So….who invented it?? The controversy….

No other invention in history has been so hotly disputed as the prestigious claim to the invention of 'Tele-vision or 'long-distance sight' by wireless.”

Since Marconi’s invention of wireless telegraphy in 1897, the imagination of many inventors have been sparked with the notion of sending images as well as sound, wirelessly. The first documented notion of sending components of pictures over a series of multiple circuits is credited to George Carey. Another inventor, W. E. Sawyer, suggested the possibility of sending an image over a single wire by rapidly scanning parts of the picture in succession.

So….who invented it?? On December 2, 1922, in Sorbonne, France, Edwin Belin, an Englishman, who held the patent

for the transmission of photographs by wire as well as fiber optics and radar, demonstrated a mechanical scanning device that was an early precursor to modern television. Belin’s machine took flashes of light and directed them at a selenium element connected to an electronic device that produced sound waves. These sound waves could be received in another location and remodulated into flashes of light on a mirror.

The credit as to who was the inventor of modern television really comes down to two different people in two different places both working on the same problem at about the same time:

Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, a Russian-born American inventor working for Westinghouse, and Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a privately backed farm boy from the state of Utah.

Zworykin is usually credited as being the father of modern television. the patent for the heart of the TV, the electron scanning tube, was first applied for by Zworykin in 1923, under the name of an iconoscope. The iconoscope was an electronic image scanner - essentially a primitive television camera. Farnsworth was the first of the two inventors to successfully demonstrate the transmission of television signals, which he did on September 7, 1927, using a scanning tube of his own design. Farnsworth received a patent for his electron scanning tube in 1930.

So….who invented it?? Another player of the times was John Logie Baird, a Scottish engineer and

entrepreneur who 'achieved his first transmissions of simple face shapes in 1924 using mechanical television. On March 25, 1925, Baird held his first public demonstration of 'television' at the London department store Selfridges on Oxford Street in London. In this demonstration, he had not yet obtained adequate half-tones in the moving pictures, and only silhouettes were visible.' - MZTV

In the late thirties, when RCA and Zworykin, who was now working for RCA, tried to claim rights to the essence of television, it became evident that Farnsworth held the priority patent in the technology. The president of RCA sought to control television the same way that they controlled radio and vowed that,

“RCA earns royalties, it does not pay them,” and a 50 million dollar legal battle subsequently ensued.

In the height of the legal battle for patent priority, Farnsworth’s high school science teacher was subpoenaed and traveled to Washington to testify that as a 14 year old, Farnsworth had shared his ideas of his television scanning tube with his teacher.

And the winner is….Patent priority status ruled in favor of Farnsworth. RCA, for the first time in its history, began paying

royalties for television in 1939.

Philo Farnsworth was recently named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Greatest Scientists and Thinkers of the 20th Century.

1928Television started in the 1920s as a peepshow device. This means, the images could only be seen by one viewer gazing into a narrow opening. The quality of these early,, television sets, with tiny vertical screens, was very poor. However, the images where there and received in a large part of Europe via the 'short wave', also used for radio.

1934Many early television sets where housed in huge Art-Deco cabinets, often wonderful examples of furniture design.

Even these large, pre 1936, cabinets only displayed a tiny 30 lines television screen

The first commercial television sets came on the market in 1930 by the

Baird Television Development Company LTD.

These sets however where expensive and housed in a cast iron cabinet of beautiful design

1941

   

World War-II halted nearly all television broadcasting worldwide

All commercial production of television equipment is banned for the remainder of the war. 

  NBC's commercial TV schedule is canceled. 

Television is allowed to continue broadcasting on a very limited basis at some stations.  In England, however, ALL broadcasting comes to a complete halt, until June 7, 1946.

 

Television During World War-II

1946 The United States returns to peace time production.

  RCA begins production of 630-TS, the first television designed and manufactured after the war.  Approximately 10,000 units sold by the end of the year, with about 43,000 sold of this model before production ends in 1949.  Other manufacturers used the RCA chassis, and placed it in a cabinet of their own design.  The initial RCA selling price was $352. 

Responses

  One of television's critics, Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox (movies) was quoted saying:  "Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months.  People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." 

Firsts   1946 May 9th -- Hourglass the first hour-long musical variety show, airs over NBC's

three stations (New York City, Schenectady and Philadelphia).

  1946 June 19th -- The first televised heavyweight fight (Joe Louis vs Billy Conn), viewed by a record 140,000 (mostly at bars which had sets installed).  One year later, the Louis-Walcott fight is viewed by 1,000,000 people.

  1946 October 2nd -- Faraway Hills becomes the first TV soap opera, airing on the new DuMont network May 7th -- Kraft Television Theatre starts on NBC, becoming the first commercial TV dramatic series.

1947 May 7th -- Kraft Television Theatre starts on NBC, becoming the first commercial TV dramatic series.

1947 September 30 -- First telecast of a World Series game.  NY Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers.

1947 October 5th -- Harry Truman becomes the first president to make an address to the public on TV from the White House.  He discusses the international food crisis, proposing meatless Tuesdays

1947 stat About 44,000 TV sets in the US, vs 40

million radios December 29th -- Howdy Doody Time

begins its first broadcast on NBC.

1948 By July of 1948, estimates are that 350,000 TV sets are in

operation in the USA.  3/4 of these are in the eastern network cities, and half are around New York City.

27 Stations in 18 different cities are in full operation.

Only one in ten Americans has seen a television set up to this point.

About two dozen different TV set models are on sale, ranging from Pilot's 3" set at $100, to DuMont's 20" set at $2,495 ($28,000 in today's money!).

1948 continued….And the advertising begins…. Gillette pays $100,000 ($1.1 Million today) for the right to

televise the Louis-Walcott return boxing match

Average of 3.47 persons watch each night per set in a household.

Of the 42 hours of TV available for viewing per week, the average set is operating for 17 hours.

68% of the viewers remember the names of the programs' sponsors

1949 TV sales expand at a rapid rate -- are 600%

ahead of 1948.

Laws prohibiting the installation of TVs in automobiles are enacted.

Howdy Doody merchandising tops $11 million for the year.

1950 APRIL:  5,343,000 TV sets are in American

Homes SEPTEMBER: 7,535,000 TV sets in USA OCTOBER:      8,000,000 TV sets -- 107

stations

1951 FEBRUARY: DuMont established the first international hook-

up (with Cuba)

Milton Berle gets 30 year $100,000 per year contract to do 360 shows.

JUNE: 13,000,000 television sets in the USA

SEPTEMBER 4th: First coast-to-coast telecast (President Truman speaks)

OCTOBER 15th:  I Love Lucy show premieres on CBS

1953 50% of Americans now have a television

set (25,233,000 homes)

1954 MARCH:   First color commercial by Pall

Mall cigarettes

 APRIL:  RCA Launches COLOR Television, with the sale of the CT-100, at $1,000 a copy.  Less than 5,000 sell the first year.

1955  RCA SELLS 20,000 COLOR TV SETS --

most all are 21" models.

Average Annual Salary: $5,000

Average cost of B+W TV- 200$ Average cost of colour TV 1000$

1956 NOVEMBER:  The videotape is first used

by CBS, causing the impending death of the kinescopes - filmed television screens. 

 RCA SELLS 90,000 COLOR TV SETS -- Model CT-4

As the World Turn begins….

1957

41,000,000 homes now have television in the USA

1959 42,000,000 American homes have

television, some have 2 sets already

RCA SELLS 90,000 COLOR TV SETS -- Model CT-9.  In 1960, after spending more than $130 Million in research and advertising, color television finally records its first profit for RCA. 

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