Radio to Television  David Sarnoff- Vision of Television  Experimental stations begin in the early 1930’s  What was the first image broadcast?  Felix the Cat  Engineers needed something to stand in front of the camera for hours to test the transmission of the picture

Felix the Cat

Radio to Television  World War II ends in June 1945  Economic boost occurs  The concept of Television broadcasting grows tremendously  Television Sets  Early postwar sets very small 8” to 10”  Cost $100-$300

Radio to Television  Early television stars include Ed Sullivan and Milton Berle  FCC Freeze  The government puts a freeze on applications for new television stations  Such a rush for stations to begin broadcasting that the government needs to allocate more channels  Supposed to last 6 months, lasts 4 years

Early Television  1953 – 80% of television shows done live  By % were pre recorded with the invention of video tape  Three Television Networks  CBS – Columbia Broadcasting System  NBC – National Broadcasting Company  ABC- American Broadcasting Company

Television in the 50’s  Drama’s and Comedy’s Popular  Most popular Show?  I Love Lucy   Most watched one time episode when little Ricky is born record held until 1983  Starred Lucille Ball as herself Titanic Marconi Room

Television and the Presidency  1951 President Truman allows excerpts of news conferences to be broadcast  1953 President Eisenhower allows videotaping of news conferences  1960 First Televised Presidential Debate  Taped at the WBBM Channel 2 studios in Chicago  Republican Vice President Richard Nixon vs Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy  Style vs Substance

Television and the Presidency  Television viewers believed Kennedy won the debate  Radio listeners believed Nixon won the debate  Nixon appeared irritable while Kennedy appeared calm and collected  Kennedy’s slim win attributed to debate