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Audio Video Production

History of American

Broadcasting

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Broadcasting: A Young Media

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Television Development

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1920’s

• Many companies experimenting with and developing TV.

1926

• Philo T. Farnsworth (American) experimented with electronic TV—stream of electrons.

1928

• Vladimir Zworykin develop/refines iconoscope tube.

Television Development

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1928 1st TV Drama broadcast

1931 Regularly scheduled TV begins

1935 Electronic TV is demonstrated to the

press

Television Development

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1936

1939

Germany: televises Olympics.Britain: few hours of regular programming a day.

The TV is presented at the New York World’s Fair.

Television Development

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1941

15 hours of programming each week.

1945

FCC authorizes

TV broadcast.

1942

150 applications

for TV stations

Color Television

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• Experimentation with color during WWII

1932-

1945

• Non-compatible mechanical color system is presented.1946

• FCC refuses color request.1947

• 50 TV stations on air, 124 authorized.• FCC establishes a four year freeze on

new TV licenses.1948

Color Television

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• Korean War slows color TV progress.• FCC announces mechanical color system.• Negative response from stations and the public.

1950

• National Television System Committee (NTSC) explores color.

1951

Cable Television

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1950• Communi

ty Antenna Television

1952

• Coaxial cable is installed in large cities, reducing ghosting.

Color Television

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1952

FCC lifts TV freeze

FCC approves UHF

Old TV’s don’t get UHF

Ruling: all new TV’s must have both VHF and UHF

1953

FCC approves NTSC compatible electronic color

system

Korean War ends

Video Recorders

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1956Videotaping is demonstrated

1963 A home VTR costs $995

Television

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1950’s1950’sLive dramatic series.

19521952Rampant growth in TV, from 108 in ‘52…

1960’s1960’sLarge variety of TV programs.

19601960…to 522 stations. 90% of homes have TVs.

Television

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1966

• All 3 networks have color.

1967

• Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 authorizes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Television

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1980

1% of homes have

VCRs.

Camcorder is sold to

consumers

1984 Stereo AM & TV.

FCC begins

deregulation.

Cable Television

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• FCC ends ban on cable TV in large cities.

• Beginning of “Pay TV” for cable.

1972

• Two-way cable in Columbus, Ohio.

1977

Cable Television

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1980 •Cable news stations begin

1981 •Music videos on cable

1987 •50% of homes with TV have cable

1998 •Digital compression used in cable

2004 •More than 30% (around 22.9 million) of U.S. cable receive digital cable service

Digital Television

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1997

• DVD introduced.• FCC rules: all U.S. SDTV stations must be DTV by 2006, now

2009.

1999

• Stations begin broadcasting Digital TV and wide screen HDTV.

2004

• More than 1000 US TV stations broadcast digital signal.• 3 million HDTV sets in homes.• All manufactured sets 36” and larger must have a digital tuner.

Digital Television

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20061000+ U.S. digital TV stations on the

air.

Consumers buy HDTV sets in significant numbers.

What about the future?

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