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Cable Television History
Community antenna television (now called cable television) was started by John Walson and Margaret Walson in the spring of 1948. The Service Electric Company was formed by the Walsons in the mid-1940s to sell, install, and repair General Electric appliances in the Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania area. In 1947, the Walson also began selling television sets. However, Mahanoy City residents had problems receiving the three nearby Philadelphia network stations with local antennas because of the region's -
Television Receiver
On September 7, 1948, a patent was granted to Louis W. Parker for a television receiver. Louis W. Parker's "intercarrier sound system" is now used in all television receivers in the world. Without it television receivers would not work as well and would be more costly. -
The Origins of Children's Television Broadcasting
The American Broadcasting Company first aired Saturday morning television shows for children on August 19, 1950. The network introduced two shows: Animal Clinic featured live animals, while the variety show Acrobat Ranch had a circus theme. Placed against a Western backdrop, acrobats Tumbling Tim and Flying Flo lent an air of spectacle to Acrobat Ranch. In one segment, Host Uncle Jim presided over a game in which children from the studio audience competed for merchandise prizes. -
The Development of Color Television
A German patent in 1904 contained the earliest recorded proposal for a color television system. In 1925, Zworykin filed a patent disclosure for an all-electronic color television system. Both of these systems were not successful, however, they were the first for color television. A successful color television system began commercial broadcasting, first authorized by the FCC on December 17, 1953 based on a system designed by RCA. -
History of the Television Remote Control
It was in June of 1956, that the practical television remote controller first entered the American home. However, as far back as 1893, a remote control for television was described by Nikola Tesla in U.S. Patent 613809. The Germans used remote control motorboats during WWI. In the late 1940's the first non-military uses for remote controls appeared for example, automatic garage door openers -
History of Plasma Television
After 1964, television broadcast companies considered developing plasma television as an alternative to televisions using cathode ray tubes. However, LCD or liquid crystal displays made possible flat screen television that squelched the further commercial development of plasma display. It took many years for plasma televisions to become successful and they finally did due to the efforts of Larry Weber. -
Closed Captioning
On March 16, 1980, the first, closed captioned television series was broadcast. The captions were seen in households that had the first generation of the closed caption decoder. -
The History of WebTV
In April of 1997, Microsoft bought the WebTV network for $425 million dollars and have trademarked the name. Today, webtv is an add-on device that compliments a regular television, usually a box that provides the internet connection and conversion of web pages for viewing on your own television screen with an added special remote control and keyboard so that you can surf from your sofa in comfort.
