Rise of Television

History of Television

You might be surprised to learn that the idea of a television dates all the way back to the late 1800s. In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow patented a scanning disk that was instrumental in the development of later televisions.

Fig. 2: Mechanical Television Receiver from 1927.

Nipkow's invention, also called the Nipkow disk, was a spinning disk made from plastic or metal. Small holes were drilled into the disks. As the disk spins, it projects a rudimentary image.

Philo Farnsworth expanded upon the idea. He took the earlier idea of a television, Nipkow's disk, and transformed it. In 1927, Farnsworth was able to unveil a prototype of his electric television, which was patented in 1930.

Farnsworth was not the only person working on television at this time. A physicist in Russia, Boris Rosing, and a Scottish engineer, Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton, began working on a protype that used cathode ray tubes instead of the Nipkow disk. Another Scottish engineer named John Baird also gave a demonstration of television in 1927, the same year Farnsworth gave his demonstration.

In 1929, an American immigrant and Russian engineer, Vladimir Zworykin, developed the technology for an iconoscope, which used cathode ray tubes to transmit images. He unveiled his prototype to a group of radio engineers. This unveiling was notable because one of the audience members was an executive at the Radio Corporation of America, a company now known as RCA.

Fig. 3: RCA Television Advertisement

This executive, David Sarnoff, saw the big picture of television-a means of both entertainment and communication, just like the radio. Sarnoff later involved himself in a legal battle with Philo Farnswoth over patent technology.

Sarnoff then introduced the American people to television at the 1939 World's Fair. Under RCA and its branch of broadcasting called the National Broadcasting Company (known now as NBC), the fair's opening ceremonies were broadcast to the American people.

In the early 1940s, there were a few hundred televisions in use in the United States. By the mid-1940, there were over 20 television stations being broadcast to American television sets.

By 1955, at least half of the American homes had televisions. In the late 1950s, TV finally replaced radio as the most popular medium for entertainment and communication. Around this time, the FCC approved color television, but very few TVs in the United States were capable of receiving the color broadcast. Sarnoff and RCA remedied this problem. The team found a way for previous TVs that could only receive black and white broadcasts to now potentially receive color broadcasts.

RCA sold the first color TV set in the 1950s; however, color TV wasn't affordable for consumers or profitable for manufactures until the 1960s.

Fig. 4: Philio Farnsworth.

Golden Age of Television

The Golden Age of television ran from the later part of the 1940s to the late 1950s.

While technology for widespread broadcasts had been around for a while, it wasn't until after World War II that television really began to infiltrate American homes.

In the very beginning, there were a few television stations that could broadcast to a small range of TVs. The availability grew over time. More homes began to purchase the relatively new technology, and more channels became available for broadcast.

People who purchased televisions began enjoying their new-found sense of community. They could see events happening in real time, such as early football games or presidential debates. People began to develop a sense of connection to TV personalities such as Lucille Ball or Milton Berle.

Television consumers were impressed by the wide array of television shows they could see in their homes. They enjoyed shows such as I Love Lucy and The Twilight Zone. Game and quiz shows began gaining popularity.

Children's television began gaining popularity as well. Children were enamored with shows such as The Howdy Doody Show and Captain Kangaroo.

Fig. 5: Lucille Ball

Effects of Television in the 1950s

One of the effects of television in the 1950s is that it impacted politics in the United States. Now, viewers could see and hear candidates thought advertisements and debates on TV. This impacted the way candidates campaigned for elections. Now their appearance and the length of their speeches mattered in a way they never did before.

All technology can impact society in both positive and negative ways. Let's examine the impact of television more.

Positive Effects of Television in the 1950s

People enjoyed watching sitcoms and game shows, as they not only provided an opportunity for them to interact with others in their homes, but also gave them something to discuss with friends.

Television gave people the opportunity to be more informed about daily life. They could learn about events from local and national news broadcasts.

Negative Effects of Television in the 1950s

There's no doubt about it, television became popular in the 1950s and is still popular today! But with all things, people find themselves looking for negative consequences or effects.

Financially, television sets were expensive. Generally, only wealthier families were able to afford a TV in the 1950s.

For a long time, critics of television have complained that TVs led to lowered cultural and intellectual standards. They also complained that TV led to more time inside and that watching television would diminish one's imagination. Frequent viewers of television were seen as being lazy.

Fig 6: 1956 Zenith Television with "Space Command 200" Remote Control.

Rise of Television Summary

The idea of television has changed radically over time. Below you will find a chart summarizing influential people and the contributions that made to TV.

A primitive version of television was developed by several inventors in the 1920s, using the Nipkow's disk as the basis for the device. TV reached the American public in the late 1930s, when an executive with RCA and NBC unveiled the technology at the world's fair. He demonstrated the ability to broadcast by attempting to broadcast the fair's opening ceremonies.

In the early 1940s, there were a few hundred televisions in use in the United States. This number grew, slowly but surely, and in the latter part of the 1940s there were more TVs in homes and more networks broadcasting TV shows.

Television sets began to appear in more and more homes. By the mid-1950s, half of American homes had televisions. Color TVs began to appear after that.

The late 1940s and 1950s were the first Golden Age of American content programming. People really liked being able to see news and other important events live on TV at the same time other people were watching. People also enjoyed the wide variety of content they could access. A TV view during the first Golden Age could watch a game show, the news, a sports broadcast, a children's show, a sitcom, or s scientific-fiction show.

Critics of television condemned the lazy lifestyle they believed television viewing would lead to.