Television History Timeline

First Still Picture Transmission

Jan 1, 1862

A still picture was transmitted through a wire.
Moving images were not successfully sent for another 65 years

First National Broadcast

Jul 1, 1927

•July 1 - first national broadcast covering the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation.
•New transmitters installed in Montréal and Toronto.
•National radio coverage increased to 76 per cent of the population from 49 per cent
•1st moving images were transmitted between Washington, DC and New York City

Canada's National Public Broadcast Born

Feb 9, 1936

•The Canadian Broadcasting Act replaced the CRBC with a Crown Corporation, and Canada's national public broadcaster was born
•200 TV sets in the U.S.

First Televised Presidential Speech

Feb 9, 1939

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) broadcast the first televised Presidential speech, delivered by F.D. Roosevelt.

One Million TV sets in the U.S.

Feb 9, 1948

1 million TV sets in the U.S. and Community Antenna Television was introduced in mountainous rural areas of Pennsylvania. This became what we now know as cable TV. Television was mostly “live” as programs were broadcast as they were being performed. Programs recorded onto film were very poor quality

Special Broadcast Covering Flooding

Feb 9, 1950

•First issue of the radio program guide La Semaine à Radio-Canada.
•Special broadcast coverage of the Manitoba floods

First Picture from Space

Apr 1, 1960

First still picture taken from outer space.

Satellite Broadcasting

Feb 9, 1962

Satellite broadcasting was introduced and made it possible to send and receive television signals anywhere in the world.

Moon Landing

Jul 21, 1969

1969 – Satellite broadcasting allowed people around the world to watch the images transmitted from the moon landing.

Home Video

Feb 9, 1976

1976 – A practical videotape recording system for home use became available.

Direct Delivery Becomes Available

Feb 9, 1983

1983 – Consumers could subscribe to direct delivery of programming to their homes, instead of cable systems or conventional broadcast programming.

One Billion TV Sets World Wide

Feb 9, 1995

Over 1 billion TV sets worldwide

HDTV Becomse Available

Feb 9, 1996

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the broadcast standards for high-definition television (HDTV).

TV's Receiving Digital Signals

Feb 9, 2002

The FCC mandated that TV manufacturers must equip all new TVs with tuners capable of receiving digital signals by 2007.

TV Now Becomes Digital

Feb 9, 2009

The FCC mandates no more broadcasting by antennae, only by digital. The transmission frequencies are sold to improve wireless internet capabilities for handheld devices.

Mobile Devices

Feb 9, 2009

CBC/Radio-Canada offers programming for mobile and iPhone sites, SMS alerting services, including CBC News Network and RDI as live streams and on-demand videos.