Early televisions were part electrical and part mechanical, consisting of spinning discs that reproduced the action of a larger spinning disc in the studio. The first moving images, of a ventriloquist’s mannequin, were transmitted by Scotsman John Logie Baird in 1925.

In 1927 the first television program was broadcast. It was a Bell Telephone demo

Labs and AT&T with contributions from various executives of these companies

and a speech by Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.

This was followed by many ad-hoc broadcasts from Whippany, NJ.

experiments and were captured by a single television, at Bell Laboratories, New

York City. These transmissions consisted of images transmitted by radio waves.

and sound transmitted by cable. They weren’t entertainment shows, just

some engineers and scientists are testing the new medium.

The first programs that were broadcast to the public were those of WRGB (officially known

like W2XB but popularly known as WGY Television). The transmissions were

broadcast locally to Schenectady, NY This turned out to be the hometown of

television (and radio) pioneer Ernst Alexanderson. Schenectady was also home

of only four television receivers. Early WRGB streams generally consisted of a

person sitting in a chair not doing much except hand or face

movement or a puff of a cigarette. In fact, watching people smoke cigarettes

seems to have been the main feature of the first television test transmissions.

The first scheduled television shows and, as far as I can tell, the first in the world.

The regular television programs were agricultural and weather bulletins that were broadcast twice a day, 3 days.

per week in WRGB. These transmissions were simply extensions of the radio output

WGY station. The first remote location transmission, or external transmission, took

place in 1928, once again by WRGB. The subject of this broadcast was Governor Al Smith

Acceptance speech of the Democratic nomination for the office of President of the United States.

Due to inclement weather, the ceremony was changed from outside to inside.

location and short notice did not allow enough time to test the lighting and

team. Therefore, the resulting live images were of poor quality. Meanwhile in

Wheaton, Maryland, Charles Jenkins’ W3XK transmitter began testing followed by

regular programs in July 1928.

These transmissions were never intended or designed for wide public consumption,

However, some enthusiasts managed to build rudimentary receivers and enjoyed the

production. Charles Jenkins estimated that W3XK had an audience of 20,000.

Many incorrectly quote the BBC The man with the flower in his mouth from

1930 as the first television play, but it was actually The queen’s messenger,

written by J. Harley Manners and directed by Mortimer Stewart. This was broadcast on

WRGB in 1928.

It should be noted that in those early days television screens were about 3

inches by 3 inches. So small, in fact, that most of the production consisted of the

Upper part of the body. “Radio with images”, that’s what it was called, and it was

not too far! The images consisted of different shades of pink or brown, depending on

about the lighting used. Presenters and interpreters would often need to use

dark lipstick and green makeup so your features won’t fade into

extremely bright studio lights. True color television came later. Tea

Rotating discs were eventually replaced by all-electric systems. All TV shows

including dramas, they were broadcast live; there were no videotapes or digital recordings

in those days!

These pioneering transmissions were indeed experiments (and authorized

as such by the federal government). Most of the onlookers were rich and curious.

or they were amateurs. It is unlikely that television had a real value as

entertainment or information medium in these early days. The extent to which

television was able to expand and network was seriously hampered by the lack of

of a national standard for television broadcasting. There were also many techniques

no less important difficulties with the rotating disk system. It wasn’t until

Forty, when these problems were solved, television took off in earnest.

The rest, as they say, is history, but a very rich history indeed. Have a look

at bygonetv.com and you will see what I mean.