Early TelevisionChapter 3

Early Experiments• first experiments – used mechanical scanning – Germany 1884 • then came electronic scanning – one developer was Philio T. Farnsworth • Vladimir K.Zworykin – patented an electronic pickup tube – iconoscope • employee of RCA• started a system which scanned 60 lines than gradually improves to 441 lines.

• CBS – began experimentation with color television• mechanical wheel of red, green and blue

• 1940 – NTSC – National Television System Committee was formed. • rejected 441 lines • 1941 – recommended 525-line system – became a standard in U.S.

• originally – 13 very high frequency channels (VHF)• channel 1 – eliminated to allow spectrum space for FM radio • 23 stations went on air 1941-1942• 10,000 sets were sold • 1942 – WWII – only 6 stations remained

The Emergence of Broadcast Television

• CBS & RCA still having the color issue • RCA – black-and-white sets • 1947 – FCC declared CBS color system would be a hardship on set owners because

they need to buy a new set. Television should continue as a 525-line black-and-white system

• 1948 – tv as a mass medium. • stations, sets and audiences – increased by 4000% within 1 year• advertisers became aware• programming became systematic

• 1948 – grew uncontrollably – FCC imposed a freeze on television stations – they began to interfere with one another

• introduction of UHF – Ultra High Frequency • introduction of cable television – a.k.a cable TV – bringing TV signals to areas that

could not receive them

Early TV Programming• 1948-1949 – 30% - sports related – tv in bars • 1949-50 – only 5% of sports during evening programs – children programming on top• Milton Berle night • Radio Influences – comedy, drama, soap operas, public affairs and children programs• television newscast developed slowly – news and voices easy. Pictures another issue

The Live Era

• 1950 – predominately live• some programs were kinoscoped – low quality, grainy film representation • most were produced by advertising agencies • educational television was struggling

Prerecorded Programming• days of live programming – only for news and special events • live programming began to disappear in the mid 1950s • introduction of video tape in 1956• video tape can be stopped for costumes and scene changes and also can be corrected

through editing

The Quiz Scandals• contestants won minimal amounts of money • 1955 – new idea emerged – The 64,000 Question• Sales of Revlon products increased • Charles Van Doren

Progression• 1960s- broadcast television journalism • encourage documentaries – cause of the quiz scandals • many documentaries reported on social problems • television brought war to the American dinner table for the first time – having

correspondent in Saigon.

Corporate Video• grew up in 1960s and 1970s• the use of television equipment by corporations, educational institutions, the

government and nonprofits • during late 1960s – lower quality, smaller black-and-white cameras and recorders that

used 1-inch tape were developed. • organization purchased these equipment • closed-circuit TV – CCTV• 1971 – FCC authorized instructional television fixed service - ITFS • the concept of distance learning • late 1970s – companies started using satellites for teleconferencing • video news releases - VNRs

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