The History of Television

Lohvynenko Lilia 4th group

 Television

is a widely used telecommunication system

for broadcasting and receiving moving
pictures and sound over a distance
 What is television for?
Television exists to illuminate and to entertain. It holds a mirror to our lives, either directly
(through news and current affairs), or indirectly (through comedy or drama), and allows us to
escape our existence by entering worlds different to our own.
 1920s
Television as we know it began to take shape in the
1920s. Vladimir K. Zworykin was born in Russia and
became a pioneer of television technology with the
development of a kinescope, which recorded images on
motion picture film. In 1926, John Logie Baird gave a
public demonstration of a television system in
London; two years later, the first television stations
launched.
1930s
The opening of the 1939 World’s Fair in New
York introduced television to a national
audience. NBC (National Broadcasting
Company) soon began nightly broadcasts.
Founded in 1931, DuMont Laboratories quickly
became a revolutionary force in the days of
early television, both in programming and
technology.
 1940s
As black-and-white TVs became more common in American
households, the finishing touches on what we would come
to know as color TV were refined in the late 1940s. Pro
sports were first broadcast on American stations and ABC
formed this decade.

When World War II started, all commercial production

of television equipment was banned. Production of the
cathode ray tubes that produced the pictures was
redirected to radar and other high tech war uses
 1950s
The concept of morning television was revolutionized with the debut of
NBC’s “Today” Show in 1952. In a precursor to “must-see TV,” more than half
of the television-watching public tuned in to “I Love Lucy” as Lucy went
into labor.

Elvis Presley made his first TV appearances in the

middle of the decade, and soon became proof that
television presence could create a worldwide star.
 1960s
Political discourse and global ambitions were elevated to a new level this
decade. The 1960s began with Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy going
against each other in a split-screen televised debate, and three years later,
breaking news coverage forever changed with Kennedy’s assassination in
Dallas. in 1963,

the decade ended with audiences similarly expanding their

beliefs of what is possible by watching man walk on the
moon.
 1970s
HBO became available on TV sets in 1972, changing the pay cable format with exclusive
movies, groundbreaking original programming, and live sports like boxing.
TV advertising, cigarettes were banned from commercials beginning in 1970. Also that
year, the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, began operations and created a market for
nonprofit educational programming.
 1980s
In 1980, during a broadcast of “Monday Night Football,” Howard Cosell memorably told audiences of the murder of
John Lennon, in a rare crossover of national news during a professional sports broadcast.
In 1981, MTV launched and played its first music video, the aptly titled “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles,
and changed the entertainment industry. Combo TVs, featuring a TV and VCR, gained popularity.
 1990s
In the 1990s, television was one of the fastest-growing mediums. More TV shows were popping up than ever before, and
ratings were at all-time highs. Viewers tended to be interested in laugh-out-loud moments, which is why sitcoms like
Friends, Roseanne, and Seinfeld were the biggest hit TV shows of the decade.
 2000s
Reality TV became all the craze in the 2000s, with shows like “Survivor,” “American Idol,” and “The Amazing Race” drawing some of the
biggest rating numbers in history. In 2007, Netflix offered a streaming option for its library of TV shows and movies, and two years
later, “NFL RedZone” reshaped pro sports viewing in the U.S., allowing football fans to watch important plays from every NFL game, even
those out of market. Flatscreen televisions begin to all but replace the presence of bigger, cube-shaped cathode-ray tube TVs.
Television is a fantastic educational tool. It broadens knowledge of different cultures,
promotes tolerance and global understanding of international issues. Through current
affairs, discovery, lifestyle, cooking shows and children's programmes, television
encourages scientific and cultural curiosity.