American Decades

Important Events in the Media, 1990–1999

Large city newspaper readership continues to decline. More than nine million New Yorkers bought Sunday papers in 1950. In 1990 that figure is 3.2 million.
More than five hundred of the nation's 3,100 magazines begin publication this year. Most of the new mags fall into the categories of lifestyle, sex, and service.
The police/courtroom Law and Order, Twin Peaks, and America's Funniest Home Videos all premiere. The sitcoms In Living Color and Fresh Prince of Bel Air, starring Damon Wayans and Will Smith respectively, also debut, as do the highly successful cartoon series The Simpsons. and a sitcom about "nothing" called simply Seinfeld.
On February 22, Hughes Communications, News Corp, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and Cablevision Systems Corporation create Sky Cable, a joint effort to launch direct-broadcast satellite TV program service with as...

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