Podcast #1200: The History of Color Television in the United States

On this week’s show we take a look back at the transition from black and white to color and compare it to the transition to HDTV. We also read your emails and take a look at the week’s news.

News:

• Roku’s smart home strategy is making its streaming devices harder to ignore
• Sonos Strikes a Surprising Deal with Yamaha
• Masimo to Sell Consumer Audio Business to HARMAN International

Other:

• Robert's Forever Home Theater
• Has the Best Universal Remote Got Better? - Remote 3
• Google AI Reimagines Wizard of Oz for the Las Vegas Sphere! 🤯 Behind the Scenes

The History of Color Television in the United States 

We received an email from a listener with a link to a YouTube video called ANTIQUE TV EVENT 2024. It's a long video but an extremely informative presentation that takes a fascinating and detailed look at early color TV programming. Watch it if you get a chance.You can skip through parts of it because it's four hours long. This week we thought we’d take a look back at the transition from black and white and compare it to the transition to HDTV.

The history of color television in the United States spans several decades, marked by technological innovation, regulatory battles, and gradual consumer adoption. 

• Early Concepts (1920s-1930s): The idea of color television emerged in the 1920s. German engineer Walter Bruch demonstrated a mechanical color TV system in 1929, but it was impractical. In the U.S., early experiments by RCA and others focused on monochrome TV, with color as a future goal.
• Initial Development (1940s): During World War II, TV development slowed, but post-war efforts intensified. CBS developed a field-sequential color system, which used a rotati  ng color wheel to transmit red, blue, and green images in sequence. It was incompatible with  existing black-and-white sets, requiring new receivers or adapters.
• CBS System Approval (1950): On October 11, 1950, the FCC approved CBS’s color system as the U.S. standard. Broadcasting began in June 1951, but the system faced challenges: it was expensive, bulky, and incompatible with the millions of black-and-white TVs in use. Only about 200 color sets were sold, and production halted during the Korean War.
• RCA’s NTSC System (1953): RCA, a major player in TV manufacturing, developed a compatible color system based on the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standards. This system allowed black-and-white TVs to receive color broadcasts in monochrome, while color TVs could display full-color images. After intense lobbying and demonstrations, the FCC reversed its decision and adopted the NTSC standard on December 17, 1953.
• First Color Broadcasts (1954): RCA’s system launched commercially on January 1, 1954, with NBC (owned by RCA) airing the first nationwide color broadcast, the Tournament of Roses Parade. Early color broadcasts were limited, and color TVs were expensive—around $1,000 (equivalent to ~$10,000 today).
• Slow Adoption (1950s-1960s): Color TV adoption was gradual due to high costs and limited programming. By 1960, only 0.1% of U.S. households had color sets. Networks like NBC and   CBS slowly increased color content, with