts. A third planned satellite, Anik G1, was launched on April 15,2013 and this new satellite provides Shaw Direct customers with access to over 210 HD channels, beating out rival competitor Bell TV as having the most HD channels in Canada. Shaw Direct began in Lincoln, New Brunswick, but is now based in Calgary and its broadcast centre is in Mississauga, Ontario, and has call centres in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal. March 1997, Opened first customer care centre, march 1997, Activated their first customer, Archie Gray, who purchased a receiver for $999 with 100 digital channels when he purchased $400 worth of programming. September 1997, Added Shaw PPV to their lineup, September 1999, Added 60 new channels to their lineup. January 2000, Launched HDTV programming with the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIV, August 2000, Privatized by Shaw Communications Inc. through its acquisition of Cancom. April 2001, Activated both Anik F1 and Anik E2 satellites, becoming the first Canadian provider to broadcast services from two satellites simultaneously, march 2002, Moved its head office from Lincoln, New Brunswick to Calgary, Alberta. May 2002, Sold its one millionth receiver, August 2003, Launched its first fully integrated High Definition receiver, the Motorola DSR500 HD. September 2003, WTSN was dropped from lineup because of the channels demise, february 2004, Added 16 additional standard-definition channels to their lineup, which is also including 2 high-definition ones. July 2004, Announced the expansion of new channels as a result of the launch of the Anik F2 satellite, may 2005, Launched the dual tuner High Definition Digital Video Recorder. November 2005, TCM is introduced to the Canadian market for the first time, September 1,2006, AMC and Teletoon are introduced to the Canadian market for the first time. October 2006, A&E HD, Discovery HD and SRC HD launch on October 12,2006, Super Écran HD launches October 30,2006, bringing the total amount of free HD channels to 15. December 2006, Showcase HD and National Geographic Channel HD launch on December 19,2006 bringing the amount of free HD channels to 17. January 2007, Launched the DSR317 receiver, featuring a faster processor than previous Standard Definition receivers, Super station WGN was swapped for the local Chicago feed on January 17,2007. February 2007, Launched the DSR207 receiver, featuring a faster processor than previous Standard Definition receivers, march 2007, Star Choice announces the addition of GOL-TV, WFN, WGN HD and HD Net
18.
Time Warner Cable
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Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications in 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast and it was controlled by Warner Communications, then by Time Warner. That company spun off the operations in March 2009 as part of a larger restructuring. From 2009 to 2016, Time Warner Cable was an independent company. The purchase was completed on May 18,2016, Charter had continued to do business as Time Warner Cable in its former markets, Time Warner Cable was formed in 1992 by the merger of Time Inc. s cable television company, American Television and Communications Corp. It also includes the remnants of the defunct QUBE interactive TV service, in 1995, the company launched the Southern Tier On-Line Community, a cable modem service later known as Road Runner High Speed Online. That year, talks began that would result in Warners acquisition of Paragon Cable. Glenn Britt was the CEO from 2001 until December 2013, Time Warner retained Time Warner Cable as a subsidiary until March 2009, when it was spun out as an independent company. Prior to the spin-out, Time Warner had held an 84% stake in Time Warner Cable, non-Time Warner shareholders received 0.083670 shares for each share already owned. This move made Time Warner Cable the largest cable operator in the United States owned solely by a class of shareholders. Time Warner Cable launched DVR service in the Houston area in 2004, when first launched, it used Scientific-Atlanta set-top boxes with DVR. It was first reported in October 2013 that Time Warner Cable was exploring a sale of the company, however, on November 22,2013, reports surfaced that Comcast expressed interest in acquiring Time Warner Cable. Both companies were said to be placing bids for the company, Charter reiterated its interest in purchasing Time Warner Cable and increased its bid on January 14,2014. On February 12,2014, it was reported that Comcast had reached a deal to acquire TWC in a deal valued at $45.2 billion. In April 2015, it was reported that the U. S, on April 24,2015, Comcast officially announced that it had called off the merger. On May 25,2015, Bloomberg News reported that Charter was near a deal to acquire TWC for $195 a share, the acquisition was completed on May 18,2016. The Time Warner Cable brand is in the process of being phased out in favor of Spectrum, as of 2013, Time Warner Cables business division had the second largest business-facing enterprise by revenue, with $1.7 billion in revenue as of the third quarter of 2013. Total revenue for 2012 was $1.9 billion, Spectrum Center, formerly Time Warner Cable Arena, is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, the home of the NBAs Charlotte Hornets
19.
IPTV
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Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the source media continuously. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the data almost immediately and this is known as streaming media. Although IPTV uses the Internet protocol it is not limited to television media streamed from the Internet, IPTV in the telecommunications arena is notable for its ongoing standardisation process. Historically, many different definitions of IPTV have appeared, including elementary streams over IP networks, transport streams over IP networks and these services may include, for example, Live TV, Video On Demand and Interactive TV. These services are delivered across an access agnostic, packet switched network that employs the IP protocol to transport the audio, video, the term IPTV first appeared in 1995 with the founding of Precept Software by Judith Estrin and Bill Carrico. Precept developed an Internet video product named IP/TV, the software was written primarily by Steve Casner, Karl Auerbach, and Cha Chee Kuan. Precept was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998, Internet radio company AudioNet started the first continuous live webcasts with content from WFAA-TV in January 1998 and KCTU-LP on January 10,1998. The operator added additional VoD service in October 2001 with Yes TV, kingston was one of the first companies in the world to introduce IPTV and IP VoD over ADSL as a commercial service. The service became the reference for various changes to UK Government regulations, in 2006, the KIT service was discontinued, subscribers having declined from a peak of 10,000 to 4,000. In 1999, NBTel was the first to commercially deploy Internet protocol television over DSL in Canada using the Alcatel 7350 DSLAM, the service was marketed under the brand VibeVision in New Brunswick, and later expanded into Nova Scotia in early 2000 after the formation of Aliant. IMagic TV was later sold to Alcatel, in 2002, Sasktel was the second in Canada to commercially deploy Internet Protocol video over DSL, using the Lucent Stinger DSL platform. In 2005, SureWest Communications was the first North American company to offer high-definition television channels over an IPTV service, in 2005, Bredbandsbolaget launched its IPTV service as the first service provider in Sweden. As of January 2009, they are not the biggest supplier any longer, TeliaSonera, in 2007, TPG became the first internet service provider in Australia to launch IPTV. Complementary to its ADSL2+ package this was, and still is, free of charge to customers on eligible plans and now offers over 45 local free to air channels, by 2010, iiNet and Telstra launched IPTV services in conjunction to internet plans but with extra fees. In 2008, PTCL launched IPTV under the name of PTCL Smart TV in Pakistan. S. Markets with an IPTV service called Prism and this was after successful test marketing in Florida. During the 2014 Winter Olympics Shortest path bridging was used to deliver 36 IPTV HD Olympic channels, in 2016, KCTV introduced the Set-top box called Manbang, claiming to provide video-on-demand services in North Korea via quasi-internet protocol television. According to KCTV, viewers can use the service not only in Pyongyang, stating that the demands for the equipment are particularly high in Sinuiju, with several hundred users in the region
20.
AT&T U-verse
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AT&T U-verse, commonly called U-verse, is an AT&T brand of triple-play telecommunications services, although the brand is now only used in reference to the television portion of the services. Launched on June 26,2006, using the FTTP, VDSL, and ADSL communication protocols, U-verse included broadband Internet, IP telephone, and IPTV services in 21 states. On March 27,2017, it was revealed that AT&T is seriously considering closing down the TV service website Uverse. com on May 30,2017. SBC announced its plans for a network and Internet Protocol television deployment in 2004. Beta testing began in San Antonio in 2005 and AT&T U-verse was commercially launched June 26,2006, a few months later on November 30,2006, the service was launched in Houston. In December 2006, the product launched in Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Hartford, Indianapolis, in February 2007, U-verse was launched in Milwaukee. One month later service was initiated in Dallas and Kansas City, in May 2007, U-verse launched in Detroit, Los Angeles, and surrounding areas. Launch continued in Cleveland, Akron, and San Diego in June 2007, the Oklahoma City and Sacramento launches occurred in August 2007. In November 2007, service was started in Austin, in December 2007, U-verse was launched in Orlando and St. Louis. A controlled launch was initiated in Atlanta that month marking the first launch in the Southeastern United States. On December 22,2008, the product debuted in Birmingham, on January 25,2010, AT&T announced that U-verse was available to over 2.8 million households. AT&T Phone was added on January 22,2008, and was first available in Detroit, in 2008, U-verse availability approached 8 million households and over 225,000 customers had been enrolled, with new installations reaching 12,000 per week. By 2009,1 million Phone customers and 2.1 million U-verse TV customers had been enrolled, at the end of 2011, U-verse was available to more than 30 million living units in 22 states and U-verse TV had 3.8 million customers. By mid-2012, AT&T had 4.1 million U-Verse TV subscribers,2.6 million Phone subscribers, by the third quarter of 2012, AT&T had 4.3 million TV subscribers,2.7 million Phone subscribers and 7.1 million Internet. This represents 7% growth quarter on quarter, the actual number of customers is lower, as most customers subscribe to a bundle and so are counted in both categories. On March 29,2016, AT&T announced that it will increase data caps on its Internet service on May 23,2016, the integration of AT&T and DirecTV is set to begin by the fourth quarter of 2016. On May 16,2016, AT&T announced that it will acquire Quickplay Media, on September 19,2016, AT&T announced that the U-verse brand would no longer apply to its broadband and phone services, renaming them AT&T Internet and AT&T Phone, respectively. AT&T delivers most U-verse service over a fiber-to-the-node or fiber-to-the-premises communications network, in the more common FTTN deployment, fiber-optic connections carry all data between the service provider and a distribution node
21.
Verizon Fios
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Verizon Fios is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service that operates over a fiber-optic communications network with over 5 million customers in nine US states. The name, Fios, is an acronym for Fiber Optic Service, Fios service began in 2005, and networked areas expanded through 2010, although some areas do not have service or cannot receive TV and phone service because of franchise agreements. Verizon was one of the first major U. S. carriers to offer fiber to the home, other service providers use fiber optics in the network backbone and existing copper or coax infrastructure for residential users. Where available, select Verizon Wireless stores also sell Fios services, similar to AT&T offering DirecTV, the early stages of Fios began when Bell Atlantic was testing its video service Stargazer in 1995. This was the worlds first commercial VOD service, which was tested to 1,000 homes in northern VA, during this time there were talks of developing a fiber optic based service. This service was developed at a headquarters located in Reston, Virginia and this will be folded into our deployment of fiber to the curb, Mr. Townsend said, referring to Bell Atlantics plans to deploy a high-tech fiber-optic system. In September 2005, Verizon Communications, announced the launch of its Fios television service, Verizon aimed to replace copper wires with optical fibers, which would allow greater speed and quality of communication. In 2006, Verizon and Motorola partnered to bring its customers home DVR access, in 2006, The Wall Street Journal speculated, Verizon Communications Inc. is fielding offers for. Verizon also has been shopping a package dubbed GTE North that comprises about 3.4 million access lines in former GTE Corp. territories in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, in addition to expanding its customer base, Verizon expanded its services in the first few years. Home Media DVR, a video recorder, was released in 2006. Fios updated its user interface in 2007, allowing customers to access widgets for localized content, such as weather, Verizon announced in January 2008 that one million people subscribed to the service. By the end of 2008, Fios offered more than 150 HD channels, price increases were announced in April 2008, when Fios was available to 6.5 million households. In January 2009, Fios was available to 12.7 million homes, as of June 2009, Fios Internet had 3.1 million customers. Estimates on December 31,2009, were 3.4 million Internet customers and 2.86 million for Fios TV, doug Michelson, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, concluded that Verizon has been overspending to acquire Fios customers. Some viewed the halt in expansion as a violation of Verizons agreements with municipalities and states. In New Jersey, Verizon collected an additional $15 billion in fees from customers, the New Jersey government altered the deal in 2014 to allow Verizon to substitute wireless internet access to fulfill its promise instead. Verizon defended itself, claiming that they had spent $13 billion building fiber optics in New Jersey, critics pointed out that wireless internet was slower and less reliable. In April 2010, Verizon announced that three people were subscribed to Verizon Fios
22.
Bell Fibe TV
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Bell Internet, originally and frequently still called Sympatico, is the residential Internet service provider division of BCE Inc. As of May 3,2012, Bell Internet has over 3 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec, Bell Fibe Internet is offered at the following speeds, 15/10 Mbit/s, 25/10 Mbit/s, 50/10 Mbit/s, 150/50 Mbit/s, 300/100 Mbit/s, and 1 Gbit/s/100 Mbit/s. Sympatico was launched on November 29,1995, starting in Summer 2003, Sympatico tried to differentiate its service from its competitors by adding value-added services. This meant the launch of Radial Points suite of antivirus, firewall, although a fee was originally required, this is no longer the case, as Bell now provides the service at no extra charge for DSL customers. In 2004, Sympatico added a wireless modem-router hardware upgrade and Microsofts MSN Premium software to its portfolio, in Summer 2007, Sympatico packaged its Security suite and wireless home networking modem together with its high speed offering as Sympatico Total Internet. Bell Sympatico changed its name to Bell Internet on August 8,2008, on January 3,2012, customer advocacy blog Stop The Cap. In May 2012, Bell launched new fiber-to-the-home plans and simplified its slower DSL plans, FTTH regions can now download and upload at symmetric speeds of up to 175 Mbit/s. The previous changes for lower bandwidth caps were reverted for the new Fibe 15/1, the Fibe 5/1 plan replaced the older Essential, Essential Plus, Fibe 6 and Fibe 7 plans. The bandwidth cap for Fibe 5/1, however, was lowered from 25 GB to 15 GB, the Fibe 50/50 FTTH plan was removed from Bells website by February 2013. In its place, a Fibe 50/10 FTTN plan was available for the first time. During that same month, usage caps for the 15/10, 25/10 and 50/10 plans were lowered by 15,25 and 75 GB respectively, February also saw the addition of an unlimited Internet usage add-on for Bell Internet. It costs $30/month and can be added to any residential plan and those who subscribe to telephony and residential television from Bell can obtain a $20/month discount on the unlimited Internet usage add-on. When Bell started its DSL Internet service, then known as Sympatico, it offered one DSL modem. Later, it added more models with routing and wireless LAN capabilities built-in, customers previously had to pay extra for such capabilities. Today, both of these features are standard in both all-in-one devices Bell lends to its customers, standard DSL customers must rent Bells 2Wire 2701HG-G device, which can create 802. 11g wireless access point. VDSL customers consist of any service with more than 1 Mbit/s of upload speed, and they must rent the Cellpipe router 802. 11n-capable device instead, which also bundles a superior DSL modem. The SpeedStream 5200 is a basic, legacy device, distributed during the early 2000s, the SpeedStream 6520 is a wireless-capable, legacy device, distributed during the mid-2000s, The back of the SpeedStream 6520. Four RJ45 ports, one USB port and 802. 11g wireless LAN antenna for connectivity can be seen, the 2Wire 2701HG-G is Bells current device for standard DSL customers, distributed since 2009
23.
Vmedia
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VMedia Telecom Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company and broadcast distribution provider. VMedia officially launched on March 26,2013, following the launch of its IPTV television service in Ontario, the company announced in 2016 that its intention is to expand service to Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia in the future. On May 31,2016, VMedia formally launched IPTV service in parts of Quebec, vMedias IPTV service is a traditional subscription television service bundled with over-the-top content delivered through a proprietary Android-based set-top box branded as VBox. On September 16,2016, VMedia launched an over-the-top skinny basic television service available via an app for Roku digital media players, the service offers 20 channels, including major Canadian and U. S. broadcast networks and channels, and all in high definition. Unlike the main service, this version does not require VMedia internet. VMedia offers VoIP telephone service in two tiers, unlimited Canadian long distance or unlimited World long distance, in September 2016, Bell Media issued a cease and desist order to Vmedia over its Roku-based IPTV service, demanding the removal of all of its networks. Vmedia argued that its permission to redistribute these stations fell under its CRTC licensing as a television provider. However, he warned that VMedia may not be able to afford litigation on the matter. Were trying to find our way to profitability, pending the result of the lawsuit, VMedia removed CTV and CTV Two from the service
24.
Streaming media
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Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider. A client end-user can use their player to begin to play the data file before the entire file has been transmitted. For example, in the 1930s, elevator music was among the earliest popularly available streaming media, the term streaming media can apply to media other than video and audio such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are all considered streaming text. As of 2017, streaming is generally taken to refer to cases where a user watches digital video content or listens to audio content on a computer screen. With streaming content, the user does not have to download the digital video or digital audio file before they start to watch/listen to it. There are challenges with streaming content on the Internet, as of 2016, two popular streaming services are the video sharing website YouTube, which contains video and audio files on a huge range of topics and Netflix, which streams movies and TV shows. Live streaming refers to Internet content delivered in real-time, as events happen, Live internet streaming requires a form of source media, an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and deliver the content. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the origination point, in the early 1920s, George O. Attempts to display media on computers date back to the earliest days of computing in the mid-20th century, however, little progress was made for several decades, primarily due to the high cost and limited capabilities of computer hardware. From the late 1980s through the 1990s, consumer-grade personal computers became powerful enough to various media. These technological improvement facilitated the streaming of audio and video content to users in their homes and workplaces. The band Severe Tire Damage was the first group to live on the Internet. On June 24,1993, the band was playing a gig at Xerox PARC while elsewhere in the building, as proof of PARCs technology, the bands performance was broadcast and could be seen live in Australia and elsewhere. Microsoft Research developed a Microsoft TV application which was compiled under MS Windows Studio Suite, realNetworks was also a pioneer in the streaming media markets, when it broadcast a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners over the Internet in 1995. The first symphonic concert on the Internet took place at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, the concert was a collaboration between The Seattle Symphony and various guest musicians such as Slash, Matt Cameron, and Barrett Martin. When Word Magazine launched in 1995, they featured the first-ever streaming soundtracks on the Internet.4 in 1999, in June 1999 Apple also introduced a streaming media format in its QuickTime 4 application. It was later widely adopted on websites along with RealPlayer. In 2000 Industryview. com launched its worlds largest streaming video archive website to help promote themselves
25.
Sling TV
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Sling TV is an American over-the-top internet television service that is owned by Dish Network. Sling TV is led by CEO Roger Lynch, who served as the executive vice president of advanced technologies for Dish Network. The services precursor, the television service DishWorld, was also brought under the auspices of Sling TV LLC and was rebranded as Sling International. Sling TV officially launched on February 9,2015, after offering the service on a basis in January of that year. As of March 2017, the service has approximately 1.18 million subscribers. In November 2014, Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen explained that the company planned to launch its OTT service by the end of the year and he explained, the regular linear MVPD business is a mature business. You cant just go back every day and say Im going to raise my rates to make my budget and you have to figure out other revenue streams and get other people to pay for your product and watch more minutes of your product. Dish did not provide any details on when the service would be launched. Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch explained that the service was designed to target the viewing habits of the 18–35 demographic and we would have ended up with $60 or $70 bundles. We dont think that is the way to reach that demographic and we spent a lot of time working with programmers to make sure we had smaller bundles, lower costs and more flexibility. He also noted the importance of reaching a deal to include ESPN in the service, after an invitation-only beta, Sling TV officially launched on February 9,2015. That same day, Sling announced a deal with AMC Networks, allowing networks such as AMC, IFC, BBC America. On February 16,2015, Sling TV announced an agreement to all four channels of Epix as a premium channel option to its customers. The premium channel was added to its service on April 9,2015, Sling TV debuted Sling Latino on June 4,2015. The service features two Spanish-language packages, Paquete Total and Paquete Esencial, customers can purchase two additional add-on packs, Colombia and España. This service does not require the purchase of the Best of Live TV package, in November 2015, the Blockbuster On Demand service by Blockbuster LLC was shut down and all customers were redirected to Sling. Sling TV began offering a Multi-Stream package on April 13,2016 that includes the FOX family of networks and this was attained by dropping ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, and Freeform. Sling TV added FS2, FXX, Nat Geo Wild and Viacom Media Networks channels to the Multi-Stream package, Sling restructured their channel offerings on June 30,2016, creating the Sling Orange single-stream and Sling Blue multi-stream packages
26.
PlayStation Vue
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PlayStation Vue is an over-the-top internet television service that is owned and operated by Sony. As of March 2017, the service had approximately 400,000 subscribers, PlayStation Vue is available only in the United States. The service was rolled out in 2015 to residents in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, PlayStation Vue was launched across the United States on March 14,2016. Sony introduced Vue into 203 new markets, on October 27,2016, Sony announced that Playstation Vue would be available on Android TV. PC and Mac support was announced as coming soon. PC and Mac support became available in early November 2016, on November 17,2016, the service was launched on Apple TV. Initial activation Initial activation of PlayStation Vue and required profile creation can only be performed with a supported, TV-connected device with Internet access, activation and required profile creation with mobile or Chromecast is not supported. Roku activation As of October 2016, some users were complaining of Roku activation problems, mobile restrictions Some PlayStation Vue live content and Cloud DVR recordings of My Shows are mobile restricted. Program guide For those not satisfied with the PlayStation Vue user interface, particularly on Roku devices, Replay Replay and playback positioning work poorly in Roku devices as of November 2016. Amazon Fire TV devices may be an alternative to Roku. Sony has announced agreements with major content producers, including ABC, CBS, Disney, ESPN, Fox, NBC Universal, AMC Networks, Turner Broadcasting System, Home Box Office/Cinemax. On September 30,2016, a package was created. PlayStation Vue features four packages, In addition, users can also access programming from more than 60 networks TV Everywhere apps or websites, PlayStation Vue restrictions limit simultaneous streams to five devices. A single PlayStation Vue account can simultaneously stream PlayStation Vue on up to one PS4 console, additionally, Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, iOS, and Android devices can be used for additional streams, with up to five total devices supported at once. Packages are billed on a basis and are allowed to be canceled at any time. No contract is required and a free trial is offered to any who would normally be able to access the service who have not previously redeemed a trial. The monthly rate is charged to the credit card if the service is not canceled before the end of the trial period. Currently, Univision has its own Over-the-Top service known as Univision Now, on November 8,2016, PlayStation Vue announced that it was dropping all Viacom networks from the service effective November 11,2016
27.
Television network
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Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early television networks evolved from earlier radio networks, such networks are commonly referred to by terms such as specialty channels in Canada or cable networks in the U. S. A network may or may not produce all of its own programming, if not, production companies can distribute their content to the various networks, and it is common that a certain production firm may have programs that air on two or more rival networks. Similarly, some networks may import television programs from other countries, some stations have the capability to interrupt the network through the local insertion of television commercials, station identifications and emergency alerts. Others completely break away from the network for their own programming and this is common where small networks are members of larger networks. The majority of television stations are self-owned, even though a variety of these instances are the property of an owned-and-operated television network. The commercial television stations can also be linked with an educational broadcasting agency. It is also important to note that some countries have launched national television networks, on the other hand, television networks also undergo the impending experience of major changes related to cultural varieties. The emergence of television has made available in major media markets. Such a diverse captive audience presents an occasion for the networks and this is explained by author Tim P. Vos notes that policymakers did not expressly intend to create a broadcast order dominated by commercial networks. In fact, legislative attempts were made to limit the networks preferred position, as to individual stations, modern network operations centers usually use broadcast automation to handle most tasks. A major international network is the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is perhaps most well known for its news agency BBC News. Owned by the Crown, the BBC operates primarily in the United Kingdom and it is funded by the television licence paid by British residents that watch terrestrial television and as a result, no commercial advertising appears on its networks. Outside of the UK, advertising is broadcast because the licence fee applies to the BBCs British operations. 23,000 people worldwide are employed by the BBC and its subsidiary, other networks are dedicated to specialized programming, such as religious content or programs presented in languages other than English, particularly Spanish. The largest television network in the United States, however, is the Public Broadcasting Service, some public television outlets, such as PBS, carry separate digital subchannel networks through their member stations. This works as each network sends its signal to many local affiliated stations across the country. These local stations then carry the feed, which can be viewed by millions of households across the country
28.
Midtown Atlanta
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Midtown is the second largest business district in the city of Atlanta, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown to the south and Buckhead to the north. In 2011, Greater Midtown has a 2011 resident population of 41,681, a population of 81,418. The district attracts about six million visitors annually, Midtown is marked by its cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, noteworthy architecture, and urban layout. Midtown has also been an area for high-density development in the city in the first decade of the 2000s due to the districts mass transit options. The definition and meaning of Midtown has varied over time, expanding from a concept of a small neighborhood midway between Downtown and Buckhead. Boundary definitions vary by the source, in many cases, Midtown is a quasi-legal entity for zoning, law enforcement, and taxi purposes. The Midtown Alliance defines a larger, Greater Midtown area of four square miles. This includes the area within the definition, but splitting it into the sub-areas Midtown Core and Midtown Garden District. It also includes the neighborhoods of Ansley Park, Sherwood Forest, Atlantic Station, Home Park, the area has gone by other names in the past. An 1897 source refers to the area as North Atlanta, which would later be the name of city of Brookhaven. The 1897 North Atlanta encompassed most of todays Midtown, Georgia Tech, sources from the 1950s and early 1960s refer to the area as Uptown Atlanta, a moniker which would later be applied instead to Buckhead following its annexation. The southern half of Midtown between 8th Street and North Ave was originally purchased by Richard Peters in 1848 to use the pine forest there for fuel for his flour mill. Over the next 40 years, Peters slowly subdivided sections of land lots off for a gridded residential area. His son, Edward, built his home on the bounded by North Avenue, Piedmont Avenue, Ponce de Leon Avenue. The home, now called Ivy Hall, was restored by the Savannah College of Art & Design in 2008 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the Civil War, Peachtree between what is now 8th and 12th streets was still about a mile beyond the city limits, after the American Civil War a shantytown named Tight Squeeze developed at Peachtree at what is now 10th Street. It was infamous for vagrancy, desperation, robberies of merchants transiting the settlement, as Atlanta grew ever further outwards from its historic center, mansions were constructed along Peachtree Street and the area around 10th was known as Blooming Hill. Cross streets were built and residential development began around 1880, Piedmont Park was established with the Piedmont Exposition of 1887, followed by the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895, lending the area new prominence
29.
Atlanta, Georgia
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs
30.
Golden age (metaphor)
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A golden age is a period in a field of endeavor when great tasks were accomplished. The term originated from early Greek and Roman poets, who used it to refer to a time when lived in a better time and was pure. The ancient Greek philosopher Hesiod introduced the term in his Works and Days, when referring to the period when the Golden Race of man lived. This was part of division of Ages of Man, starting with the Golden age, then the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of Heroes, and finally. The concept was refined by Ovid, in his Metamorphoses. The Golden age as described by Hesiod was an age where all humans were created directly by the Olympian gods and they did not have women in their ranks, and could not reproduce. They lived long lives in peace and harmony, and were oblivious of death, the Golden race were however mortals, but would die peacefully and in their sleep unmarked by sickness and age. Ovid emphasizes the justice and peace that defined the Golden Age and he described it as a time before man learned the art of navigation, and as a pre-agricultural society. The idea of a Golden age lingered in literature and historical understanding throughout the Greek and it was partly replaced by the Christian Six Ages of the World based on the biblical chronology in the early Middle Ages. The term Golden age has always had a metaphoric element, a few centuries after Hesiod, Plato pointed out that the Golden race were not made from gold as such, but that the term should be understood metaphorically. The classical idea of the ages as actual historical periods held sway throughout the Greek. While supplemented by St. However, already in the 16th century, still, Rousseau used the term for a loosely defined historical period characterized by the State of nature as late as the during the late 18th century. It is sometimes employed for the hunter-gatherer tribal societies of the Mesolithic. A societys Golden Age marks that period in its history having an output of art, science, literature. Ancient Egypt experienced several Golden Ages including the Fourth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, athenian Golden Age presided by Pericles Golden age of Latin literature, the period in Latin literature between Cicero and Ovid. Golden Age of Bulgaria, the reign of Emperor Simeon I the Great, Golden age of Kiev, 10th century China has had multiple golden ages, with the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming all considered golden ages in Chinese history. The Chinese Golden Age is used to refer to the period of the Tang and Song Dynasties from 618 to 1279, Golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula period between 900 and 1100. Sometimes categorized as part of the larger Islamic Golden Age, because of the events timeframe & geography, Golden age of Christian Monasticism, 8th-12th centuries, its peak being 11th century to early-mid 12th century
31.
Feature film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides
32.
Turner Entertainment
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Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is a media company founded by Ted Turner. Purchased by Time Warner, along with Turner Broadcasting System, the company was responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution. In recent years, this role has largely been limited to being the copyright holder, on March 25,1986, Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting System purchased MGM from Kirk Kerkorian for $600 million, and renamed it MGM Entertainment Company, Inc. However, due to concerns in the community over the debt-load of his companies, on August 26,1986. However, Turner kept MGMs film, television and cartoon library as well as a portion of the United Artists library, forming Turner Entertainment Company. The library also included the pre-1950 Warner Bros, in December 1987, Turner acquired the worldwide rights through license, to 800 RKO films from its then-parent company Wesray Capital Corporation. On October 3,1988, Turner Broadcasting launched the TNT network, in doing so, Turner has played a major part in film preservation and restoration. On November 29,1989, Turner made another attempt to buy MGM/UA, but the deal failed, in 1991, Turner purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions, most of the pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions library, and Man from Atlantis from Great American Broadcasting. Shortly after Turner Broadcasting launched Cartoon Network, and later Boomerang, in 1993, Turner purchased Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema. and as a result, Turner now largely serves merely as a copyright holder for a portion of the Warner Bros. library. Hanna-Barberas current purpose as the only unit of Warner Bros. Animation is to serve as the holder for its creations such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear while Time Warners divisions handle sales. Turner also had a distribution sales unit, Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution. Turner Pictures folded into Warner Bros. after the Turner-Time Warner merger, the Pagemaster and Cats Dont Dance were produced under Turner Feature Animation, Turners animation unit headed by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. Spun off from the division of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Turner Feature Animation was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which was merged into Warner Bros. In 2003, Telepictures Distribution was folded into Warner Bros, television Distribution which meant Telepictures took over all series that were first run and distributed by TD. In the first decade of its existence, Turner released most of its own catalogue on home video through Turner Home Entertainment, THE released films produced by Turner Pictures on home video with their distributors and independently released the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library on home video. From early 1995 to early 1997, THE also distributed home video releases from New Line Home Video, NLHE distributed New Line films on video by itself from 1997 until the Warner Bros. /New Line Cinema merger in 2008
33.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
34.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
35.
Film studio
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The majority of firms in the entertainment industry have never owned their own studios, but have rented space from other companies. The largest film studio in the world is Hengdian World Studios, in Zhejiang and he distributed these movies at vaudeville theaters, penny arcades, wax museums, and fairgrounds. The pioneering Thanhouser film studio was founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by American theatrical impresario Edwin Thanhouser, the company produced and released 1,086 films between 1910 and 1917, successfully distributing them around the world. The first film ever, Million Dollar Mystery, was released by the Thanhouser company in 1914. In the early 1900s, companies started moving to Los Angeles, although electric lights were by then widely available, none were yet powerful enough to adequately expose film, the best source of illumination for motion picture production was natural sunlight. Some movies were shot on the roofs of buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, early movie producers also relocated to Southern California to escape Edisons Motion Picture Patents Company, which controlled almost all the patents relevant to movie production at the time. The first movie studio in the Hollywood area was Nestor Studios, in the same year, another 15 independents settled in Hollywood. Other production companies eventually settled in the Los Angeles area in such as Culver City, Burbank. Five large companies, 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, smaller studios operated simultaneously with the majors. Together with smaller outfits such as PRC TKO and Grand National, the Big Fives ownership of movie theaters was eventually opposed by eight independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, and Walter Wanger. In 1948, the government won a case against Paramount in the Supreme Court. This decision, reached after years of litigation, hastened the end of the studio system. By the 1950s, the components of a typical major film studio had become standardized. Movement in and out of the studio is normally limited to specific gates, Studio premises generally feature multiple sound stages along with an outside backlot, as well as offices for studio executives and production companies. There is normally a studio commissary, which is the term in the film industry for what other industries call a company cafeteria. With the growing diversification of studios into such fields as video games, television, theme parks, home video and publishing, instead the studios transformed into financing and distribution entities for the films made by their affiliated production companies. With the decreasing cost of CG and visual effects, many studios sold large chunks of their once massive studio spaces or backlots to private real-estate developers. Century City in Los Angeles was once part of the 20th Century Fox backlot, in most cases portions of the backlots were retained and are available for rental by various film and television productions
36.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
37.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
38.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
39.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
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Latin America
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Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Americas where Romance languages are predominant. It is therefore broader than the terms Ibero-America or Hispanic America—though it usually excludes French Canada and it has an area of approximately 19,197,000 km2, almost 13% of the Earths land surface area. As of 2015, its population was estimated at more than 626 million and in 2014, Latin America had a combined nominal GDP of 5,573,397 million USD and a GDP PPP of 7,531,585 million USD. The term Latin America was first used in 1861 in La revue des races Latines, a further investigation of the concept of Latin America is by Michel Gobat in the American Historical Review. The term was first used in Paris in an 1856 conference by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao and this term was also used in 1861 by French scholars in La revue des races Latines, a magazine dedicated to the Pan-Latinism movement. Latin America is, therefore, defined as all parts of the Americas that were once part of the Spanish. By this definition, Latin America is coterminous with Ibero-America and this definition emphasizes a similar socioeconomic history of the region, which was characterized by formal or informal colonialism, rather than cultural aspects. As such, some sources avoid this oversimplification by using the phrase Latin America, the distinction between Latin America and Anglo-America is a convention based on the predominant languages in the Americas by which Romance-language and English-speaking cultures are distinguished. Latin America can be subdivided into several subregions based on geography, politics, demographics and it may be subdivided on linguistic grounds into Hispanic America, Portuguese America and French America. *, Not a sovereign state The concept of Latin America has been criticized by a number of intellectuals, the earliest known settlement was identified at Monte Verde, near Puerto Montt in Southern Chile. Its occupation dates to some 14,000 years ago and there is disputed evidence of even earlier occupation. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the continents, by the first millennium CE, South Americas vast rainforests, mountains, plains and coasts were the home of tens of millions of people. Some groups formed more permanent settlements such as the Chibcha and the Tairona groups and these groups are in the circum Caribbean region. The Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas and Aymaras of Bolivia, the region was home to many indigenous peoples and advanced civilizations, including the Aztecs, Toltecs, Maya, and Inca. The Aztec empire was ultimately the most powerful civilization known throughout the Americas, with the arrival of the Europeans following Christopher Columbus voyages, the indigenous elites, such as the Incas and Aztecs, lost power to the heavy European invasion. Hernándo Cortés seized the Aztec elites power with the help of local groups who had favored the Aztec elite, epidemics of diseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox and measles, wiped out a large portion of the indigenous population. Historians cannot determine the number of natives who died due to European diseases, due to the lack of written records, specific numbers are hard to verify. Many of the survivors were forced to work in European plantations, intermixing between the indigenous peoples and the European colonists was very common, and, by the end of the colonial period, people of mixed ancestry formed majorities in several colonies
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France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
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Nordic countries
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The Nordic countries or Nordics are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, where they are most commonly known as Norden. They consist of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the population of the Nordic countries are mainly Scandinavian or Finnish, with Greenlandic Inuit and the Sami people as minorities. Of todays native languages, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, the non-Germanic languages spoken are Finnish, Greenlandic and several Sami languages. The main religion is Lutheran Christianity, the Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, their use of Scandinavian languages and social structure. Politically, Nordic countries do not form an entity. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries, Scandinavian Peninsula on the other hand covers mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northernmost part of Finland. At 3,425,804 square kilometers, the area of the Nordic countries would form the 7th-largest country in the world. Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of area, mostly in Greenland. In January 2013, the region had a population of around 26 million people, the Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The North Germanic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible and these languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries. Swedish, for example, is a subject in Finnish schools. Danish is mandatory in Faroese and Greenlandic schools, as these states are a part of the Danish Realm. Iceland also teaches Danish, since Iceland too was a part of the Danish Realm until 1918, there is a high degree of income redistribution and little social unrest. The Nordic countries consists of historical territories of the Scandinavian countries, areas that share a common history and it is meant unambiguously to refer to this larger group, since the term Scandinavia is narrower and sometimes ambiguous. The Nordic countries are considered to unambiguously refer to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the Scandinavian languages, unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning northern dweller, especially outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is often used incorrectly as a synonym for the Nordic countries
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Middle East
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The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the noun is Middle-Easterner. The term has come into usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azeris constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population. Indigenous minorities of the Middle East include Jews, Assyrians and other Arameans, Baloch, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Lurs, Mandaeans, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, in the Middle East, there is also a Romani community. European ethnic groups form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Franco-Levantines. Among other migrant populations are Bengalis as well as other Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Indonesians, Pakistanis, the history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Most of the countries border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of crude oil. The term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, however, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. Mahan first used the term in his article The Persian Gulf and International Relations, published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal. The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar, it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The Middle Eastern Question, written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India. After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term, in the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in Cairo, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe, the description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Turkestan. The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, the Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous
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