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First Long Distance Broadcast
Bell Laboratories and the Department of Commerce broadcast the first long-distance transmission of live picture and voice simultaneously. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover is featured in the brief broadast. -
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History of Television
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First Televsion Station Goes on the Air
WRGB broadcasting from the G.E. facility in upstate New York. -
RCA Presents Television at the World's Fair
President Roosevelt delivers the first televised presidential speech and visitors to the RCA pavillion can step in front of the cameras. RCA uses the forum to introduce a line of television receivers that require the use of a radio for sound. This is the birth of NBC. -
CBS Introduces Color Television
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First Paid Commercial
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1st Microwave Relay System is Introduced
Western Union introduces a microwave relay system between New York and Philadelphia. Most television traffic will be transmitted using this method until the 1970s. -
I Love Lucy Premieres
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Videotape is Introduced
Videotape replaces the kinescope enabling television programs to be produced anywhere. Production moves from NYC to Hollywood. -
Nixon-Kennedy Debate
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1st Use of Satellite Transmition
No longer relying on videotape to be brought in from another location, satellites make broadcasts over long distances immediate. This was also the first transatlantic broadcast. -
Public Television and Sesame Street Debut
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HBO Premieres
The first pay cable network. -
VCRs are Introduced
A VCR in 1976 cost $1,295. -
Roots Airs
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J.R. Ewing is Shot
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CNN Premieres
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Commercial Satellite Operations Begin
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DVD sales eclipse VHS sales for the first time.
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Netlix Begins its Streaming Service
By 2013 Netflix was responsible for the majority of Internet traffic in North America during the evening hours. -
Analog Broadcasting of Televsion Signals Ends
All signals are now required by the FCC to be digital.