Hi

stor
yoft
heTel
evi
sion

Telev
isi
onscanbef oundinbil
li
onsofhomesaroundtheworl
d.But100y ear
sago,nobodyeven
knewwhatat el
evi
sionwas.I
nfact,aslat
eas1947,
onlyafewthousandAmer i
cansowned
tel
evi
sions.Howdidsuchagr oundbreaki
ngt
echnol
ogytur
nfrom anicheinv
enti
ontoaliv
ing
room mainstay?

Today
,we’
reexpl
aini
ngt
hecompl
etehi
stor
yoft
het
elev
isi
on–i
ncl
udi
ngwher
eitcoul
dbe
goi
ngint
hefutur
e.

Mechani
cal
Tel
evi
sionsi
nthe1800sandEar
ly1900s

Pr
iort
oel
ect
ri
ctel
evi
sions,
wehadmechani
cal
tel
evi
sions.

Theseearlytel
evi
sionsstart
edappeari
ngintheear
ly1800s.Theyi
nvol
vedmechanical
l
y
scanni
ngi magesthentransmit
ti
ngthoseimagesontoascreen.Comparedt
oelect
roni
c
tel
evi
sions,t
heywer eextr
emelyrudi
mentary
.

Oneoft hef
ir
stmechanicaltel
evi
sionsusedar ot
ati
ngdiskwit
hhol esarr
angedi naspiral
patt
ern.Thi
sdevi
cewascr eatedindependent
lybytwoinvent
ors:Scott
ishinventorJohnLogie
Bair
dandAmer i
caninventorCharl
esFrancisJenki
ns.Bothdevi
ceswer einventedintheearl
y
1920s.

Pri
ortothesetwoi nv entors,GermaninventorPaulGot t
li
ebNipkowhaddevel
opedthefi
rst
mechani
cal t
elevision.Thatdev icesenti
magest hroughwi r
esusingar
otati
ngmetaldi
sk.
I
nsteadofcall
ingt hedev i
ceat elev
isi
on,however,
Ni pkowcall
editan“
elect
ri
ctel
escope”.The
devi
cehad18l inesofr esolut
ion.

In1907,t
woi
nvent
ors–Russi
anBorisRosingandEngl
ishA.A.Campbell
-Swi
nton–combineda
cathoder
ayt
ubewit
hamechanical
scanningsyst
em tocreat
eat ot
all
ynewtelev
isi
onsy
stem.

Ul
ti
mat
ely
,theearl
yef
for
tsoft
hesei
nvent
orswoul
dleadt
othewor
ld’
sfi
rstel
ect
ri
cal
tel
evi
sion
af
ewyearslat
er.
TheFi
rstEl
ect
roni
cTel
evi
sionwasI
nvent
edi
n1927

Theworl
d’sfi
rstel
ectr
onict
elev
isi
onwascreatedbya21y earol
dinventornamedPhil
oTay l
or
Far
nswort
h.Thatinvent
orli
vedinahousewithoutel
ectr
ici
tyunti
lhewasage14.St art
ingin
hi
ghschool,
hebegant othi
nkofasystem t
hatcouldcapturemovingimages,tr
ansfor
mt hose
i
magesintocode,thenmovethoseimagesalongradi
owav estodiff
erentdevi
ces.

Far
nswor
thwasmilesaheadofanymechani
cal
telev
isi
onsy
stem i
nvent
edto-dat
e.
Far
nswor
th’
ssyst
em captur
edmov i
ngi
magesusingabeam ofel
ect
rons(basi
cal
ly,
apr
imi
ti
ve
camer
a).

Thefi
rsti
mageevert
ransmittedbytelevi
sionwasasimplel
i
ne.Lat
er,Far
nswor
thwould
famousl
ytransmi
tadol
larsignusinghistelev
isi
onaft
erapr
ospect
iveinv
est
orasked“
Whenar
e
wegoingtoseesomedollar
si nt
histhing,Far
nswort
h?”

Between1926and1931, mechani
calt
elev
isi
oninvent
orscont
inuedtot
weakandtestt
heir
creat
ions.However,
theywer
ealldoomedtobeobsoletei
ncompar i
sontomoder
nelect
ri
cal
tel
evi
sions:by1934,al
lTVshadbeenconver
tedintot
heelect
roni
csystem.

Under
standabl
y,al
learl
ytel
evi
sionsy
stemstr
ansmi
tt
edfoot
ageinbl
ackandwhite.Col
orTV,
however,
wasfir
sttheori
zedwaybackin1904–somethi
ngwe’
l
ltal
kaboutl
ateron.

HowDi
dEar
lyTel
evi
sionsWor
k?

Thetwot y
pesoftel
evi
sionsl
ist
edabov
e,mechani
calandel
ect
roni
c,wor
kedinvast
lydi
ff
erent
ways.We’vehi
ntedathowtheseTVsworkedabov
e,butwe’
l
lgoint
oamor edet
ail
ed
descr
ipt
ionint
hissect
ion.

Mechani
cal
Tel
evi
sions

Mechanicalt
elevi
sionsr
eli
edonr ot
atingdiskst
otransmi
timagesfr
om atransmi
tt
ertot
he
recei
ver
.Boththetransmit
terandreceiverhadr
otati
ngdi
sks.Thedi
skshadholesi
nthem
spacedaroundthedisk,wi
theachholebei ngsl
i
ghtl
ylowerthant
heother
.
Totransmiti
mages,
youhadt opl
aceacamerai
natot
all
ydarkroom,t
henpl
aceaver
ybright
l
ightbehindt
hedi
sk.Thatdi
skwouldbetur
nedbyamotori
nordertomakeoner
evol
uti
onfor
ever
yf r
ameoftheTVpictur
e.

Bai
rd’
searl
ymechanical
tel
evisi
onhad30holesandrotat
ed12.
5ti
mespersecond.Ther
ewasa
l
ensinfr
ontoft
hedisktofocusli
ghtont
othesubject
.

Whenl i
ghthitthesubject,thatl
ightwouldber efl
ectedint
oaphot oelectr
iccel
l,whichthen
convert
edthislightenergyt oel
ectri
calimpulses.Theelectr
ical
impulsesar etr
ansmitt
edov er
theairt
oar eceiver.Thediskont hatrecei
verwoul dspi
natt heexactsamespeedast hediskon
thetr
ansmitter
’scamer a(themot orswouldbesy nchr
onizedtoensur epreci
setransmissi
ons).

Therecei
vi
ngendfeat
uredaradioreceiv
er,whichr
ecei
vedthetransmissi
onsandconnect
ed
them t
oaneonlampplacedbehindthedisk.Thedi
skwouldrotatewhil
ethelampwouldputout
l
ighti
npropor
ti
ontotheelect
ri
calsignali
twasgetti
ngfr
om thereceiv
er.

Ul
timatel
y,t
hissyst
em woul
dallowyoutovi
ewtheimageontheothersideofthedisk–
al
thoughyou’dneedamagnif
yinggl
ass.Her
e’showthesy
stem worksindiagr
am form:

I
magecour
tesyofEar
lyTel
evi
sion.
org.

El
ect
roni
cTel
evi
sions

There’
sar easonwest
oppedusi
ngmechani
cal
tel
evi
sions:
elect
roni
ctel
evi
sionswer
evast
ly
superi
or.

Electr
oni
ctelevi
sionsr
elyonatechnol
ogycall
edaCat
hodeRayTube(CRT)aswel
lastwoor
mor eanodes.Theanodesweretheposit
ivet
ermi
nal
sandthecat
hodewasthenegat
ive
terminal
.

The“
Cat
hode”partoft
heCat hodeRayTubewasaheatedfi
l
amentencl
osedi
naglassTube
(t
he“
T”ofCRT).TheCathodewouldrel
easeabeam ofel
ect
roni
csi
ntot
heemptyspaceoft
he
t
ube(
whi
chwasact
ual
l
yav
acuum)
.

Alloftheserel
easedelect
ronshadanegati
vechar
geandwouldthusbeattractedtopositi
vel
y
chargedanodes.Theseanodeswerefoundattheendoft
heCRT, whichwast hetel
evisi
on
screen.Astheelect
ronswererel
easedatoneend,t
heyweredi
splay
edont het el
evi
sionscreen
attheotherend.

Ofcourse,fi
ri
ngelectr
onsagai
nstagl
assscreendoesn’
tmakeimages.Tomakeimages,
the
i
nsideofthetelevi
sionscr
eenwoul
dbecoatedwithphosphor
.Theel
ectronswoul
dpai
ntan
i
mageont hescreenoneli
neatati
me.

Tocontrol
thefi
ri
ngofelect
rons,CRTsusetwo“steer
ingcoil
s”.Bothsteer
ingcoil
susethe
powerofmagnetstopushtheelectr
onbeam t
othedesiredlocati
onont hescreen.Onest
eer
ing
coi
lpushestheel
ectr
onsupordown, whi
l
etheotherpushesthem lef
torright
.

TheFi
rstTel
evi
sionSt
ati
onsi
nAmer
ica

Theworld’
sfi
rstt
elev
isi
onst
ati
onsf
ir
stst
art
edappear
ingi
nAmer
icai
nthel
ate1920sandear
ly
1930s.

Thefir
stmechanicalTVstat
ionwascal
ledW3XKandwascr eat
edbyCharl
esFranci
sJenkins
(oneoftheinvent
orsoft
hemechanical
telev
isi
on)
.ThatTVstat
ionai
redi
tsf
ir
stbroadcaston
July2,1928.

Oneoftheworl
d’sfi
rstt
elev
isi
onstat
ions,
WRGB,hast
hehonorofbei
ngt
hewor
ld’
sonl
y
cont
inuousl
yoperat
ingst
ati
onsince1926tot
hemodernday
.

TheFi
rstTel
evi
sionSet
sinAmer
ica

Amer i
ca’
sfi
rstcommer
cial
l
ypr oducedt el
evi
sionsetswerebasedonthemechani
cal
tel
evi
sion
syst
em –madebyJohnBai r
d’stelevi
siondesigns.Theseset
swereshownofftot
hepubli
cin
September,
1928.
I
twouldtakeunt
il1938,howev
er,bef
oreAmeri
canelect
roni
ctel
evi
sionset
swer
epr
oducedand
r
eleasedcommercial
ly
.Theywereaninst
anthi
taft
errel
ease.

TheFi
rstRemot
eCont
rol
forTel
evi
sionSet
s

Thewor l
d’sfi
rstt
elev
isi
onremotecont
rolwascall
edtheTeleZoom, andi
tcanbarel
yevenbe
categor
izedasar emotecont
rol
.TheTeleZoom wasonlyusedto“zoom i
n”tot
hepictur
eon
thetel
evisi
on.Youcouldnotusei
ttochangeanychannelsort
urntheTVonorof f
.TheTele
Zoom wasr el
easedin1948.

Thefir
st“t
rue”remotecont
rolwaspr
oducedbyZeni
thandreleasedin1955.Thi
sremote
cont
rolcoul
dt urnt
hetel
evi
siononorof
fandchangethechannel.I
twasalsocomplet
ely
wir
eless.

TheFi
rstTel
evi
sionPr
ogr
am i
nAmer
ica

Today,Americannetworksplaythousandsofdi f
fer
entprogramsev eryday.Everysingl
eoneof
theseprogr
ams, however,owesitsexistencetoAmer i
ca’
sfirstt
elevi
sionprogram, whi
chwas
call
edTheQueen’ sMessenger.Thatpr ogram wasfi
rstshowni n1928byWRGBst ati
on.

We’ r
enot100%sur et
hatTheQueen’sMessengerwast hef i
rstTVprogram showninAmerica.
I
n1928, theprogr
am wasthoughtt
obebr oadcastonl
ytof ourtel
evi
sionsets.Not400.Not
4,000.Four
.Thus,wehavesomeambi gui
tyanddebateov erwhetherthi
swasact ual
lythef
irst
telev
isi
onprogram.

Amer
ica’
sFi
rstTel
evi
sionCommer
cial

Thefir
sttel
ev i
sionst at
ioninAmericastar
tedbroadcastingin1928.Fort
hef i
rst13yearsofit
s
exi
stence,t
elevi
sionr emainedbl
issful
lycommer cial
-f
ree.Thefi
rstcommer ci
albroadcasti
n
Amer i
cadidnott akeplaceunti
lJuly1,1941,whichiswhent hefir
stAmericanadv er
ti
sement
air
ed.Theadwasf oraBulovawatchandl ast
edf or10seconds.Itai
redonNBC.

Col
orTel
evi
sioni
nAmer
ica

Col
ort
elev
isi
ont
racesi
tsr
oot
sasf
arbackas1904,
whenaGer
mani
nvent
orr
ecei
vedapat
ent
f
orcol
ort
elev
ision.However
,thati
nvent
ordi
dnotact
ual
l
yhav
eawor
kingcol
ort
elev
isi
on–i
t
wasj
ustapatentedidea.

Aconceptuali
zedcol
ort
elev
isi
onsystem appear
edin1925f
rom i
nventorVl
adimi
rZwory
kin.
Howev er
,thi
ssyst
em wasneverconv
ertedint
oreal
i
ty.Al
lat
tempt
st oconver
titi
ntor
eal
it
ydid
notsucceed.

Colortel
evi
sionwasplacedonthebackbur
nerforabout20year
s.I
n1946, thei
deaofcol
or
tel
evisi
onwasr enewedinear
nest
.AsTheHistory
OfTelev
isi
on.
com expl
ains,

“By1946,t
heSecondWorl
dWarwashi st
or y,
andpeopleinAmer i
cawantedt
omakeupf oral
l
theti
melostt
othewar.Bl
ackandwhitetelevi
sionwasthoughtofasol
danditwastimet odo
somethi
ngnew.Thisi
swhencolort
elevi
sionsystemsfi
rstbegantobeconsi
deredseri
ously.
”

Thecolort
elev
isionwarinAmer i
cawasf oughtbet weentwoindustr
ygiant
s:CBSandRCA.CBS
wasthefir
stcompanyt ocreat
eacolortelevi
sionset.Howev er,
themaindrawbackwast
hatit
wasamechani caltel
evi
sionbasedonJohnBai rd’sori
ginal
sy st
em.Thus,i
twasnotcompat
ibl
e
wit
hblackandwhi teTVsetsinuseacr
ossAmer ica.

Despit
ethi
smajorf
law,
theFCCdecl
aredt
hatt
heCBScol
ort
elev
isi
onwasgoi
ngt
obet
he
nat
ionalst
andar
d.

RCAprot
est
ed,stat
ingt
hati
twasunfai
rtomakeCBScol
orTVthestandar
dwhenitcoul
deven
beusedbymil
l
ionsofcust
omersacr
ossAmerica(
mostofwhom ownedRCAtel
evisi
ons)
.

Unfazed,
RCAconti
nuedtodevel
optheirowncol
ortel
evi
sionsystem t
hatwouldbecompati
ble
wit
hi t
scust
omersRCAsets.I
n1953,theFCCacknowledgedthatRCA’scolorTVsy
stem was
bet
ter.St
art
ingi
n1954,col
orRCATVsy stemsweresol
dacrossAmer ica.

Col
orTVhadasimilarini
ti
alprobl
em as3DTVandot hertechnol
ogi
es:peopl
eownedthecolor
TVtechnol
ogy
,butbroadcasterswer
en’tpr
oduci
ngcolorTVcontent
.Fewpeopleownedcolor
TVsetsbetween1954and1965.However
,star
ti
ngin1966,
col
orTVprogrammingwas
br
oadcastacrossAmer
ica,
leadi
ngtoasurgeinsal
esofcol
ort
elev
isi
onsets.

Ti
mel
i
neofTVHi
stor
yBet
weent
he1950sand2000s

Betweenthe1950sand2000s, t
elev
isi
onturnedfrom anichetechnol
ogyint
oacr i
ti
calf
orm of
communi cat
ionfoundinli
vi
ngroomsacrossthenation.Av astnumberofchangesand
i
mpr ovementstookplacei
nthesecondhalfofthe20thcent ur
ytomakethetelevi
sioni
ntowhat
i
tistoday.Here’
sat i
meli
ne:

1949:
InJanuar
y,t
henumberofTVst
ati
onshadgr
ownt
o98i
n58mar
ketar
eas.

1949:TheFCCadoptedtheFairnessDoctr
ine,whi
chmadebr oadcaster
sresponsi
blef
or
seeki
ngoutandpresent
ingallsidesofanissuewhencover
ingcontrover
sy.Thi
sactwasa
suppl
ementtotheCommuni cati
onsActof1934, whi
chrequir
edbroadcaster
stogiveequal
ai
rti
met ocandi
dat
esrunninginelect
ions.

1951:
ILoveLucy,sponsor
edbyPhi
li
pMor ri
s,wasborn.Thehalf-
hoursi
tcom r
ankedast
he
numberoneprogr
am inthenat
ionf
orfourofit
sfi
rstsi
xfullseasons.

1951:OnJune21,CBSbroadcast
edthefi
rstcol
orprogram.Asmenti
onedabove,CBS’scol
or
syst
em onlywor
kedwit
hasmal lnumberofTVsacrossAmer i
ca.Onl
y12customersacross
Americacoul
dseethef
ir
stcolorTVbroadcast
.12mi l
li
onotherTVswer
eblankforthi
sprogram.

1952:
BobHopet
akeshi
scomedyf
rom r
adi
otoTVasTheBobHopeShowdebut
sinOct
ober
,
1952.

1952:Bytheendof1952,TVscoul
dbef oundin20mil
li
onhousehol
dsacrossAmerica,
ari
seof
33%from thepr
evi
ousyear.U.
S.adver
ti
sersspentat
otalof$288mil
li
onontel
evi
sion
adver
ti
singti
me,anincr
easeof38.8%from 1951.

1953:
RCAr
eleasesi
tscol
orbr
oadcast
ingsy
stem,
whi
chwor
kedon12mi
l
li
onTVsi
nst
eadof
12.

1954:
NBCl
aunchesTheToni
ghtShowwi
thcomedi
anSt
eveAl
l
en.

1955:
Gunsmoke,
thecl
assi
cwest
ernTVshow,
begani
ts20y
earr
unonCBS.

1958:525cabl
eTVsystemsacrossAmeri
caserve450,
000subscri
ber
s.I
nresponse,CBStakes
outatwopageadver
ti
sementinTVGuidestat
ingthat“
Freet
elev
isi
onasweknowi tcannot
surv
iveal
ongsi
depaytel
evi
sion.
”

1960:
Fourdebat
esbet
weenJohnF.KennedyandRi
char
dNi
xonwer
ebr
oadcastt
hroughoutt
he
y
earacr
osst
hecount
ry,
for
everchangi
ngt
hewaypr
esi
dent
swoul
dcampai
gn.

1963:Fort
hefir
stt
imeinhi
stor
y,t
elevi
sionsur
passesnewspapersasaninf
ormati
onsour
ce.I
n
apollt
hisyear
,36%ofAmeri
cansfoundTVt obeamor erel
i
ablesourcet
hanpri
nt,
whichwas
fav
oredby24%.

1964:TheFCCregul
atescableforthefir
stt
ime.TheFCCr equi
redoperat
orstobl
ackout
progr
ammingthatcomesi nfr
om distantmarketsanddupl
icat
esalocalst
ati
on’
sown
progr
amming(i
fthelocalstat
iondemandedi t)
.

1964:
73mi
l
li
onv
iewer
swat
chTheBeat
lesappearont
heEdSul
l
ivanShow.

1965:
NBCcal
l
sit
sel
fTheFul
lCol
orNet
wor
kandbr
oadcast
s96%ofi
tspr
ogr
ammi
ngi
ncol
or.

1969:
Astr
onautNei
lAr
mstrongwalksont
hemoonf
ort
hef
ir
stt
imeasmi
l
li
onsofAmer
ican
vi
ewerswatchl
i
veonnetworkTV.

1970:TheFCCi mpl
ement st
heFinancialInt
erestSyndicati
onRulesthatpr
ohibitt
hethreemaj
or
networksfr
om owningandcont
rolli
ngt herebroadcastofpriv
ateshows.Thismeant30mi nut
es
ofprogrammingeachnightwer
egi venbackt olocalstat
ionsinthet
op50mar ket
s,encour
agi
ng
theproduct
ionofl
ocalprogr
ammi ng.

1971:
Adv
ert
isement
str
ansi
ti
onf
rom 60secondsi
nav
eragel
engt
hto30seconds.

1979:Somepeoplebel
i
ev eit
’st
he“begi
nningoft
heendf
orTV”asapol
li
ndi
cat
edthat44%of
Americanswer
eunhappywi t
hcurr
entprogrammi
ngand49%werewat
chi
ngTVlessthanwhat
theydidafewyear
searl
ier.

1979:ESPN,anet
worktotal
lydevot
edtospor
ts,
debutsoncabl
e.ESPNwoul
dgoont
obecome
thel
argestandmostsuccessf
ulbasi
ccabl
echannel
.

1980:
TedTurnerl
aunchesCabl
eNewsNet
wor
k(CNN)
,achannel
dev
otedt
oshowcasi
ngnews
24hoursaday.

1980:
Musi
cTel
evi
sion(
MTV)makesi
tsdebuti
nAugustof1980.

1986:Aft
eryear
sofrisi
ngr at
es,ABC,
CBS,
andNBChav etr
oublesel
l
ingcommerci
alt
imef
or
sport
sprogramsfort
hef i
rstti
me.Commerci
alr
atesf
orthe1986NFLseasondr
opped15%
fr
om the1985season.

1989:
PayPerViewbegi
nst
oleav
eit
smar
kont
het
elev
isi
onl
andscape,
reachi
ngabout20%of
al
lwir
edhousehol
ds.

1992:I
nfomer
cial
sexpl
odewit
hgrowth.Thi
syear
,theNat
ionalI
nfomerci
alMarketi
ng
Associ
ati
onesti
matesi
nfomer
cial
sgenerat
esal
esof$750mi l
l
ion,doubl
ethatof1988.

1993:
Att
hest
artof1993,
98%ofAmer
icanhousehol
dsownedatl
eastoneTV,
wit
h64%
owni
ngt
woormor
eset
s.

1996:Di
git
alsat
ell
i
tedishes18inchesi
ndiamet
erhi
tthemar
ket
,becomi
ngt
hebest
sel
l
ing
el
ectr
oni
citem i
nhist
orynextt
ot heVCR.

2000:
TheDi
git
alVi
deoDi
sc(
DVD)i
sint
roduced.

2004:
DVDsout
sel
lVHSt
apesf
ort
hef
ir
stt
ime.

2005:
Flatscr
eenTVsandHDTVsar
eint
roducedf
ort
hef
ir
stt
ime.

2006:
Flatscr
eenTVsandHDTVsbecomeaf
for
dabl
efort
hef
ir
stt
ime.

2006:
Sonyrel
easesi
tsBl
u-r
aydi
scf
ormat
,capabl
eofhol
dingupt
o27GBdespi
tebei
ngt
he
samesizeasaDVD.

2010:
3Dt
elev
isi
onsst
arthi
tt
ingt
hemar
ket
,spur
redbypopul
ar3Dbl
ockbust
ersl
i
keAv
atar
.