Broadcasting in some form was however tied not only to strong economic interests but also to the deep structures of modern societies In spite of the activities of TV amateurs television was also primarily a medium for theatrical exhibition in the USA in the early 1930s and as such often thought to be a potential competitor of the film industry In fact television was throughout the 19030s predominantly watched in public settings also outside of the USA For example in Britain public viewing of television was the way in which most early audiences actually experienced the medium and this was even more the case in Germany While the vision of grassroots or amateur twoway television was quite obviously doomed to a very marginal position at the very best television systems largely based on collective public reception were in fact operating in several countries in the 1930s and may with the benefit of hindsight be seen as having presented more of a threat to the domestication of the medium But it was a threat that was not to materialise