Reginald Fessenden invents wireless telephony, a means for radio waves to carry signals a significant distance
Russian immigrant Vladimir Kosma Zworykin patents the iconoscope, the first television transmission tube. He patents the first color tube in 1925.A.C. Nielsen Company is founded and provides measurements of radio audiences for advertisers.
John Baird beams a television image from England to the United States.GE introduces a television set with a 3" × 4" screen.The first television is sold, a Daven for $75
The Communications Act of 1934 creates the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcasting
Orson Welles broadcasts his adaptation of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds on October 30, creating a nationwide panic as listeners believe that aliens have landed in New Jersey
The first instance of network censorship occurs. The sound is cut off on the Eddie Cantor and Nora Martin duet, “We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me.”The DuMont network goes on the air. Paramount Pictures backs the start-up enterprise, but its lack of aff
The first Emmy Awards are handed out on January 25, with Pantomime Quiz Time earning top honor as the Most Popular Television Program.Cable television brings better reception to rural areas where the conventional television signal is weak.Milton Berle hos
Color television introduced in the U.S.For the first time, a nationwide program airs. Edward R. Murrow, in the first broadcast of his See It Now series, tells viewers, as he looks into the split-screen image of the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges, that t
The revenue for television broadcasters finally surpasses that of radio broadcasters. Gross revenue for television is $593 million.NBC broadcasts the World Series in color for the first time.The first watch is tested for durability on camera. And it is a
Seventy million people watch the presidential debate between Sen. John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon.Ninety percent of U.S. homes have a television set
ABC pays an unprecedented $32 million for a four-year contract with the NCAA to broadcast football games on Saturday afternoons.Bill Cosby, starring in I Spy, becomes the first African American to headline a television show
Time Inc. transmits HBO, the first pay cable network.The National Institute of Mental Health and the surgeon general issue a report that claims exposure to violence on television fosters aggression in children.M*A*S*H premieres on CBS
Ted Turner launches CNN, the first all-news network
Barry Diller, head of News Corp., creates Fox, the fourth television network. Fox offers 10 hours of prime-time programming a week.The Television Bureau of Advertising announces that the average American household watches television for more than seven ho
Ninety-nine percent of U.S. households have at least one radio, with the average owning five.The Simpsons debuts on Fox and becomes an instant hit.Seinfeld debuts on NBC
President Bill Clinton signs legislation that significantly deregulates telecommunications, creating almost limitless opportunities for broadcasters and cable companies.Pressured by the Federal Communications Commission, television broadcasters agree to i
Reality TV mania hits the U.S. The phenomena begins with British import Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. ABC broadcasts the gameshow, with Regis Philbin hosting. The show runs as many as five times a week, and Philbin's monochrome wardrobe sparks a fad amon