Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or colored, with accompanying sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming, television transmission.

The etymology of the word has a mixed Latin and Greek origin, meaning "far sight": Greek ''tele'' (}}), far, and Latin ''visio'', sight (from ''video, vis-'' to see, or to view in the first person).

Commercially available since the late 1920s, the television set has become commonplace in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a vehicle for advertising, a source of entertainment, and news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray Discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used for viewing recorded as well as broadcast material. In recent years Internet television has seen the rise of television available via the Internet, e.g. iPlayer and Hulu.

Although other forms such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) are in use, the most common usage of the medium is for broadcast television, which was modeled on the existing radio broadcasting systems developed in the 1920s, and uses high-powered radio-frequency transmitters to broadcast the television signal to individual TV receivers.

The broadcast television system is typically disseminated via radio transmissions on designated channels in the 54–890 MHz frequency band. Signals are now often transmitted with stereo and/or surround sound in many countries. Until the 2000s broadcast TV programs were generally transmitted as an analog television signal, but in recent years public broadcasting and commercial broadcasting have been progressively introducing digital television (DTV) broadcasting technology.

A standard television set comprises multiple internal electronic circuits, including those for receiving and decoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuner is properly called a video monitor, rather than a television. A television system may use different technical standards such as digital television (DTV) and high-definition television (HDTV). Television systems are also used for surveillance, industrial process control, and guiding of weapons, in places where direct observation is difficult or dangerous.

Amateur television (''ham TV'' or ''ATV'') is also used for non-commercial experimentation, pleasure and public service events by amateur radio operators. Ham TV stations were on the air in many cities before commercial TV stations came on the air.

History

In its early stages of development, television employed a combination of optical, mechanical and electronic technologies to capture, transmit and display a visual image. By the late 1920s, however, those employing only optical and electronic technologies were being explored. All modern television systems rely on the latter, although the knowledge gained from the work on electromechanical systems was crucial in the development of fully electronic television.

The first images transmitted electrically were sent by early mechanical fax machines, including the pantelegraph, developed in the late nineteenth century. The concept of electrically powered transmission of television images in motion was first sketched in 1878 as the telephonoscope, shortly after the invention of the telephone. At the time, it was imagined by early science fiction authors, that someday that light could be transmitted over copper wires, as sounds were.

The idea of using scanning to transmit images was put to actual practical use in 1881 in the pantelegraph, through the use of a pendulum-based scanning mechanism. From this period forward, scanning in one form or another has been used in nearly every image transmission technology to date, including television. This is the concept of "rasterization", the process of converting a visual image into a stream of electrical pulses.

In 1884 Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a 23-year-old university student in Germany, patented the first electromechanical television system which employed a scanning disk, a spinning disk with a series of holes spiraling toward the center, for rasterization. The holes were spaced at equal angular intervals such that in a single rotation the disk would allow light to pass through each hole and onto a light-sensitive selenium sensor which produced the electrical pulses. As an image was focused on the rotating disk, each hole captured a horizontal "slice" of the whole image.

Nipkow's design would not be practical until advances in amplifier tube technology became available. The device was only useful for transmitting still "halftone" images—represented by equally spaced dots of varying size—over telegraph or telephone lines. Later designs would use a rotating mirror-drum scanner to capture the image and a cathode ray tube (CRT) as a display device, but moving images were still not possible, due to the poor sensitivity of the selenium sensors. In 1907 Russian scientist Boris Rosing became the first inventor to use a CRT in the receiver of an experimental television system. He used mirror-drum scanning to transmit simple geometric shapes to the CRT.

Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the transmission of moving silhouette images in London in 1925, and of moving, monochromatic images in 1926. Baird's scanning disk produced an image of 30 lines resolution, just enough to discern a human face, from a double spiral of lenses. This demonstration by Baird is generally agreed to be the world's first true demonstration of television, albeit a mechanical form of television no longer in use. Remarkably, in 1927 Baird also invented the world's first video recording system, "Phonovision": by modulating the output signal of his TV camera down to the audio range, he was able to capture the signal on a 10-inch wax audio disc using conventional audio recording technology. A handful of Baird's 'Phonovision' recordings survive and these were finally decoded and rendered into viewable images in the 1990s using modern digital signal-processing technology.

In 1926, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Tihanyi designed a television system utilizing fully electronic scanning and display elements, and employing the principle of "charge storage" within the scanning (or "camera") tube.

By 1927, Russian inventor Léon Theremin developed a mirror-drum-based television system which used interlacing to achieve an image resolution of 100 lines.

Also in 1927, Herbert E. Ives of Bell Labs transmitted moving images from a 50-aperture disk producing 16 frames per minute over a cable from Washington, DC to New York City, and via radio from Whippany, New Jersey. Ives used viewing screens as large as 24 by 30 inches (60 by 75 cm). His subjects included Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.

In 1927, Philo Farnsworth made the world's first working television system with electronic scanning of both the pickup and display devices, which he first demonstrated to the press on 1 September 1928.

WRGB claims to be the world's oldest television station, tracing its roots to an experimental station founded on January 13, 1928, broadcasting from the General Electric factory in Schenectady, NY, under the call letters W2XB. It was popularly known as "WGY Television" after its sister radio station. Later in 1928, General Electric started a second facility, this one in New York City, which had the call letters W2XBS, and which today is known as WNBC. The two stations were experimental in nature and had no regular programming, as receivers were operated by engineers within the company. The image of a Felix the Cat doll, rotating on a turntable, was broadcast for 2 hours every day for several years, as new technology was being tested by the engineers.

In 1936 the Olympic Games in Berlin were broadcast to television stations in Berlin and Leipzig where the public could view the games live.

In 1935 the German firm of Fernseh A.G. and the United States firm Farnsworth Television owned by Philo Farnsworth, signed an agreement to exchange their television patients and technology to speed development of television transmitters and stations in their respective countries countries.

On 2 November 1936 the BBC began transmitting the world's first public regular high-definition service from the Victorian Alexandra Palace in north London. It therefore claims to be the birthplace of television broadcasting as we know it today.

In 1936, Kálmán Tihanyi described the principle of plasma display, the first flat panel display system.

Mexican inventor Guillermo González Camarena also played an important role in early television. His experiments with television (known as telectroescopía at first) began in 1931 and led to a patent for the "trichromatic field sequential system" color television in 1940, as well as the remote control.

Although television became more familiar in the United States with the general public at the 1939 World's Fair, the outbreak of World War II prevented it from being manufactured on a large scale until after the end of the war. True regular commercial television network programming did not begin in the U.S. until 1948. During that year, legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini made his first of ten TV appearances conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and Texaco Star Theater, starring comedian Milton Berle, became television's first gigantic hit show.

Geographical usage

[[Image:TV-introduction-world-map.svg|250px|thumb|Television introduction by country {| |- | || |- | || |- | || |- | || |} ]]

Timeline of the introduction of television in countries

Content

Programming

Getting TV programming shown to the public can happen in many different ways. After production the next step is to market and deliver the product to whatever markets are open to using it. This typically happens on two levels:

#Original Run or First Run: a producer creates a program of one or multiple episodes and shows it on a station or network which has either paid for the production itself or to which a license has been granted by the television producers to do the same. #Broadcast syndication: this is the terminology rather broadly used to describe secondary programming usages (beyond original run). It includes secondary runs in the country of first issue, but also international usage which may not be managed by the originating producer. In many cases other companies, TV stations or individuals are engaged to do the syndication work, in other words to sell the product into the markets they are allowed to sell into by contract from the copyright holders, in most cases the producers.

First run programming is increasing on subscription services outside the U.S., but few domestically produced programs are syndicated on domestic free-to-air (FTA) elsewhere. This practice is increasing however, generally on digital-only FTA channels, or with subscriber-only first-run material appearing on FTA.

Unlike the U.S., repeat FTA screenings of a FTA network program almost only occur on that network. Also, affiliates rarely buy or produce non-network programming that is not centred around local programming.

Funding

[[Image:TV users.svg|thumb|250px|right|Television sets per 1000 people of the world {| |- | || |- | || |- | || |- | || |} ]]

Around the globe, broadcast television is financed by either government, advertising, licensing (a form of tax), subscription or any combination of these. To protect revenues, subscription TV channels are usually encrypted to ensure that only subscription payers receive the decryption codes to see the signal. Unencrypted channels are known as free to air or FTA.

In 2009 the global TV market represented 1,217.2 million TV households with at least one television, and total revenues of 268.9 billion EUR (declining 1.2% compared to 2008). North America had the biggest TV revenue market share with 39%, followed by Europe (31%), Asia-Pacific (21%), Latin America (8%) and Africa and the Middle East (2%).

Globally, the different TV revenue sources divide into 45 to 50% TV advertising revenues, 40 to 45% subscription fees and 10% public funding.

Advertising

Television's broad reach makes it a powerful and attractive medium for advertisers. Many television networks and stations sell blocks of broadcast time to advertisers ("sponsors") in order to fund their programming.

Market share

This is a Worldwide TV Shipments by Technology as of Q1 2011.

Q1/2011

Source	Date	LCD TV	!	OLED TV	CRT TV	!	References
DisplaySearch.com	|	80.1%	6.6%	0.0%	13.2%	0.1%

Worldwide large-screen television technology brand rankings by revenue share as of Q1 2011.

Q1/2011

Source	Date	!	LG Electronics	Sony	!	!	Others	References
DisplaySearch.com	|	22.2%	14.5%	11.4%	7.4%	6.6%	37.9%

United States

Since inception in the U.S. in 1940, television commercial have become one of the most effective, persuasive, and popular method of selling products of many sorts, especially consumer goods. During the 1940s and into the 1950s, programs were hosted by single advertisers. This, in turn, gave great creative license to the advertisers over the content of the show. Due to the quiz show scandals in the 1950s, networks shifted to the magazine concept introducing advertising breaks with multiple advertisers.

U.S. advertising rates are determined primarily by Nielsen ratings. The time of the day and popularity of the channel determine how much a television commercial can cost. For example, the highly popular American Idol can cost approximately $750,000 for a 30-second block of commercial time; while the same amount of time for the World Cup and the Super Bowl can cost several million dollars. Conversely, lesser-viewed time slots, such as early mornings and weekday afternoons, are often sold in bulk to producers of infomercials which is less expensive.

In recent years, the paid program or infomercial has become common, usually in lengths of 30 minutes or one hour. Some drug companies and other businesses have even created "news" items for broadcast, known in the industry as video news releases, paying program directors to use them.

Some TV programs also weave advertisements into their shows, a practice begun in film and known as product placement. For example, a character could be drinking a certain kind of soda, going to a particular chain restaurant, or driving a certain make of car. (This is sometimes very subtle, where shows have vehicles provided by manufacturers for low cost, rather than wrangling them.) Sometimes a specific brand or trade mark, or music from a certain artist or group, is used. (This excludes guest appearances by artists, who perform on the show.)

United Kingdom

The TV regulator oversees TV advertising in the United Kingdom. Its restrictions have applied since the early days of commercially funded TV. Despite this, an early TV mogul, Roy Thomson, likened the broadcasting licence as being a "licence to print money". Restrictions mean that the big three national commercial TV channels: ITV, Channel 4, and Five can show an average of only seven minutes of advertising per hour (eight minutes in the peak period). Other broadcasters must average no more than nine minutes (twelve in the peak). This means that many imported TV shows from the US have unnatural breaks where the UK company has edited out the breaks intended for US advertising. Advertisements must not be inserted in the course of certain specific proscribed types of programs which last less than half an hour in scheduled duration; this list includes any news or current affairs program, documentaries, and programs for children. Nor may advertisements be carried in a program designed and broadcast for reception in schools or in any religious broadcasting service or other devotional program, or during a formal Royal ceremony or occasion. There also must be clear demarcations in time between the programs and the advertisements.

The BBC, being strictly non-commercial is not allowed to show advertisements on television in the UK, although it has many advertising-funded channels abroad. The majority of its budget comes from television license fees (see below) and broadcast syndication, the sale of content to other broadcasters.

Ireland

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) () oversees advertising on television and radio within Ireland on both private and state owned broadcasters. Similar to other European countries, advertising is found on both private and state owned broadcasters. There are some restrictions based on advertising, especially in relation to the advertising of alcohol. Such advertisements are prohibited until after 7pm. Broadcasters in Ireland adhere to broadcasting legislation implemented by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the European Union. Sponsorship of current affairs programming is prohibited at all times.

As of October 1, 2009 the responsibilities held by the BCI are gradually being transferred to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

Taxation or license

Television services in some countries may be funded by a television licence or a form of taxation which means advertising plays a lesser role or no role at all. For example, some channels may carry no advertising at all and some very little, including:

Australia (ABC)

Japan (NHK)

Norway (NRK)

Sweden (SVT)

United Kingdom (BBC)

United States (PBS)

The BBC carries no television advertising on its UK channels and is funded by an annual television licence paid by all households owning a television. This television licence fee is set by government, but the BBC is not answerable to or controlled by government.

The two main BBC TV channels are watched by almost 90 percent of the population each week and overall have 27 per cent share of total viewing. This in spite of the fact that 85% of homes are multichannel, with 42% of these having access to 200 free to air channels via satellite and another 43% having access to 30 or more channels via Freeview. The licence that funds the seven advertising-free BBC TV channels currently costs £139.50 a year (about US$215) irrespective of the number of TV sets owned. When the same sporting event has been presented on both BBC and commercial channels, the BBC always attracts the lion's share of the audience, indicating viewers prefer to watch TV uninterrupted by advertising.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) carries no advertising (except for internal promotional material) as it is banned under the ABC Act 1983. The ABC receives its funding from the Australian Government every three years. In the 2008/09 Federal Budget the ABC received A$1.13 Billion. The funds assist in providing the ABC's Television, Radio, Online and International outputs. The ABC also receives funds from its many ABC Shops across Australia. However funded by the Australian Government the editorial independence of the ABC is ensured through law.

In France and Ireland government-funded channels carry advertisements yet those who own television sets have to pay an annual tax ("la redevance audiovisuelle").

In Japan, NHK is paid for by license fees (known in Japanese as ). The Broadcast Law which governs NHK's funding stipulates that any television equipped to receive NHK is required to pay. The fee is standardized, with discounts for office workers and students who commute, as well a general discount for residents of Okinawa prefecture.

Subscription

Some TV channels are partly funded from subscriptions therefore the signals are encrypted during broadcast to ensure that only the paying subscribers have access to the decryption codes to watch pay television or specialty channels. Most subscription services are also funded by advertising.

Genres

Television genres include a broad range of programming types that entertain, inform, and educate viewers. The most expensive entertainment genres to produce are usually drama and dramatic miniseries. However, other genres, such as historical Western genres, may also have high production costs.

Popular culture entertainment genres include action-oriented shows such as police, crime, detective dramas, horror, or thriller shows. As well, there are also other variants of the drama genre, such as medical dramas and daytime soap operas. Science fiction shows can fall into either the drama or action category, depending on whether they emphasize philosophical questions or high adventure. Comedy is a popular genre which includes situation comedy (sitcom) and animated shows for the adult demographic such as ''South Park''.

The least expensive forms of entertainment programming genres are game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and Reality television. Game shows show contestants answering questions and solving puzzles to win prizes. Talk shows feature interviews with film, television and music celebrities and public figures. Variety shows feature a range of musical performers and other entertainers such as comedians and magicians introduced by a host or Master of Ceremonies. There is some crossover between some talk shows and variety shows, because leading talk shows often feature performances by bands, singers, comedians, and other performers in between the interview segments. ''Reality TV'' shows "regular" people (''i.e.'', not actors) who are facing unusual challenges or experiences, ranging from arrest by police officers (''COPS'') to weight loss (''The Biggest Loser''). A variant version of reality shows depicts celebrities doing mundane activities such as going about their everyday life (''The Osbournes'', ''Snoop Dogg's Father Hood'') or doing manual labor (''Simple Life'').

Social aspects and effects on children

Television has played a pivotal role in the socialization of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are many aspects of television that can be addressed, including media violence research. In 2010 the iPlayer incorporated a social media aspect to its internet television service, including Facebook and Twitter.

Environmental aspects

With high lead content in CRTs, and the rapid diffusion of new, flat-panel display technologies, some of which (LCDs) use lamps which contain mercury, there is growing concern about electronic waste from discarded televisions. Related occupational health concerns exist, as well, for disassemblers removing copper wiring and other materials from CRTs. Further environmental concerns related to television design and use relate to the devices' increasing electrical energy requirements.

See also

Broadcast-safe

Content Discovery Platform

Handheld television

How television works

Satellite television

Information-action ratio

Internet television

List of countries by number of television broadcast stations

List of television manufacturers

List of years in television

Media psychology

Outdoor television

Computer monitor/VDU units

Sign language on television

Technology of television

References

Further reading

Albert Abramson, ''The History of Television, 1942 to 2000'', Jefferson, NC, and London, McFarland, 2003, ISBN 0786412208.

Pierre Bourdieu, ''On Television'', The New Press, 2001.

Tim Brooks and Earle March, ''The Complete Guide to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows'', 8th ed., Ballantine, 2002.

Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler, ''Echographies of Television'', Polity Press, 2002.

David E. Fisher and Marshall J. Fisher, ''Tube: the Invention of Television'', Counterpoint, Washington, DC, 1996, ISBN 1887178171.

Steven Johnson, ''Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter'', New York, Riverhead (Penguin), 2005, 2006, ISBN 1594481946.

Jerry Mander, ''Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television'', Perennial, 1978.

Jerry Mander, ''In the Absence of the Sacred'', Sierra Club Books, 1992, ISBN 0871565099.

Neil Postman, ''Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business'', New York, Penguin US, 1985, ISBN 0670804541.

Evan I. Schwartz, ''The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television'', New York, Harper Paperbacks, 2003, ISBN 0060935596.

Beretta E. Smith-Shomade, ''Shaded Lives: African-American Women and Television'', Rutgers University Press, 2002.

Alan Taylor, ''We, the Media: Pedagogic Intrusions into US Mainstream Film and Television News Broadcasting Rhetoric'', Peter Lang, 2005, ISBN 3631518528.

External links

A History of Television at the Canada Science and Technology Museum

The Encyclopedia of Television at the Museum of Broadcast Communications

The Evolution of TV, A Brief History of TV Technology in Japan NHK

Television's History – The First 75 Years

Worldwide Television Standards

Global TV Market Data

''Television in Color'', April 1944 one of the earliest magazine articles detailing the new technology of color television

Littleton, Cynthia. "Happy 70th Birthday, TV Commercial broadcasts bow on July 1, 1941; Variety calls it 'corney'", ''Variety'', July 1, 2011. WebCitation archive.

Category:Television terminology Category:Video hardware Category:Media formats Category:Performing arts Category:Russian inventions Category:Scottish inventions Category:British inventions Category:American inventions Category:1946 introductions Category:1923 introductions

af:Televisie am:ቴሌቪዥን ang:Feorrsīen ar:تلفاز an:Televisión arc:ܦܪܣ ܚܙܘܐ frp:Tèlèvijon ast:Televisión gn:Ta'angambyry az:تلویزیون bn:টেলিভিশন zh-min-nan:Tiān-sī map-bms:Televisi be:Тэлебачанне be-x-old:Тэлебачаньне bs:Televizija br:Skinwel bg:Телевизия ca:Televisió cv:Телекурăм cs:Televizor cy:Teledu da:Tv pdc:Guckbax de:Fernsehen nv:Níłchʼį naalkidí et:Televisioon el:Τηλεόραση eml:Televisiån es:Televisión eo:Televido ext:Televisión eu:Telebista fa:تلویزیون hif:Television fo:Sjónvarp fr:Télévision fy:Televyzje ga:Teilifís gd:Telebhisean gl:Televisión gan:電視 ki:Terebiceni hak:Thien-sṳ xal:Телеүзгдл ko:텔레비전 haw:Kelewikiona hi:दूरदर्शन hr:Televizija io:Televiziono id:Televisi ia:Television is:Sjónvarp it:Televisione he:טלוויזיה jv:Télévisi kn:ದೂರದರ್ಶನ ka:ტელევიზია kk:Телевидение ky:Телекөрсөтүү sw:Televisheni ku:Televîzyon lad:Televizyón la:Televisio lv:Televīzija lb:Televisioun lt:Televizija lij:Televixon lmo:Television hu:Televízió mk:Телевизија ml:ടെലിവിഷൻ mr:दूरचित्रवाणी arz:تليفزيون mzn:تیلوزیون ms:Televisyen mwl:Telibison my:တယ်လီဗစ်ရှင်း nl:Televisie nds-nl:Tillevisie ne:टेलिभिजन ja:テレビ no:Fjernsyn nn:Fjernsyn nrm:Télévision nov:Televisione oc:Television uz:Televideniye pi:दूरदर्शन यन्त्र pnb:ٹی وی pap:Television ps:تلويزون nds:Feernseher pl:Telewizja pt:Televisão crh:Telekörüv ro:Televiziune qu:Ñawikaruy ru:Телевидение sm:Televise sa:दूरदर्शनम् sc:Televisione sco:Televeesion sq:Televizioni scn:Televisioni si:රූපවාහිනිය simple:Television sk:Televízia sl:Televizija so:Telefishin sr:Телевизија sh:Televizija su:Televisi fi:Televisio sv:Television tl:Telebisyon ta:தொலைக்காட்சி kab:Tiliẓri tt:Телевидение te:దూరదర్శిని th:โทรทัศน์ ti:ቲቪ tr:Televizyon uk:Телебачення ur:بعید نُما ug:تېلېۋىزور vec:Tełevixion vi:Truyền hình fiu-vro:Televis'uun wa:Televuzion zh-classical:電視 war:Telebisyon wuu:电视机 yi:טעלעוויזיע yo:Tẹlifísàn zh-yue:電視 diq:Têlevizyon bat-smg:Televėzėjė zh:电视

name	Baaba Maal
background	solo_singer
birth date	November 12, 1953
origin	Podor, Senegal
genre	Yela, Worldbeat
occupation	Singer, songwriter, Music Composer
years active	1989–present
website	http://www.baabamaal.tv
notable instruments	}}

Baaba Maal (born November 12, 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.

Biography

Born 12 November 1953. Since his father was a fisherman, Baaba Maal was expected to become a fisherman as well. However, under the influence of his life long friend Mansour Seck, Baaba Maal devoted himself to learning music from his mother and his school's headmaster. He went on to study music at the university in Dakar before leaving for postgraduate studies on a scholarship at Beaux-Arts in Paris. He has become quite famous in Africa and is also the most internationally famous musician from Senegal, with the possible exception of Youssou N'Dour.

Baaba sings primarily in Pulaar and is the foremost promoter of the traditions of the Pulaar-speaking peoples who live on either side of the Senegal River in the ancient Senegalese kingdom of Futa Tooro.

In 1998, Maal recorded "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" for the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album ''Red Hot + Rhapsody'' a tribute to George Gershwin which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.In 2002, Maal again worked with the Red Hot Organization and appeared on a track titled "No Agreement" along side Res, Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp for the tribute album to Fela Kuti, ''Red Hot + Riot''.

On 7 July 2007 Maal performed at the South African leg of Live Earth.

Baaba Maal's album ''On The Road'', a live acoustic album recorded straight from the mixing boards of his shows over the last ten years, was released on August 10, 2008. A new studio album, Television, was released on June 1, 2009.

Music

After returning from study in Paris, Baaba studied traditional music with his blind guitarist and family griot, Mansour Seck, and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. Maal's fusions continued into the next decade with his ''Firin' in Fouta'' (1994) album, which used ragga, salsa and Breton harp music to create a popular sound that launched the careers of Positive Black Soul, a group of rappers, and also led to the formation of the Afro-Celt Sound System. His fusion tendencies continued on 1998's ''Nomad Soul'', which featured Brian Eno as one of seven producers. In addition to his various solo releases, he was featured on two tracks - "Bushes" and "Dunya Salam" - on the concept album ''1 Giant Leap''.

He also featured on two tracks "Hunger" and "Still" on the ''Black Hawk Down'' soundtrack. He will be playing at Bonnaroo and the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2010.

He has recently featured on a track on the new Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly album entitled ''All of This Yours''.

Baaba Maal sang the track for Kerala Tourism's 2010 ad campaign 'Your moment is waiting' with music composed by One Giant Leap.

Discography

1989 – ''Djam Leelii'' (with Mansour Seck) – Mango Records

1991 – ''Baayo'' (with Mansour Seck) – Mango

1992 – ''Lam Toro'' – Mango

1994 – ''Wango'' – Syllart

1994 – ''Firin' in Fouta'' – Mango

1995 – ''Gorel'' – 4th & Broadway

1997 – ''Taara'' – Melodie

1998 – ''Nomad Soul'' – Import

1998 – ''Djam Leelii: The Adventurers'' – Yoff Productions

1999 – ''Live at the Royal Festival Hall'' – Palm Pictures – Palm (DVD)

2000 – ''Jombaajo'' – Sonodisc

2001 – ''Missing You (Mi Yeewnii)'' – Palm

2003 – '''The Best of the Early Years'' – Wrasse (compilation)

2005 – ''Palm World Voices: Baaba Maal'' – Palm (compilation)

2008 – ''On The Road'' – Palm (compilation)

2009 – ''Television'' – Palm

Import releases

''Jombaajo''

''Ngalanka''

''Ndilane''

References

Official site

rfimusique.com entry

[ Allmusic biography]

African Music Encyclopedia entry

Afropop.org entry

Info page at WorldBeatPlanet

Baaba Maal @ Palm Pictures

Publishing rights for Baaba Maal's work is administered by Blue Mountain Music

External links

2009 Interview with Baaba Maal on musicOMH

2009 Podcast interview with Baaba Maal on Flyglobalmusic.com

2005 Feature with Baaba Maal on Flyglobalmusic.com

2001 Afropop Worldwide Interview with Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal Interview at allaboutjazz

Category:People from Dakar Category:Senegalese guitarists Category:Living people Category:Senegalese singers Category:1953 births

ar:بابا مال de:Baaba Maal fr:Baaba Maal nl:Baaba Maal fi:Baaba Maal sv:Baaba Maal

Birth name	Laurence Tureaud
Birth date	May 21, 1952
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, motivational speaker, wrestler, bodyguard, television personality
Years active	1982–present
Website	}}

Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952) is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'', as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image. In 2006 he starred in the reality show ''I Pity the Fool'', shown on TV Land, the title of which comes from the catchphrase of his character, Clubber Lang, in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''.

Early life

Mr. T was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest son in a family with twelve children. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud Sr., was a minister. Tureaud, with his four sisters and seven brothers, grew up in a three-room apartment in one of the city's housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes, in a poorly constructed building, in an area with high levels of environmental pollutants and the largest concentration of poverty in America. His mother received a welfare check of $87/month. While growing up Tureaud regularly witnessed murder, rape, and other crimes, but attributes his survival and later success to his will to do well and his mother's love.

Tureaud attended Dunbar Vocational High School, where he played football, wrestled, and studied martial arts. While at Dunbar he became the city-wide wrestling champion two years in a row. He won a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M; University, where he majored in mathematics, but was expelled after his first year. He then enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Military Police Corps. In November 1975 Tureaud was awarded a letter of recommendation by his drill sergeant and in a cycle of six thousand troops Tureaud was elected "Top Trainee of the Cycle" and was also promoted to Squad Leader. In July 1976 Tureaud's platoon sergeant punished him by giving him the detail of chopping down trees during training camp at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, but the sergeant did not tell how many trees to stop at, and so Tureaud had single-handedly chopped down over seventy trees from 6:30am to 10:00am until a higher ranking major in shock relieved him, superseding the sergeant's orders. After his discharge, he tried out for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but failed to make the team due to a knee injury.

Tureaud next worked as a bouncer. It was at this time that he created the persona of Mr. T. His wearing of gold neck chains and other jewelry was the result of customers losing the items or leaving them behind at the night club after a fight. A customer, who may have been banned from the club or trying to avoid another confrontation, would not have to re-enter the club if Mr. T wore their jewelry as he stood out front. When a customer returned to claim the item, it was readily visible and available with no further confrontations required. Along with controlling the violence as a doorman, Tureaud was mainly hired to keep out drug dealers and users. During his bouncing days Tureaud was in over 200 fights and was sued a number of times but won each case. "I have been in and out of the courts as a result of my beating up somebody. I have been sued by customers whom I threw out that claimed that I viciously attacked them without just cause and/or I caused them great bodily harm as a result of a beating I supposedly gave them," Mr. T once remarked.

He eventually parlayed his job as a bouncer into a career as a bodyguard that lasted almost ten years. During these years he protected, among others, sixteen prostitutes, nine welfare recipients, five preachers, eight bankers, ten school teachers, and four store owners. As his reputation improved, however, he was contracted to guard, among others, David Fricker, seven clothes designers, five models, seven judges, three politicians, six athletes and forty-two millionaires. He protected well-known personalities like Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Diana Ross, charging $3,000/day, with the highest charge of $10,000 per day depending on the clientele's risk-rate and traveling locations.

With his reputation as "Mr. T", Tureaud attracted strange offers and was frequently approached with odd commissions, which included: assassination, tracking runaway teenagers, locating missing persons, and large firms asking him to collect past-due payments by force. Tureaud was once anonymously offered $75,000 to assassinate a target and received in the mail a file of the hit and an advance of $5,000, but he refused it. "He offered me $75,000 to kill his friend. The last envelope and letter contained a round-trip airline ticket, first class, United. Plus there was $5,000 wrapped in a little package, fifty and hundred dollar bills. I tell you the honest truth, when I saw that money I didn't believe it was real." -Mr. T. Tureaud states that he tried to warn the victim but it was too late and the man died in a car accident. In accepting a client for Tureaud there were two rules: 1) A client cannot lie to him. 2) All potential clients are required to shop around the field of security before coming to him. He also made it clear to the client beforehand that he could not promise them their lives, "I did everything except guarantee people's lives, but I guarantee you that I will give my life protecting yours". He carried a .357 magnum and a .38 caliber snubnose pistol. He weighed an average of 255 pounds.

While he was in his late twenties, Tureaud won two tough-man competitions consecutively. The first aired as "Sunday Games" on NBC-TV under the contest of "America's Toughest Bouncer" which included throwing a 150 lb stuntman, and breaking through a four-inch wooden door. For the first event, Tureaud came in third place. For the end, two finalists squared off in a boxing ring for a two-minute round to declare the champion. Making it to the ring as a finalist, his opponent was a 280 pound Honolulu bouncer, Tutefano Tufi. Within twenty seconds "Mr. T" gave the six foot five competitor a bloody nose, and later a bloody mouth. He won the match and thus the competition. The second competition was aired under the new name "Games People Play" on NBC-TV. When interviewed by Bryant Gumbel before the final boxing match, Mr T. said, "I just feel sorry for the guy who I have to box. I just feel real sorry for him." For this second competition the final event of the fight was scheduled to last three rounds, but Mr. T finished the fight in less than 54 seconds. When Sylvester Stallone spotted Mr. T in this second airing, it is strongly believed that the interview with Bryant Gumbel was worked into the scene of the Rocky movie that originated his famous line "I don't hate him but...I pity the fool."

Acting roles and work

While reading ''National Geographic'', Mr. T first noticed the unusual hairstyle for which he is now famous, on a Mandinka warrior. He decided that adoption of the style would be a powerful statement about his African origin. It was a simpler, safer and more permanent visual signature than his gold chains, rings, and bracelets. The gold jewelry was worth about $300,000 at the time and took him about an hour to put on. Most nights, Mr. T spent even more time cleaning them using an ultrasonic cleaner. Occasionally, he slept with the heavy neck chains and bracelets on, "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt."

In 1980, Mr. T was spotted by Sylvester Stallone while taking part in NBC's "America's Toughest Bouncer" competition, a segment of NBC's ''Games People Play''. Although his role in ''Rocky III'' was originally intended as just a few lines, Mr. T was eventually cast as Clubber Lang, the primary antagonist. His catchphrase "I pity the fool!" comes from the film; when asked if he hates Rocky, Lang replies, "No, I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool." Subsequently, after losing out on the role of the title character's mentor in ''The Beastmaster'', Mr. T appeared in another boxing film, ''Penitentiary 2'', and on an episode of Showtime's early sketch comedy series ''Bizarre'', where he fights and eats Super Dave Osborne, before accepting a television series role on ''The A-Team''.

Mr. T also appeared in an episode of ''Silver Spoons'', reprising his old role as bodyguard to Ricky Stratton. In the episode, he explains his name as "First name: ''Mister''; middle name: ''period''; last name ''T''." In one scene, when Ricky's class erupts into a paper-ball-throwing melee, Mr. T throws his body in front of the objects, fully protecting his client.

In ''The A-Team'', he played Sergeant Bosco "B.A." Baracus, an ex-Army commando on the run with three other members from the United States government "for a crime they didn't commit." As well as the team's tough guy, B.A. was a genius mechanic but afraid of flying. When asked at a press conference whether he was as stupid as B.A. Baracus, Mr. T observed quietly, "It takes a smart guy to play dumb."

His role in ''The A-Team'' led to him making an appearance in the long-running sit-com ''Diff'rent Strokes'' in the sixth season opener "Mr T. and mr. t" (1983), in which an episode of ''The A-Team'' is supposedly filmed in the family's penthouse apartment.

A Ruby-Spears-produced cartoon called ''Mister T'' premiered in 1983 on NBC. The ''Mister T'' cartoon starred Mr. T as himself, the owner of a gym where a group of gymnasts trained. He helped them with their training but they also helped him solve mysteries and fight crime in ''Scooby-Doo''-style scenarios. Thirty episodes were produced.

In 1984, he made a motivational video called ''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!''. He gives helpful advice to children throughout the video; for example, he teaches them how to understand and appreciate their origins, how to dress fashionably without buying designer labels, how to make tripping up look like breakdancing, how to control their anger, and how to deal with peer pressure. The video is roughly one hour long, but contains 30 minutes of singing, either by the group of children accompanying him, or by Mr. T himself. He sings "Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right)," in which he enumerates the reasons why it is important to treat your mother right, and also raps a song about growing up in the ghetto and praising God. The raps in this video were written by Ice T.

In 1988, Mr. T starred in the television series ''T. and T''. Mr. T was once reported to be earning around $80,000 a week for his role in ''The A-Team'' and earning $15,000 for personal appearances. By the end of the 1990s, he was appearing only in the occasional commercial, largely because of health problems (in 1995, he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma). He frequently appears on the TBN Christian television network. He has appeared on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. He has also appeared on some Comcast commercials, and in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand during 2007, advertising the chocolate bar Snickers with the slogan "Get Some Nuts!" One of these commercials, featuring Mr. T crashing through a wall on the back of a technical vehicle before firing Snickers bars at a speed walker wearing tight-fitting yellow shorts, was pulled by Mars following a complaint by the U.S.-based group Human Rights Campaign, despite the fact that the advert had never been shown outside the U.K. The group alleged that the commercial promoted the idea that violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people "is not only acceptable, but humorous." Mr. T has distanced himself from these accusations, insisting that he would never lend his name to something that supports such beliefs, and that the commercials did not depict such promotions. The commercials are still shown on Australian and UK television.

Mr. T did a video campaign for Hitachi's Data Systems that was created and posted on consumer video sites including YouTube and Yahoo! Video. According to Steven Zivanic, senior director and corporate communications of HDS, "this campaign has not only helped the firm in its own area, but it has given the data storage firm a broader audience." In November 2007, Mr. T appeared in a television commercial for the online role playing game ''World of Warcraft'' with the phrase ''"I'm Mr. T and I'm a Night Elf Mohawk"''. A follow-up to this commercial appeared in November 2009 where he appeared promoting the "mohawk grenade" item, which appears in game and turns other players into Mr. T's likeness.

In 2008, Mr. T appeared on the American channel ''Shopping TV'' selling his "Mr. T Flavorwave Oven." A video game starring Mr T. is also being developed by ZootFly. Mr. T was offered a cameo appearance in the film adaptation of ''The A-Team'', but decided to turn it down, whereas Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict were both to make cameos in the film, before 20th Century Fox cut out the scenes. (George Peppard died in 1994).

In the 2009 movie ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)'', Mr. T provided the voice for Officer Earl Devereaux, the town's athletic cop who loves his son very much.

, Mr. T is presenting a clip show on BBC Three named ''World's Craziest Fools''. The show features stories such as botched bank robberies and inept insurance fraudsters.

Wrestling

Mr. T entered the world of professional wrestling in 1983. He was Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) first ''WrestleMania'' which he won. Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that Mr. T saved the main event of WrestleMania I between them and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff because when he arrived, security would not let his entourage into the building. Mr. T was ready to skip the show until Hogan personally talked him out of leaving. Piper has said that he and other fellow wrestlers disliked Mr. T because he was an actor and had never paid his dues as a professional wrestler.

Remaining with the WWF, Mr. T became a special "WWF boxer" in light of his character in ''Rocky III''. He took on "Cowboy" Bob Orton on the March 1, 1986 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event,'' on NBC. This boxing stunt ultimately culminated in another boxing match against Roddy Piper at ''WrestleMania 2''. Mr. T returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987 as well as a special referee enforcer confronting such stars as the Honky Tonk Man.

Seven years later, Mr. T reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, in October 1994, at WCW's ''Halloween Havoc'', and then went on to wrestle again, defeating Kevin Sullivan at that year's ''Starrcade''. Another seven years later Mr. T appeared in the front row of the November 19, 2001, episode of ''WWF Raw''.

Albums

In 1984, Mr. T released an album titled ''Mr. T's Commandments'' (Columbia/CBS Records), much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video, which instructed children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. He followed it up with a second album the same year, titled ''Mr. T's Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!'' (MCA Records), which featured music from the film of the same name. In 2002, Mr. T appeared in the video for "Pass The Courvoisier" by Busta Rhymes featuring P. Diddy and Pharell Williams.

Personal life

Mr. T is a born-again Christian.

He gave up virtually all his gold, one of his identifying marks, after helping with the cleanup of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He said, "As a Christian, when I saw other people lose their lives and lose their land and property... I felt that it would be a sin before God for me to continue wearing my gold. I felt it would be insensitive and disrespectful to the people who lost everything, so I stopped wearing my gold."

Filmography

+ Film and Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1982	''Penitentiary II''	Himself
1982	''Rocky III''
1982	''Twilight Theatre''		TV Series
1983	''D.C. Cab''	Samson
1983		Himself	TV Series
1983	''Diff'rent Strokes''	Himself	TV Series
1983		Himself	Episode: "The C Team"
1983–1987	''''		TV Series
1984	''The Toughest Man in the World''	Bruise Brubaker	TV
1984	''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!''	Himself	Video
1984–1986, 1988	''WWF Superstars of Wrestling''	Himself	TV Series
1985		Himself	Video
1986	''WrestleMania 2''	Himself	Video
1987		Jabberwock	TV movie
1988–1990	''T. and T.''	T. S. Turner	TV Series
1993	''Freaked''	The Bearded Lady
1993		Mr. T-Rex
1994		Himself	TV Series
1994	''Magic of the Golden Bear: Goldy III''	Freedom
1995	''Kids Against Crime''	Himself
1996	''Spy Hard''	Helicopter Pilot
1998	''Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy''	Mister Robinson's neighbour	Video
1999		Himself
1999	''Malcolm and Eddie''	Calvin	Episode: "The Wrongest Yard"
2001	''Not Another Teen Movie''	The Wise Janitor
2001		J. T. Quincy	Cloud Ten Pictures
2004	''Johnny Bravo''	Himself	"T is for Trouble"
2004	''''	Himself	Episode: "Today I Am a Clown"
2005	''Return of the Lads''	Lad No 3 with Mark Egan and Cian Duffy
2006		Himself
2009	''''	Himself
2009		Earl Devereaux
2011	''World's Craziest Fools''	Himself	BBC Three

References

External links

Mohawk Media Mr. T site

TV Land's official I Pity The Fool page

Legendary TV's Mr. T profile

Mr. T discusses his Christian faith

Mr T. talks technology

Mr. T on a late 70s Local Chicago TV Show -- discussing being Leon Spinks bodyguard

Category:1952 births Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:African American film actors Category:American Christians Category:African American television actors Category:American television personalities Category:Bodyguards Category:Living people Category:Prairie View A&M; Panthers football players Category:United States Army soldiers

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