Who invented television

The number of television sets in use rose from 6, in to some 12 million by No new invention entered American homes faster than black and white television sets; by half of all U. Joseph R. McCarthy soon began to inveigh against what he claimed was Communist infiltration of the government. Broadcasting, too, felt the impact of this growing national witch-hunt. Political beliefs suddenly became grounds for getting fired. Most of the producers, writers, and actors who were accused of having had left-wing leanings found themselves blacklisted, unable to get work.

CBS even instituted a loyalty oath for its employees. Among the few individuals in television well positioned enough and brave enough to take a stand against McCarthyism was the distinguished former radio reporter Edward R. In partnership with the news producer Fred Friendly, Murrow began See It Now , a television documentary series, in On Mar. Of McCarthy, Murrow observed, "His mistake has been to confuse dissent with disloyalty.

Offered free time by CBS, McCarthy replied on April 6, calling Murrow "the leader and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose Communist traitors. In the U. Between and , television programming began to take some steps away from radio formats.

NBC television president Sylvester Weaver devised the "spectacular," a notable example of which was Peter Pan , starring Mary Martin, which attracted 60 million viewers. Weaver also developed the magazine-format programs Today , which made its debut in with Dave Garroway as host until , and The Tonight Show , which began in hosted by Steve Allen until The programming that dominated the two major networks in the mids borrowed heavily from another medium: theater.

Steel Hour This is often looked back on as the "Golden Age" of television. However, by only one of these series was still on the air. Viewers apparently preferred dramas or comedies that, while perhaps less literary, at least had the virtue of sustaining a familiar set of characters week after week.

I Love Lucy , the hugely successful situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, had been recorded on film since it debuted in lasting until It had many imitators.

The Honeymooners , starring Jackie Gleason, was first broadcast, also via film, in lasting until with the original cast. The first videotape recorder was invented by Ampex in see video; video recording; video technology. Another format introduced in the mids was the big-money quiz show.

Cowan, by that time president of CBS television, was forced to resign from the network amid revelations of widespread fixing of game shows see Van Doren, Charles. Television news first covered the presidential nominating conventions of the two major parties, events then still at the heart of America politics, in The term "anchorman" was used, probably for the first time, to describe Walter Cronkite's central role in CBS's convention coverage that year.

In succeeding decades these conventions would become so concerned with looking good on television that they would lose their spontaneity and eventually their news value. The networks had begun producing their own news film.

Increasingly, they began to compete with newspapers as the country's primary source of news see journalism. The election of a young and vital president in , John F. Kennedy, seemed to provide evidence of how profoundly television would change politics. Commentators pointed to the first televised debate that fall between Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for president, and Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, the Republican's nominee. A survey of those who listened to the debate on radio indicated that Nixon had won; however, those who watched on television, and were able to contrast Nixon's poor posture and poorly shaven face with Kennedy's poise and grace, were more likely to think Kennedy had won the debate.

Television's coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy on Nov. Most Americans joined in watching coverage of the shocking and tragic events, not as crowds in the streets, but from their own living rooms.

By the end of the decade Cronkite had become not just a highly respected journalist but, according to public opinion surveys, "the most trusted man in America. While the overwhelming majority of television news reports on the Vietnam War were supportive of U. Many believed it contributed to growing public dissatisfaction with the war.

And some of the anger of those defending U. Marines on a "search and destroy" mission to a complex of hamlets called Cam Ne.

The Marines faced no enemy resistance, yet they held cigarette lighters to the thatched roofs and proceeded to "waste" Cam Ne. After much debate, Safer's filmed report on the incident was shown on CBS. Johnson, accusing the network of a lack of patriotism. During the Tet offensive in , Cronkite went to Vietnam to report a documentary on the state of the war. That documentary, broadcast on Feb. He realized that a picture could be dissected by a simple television camera into a series of lines of electricity.

The lines would be transmitted so quickly that the eyes would merge the lines. Then, a cathode ray tube television receiver would change those lines back into a picture. Initially, television was available only in black and white, even though experiments with color began in the s; however, you could not buy a color television until Nobel laureate Ferdinand Braun invented the cathode ray tube, the basis of all modern television cameras and receivers.

Vladimir Zworykin improved television with the invention of a completely electric camera—the Iconoscope, and a receiver—the Kinescope, which both used a cathode ray tube. Pictured above from left to right: Loggie Barid with his mechanical TV system, the spinning disc was early mechanical technology, Philo Farnsworth demonstrating his television system and a diagram of cathode ray tube.

Television Invention Kids Work! During the presidential election, the young, handsome John F. Kennedy had a noticeable advantage over his less telegenic opponent, Richard M. Nixon in televised debates, and his victory that fall would bring home for many Americans the transformative impact of the medium. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

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