The History of Television
From Principles of Electronic Media
(Davie & Upshaw, 2006)
In the Beginning
• Early Inventors working on the television:
-Charles Jenkins/John Baird
-Philo Farnsworth
-Vladimir Zworkin
• Go to the following website to discover how each of
these men contributed:
http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/18801929.html
and
http://www.mztv.com/newframe.asp?content=http://
www.mztv.com/pioneers.html
Early Development of the TV:
Zworykin and Farnsworth
An Internet series focusing on the early days of television.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAJ19XeIn1g
Zworykin (left)
Farnsworth (right)
Two early possibilities:
• Mechanical Television
VS.
• Electronic Television
• Mechanical TV- first broadcast crude images such
as stick figures and Silhouettes
• Electronic TV- First broadcast by Farnsworth was
of a straight line (he later changed it to a dollar sign
as an investor asked “when are we going to see
some dollars in this thing Farnsworth?”
The History of Television
• Heading into the Great Depression, few
families owned television sets and many
technical issues were left to be resolved.
This slowed the diffusion of television.
The History of Television
• In 1941, The National Television Standards
Committee, formed by manufacturers,
produced an agreement setting standards for
home picture quality. The age of
commercial television in the United States
dawned on July 1, 1941, when WNBT (now
WNBC) in New York began broadcasting.
CBS went on the air that same month.
The History of Television
• With the dawn of World War II,
television’s development was slowed once
again as materials and efforts were directed
toward the war.
The History of Television
• With the end of WWII, several factors came
together to launch a “golden age” of
television (roughly 1945-1960).
– Returning veterans.
– David Sarnoff of RCA uses his political power
and connections to reduce the cost of receivers.
– The emergence of the suburb.
30s-50s
• Earliest television broadcasts needed to be
combined with Radio
-Images could be sent but sound could not,
therefore you would watch the video and tune
into the radio channel broadcasting the sound
• After the end of World War II the television
took off
• http://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/19301959.html
First ‘Meet the Press’ photo
December 4, 1947: The earliest photograph in existence of the longest
running television program in history. Sen. Robert Taft was the guest on
"Meet the Press" that day, less than a month after the program debuted on
NBC television at 8 p.m., November 6, 1947. James A. Farley, the former
postmaster general and former Democratic National Committee chairman,
was the guest on the first broadcast. (Meet the Press)
The History of Television
• Popular programs of television’s golden
age included:
–
–
–
–
–
Milton Berle
Howdy Doody
Leave it to Beaver
Father Knows Best
I Love Lucy
The History of Television
• Another Freeze on Development in 1948
– The FCC stopped issuing licenses to study
video and color standards, interference,
frequency allocation, and educational use.
– One result of the FCC study of 1948 was the
allocation of portions of the broadcast spectrum
for noncommercial broadcasting. This was due
in large part to Frieda Hennock who was
commissioner of the FCC at the time.
The History of Television
• All television programs were originally
“live,” meaning that they were seen as they
were being received as they were currently
unfolding in front of the television cameras.
Before the invention of videotape in 1956,
early television was recorded via kinescope
in which 35mm film recorded the readout of
a television screen.
The History of Television
• Edward R. Murrow brought journalistic
integrity to the screen his news
documentary series titled See It Now (1951),
but most television was geared directly for
entertainment purposes.
• Murrow’s crusade against Senator Joe
McCarthy is dramatized in the recent film
Good Night and Good Luck.
The “Today” Show: Premiered Jan. 14,
1952
The Today show is a morning news and talk show. It was the first of
its genre when it signed on with original host Dave Garroway, above.
Dave,
a former radio personality, was host of the series until 1961. The show
was the idea of, then NBC-TV vice-president Sylvester “Pat” Weaver,
the father of actress Sigourney Weaver. The Today Show is the fourthlongest running TV series.
Americans Embrace the
Television
Listen to some interviews with
people who witnessed the early
days of television.
http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/li
fe_27.html
The History of Television
• The introduction of videotape in 1956 had
an enormous impact, permitting the editing
of high resolution images and allowing the
visual language of television to become
much more complex.
• Elvis Presley also appeared on The Ed
Sullivan Show in 1956.
The History of Television
• The 1958 quiz show scandal (Twenty-One,
The $64,000 Question). This is often seen
as an emblem of how the business of
television places profits above the integrity
of broadcasting.
The History of Television
• The assassination of John F. Kennedy on
November 22, 1963 was a demonstration of
television’s power to serve as a window on
world events. ABC anchor Ron Cochran
noted “Television had actually become the
window of the world so many had hoped it
might be one day.”
The History of Television
• Television as a “national hearth?”
• “These galvanizing events supported the
theory that television would become a
national ‘hearth’ where, now and then, we
could gather to watch, worry, and recover –
together” (p. 33).
How much did a television cost?
Compare prices from the 1930’s to the
1990’s and click on the television listed
to see the original advertisement!
http://www.tvhistory.tv/tv-prices.htm
1940: $395 (about
$4,500 in today’s
money) for a RCA
TRK-12
The History of Television
• In the 1970’s, the FCC forced the television
industry to loosen its grip on content by
mandating that they “farm out” program
ideas to other independent content creators.
The History of Television
• “When the CBS documentary The Selling of the
Pentagon exposed government efforts to win
bigger military budgets through expensive public
relations campaigns, it infuriated war supporters
and widened political gaps. Fortunately, the
comedy show Laugh In and comic Flip Wilson
made silly slogans such as ‘Sock it to me’ and
‘Here come da judge’ as safe way to laugh off
stress” (p. 35).
The History of Television
• 24 hour cable news channels
– The pioneer cable news channel was CNN
(Cable News Network) introduced in 1980.
Key News Stories Covered by Early
Television
As news channels expanded,
technology improved, and more
people could afford a television,
the use of the Television to bring
news to the people become a more
popular and to some, preferred.
They followed newsreels as the next
form of audio and visual news.
Read this article on the early days of
television newscasts, and the
coverage of the Korean War.
http://jfredmacdonald.com/trm/11tvk
orea.htm
Cuban Missile Crisis(10/22/1962)
Dr. MLK’s “I have a Dream Speech
JFK, MLK and RFK
Assasinations
The Moon Landing: Watch Video (1969)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p
7c-PbfnQuw
The Vietnam War(first widely televised
war in the 1960’s-1970’s)
Watergate: (1973 Hearings begin)
Watch Video
http://www.newseum.org/century/m
ovies/watergate.htm
Shuttle Challenger Explodes (1/28/86)
Berlin Wall Falls (11/9/89)
The History of Television
• Beginning in the 1980s, “big three”
television networks (NBC, CBS and ABC)
faced major competition from several
sources:
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Cable and Satellite Television
Syndication
VCRs
Financial interest and syndication rules
The History of Television
• The increased competition weakened the
major networks and lead to an eventual
buyout by larger holding companies.
– ABC by Capital City Communications
– NBC by General Electric
– CBS by Viacom
Hours You Watch TV
• The beginning of Television had one of the greatest
influences on the History of the United States. Since its
beginning it has increased the speed of information,
entertained, influenced policy, and elections. Think
about this for a moment, grab a pen and paper, go ahead,
they won’t bite.
• Now lets do a little math, lets assume for a moment that
you represent the average American. Figure out about
how much TV you have watched or plan to watch this
week.
• Now multiply that by 52, that’s how much you the
average American are likely to watch in a year.
Let’s Compare
• First and foremost lets compare the number of
hours you just calculated for TV with how
often you read. Go ahead and do that math
again for your reading patterns.
• For other statistics such as the actual amount
of time your average Americans spend in front
of the tube visit the following site:
http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&h
ealth.html
Color TV and the Satellite Era
• Use the link below to read about the
expansion of the color TV and the transition
into the Satellite
Erahttp://transition.fcc.gov/omd/history/tv/1
960-1989.html
24 Hour News Networks
With 24 hour news networks, may people
began to watch news stories unfold as
they were happening.
• Challenger Disaster (1986)
• Gulf War (1991)
• OJ Simpson Chase and Trial (1994)
• September, 11th 2001
• Invasion of Iraq (2003)
• Hurricane Katrina (2005)
• Haiti Earthquake (2010)
• Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico (2010)
• Earthquake/ Tsunami Crisis in Japan
(2011)
The History of Television
• The Present state of Television
– High Definition Television
– Digital Video Recorders
– Video on Demand
– MS Vista and the concept of convergence
Broadcasts and Television Programs
that changed the world
• Take a little time and research one of the following programs
with special attention to how it affected or reflected culture:
• 1968 Olympic Games
• See it Now (Murrow vs McCarthyism)
• Father Knows Best
• Broadcasting during 9/11
• I love Lucy
• MASH
• The Moon Landing
• Kennedy Assasination
• Kennedy vs Nixon Debates