TV timeline

  • 1st Television Broadcast

    1st Television Broadcast
    Philo Farnsworth created the first electronic televison, and was behind the first TV broadcast, an image of a straight line
  • Truth or Consequences

    Truth or Consequences
    Truth or Consequences was the first licensed TV game show. Game shows became a massive phenomenon into the mid to late 50s, until corruption scandals shuttered many TV game shows.
  • Howdy Doody

    Howdy Doody
    With television starting to becoming more widely adopted the major radio networks start producing shows. Howdy Doody being one of if not the first children shows, it was one of NBC's first TV shows
  • Neilson Rating

    Neilson Rating
    The introduction of the Neilson rating system to television. This gives the networks and broadcasters market data of what select people are watching
  • I love Lucy

    I love Lucy
    I Love Lucy was the blueprint for the sitcom. This smash-hit became topped the rating chart in its run. Now it is looked at as the poster child of TV's early years.
  • Mission Impossible

    Mission Impossible
    One of many spy shows that was all the rage in the 60s. Shows like this are a reflection of Cold War anxieties.
  • HBO

    HBO
    The birth of premium TV. HBO is also the longest running Premium service.
  • Cheers

    Cheers
    Cheers, Ran for 11 season 1982-1993. Cheer was a extremely successful show that had wonderful mix of characters and covered everything from love and happiness to loss and sadness, and had one of the great theme songs.
  • Seinfeld

    Seinfeld
    1989 brought us the show about nothing. Seinfeld began in 1989, and went on for nine season. It was one of the most successful TV shows ever made and is considered to be one of the greatest of all time.
  • Twin Peaks

    Twin Peaks
    Massively influential show. Change how people looked at TV programming as well as how to tell a story through the medium of TV
  • Friends

    Friends
    Friends was the beginning of the modern sitcom. A show, like Seinfeld, was a show about nothing. It would run for 10 seasons and forever change popular sitcoms.
  • HD Broadcasting

    HD Broadcasting
    In 1998 HD was introduced and began to dominate standard deff TVs has more and more HD channels became more prevalent.
  • DVR

    DVR
    DVR was a great innovation. People could now save their favorite shows so they don't have to watch those pesky commercials.
  • Netflix Streaming Empire

    Netflix Streaming Empire
    Netflix, a video rental service, starts its online streaming service, which changes the way the world consumes media. People now having a near-endless library of movies and television at their fingertips.
  • Breaking Bad

    Breaking Bad
    "The perfet TV Show" The face of TV's modern golden age. A critic and commercial success, and often considered one of of not the greatest TV ever made,
  • Stranger Things

    Stranger Things
    2016 Netflix biggest hit in the streaming services sort history. Showing that the streaming service can compete with HBO and cable TV.