Television

Television

One of the great inventions of the 20th century, television stands tall in mankind's technological achievements.

Follow along for a timeline of important events and innovations in the history of the television.

Commercial televisions first came to market in the 1930s, but the earliest innovations date back to the mid-19th century. The first devices we might call 'televisions' were little more than mechanical cameras with fast (for the day) repeating mechanisms that could record and display the finished photos in real time. It would take nearly 70 years of improvements in a variety of areas, but ultimately, it was the birth of modern electronics in the 1920s that ultimately paved the way. Over that time, many inventors across the world contributed to the advancement of the early television, including from Germany, the Soviet Union, Poland, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States, to name a few.

By the 1940s, televisions had improved enough for consumer markets, but the outbreak of World War II put a stop to that. Across the world, electronics were funneled toward the war effort. While innovation continued, and the quality of the devices improved, televisions remained largely unavailable to most people. It was not until 1945 that televisions really became available, largely in black and white, though color transmissions had been demonstrated in labs as early as 1928.

Not a whole lot changed about the mechanics of television between the 1940s and 1960s, but during that time the technology exploded in popularity. Television quickly challenged radio as the dominant form of communication. Soon, television stations could be found in cities, states, countries, and even universities. It brought the news to the public in a much more visceral way, being able to relay camera footage of what was actually going on. Some of the biggest television moments of the time include the Apollo 11 moon landing, the televised presidential debate of John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon, and Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech.

By the 1970s, television really hit its stride. Color television surpassed traditional black-and-white for the first time. Televisions also became small and light enough to be transported! You could now take a TV with you in your motor home, or place it on your window sill. Television had become ubiquitous. 

Originally television was mostly transmitted by antennae, like the one shown above. The advent of communication satellites in the 1960s eventually gave rise to satellite television, allowing broadcasts across the globe. Soon, Cable (using, you guessed it, cables!) brought dozens of channels to homes, for subscription prices. 

In the 1970s, television provided a new form of entertainment inside the home: video games! The rise of video games first began in coin-ops, mostly found in dedicated arcades, and also in numerous other places, like bowling alleys, pizza parlors, and more. By then, through companies like Atari, that particular technology was small and inexpensive enough to be bought by consumers and played at home on the TV.

As the 1980s arrived, televisions kept getting bigger and bigger! See this model by Zenith, taller than most children and heavier than a few grown adults. Big screen TVs were here to stay, as they became fancier and easier to produce.  

The difference 15 years can make, LED televisions in the early 2000s brought even bigger screens, in thinner packages, and with much better quality. 'High definition' television was reaching consumer homes. Prior to 2010, most homes received television in 'standard definition', at 480p (pixels) or less. High definition was anything at 720p or higher.

Modern televisions are little different from computer monitors nowadays. Many of them are made with OLED technology, using organic LEDs, and displaying at 1080p or higher. As of 2025, most televisions are sold with a resolution of 4K, with 8K now readily available for $2000 and up, depending on model.

One of the biggest byproducts of television has been the rise of home video. Starting in the 1970s, televisions could watch pre-filmed content via different kinds of physical medium. Back then, buyers had a choice between VHS and Betamax tapes to play on their VCR. Eventually, most film and broadcast studios decided to standardize on VHS. A similar decision came in the late 2000s between HDVD and BluRay, with BluRay winning that competition. The last format to be released, back in the early 2010s was 4K Ultra, which play in you guessed it, 4K.

Starting in the mid 2000s however, a new technology rose over the horizon: streaming.

Streamed content, via the internet, allowed consumers to play or pause their shows and films, whatever it was, on demand. They could also record! Far easier than setting up VHS recorders and running tapes constantly, devices such as TiVo allowed consumers far more accessibility to their favorite content, even if it wasn't available on VHS or DVD.

As more and more homes and businesses got access to stable, cheap internet, many consumers decided to part ways with their Cable company and rely on streaming to meet their needs. Though largely on demand, that strategy has been a mixed bag; whereas Cable providers like AT&T, Charter, Cox, and DirectTV had provided unified access to 99% of all television content, streaming services were almost entirely owned by specific studios and channels. To get the same kind of breadth, consumers in the 2020s needed 5 or 6 different subscriptions to have access to the same content that was otherwise available on Cable. By the time most consumers tallied all their subscription costs, many consumers found that staying on Cable might have been both more convenient and less expensive.

There's always libraries though, right?~

That wraps up our very brief look at the history of television. Thanks for reading!