139-551: The original phase of Viacom Inc. (derived from "Video & Audio Communications") was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City . It began as CBS Television Film Sales , the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom
278-430: A soft cover . Magazines fall into two broad categories: consumer magazines and business magazines. In practice, magazines are a subset of periodicals , distinct from those periodicals produced by scientific, artistic, academic or special interest publishers which are subscription-only, more expensive, narrowly limited in circulation, and often have little or no advertising. Magazines can be classified as: A newspaper
417-488: A book resembling a photo album. The first collection of records to be called an "album" was Tchaikovsky 's Nutcracker Suite , release in April 1909 as a four-disc set by Odeon Records . It retailed for 16 shillings —about £ 15 in modern currency. A music video (also promo) is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song . Modern music videos were primarily made and used as
556-438: A catchall phrase that encompasses the aforementioned along with any game made for any other device, including, but not limited to, advanced calculators, mobile phones, PDAs , etc. Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanical re-creation or amplification of sound , often as music . This involves the use of audio equipment such as microphones, recording devices and loudspeakers. From early beginnings with
695-572: A city with zoning that flooded." On May 16, 2024, a strong derecho caused widespread damage across the city and surrounding metropolitan area. Houston is 165 miles (266 km) east of Austin , 88 miles (142 km) west of the Louisiana border, and 250 miles (400 km) south of Dallas . The city has a total area of 637.4 square miles (1,651 km ); this comprises over 599.59 square miles (1,552.9 km ) of land and 22.3 square miles (58 km ) covered by water. Most of Houston
834-553: A commercial center, forming a symbiosis with its Gulf Coast port, Galveston. Landlocked farmers brought their produce to Houston, using Buffalo Bayou to gain access to Galveston and the Gulf of Mexico. Houston merchants profited from selling staples to farmers and shipping the farmers' produce to Galveston. The great majority of enslaved people in Texas came with their owners from the older slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through
973-649: A day of groundwater. Houston has four major bayous passing through the city that accept water from the extensive drainage system. Buffalo Bayou runs through Downtown and the Houston Ship Channel , and has three tributaries: White Oak Bayou, which runs through the Houston Heights community northwest of Downtown and then towards Downtown; Brays Bayou , which runs along the Texas Medical Center; and Sims Bayou , which runs through
1112-492: A device used to access a mass medium (the Internet). Video games may also be evolving into a mass medium. Video games (for example, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as RuneScape ) provide a common gaming experience to millions of users across the globe and convey the same messages and ideologies to all their users. Users sometimes share the experience with one another by playing online. Excluding
1251-515: A floodplain, a flowing flood-water stream termed a floodway runs through the development area, a most dangerous place to encounter during any future flooding event. Harris County , like other more rural counties, cannot direct developers where to build or not build via land use controls such as a zoning ordinance by Texas law, and instead can only impose general floodplain regulations for enforcement during subdivision approvals and building permit approvals. The 2020 U.S. census determined Houston had
1390-611: A large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse metropolitan area in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major city in the U.S. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, such as the Houston Museum District and the Houston Theater District . Present-day Houston sits on land that was once occupied by the Karankawa and
1529-684: A marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when Music Television 's format was based on them. In the 1980s, the term "rock video" was often used to describe this form of entertainment, although the term has fallen into disuse. Music videos can accommodate all styles of filmmaking, including animation , live-action films, documentaries , and non-narrative, abstract film . The Internet (also known simply as "the Net" or less precisely as "the Web")
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#17327837568201668-424: A more powerful media than either TV or the internet, starting with mobile being permanently carried and always connected. Mobile has the best audience accuracy and is the only mass media with a built-in payment channel available to every user without any credit cards or PayPal accounts or even an age limit. Mobile is often called the 7th Mass Medium and either the fourth screen (if counting cinema, TV and PC screens) or
1807-441: A mortgage were $ 1,646, and $ 536 without a mortgage. Houston's median gross rent from 2015 to 2019 was $ 1,041. The median household income in 2019 was $ 52,338 and 20.1% of Houstonians lived at or below the poverty line . Houston is a majority-minority city. The Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research, a think tank , has described Greater Houston as "one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse metropolitan areas in
1946-457: A newspaper, or watching the 10 o'clock news, people can log onto the internet to get the news they want, when they want it. For example, many workers listen to the radio through the Internet while sitting at their desk. Even the education system relies on the Internet. Teachers can contact the entire class by sending one e-mail. They may have web pages on which students can get another copy of
2085-612: A number of technologies combined to produce podcasting . Podcasting is an asynchronous broadcast/narrowcast medium. Adam Curry and his associates, the Podshow , are principal proponents of podcasting. The term ' film ' encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also called film stock ), historically the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms for film exist, such as motion pictures (or just pictures and "picture"),
2224-462: A particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images and other graphics, and links to other blogs, web pages, and related media. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog) and audio (podcasting), are part of
2363-454: A population of 2,304,580. In 2017, the census-estimated population was 2,312,717, and in 2018 it was 2,325,502. An estimated 600,000 undocumented immigrants resided in the Houston area in 2017, comprising nearly 9% of the city's metropolitan population. At the 2010 United States census , Houston had a population of 2,100,263 residents, up from the city's 2,396 at the 1850 census . Per
2502-595: A population of 2,314,157 in 2023, Houston is the fourth-most populous city in the United States after New York City , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and the sixth-most populous city in North America . Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle . Comprising a land area of 640.4 square miles (1,659 km ), Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in
2641-482: A shelter to more than 150,000 people from New Orleans, who evacuated from Hurricane Katrina . One month later, about 2.5 million Houston-area residents evacuated when Hurricane Rita approached the Gulf Coast , leaving little damage to the Houston area. This was the largest urban evacuation in the history of the United States. In May 2015, seven people died after 12 inches of rain fell in 10 hours during what
2780-481: A sister company headed by Freston under the Viacom name. The split was approved by Viacom's board on June 14, 2005, and took effect on December 31. The second iterations of CBS Corporation and Viacom began trading on January 3, 2006. On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their re-merger deal ; the combined company would be called ViacomCBS, with Bob Bakish as president and CEO and Shari Redstone as
2919-461: A theme, which can be exampled with The Wall Street Journal as they offer news on finance and business related-topics. The first printed newspaper was published in 1605, and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as radio and television. Recent developments on the Internet are posing major threats to its business model, however. Paid circulation is declining in most countries, and advertising revenue, which makes up
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#17327837568203058-463: A wider network of social media. Microblogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts. RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired , news-oriented community sites like Slashdot , and personal blogs. It is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts. An RSS document (which
3197-486: A worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the original language. A video game is a computer-controlled game in which a video display, such as a monitor or television set, is the primary feedback device. The term "computer game" also includes games which display only text or which use other methods, such as sound or vibration, as their primary feedback device. There always must also be some sort of input device , usually in
3336-436: Is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint . It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly. The most important function of newspapers is to inform the public of significant events. Local newspapers inform local communities and include advertisements from local businesses and services, while national newspapers tend to focus on
3475-490: Is a more interactive medium of mass media, and can be briefly described as "a network of networks". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business and governmental networks, which together carry various information and services, such as email , online chat , file transfer, and
3614-506: Is accessible through the Internet, along with many other services including e-mail, file sharing and others described below. Toward the end of the 20th century, the advent of the World Wide Web marked the first era in which most individuals could have a means of exposure on a scale comparable to that of mass media. Anyone with a web site has the potential to address a global audience, although serving to high levels of web traffic
3753-593: Is also home to buildings designed by noted architects I. M. Pei , César Pelli , and Philip Johnson. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a mini-boom of midrise and highrise residential tower construction occurred, with several over 30 stories tall. Since 2000 over 30 skyscrapers have been developed in Houston; all told, 72 high-rises tower over the city, which adds up to about 8,300 units. In 2002, Uptown had more than 23 million square feet (2,100,000 m ) of office space with 16 million square feet (1,500,000 m ) of class A office space . Houston's climate
3892-494: Is called a "feed" or "web feed" or "channel") contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays. A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to
4031-628: Is classified as humid subtropical ( Cfa in the Köppen climate classification system ), typical of the Southern United States . While not in Tornado Alley , like much of Northern Texas , spring supercell thunderstorms sometimes bring tornadoes to the area. Prevailing winds are from the south and southeast during most of the year, which bring heat and tropical moisture from the nearby Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay. During
4170-516: Is known as the Memorial Day Flood. Eight people died in April 2016 during a storm that dropped 17 inches of rain. The worst came in late August 2017, when Hurricane Harvey stalled over southeastern Texas, much like Tropical Storm Allison did sixteen years earlier, causing severe flooding in the Houston area, with some areas receiving over 50 inches (1,300 mm) of rain. The rainfall exceeded 50 inches in several areas locally, breaking
4309-403: Is not seen because of an effect known as persistence of vision , whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion: a psychological effect identified as beta movement . Film has emerged as an important art form. They entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. Any film can become
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4448-507: Is on the gulf coastal plain , and its vegetation is classified as Western Gulf coastal grasslands while further north, it transitions into a subtropical jungle, the Big Thicket . Much of the city was built on forested land, marshes, or swamps, and all are still visible in surrounding areas. Flat terrain and extensive greenfield development have combined to worsen flooding. Downtown stands about 50 feet (15 m) above sea level, and
4587-433: Is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for " mainstream media ". Mainstream media are distinguished from alternative media by their content and point of view. Alternative media are also "mass media" outlets in the sense that they use technology capable of reaching many people, even if the audience is often smaller than the mainstream. In common usage, the term "mass" denotes not that a given number of individuals receives
4726-836: Is sometimes misunderstood in this way. It can be used for various purposes: Journalism is the discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting information regarding current events , trends , issues and people. Those who practice journalism are known as journalists . News -oriented journalism is sometimes described as the "first rough draft of history" (attributed to Phil Graham ), because journalists often record important events, producing news articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with their stories, news media organisations usually edit and proofread their reports prior to publication, adhering to each organisation's standards of accuracy, quality and style. Many news organisation claim proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions accountable to
4865-422: Is still relatively expensive. It is possible that the rise of peer-to-peer technologies may have begun the process of making the cost of bandwidth manageable. Although a vast amount of information, imagery, and commentary (i.e. "content") has been made available, it is often difficult to determine the authenticity and reliability of information contained in web pages (in many cases, self-published). The invention of
5004-606: Is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States . Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico , it is the seat of Harris County ; as well as the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth . With
5143-533: Is the 64-floor, 901-foot (275 m)-tall, Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed landmark Williams Tower (known as the Transco Tower until 1999). At the time of construction, it was believed to be the world's tallest skyscraper outside a central business district. The new 20-story Skanska building and BBVA Compass Plaza are the newest office buildings built in Uptown after 30 years. The Uptown District
5282-488: Is the largest city in the United States without formal zoning regulations, it has developed similarly to other Sun Belt cities because the city's land use regulations and legal covenants have played a similar role. Regulations include mandatory lot size for single-family houses and requirements that parking be available to tenants and customers. In 1998, Houston relaxed its mandatory lot sizes from 5,000 square feet to 3,500 square feet, which spurred housing construction in
5421-631: Is the only metropolitan area with less than ten million citizens where such a CO 2 dome can be detected by satellites. Because of Houston's wet season and proximity to the Gulf Coast , the city is prone to flooding from heavy rains; the most notable flooding events include Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, along with most recent Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019 and Tropical Storm Beta in 2020. In response to Hurricane Harvey, Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston initiated plans to require developers to build homes that will be less susceptible to flooding by raising them two feet above
5560-418: Is the tallest structure in Texas, 19th tallest building in the United States, and was previously 85th-tallest skyscraper in the world, based on highest architectural feature. In 1983, the 71-floor, 992-foot (302 m)-tall Wells Fargo Plaza (formerly Allied Bank Plaza) was completed, becoming the second-tallest building in Houston and Texas. Based on highest architectural feature, it is the 21st-tallest in
5699-515: Is ubiquitous in Houston; in 1981, annual spending on electricity for interior cooling exceeded $ 600 million (equivalent to $ 2.01 billion in 2023), and by the late 1990s, approximately 90% of Houston homes featured air conditioning systems. The record highest temperature recorded in Houston is 109 °F (43 °C) at Bush Intercontinental Airport, on four occasions: September 4, 2000; August 27, 2011; and August 24 and August 27, 2023. Houston has mild winters, with occasional cold spells. In January,
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5838-405: The 500-year floodplain . Hurricane Harvey damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and dumped trillions of gallons of water into the city. In places this led to feet of standing water that blocked streets and flooded homes. The Houston City Council passed this regulation in 2018 with a vote of 9–7. Had these floodplain development rules had been in place all along, it is estimated that 84% of homes in
5977-479: The American Lung Association rating the metropolitan area's ozone level twelfth on the "Most Polluted Cities by Ozone" in 2017, after major cities such as Los Angeles , Phoenix , New York City , and Denver . The industries along the ship channel are a major cause of the city's air pollution. The rankings are in terms of peak-based standards, focusing strictly on the worst days of the year;
6116-701: The Atakapa indigenous peoples for at least 2,000 years before the first known settlers arrived. These tribes are almost nonexistent today; this was most likely caused by foreign disease, and competition with various settler groups in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the land then remained largely uninhabited from the late 1700s until settlement in the 1830s. The Allen brothers— Augustus Chapman and John Kirby —explored town sites on Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay . According to historian David McComb, "[T]he brothers, on August 26, 1836, bought from Elizabeth E. Parrott, wife of T.F.L. Parrott and widow of John Austin,
6255-545: The Battle of Galveston . After the Civil War, Houston businessmen initiated efforts to widen the city's extensive system of bayous so the city could accept more commerce between Downtown and the nearby port of Galveston. By 1890, Houston was the railroad center of Texas. In 1900, after Galveston was struck by a devastating hurricane , efforts to make Houston into a viable deep-water port were accelerated. The following year,
6394-547: The Blockbuster Video chain in 1994. The acquisition of Paramount Communications on July 7, 1994, made Viacom one of the world's largest entertainment companies. Also in 1993, WTXX entered into a part-time local marketing agreement with Viacom's NBC station WVIT . The Paramount and Blockbuster acquisitions gave Viacom access to large television holdings: An archive of programming controlled by Aaron Spelling 's company which included, along with his own productions ,
6533-646: The Dayton , San Francisco , Nashville and Seattle metropolitan areas. Several of these were originally independent systems that CBS acquired in the 1960s. The division was known as Viacom Cablevision until the early 1990s, when it was renamed to Viacom Cable . By 1995, Viacom Cable had about 1.1 million subscribers. Viacom sold the division to TCI in 1995. Viacom's cable assets are now part of Comcast . In March 2005, Viacom announced that it would split into two companies – one would contain Viacom's "slow-growth" assets;
6672-564: The Houston Dynamo soccer team was formed. In 2017 , the Houston Astros won their first World Series . Flooding has been a recurring problem in the Houston area. In June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison dumped up to 40 inches (1,000 mm) of rain on parts of Houston, causing what was then the worst flooding in the city's history and billions of dollars in damage, and killed 20 people in Texas. In August 2005, Houston became
6811-726: The Houston Ship Channel , and the Texas oil boom . In the mid-20th century, Houston's economy diversified, as it became home to the Texas Medical Center —the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA 's Johnson Space Center , home to the Mission Control Center . Since the late 19th century, Houston's economy has had a broad industrial base in energy , manufacturing , aeronautics, and transportation . Leading in healthcare sectors and building oilfield equipment, Houston has
6950-538: The Interstate 610 loop . The "Inner Loop" encompasses a 97-square-mile (250 km ) area which includes Downtown, pre–World War II residential neighborhoods and streetcar suburbs , and newer high-density apartment and townhouse developments. Outside the loop, the city's typology is more suburban , though many major business districts—such as Uptown , Westchase , and the Energy Corridor —lie well outside
7089-482: The capital of the Texas Republic in the late 1830s, Houston grew steadily into a regional trading center for the remainder of the 19th century. The 20th century brought a convergence of economic factors that fueled rapid growth in Houston, including a burgeoning port and railroad industry, the decline of Galveston as Texas's primary port following a devastating 1900 hurricane , the subsequent construction of
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#17327837568207228-487: The parent company of CBS, the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation , which had been renamed CBS Corporation in 1997. Viacom was split into the second incarnations of CBS Corporation and Viacom — both remained under National Amusements ownership — in 2005; the split was structured with the second CBS Corporation being the original Viacom's legal successor , and the second Viacom being an entirely new company. The two companies eventually re-merged in 2019, leading to
7367-604: The 100-year and 500-year floodplains would have been spared damage. In a recent case testing these regulations, near the Brickhouse Gulley, an old golf course that long served as a floodplain and reservoir for floodwaters, announced a change of heart toward intensifying development. A nationwide developer, Meritage Homes , bought the land and planned to develop the 500-year floodplain into 900 new residential homes. Their plan would bring in $ 360 million in revenue and boost city population and tax revenue. In order to meet
7506-507: The 1960s, Downtown Houston consisted of a collection of mid-rise office structures. Downtown was on the threshold of an energy industry–led boom in 1970. A succession of skyscrapers was built throughout the 1970s—many by real estate developer Gerald D. Hines —culminating with Houston's tallest skyscraper, the 75-floor, 1,002-foot (305 m)-tall JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Commerce Tower), completed in 1982. It
7645-447: The 2019 American Community Survey , Houston's age distribution was 482,402 under 15; 144,196 aged 15 to 19; 594,477 aged 20 to 34; 591,561 aged 35 to 54; 402,804 aged 55 to 74; and 101,357 aged 75 and older. The median age of the city was 33.4. At the 2014-2018 census estimates, Houston's age distribution was 486,083 under 15; 147,710 aged 15 to 19; 603,586 aged 20 to 34; 726,877 aged 35 to 59; and 357,834 aged 60 and older. The median age
7784-703: The 21st century. In 2000, the Houston Astros opened their new baseball stadium, Daikin Park , in downtown adjacent to the old Union Station . The Houston Texans were formed in 2002 as an NFL expansion team, replacing the Houston Oilers , which had left the city in 1996. NRG Stadium opened the same year. In 2003, the Toyota Center opened as the home for the Houston Rockets . In 2005,
7923-410: The Houston area. In 2001, Enron Corporation , a Houston company with $ 100 billion in revenue, became engulfed in an accounting scandal which bankrupted the company in 2001. Healthcare has emerged as a major industry in Houston. The Texas Medical Center is now the largest medical complex in the world and employs over 120,000 people. Three new sports stadiums opened downtown in the first decade of
8062-452: The Internet has also allowed breaking news stories to reach around the globe within minutes. This rapid growth of instantaneous, decentralised communication is often deemed likely to change mass media and its relationship to society. "Cross-media" means the idea of distributing the same message through different media channels. A similar idea is expressed in the news industry as "convergence". Many authors understand cross-media publishing to be
8201-516: The Internet, however, it is questionable whether players of video games are sharing a common experience when they play the game individually. It is possible to discuss in great detail the events of a video game with a friend one has never played with, because the experience is identical to each. The question, then, is whether this is a form of mass communication. Five characteristics of mass communication have been identified by sociologist John Thompson of Cambridge University : The term "mass media"
8340-692: The Master Settlement Agreement between the US and the tobacco industries prohibited the billboard advertising of cigarettes. In a 1994 Chicago-based study, Diana Hackbarth and her colleagues revealed how tobacco- and alcohol-based billboards were concentrated in poor neighbourhoods. In other urban centers, alcohol and tobacco billboards were much more concentrated in African-American neighbourhoods than in white neighbourhoods. Mass media encompasses much more than just news, although it
8479-507: The North ; this resulted in an economic boom and produced a key shift in the city's economy toward the energy sector. The increased production of the expanded shipbuilding industry during World War II spurred Houston's growth, as did the establishment in 1961 of NASA's "Manned Spacecraft Center" (renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973). This was the stimulus for the development of
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#17327837568208618-791: The Redstone family maintained 71-percent voting control of the company through National Amusements' holdings of Viacom's stock. In 2002, Viacom's MTV Networks International bought independently run Dutch music video channel TMF , which at the time was broadcasting in Belgium and the Netherlands . In June 2004, MTVNI bought VIVA Media AG , the German equivalent to MTV. The same month, plans were announced to dispose of Viacom's interest in Blockbuster later that year by means of an exchange offer;
8757-475: The United States (including consolidated city-counties ). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of the city extend into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, bordering other principal communities of Greater Houston such as Sugar Land and The Woodlands . Houston
8896-401: The United States. The majority of rainfall occurs between April and October (the wet season of Southeast Texas), when the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico evaporates extensively over the city. Houston has excessive ozone levels and is routinely ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States. Ground-level ozone, or smog, is Houston's predominant air pollution problem, with
9035-498: The United States. In 2007, Downtown had over 43 million square feet (4,000,000 m ) of office space. Centered on Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road, the Uptown District boomed during the 1970s and early 1980s when a collection of midrise office buildings, hotels, and retail developments appeared along I-610 West. Uptown became one of the most prominent instances of an edge city . The tallest building in Uptown
9174-399: The ability to publish in both print and on the web without manual conversion effort. An increasing number of wireless devices with mutually incompatible data and screen formats make it even more difficult to achieve the objective "create once, publish many". The Internet is quickly becoming the center of mass media. Everything is becoming accessible via the internet. Rather than picking up
9313-514: The activity of making information available for public view. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers. Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books and newspapers . With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet , the scope of publishing has expanded to include websites , blogs and the like. Houston Houston ( / ˈ h juː s t ən / HEW -stən )
9452-441: The average ozone levels in Houston are lower than what is seen in most other areas of the country, as dominant winds ensure clean, marine air from the Gulf. Excessive man-made emissions in the Houston area led to a persistent increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide over the city. Such an increase, often regarded as "CO 2 urban dome", is driven by a combination of strong emissions and stagnant atmospheric conditions. Moreover, Houston
9591-592: The bulk of a newspaper's income, is shifting from print to online; some commentators, nevertheless, point out that historically new media such as radio and television did not entirely supplant existing. The internet has challenged the press as an alternative source of information and opinion but has also provided a new platform for newspaper organisations to reach new audiences. According to the World Trends Report , between 2012 and 2016, print newspaper circulation continued to fall in almost all regions, with
9730-468: The chairwoman of the new company. The deal was closed on December 4. Despite ViacomCBS renaming itself to Paramount Global on February 16, 2022, several Paramount assets retain the Viacom name, such as Viacom International (until inactive) and Viacom18 (the latter of which Paramount holds a minority stake in until sold in 2024). Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and community of license . Notes: Mass media Mass media include
9869-403: The city dramatically. Such restrictions have had mixed results. Though some have blamed the city's low density, urban sprawl , and lack of pedestrian-friendliness on these policies, others have credited the city's land use patterns with providing significant affordable housing, sparing Houston the worst effects of the 2008 real estate crisis . The city issued 42,697 building permits in 2008 and
10008-435: The city have a high risk of localized flooding due to flat topography, ubiquitous low- permeability clay-silt prairie soils, and inadequate infrastructure. During the mid-2010s, Greater Houston experienced consecutive major flood events in 2015 ( "Memorial Day" ), 2016 ( "Tax Day" ), and 2017 ( Hurricane Harvey ). Overall, there have been more casualties and property loss from floods in Houston than in any other locality in
10147-608: The city in addition to Downtown , which include Uptown, the Texas Medical Center , Midtown , Greenway Plaza , Memorial City , the Energy Corridor, Westchase , and Greenspoint . Houston had the fifth-tallest skyline in North America (after New York City, Chicago , Toronto and Miami ) and 36th-tallest in the world in 2015. A seven-mile (11 km) system of tunnels and skywalks links Downtown buildings containing shops and restaurants, enabling pedestrians to avoid summer heat and rain while walking between buildings. In
10286-584: The city's aerospace industry. The Astrodome , nicknamed the " Eighth Wonder of the World ", opened in 1965 as the world's first indoor domed sports stadium. During the late 1970s, Houston had a population boom as people from the Rust Belt states moved to Texas in large numbers. The new residents came for numerous employment opportunities in the petroleum industry, created as a result of the Arab oil embargo . With
10425-419: The city. Land in some areas southeast of Houston is sinking because water has been pumped out of the ground for many years. It may be associated with slip along the faults; however, the slippage is slow and not considered an earthquake, where stationary faults must slip suddenly enough to create seismic waves. These faults also tend to move at a smooth rate in what is termed " fault creep ", which further reduces
10564-517: The class outline or assignments. Some classes have class blogs in which students are required to post weekly, with students graded on their contributions. Blogging , too, has become a pervasive form of media. A blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or interactive media such as images or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order, with most recent posts shown on top. Many blogs provide commentary or news on
10703-461: The company had set up its own division Viacom Pictures, to produce its feature films for television, most notably Showtime . Sumner Redstone , via his theater chain operator National Amusements , acquired a controlling interest in Viacom on June 10, 1987. Redstone made a string of large acquisitions in the early 1990s, announcing plans to merge with Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western ), parent of Paramount Pictures , in 1993, and buying
10842-761: The company purchased WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut , changing its call letters to WVIT . Two years later Viacom added the Sonderling Broadcasting chain, giving it radio stations in New York City , Washington, D.C. , Houston , and San Francisco , and one television station, WAST (now WNYT ) in Albany, New York . In 1983 Viacom purchased KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana , and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York , in separate transactions. This
10981-446: The core cable business and the company would ride herd on diverse enterprises as Viacom's pay-per-view venture, Viewer's Choice, Satellite Direct, Inc. and SMA TV, and handle strategic planning and new business development for Viacom Networks Group, and would develop merchandising, licensing and home video business around the two Viacom subsidiaries it was currently operating, Showtime-The Movie Channel, Inc. and MTV Networks . In 1989,
11120-491: The definition. In the early 2000s, a classification called the "seven mass media" came into use. In order of introduction, they are: Each mass medium has its own content types, creative artists, technicians and business models. For example, the Internet includes blogs , podcasts , web sites and various other technologies built atop the general distribution network. The sixth and seventh media, Internet and mobile phones, are often referred to collectively as digital media ; and
11259-553: The discovery of oil at the Spindletop oil field near Beaumont prompted the development of the Texas petroleum industry. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt approved a $ 1 million improvement project for the Houston Ship Channel. By 1910, the city's population had reached 78,800, almost doubling from a decade before. African Americans formed a large part of the city's population, numbering 23,929 people, which
11398-469: The diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication . Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films , radio , recorded music, or television . Digital media comprises both Internet and mobile mass communication. Internet media comprise such services as email , social media sites, websites , and Internet-based radio and television. Many other mass media outlets have an additional presence on
11537-491: The division was incorporated as Viacom , and spun off on January 1, 1971, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies (the rules were later repealed). Viacom expanded its activities throughout the decade with a launch of a production unit, and later acquired the rights to various features from various studios. In addition to CBS TV series syndication rights, Viacom also held cable systems with 90,000 cable subscribers, at that time
11676-584: The domestic slave trade. New Orleans was the center of this trade in the Deep South, but slave dealers were in Houston. Thousands of enslaved black people lived near the city before the American Civil War . Many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. In 1840, the community established a chamber of commerce, in part to promote shipping and navigation at
11815-537: The erosion of the Rocky Mountains . These sediments consist of a series of sands and clays deposited on decaying organic marine matter, that over time, transformed into oil and natural gas. Beneath the layers of sediment is a water-deposited layer of halite , a rock salt. The porous layers were compressed over time and forced upward. As it pushed upward, the salt dragged surrounding sediments into salt dome formations, often trapping oil and gas that seeped from
11954-837: The exception of Asia and the Pacific , where the dramatic increase in sales in a few select countries has offset falls in historically strong Asian markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea . Most notably, between 2012 and 2016, India 's print circulation grew by 89 per cent. Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside commercial buildings/objects like shops/buses, flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, skywriting, AR advertising. Many commercial advertisers use this form of mass media when advertising in sports stadiums. Tobacco and alcohol manufacturers used billboards and other outdoor media extensively. However, in 1998,
12093-499: The first time that May. The Republic of Texas granted Houston incorporation on June 5, 1837, as James S. Holman became its first mayor. In the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County (now Harris County). In 1839, the Republic of Texas relocated its capital to Austin . The town suffered another setback that year when a yellow fever epidemic claimed about one life for every eight residents, yet it persisted as
12232-412: The form of button/joystick combinations (on arcade games), a keyboard and mouse/ trackball combination (computer games), a controller ( console games), or a combination of any of the above. Also, more esoteric devices have been used for input, e.g., the player's motion. Usually there are rules and goals, but in more open-ended games the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of
12371-460: The formation of ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount Global . Viacom originated on March 16, 1952 — when CBS founded its broadcast syndication division, CBS Television Film Sales . It renamed as CBS Films in October 1958. On December 1, 1967, it again renamed as CBS Enterprises Inc. . On July 6, 1970, it announced that CBS Enterprises would be spun out from its parent company, and the same month
12510-412: The fourth and fifth, radio and TV, as broadcast media . Some argue that video games have developed into a distinct mass form of media. While a telephone is a two-way communication device, mass media communicates to a large group. In addition, the telephone has transformed into a cell phone which is equipped with Internet access. A question arises whether this makes cell phones a mass medium or simply
12649-436: The highest point in far northwest Houston is about 150 feet (46 m) in elevation. The city once relied on groundwater for its needs, but land subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level water sources such as Lake Houston , Lake Conroe , and Lake Livingston . The city owns surface water rights for 1.20 billion U.S. gallons (4.5 Gl) of water a day in addition to 150 million U.S. gallons (570 Ml)
12788-616: The increase in professional jobs, Houston has become a destination for many college-educated persons, most recently including African Americans in a reverse Great Migration from northern areas. In 1997, Houstonians elected Lee P. Brown as the city's first African American mayor. Houston has continued to grow into the 21st century, with the population increasing 15.7% from 2000 to 2022. Oil and gas have continued to fuel Houston's economic growth, with major oil companies including Phillips 66 , ConocoPhillips , Occidental Petroleum , Halliburton , and ExxonMobil having their headquarters in
12927-481: The interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web . Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is the system of interconnected computer networks , linked by copper wires, fibre-optic cables, wireless connections etc.; the Web is the contents, or the interconnected documents , linked by hyperlinks and URLs . The World Wide Web
13066-414: The invention of digital recording and the compact disc in 1983 brought massive improvements in ruggedness and quality. The most recent developments have been in digital audio players . An album is a collection of related audio recordings, released together to the public, usually commercially. The term record album originated from the fact that 78 RPM phonograph disc records were kept together in
13205-414: The invention of the phonograph using purely mechanical techniques, the field has advanced with the invention of electrical recording, the mass production of the 78 record , the magnetic wire recorder followed by the tape recorder , the vinyl LP record . The invention of the compact cassette in the 1960s, followed by Sony's Walkman , gave a major boost to the mass distribution of music recordings, and
13344-427: The joint venture. Around the same time, Viacom bought MTV Networks , which owned MTV , VH-1 , and Nickelodeon . This led to Viacom becoming a mass media company rather than simply a distribution company, and completed in 1986. In 1987, Viacom sought to expand its horizons by launching the new Viacom Network Enterprises division, which was led by Ronald C. Bernard, in order to develop and exploit properties outside of
13483-428: The largest in the US. In 1976, Viacom launched Showtime , a pay movie channel, with Warner-Amex taking a half-share ownership. The company went into original programming production starting in the late 1970s until the early 1980s with middling results. The company expanded in 1977 to launch a unit for program acquisitions and prime-time network programming. Viacom's first broadcast station acquisition came in 1978 when
13622-443: The late 20th century, mass media could be classified into eight mass media industries: books, the Internet, magazines, movies, newspapers, radio, recordings and television. The explosion of digital communication technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries made prominent the question: what forms of media should be classified as "mass media"? For example, it is controversial whether to include mobile phones and video games in
13761-570: The metro area, and an event on December 7, 2017, which precipitated 0.7 inches (2 cm) of snowfall. Snowfalls of at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) on both December 10, 2008, and December 4, 2009, marked the first time measurable snowfall had occurred in two consecutive years in the city's recorded history. Overall, Houston has seen measurable snowfall 38 times between 1895 and 2018. On February 14 and 15, 1895, Houston received 20 inches (51 cm) of snow, its largest snowfall from one storm on record. The coldest temperature officially recorded in Houston
13900-611: The national record for rainfall. The damage for the Houston area was estimated at up to $ 125 billion U.S. dollars , and was considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States , with the death toll exceeding 70 people. Houston's lack of zoning laws allowed unregulated building of residential homes and other structures in flood-prone areas. However, it also resulted in more concentrated development in already urban areas than in wetlands and suburbs. Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted of Hurricane Harvey that "zoning wouldn't have changed anything. We would have been
14039-461: The new floodplain regulations, the developers needed to elevate the lowest floors two feet above the 500-year floodplain, equivalent to five or six feet above the 100-year base flood elevation, and build a channel to direct stormwater runoff toward detention basins. Before Hurricane Harvey, the city had bought $ 10.7 million in houses in this area specifically to take them out of danger. In addition to developing new streets and single-family housing within
14178-491: The newly created port on Buffalo Bayou. By 1860, Houston had emerged as a commercial and railroad hub for the export of cotton. Railroad spurs from the Texas inland converged in Houston, where they met rail lines to the ports of Galveston and Beaumont . During the American Civil War, Houston served as a headquarters for Confederate Major General John B. Magruder , who used the city as an organization point for
14317-422: The next two years selling off its non-UPN affiliated stations to various owners. In 1997, Viacom exited the broadcast radio business, albeit temporarily, when it sold the majority of its stations to Chancellor Media, a predecessor company of iHeartMedia . On September 7, 1999, Viacom announced their acquisition of CBS Corporation in a $ 35.9 billion deal. In addition to being the largest media merger in history at
14456-423: The normal mean temperature at George Bush Intercontinental Airport is 53 °F (12 °C), with an average of 13 days per year with a low at or below 32 °F (0 °C), occurring on average between December 3 and February 20, allowing for a growing season of 286 days. Twenty-first century snow events in Houston include a storm on December 24, 2004 , which saw 1 inch (3 cm) of snow accumulate in parts of
14595-489: The notional town in honor of Sam Houston, who would become President later that year. They successfully lobbied the Republic of Texas Congress to designate Houston as the temporary capital, agreeing to provide the new government with a state capitol building. About a dozen persons resided in the town at the beginning of 1837, but that number grew to about 1,500 by the time the Texas Congress convened in Houston for
14734-493: The offices of president and chief operating officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him. The existing Viacom would become the second CBS Corporation as it was headed by Moonves and kept CBS, Simon & Schuster , and Paramount Network Television (now known as CBS Studios ), among other assets; while MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Paramount Pictures would spin-off to
14873-481: The other hand, two or more organisations may share a channel and each use it during a fixed part of the day, such as the Cartoon Network / Adult Swim . Digital radio and digital television may also transmit multiplexed programming, with several channels compressed into one ensemble . When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term webcasting is often used. In 2004, a new phenomenon occurred when
15012-518: The other would consist of the company's "high-growth" divisions – under National Amusements' control because of a stagnating stock price. The internal rivalry between CBS chairman Les Moonves and MTV Networks chief executive officer Tom Freston , and the controversy of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show were also seen as factors. After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as chairman and CEO, decided to split
15151-564: The owners of the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. As with CBS Cable, it was immediately integrated into MTV Networks, causing some outcry among BET workers in the Washington, D.C., area (where BET was based before the merger). As a result, BET was separated from MTV Networks, into a division known as BET Networks . Although a majority economic interest in Viacom was held by independent shareholders,
15290-485: The port decreased and shipping activities were suspended; however, the war did provide economic benefits for the city. Petrochemical refineries and manufacturing plants were constructed along the ship channel because of the demand for petroleum and synthetic rubber products by the defense industry during the war. Ellington Field , initially built during World War I , was revitalized as an advanced training center for bombardiers and navigators. The Brown Shipbuilding Company
15429-448: The postwar years. In 1945, the M.D. Anderson Foundation formed the Texas Medical Center . After the war, Houston's economy reverted to being primarily port-driven. In 1948, the city annexed several unincorporated areas, more than doubling its size. Houston proper began to spread across the region. In 1950, the availability of air conditioning provided impetus for many companies to relocate to Houston, where wages were lower than those in
15568-526: The pre-1973 ABC and NBC libraries under Worldvision Enterprises and Republic Pictures ; and an expanded group of television stations which merged Viacom's five existing outlets into Paramount's seven-station group . Viacom used some of these stations to launch the UPN network, which started operations in January 1995 as a joint venture with Chris-Craft Industries . Shortly afterward, Viacom/Paramount spent
15707-420: The products, but rather that the products are available in principle to a plurality of recipients. The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule . With all technological endeavours a number of technical terms and slang have developed. Radio and television programs are distributed over frequency bands which are highly regulated in the United States. Such regulation includes determination of
15846-418: The public, while media critics have raised questions about holding the press itself accountable to the standards of professional journalism. Public relations is the art and science of managing communication between an organisation and its key publics to build, manage and sustain its positive image. Examples include: Publishing is the industry concerned with the production of literature or information –
15985-505: The risk of an earthquake. The city of Houston was incorporated in 1837 and adopted a ward system of representation shortly afterward, in 1840. The six original wards of Houston are the progenitors of the 11 modern-day geographically oriented Houston City Council districts, though the city abandoned the ward system in 1905 in favor of a commission government , and, later, the existing mayor–council government . Locations in Houston are generally classified as either being inside or outside
16124-481: The second-most Fortune 500 headquarters of any U.S. municipality within its city limits. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. Nicknamed the "Bayou City", "Space City", "H-Town", and "the 713 ", Houston has become a global city , with strengths in culture, medicine, and research. The city's population comprises various ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as
16263-552: The series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Mobile phones were introduced in Japan in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones, tablets and other portable devices, and today
16402-404: The silver screen , photoplays , the cinema , picture shows , flicks and, most commonly, movies . Films are produced by recording people and objects with cameras , or by creating them using animation techniques or special effects . Films comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown in rapid succession, an illusion of motion is created. Flickering between frames
16541-515: The south half of the lower league [2,214-acre (896 ha) tract] granted to her by her late husband. They paid $ 5,000 total, but only $ 1,000 of this in cash; notes made up the remainder." This was financed by assets inherited by Augustus's wife, Charlotte Baldwin Allen . The Allen brothers ran their first advertisement for Houston just four days later in the Telegraph and Texas Register , naming
16680-475: The south of Houston and Downtown Houston. The ship channel continues past Galveston and then into the Gulf of Mexico. Houston is a flat, marshy area where an extensive drainage system has been built. The adjoining prairie land drains into the city, which is prone to flooding. Underpinning Houston's land surface are unconsolidated clays, clay shales, and poorly cemented sands up to several miles deep. The region's geology developed from river deposits formed from
16819-534: The spinoff of Blockbuster was completed in October. Also in 2002, Viacom acquired the remaining shares of Infinity Broadcasting radio chain, which resulted in Viacom's return to operating radio stations after it originally exited the broadcast radio business in 1997. In April 2003, Viacom acquired the remaining ownership shares of Comedy Central from then- AOL Time Warner , integrating Comedy Central into MTV Networks. From its formation until 1995, Viacom operated several cable television systems generally located in
16958-421: The summer, temperatures reach or exceed 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 106.5 days per year, including a majority of days from June to September. Additionally, an average of 4.6 days per year reach or exceed 100 °F (37.8 °C). Houston's characteristic subtropical humidity often results in a higher apparent temperature , and summer mornings average over 90% relative humidity . Air conditioning
17097-466: The surrounding porous sands. The thick, rich, sometimes black, surface soil is suitable for rice farming in suburban outskirts where the city continues to grow. The Houston area has over 150 active faults (estimated to be 300 active faults ) with an aggregate length of up to 310 miles (500 km), including the Long Point–Eureka Heights fault system which runs through the center of
17236-665: The ten best-selling printed books were originally released as mobile phone books. Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media , but has far wider reach, with 3.3 billion mobile phone users at the end of 2007 to 1.3 billion internet users (source ITU). Like email on the internet, the top application on mobile is also a personal messaging service, but SMS text messaging is used by over 2.4 billion people. Practically all internet services and applications exist or have similar cousins on mobile, from search to multiplayer games to virtual worlds to blogs. Mobile has several unique benefits which many mobile media pundits claim make mobile
17375-434: The third screen (counting only TV and PC). A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising or purchase by readers. Magazines are typically published weekly , biweekly , monthly , bimonthly or quarterly , with a date on the cover that is in advance of the date it is actually published. They are often printed in colour on coated paper , and are bound with
17514-627: The time, the purchase effectively reunited Viacom with its former parent, CBS. The merger was completed in May 2000, bringing CBS's cable channels TNN (now Paramount Network ) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's MTV Networks wing, as well as CBS's production and distribution units Eyemark Entertainment (formerly Group W Productions ) and King World under the main wing. The merger also folded Viacom's broadcast group, now consisting entirely of UPN stations, into CBS's owned-stations division. In 2001, Viacom completed its purchase of BET Holdings,
17653-477: The total value of media consumed on mobile vastly exceeds that of internet content, and was worth over $ 31 billion in 2007 (source Informa). The mobile media content includes over $ 8 billion worth of mobile music (ringing tones, ringback tones, truetones, MP3 files, karaoke, music videos, music streaming services, etc.); over $ 5 billion worth of mobile gaming; and various news, entertainment and advertising services. In Japan mobile phone books are so popular that five of
17792-599: The urban core. In addition to Interstate 610, two additional loop highways encircle the city: Beltway 8 , with a radius of approximately 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown, and State Highway 99 (the Grand Parkway), with a radius of 25 miles (40 km). Approximately 470,000 people lived within the Interstate 610 loop, while 1.65 million lived between Interstate 610 and Beltway 8 and 2.25 million lived within Harris County outside Beltway 8 in 2015. Though Houston
17931-458: The virtual universe. In common usage, an " arcade game " refers to a game designed to be played in an establishment in which patrons pay to play on a per-use basis. A "computer game" or " PC game " refers to a game that is played on a personal computer. A " Console game " refers to one that is played on a device specifically designed for the use of such, while interfacing with a standard television set. A "video game" (or "videogame") has evolved into
18070-1171: The web, by such means as linking to or running TV ads online, or distributing QR codes in outdoor or print media to direct mobile users to a website. In this way, they can use the easy accessibility and outreach capabilities the Internet affords, as thereby easily broadcast information throughout many different regions of the world simultaneously and cost-efficiently. Outdoor media transmits information via such media as augmented reality (AR) advertising ; billboards ; blimps ; flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes); placards or kiosks placed inside and outside buses, commercial buildings, shops, sports stadiums, subway cars, or trains; signs; or skywriting . Print media transmit information via physical objects, such as books , comics , magazines , newspapers , or pamphlets . Event organising and public speaking can also be considered forms of mass media. Mass media organisations or mass media companies that control these technologies include movie studios, publishing companies, and radio and television stations (the latter are also sometimes known as mass media networks ); they often form media conglomerates . In
18209-570: The width of the bands, range, licensing, types of receivers and transmitters used, and acceptable content. Cable television programs are often broadcast simultaneously with radio and television programs, but have a more limited audience. By coding signals and requiring a cable converter box at individual recipients' locations, cable also enables subscription -based channels and pay-per-view services. A broadcasting organisation may broadcast several programs simultaneously, through several channels ( frequencies ), for example BBC One and Two . On
18348-481: Was 33.1, up from 32.9 in 2017 and down from 33.5 in 2014; the city's youthfulness has been attributed to an influx of an African American New Great Migration , Hispanic and Latino American, and Asian immigrants into Texas. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. There were 987,158 housing units in 2019 and 876,504 households. An estimated 42.3% of Houstonians owned housing units, with an average of 2.65 people per household. The median monthly owner costs with
18487-484: Was 5 °F (−15 °C) on January 18, 1930. The last time Houston saw single digit temperatures was on December 23, 1989. The temperature dropped to 7 °F (−14 °C) at Bush Airport, marking the coldest temperature ever recorded there. 1.7 inches of snow fell at George Bush Intercontinental Airport the previous day. Houston generally receives ample rainfall, averaging about 49.8 in (1,260 mm) annually based on records between 1981 and 2010. Many parts of
18626-933: Was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company went under Sumner Redstone 's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements . At the time of its split, Viacom's assets included the CBS and UPN broadcast networks, the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, local radio station operator CBS Radio , cable channels such as MTV , Nickelodeon , Comedy Central , BET and Showtime , outdoor media operator Viacom Outdoor , television production and distribution firm King World Productions , and book publisher Simon & Schuster . It also owned its IP holding subsidiary Viacom International and brand licensor Westinghouse Licensing Corporation . In 2000, Viacom acquired
18765-614: Was followed in 1986 with CBS-owned KMOX-TV in St. Louis ; with the purchase, that station's call letters were changed to KMOV . Also in 1983, Viacom reacquired its premium channel Showtime, and later merged it with Warner-Amex's The Movie Channel forming Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc . Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, Viacom syndicated several shows produced by Carsey-Werner Productions , namely The Cosby Show , A Different World and Roseanne . In 1985, Viacom acquired Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. from Warner-Amex, ending
18904-446: Was founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou (a point now known as Allen's Landing ) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city is named after former General Sam Houston , who was president of the Republic of Texas and had won Texas's independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of Allen's Landing. After briefly serving as
19043-582: Was founded in 1942 to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Due to the boom in defense jobs, thousands of new workers migrated to the city, both black, and white people competing for the higher-paying jobs. President Roosevelt had established a policy of nondiscrimination for defense contractors, and black people gained some opportunities, especially in shipbuilding, although not without resistance from white people and increasing social tensions that erupted into occasional violence. Economic gains of black people who entered defense industries continued in
19182-400: Was nearly one-third of Houston's residents. President Woodrow Wilson opened the deep-water Port of Houston in 1914, seven years after digging began. By 1930, Houston had become Texas's most populous city and Harris County the most populous county. In 1940, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Houston's population as 77.5% White and 22.4% black. When World War II started, tonnage levels at
19321-417: Was ranked first in the list of healthiest housing markets for 2009. In 2019, home sales reached a new record of $ 30 billion. In referendums in 1948, 1962, and 1993, voters rejected efforts to establish separate residential and commercial land-use districts. Consequently, rather than a single central business district as the center of the city's employment, multiple districts and skylines have grown throughout
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