The television has exploded at a greater than exponential growth rate from 1950 to the 1970s. This growth has propelled the television to almost 1 billion units in the late 90s. From its lowly start at an RCA research lab, to becoming the throne of the living room, the television has changed dramatically, but it remained true to its original utility, delivering images to a screen.

This chart illustrates the phenomenal growth described in the paper between 1945 and 1997

Jan 13th issue of the Herald fronts the television

The first "television" system broadcast was a straight-line by Philo Farnsworth on September 7th, 1927. The press was presented with this scientific breakthrough on January 13, 1928 and it even headlined a few major nationwide papers. Needless to say, a straight line was not mass marketable, hence by the end of the 1920s there were only a few dozen televisions in the world. All of these were in research labs.

In 1936, RCA demonstrates an all- electronic, 343 line/30 frames per second, television broadcast signaling the arrival of a completely functional television system. That summer lead to the first major broadcast using this new medium, the Berlin Summer Olympic Games, which were televised by Telefunken using RCA equipment. Another major broadcaster rises to prominence as the BBC starts the "world's first public, regular, high-definition Television station" on November 2nd.

England's BBC led the forefront of television consumption in the late 30s, with broadcasts of the coronation of King George VI and Wimbledon leading to 9,000 television sets being sold(2). During the late 30s, the US had 18 experimental stations running.

During the 1939 World's Fair David Sarnoff, president of RCA, unveiled the first commercial publicly accessible television broadcast. In Flushing NY, he proclaimed "Now we add sight to sound" and during the opening ceremonies of the fair on April 30th, FDR became the first president to ever be televised. TV sets went on sale to the public the very next day, and RCA/NBC began regular broadcasts on a daily basis. By the end of the 30s, there were a few hundred televisions in America. The next major step in television broadcasting came on July 1st, 1941 when the FCC authorized commercial broadcasting. NBC had the first commercial ever with a 10 second watch commercial which made them $7.00. On December 7th, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, which became the first major news story broken by television. During World War II most research went to the war, but the research done on communications (notably radar) translated directly to the television and lead to improved television design. All television production is banned for the war, and NBC cancels their commercial television schedule and begins to broadcast on a limited basis. England does away with all television when broadcasting stops until June 7th, 1946.

The RCA television center at the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing, NY

After the war ends, television sales become much more popular in the US with the 630-TS model by RCA selling over 43,000 units. Television slowly becomes ingrained into the fabric of American life. The first telecast of a World Series Game was on September 30th, 1947: The New York Yankees vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers. Harry Truman becomes the first president to make a television address from the White House on October 5th. Howdy Doody, the first children-targeted show begins its run on December 29th, 1947 on NBC.

In 1948, television production begins to grow greatly. By July of 1948, there are 350,000 TV sets in the USA. Notably 3/4 of them are in eastern network cities, and half of them are around New York City. This was the case because without a signal, the television was useless and very few cities outside of the northeast had a clear signal to original programming.

Money and sponsorships started to become very important in television broadcasts. A study found that 68% of viewers remember the names of program's sponsors(3) so this spurred advertisers to sponsor more events. Gillette, for instance, paid over $100,000 ($1.1 million today) for the rights to televise the Louis-Walcott return boxing match and the television rights for baseball games in New York City cost $700,000 ($7.7 million.)

Continuing the phenomenal growth, 2 million television sets were in American homes in 1948 (of which 720,000 were in New York City alone.) On September 4th, 1951 the first coast-to-coast telecast was aired as President Truman spoke to 13 million television sets.

Televisions were still mostly found in cities simply because the television stations were only found in cities (especially New York.) However, in the late 1940s a resident in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania named John Walson came up with the idea of building a transmitter on top of the mountain between Philadelphia and his town. After this transmitter was purchased, he began to offer television through coaxial cable to his town members. This proved to be so effective that the Governor of Pennsylvania spearheaded a master cable system that allowed signals from New York and Washington to be "imported" to his entire state.

The next big innovation came in April of 1954 when RCA introduced a color television set. It initially failed to be popular with only 5,000 selling in the first year. Notably, this adoption rate was much higher than the original television sales (although it isn't until 1964 when one million color televisions a year are sold.) Following this production landmark, NBC announces that all but two prime time shows will be broadcast in color.

Television continued its meteoric growth throughout the 70s and 80s. Cable television became more popular as the concept of pay-service-cable debuted with the introduction of the Home Box Office, HBO. Current innovations include the introduction of digital broadcasting (with it's multitude of channels) and High-Definition Television (HDTV.) Television is still making history today, with the first HDTV broadcast ever by CBS's flagship New York station, WCBS-TV, in December 1996. The television has exploded at a greater than exponential growth rate from 1950 to the 1970s. This growth has propelled the television to almost 1 billion units in the late 90s. From its lowly start at an RCA research lab, to becoming the throne of the living room, the television has changed dramatically, but it remained true to its original utility, delivering images to a screen.