TVs are being watch all over the globe. It was estimated that in 1949, in the U. S. Alone, there were 11 million televisions sets. 60 years later, there are over 2,000 million sets on mother Earth.
Dumont TV, CBS, NBC and ABC were four networks that governed television programming at the time. Major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago received direct transmissions from those networks. Most of the nation received local shows with occasional network programming. The big 4 made their own shows and shipped them to contracted local stations. If a station was outside of the contracted areas, they relied on private companies to produce programs to be shown on their stations. At the time, the technology was available to make programs in color, but the transmissions were so poor, that networks and stations continued to produce their shows in black, white and shades of gray.
Early television shows mimicked their popular radio predecessors. One of the first successful shows was The Texaco Star Theater, starring funny man Milton Berle. Texaco, like many other companies, was the sole sponsor of this show. Until 1953, shows were sponsored by single advertisers, who held financial and artistic control over the programs. This changed when Dumont network began selling commercial time to various advertisers as a means of increasing revenues, and production freedom for their programs.
1950's television programming was very family oriented and families wanted to watch entertainment that reflected their conservative values. Shows, that like The Ed Sullivan Show, and Your Show of Shows, provided variety entertainment suitable for the whole family. Families related to Father Knows Best, Leave It To Beaver and The Donna Reed Show because the programs depicted families, like their own. Shows like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, though not customary families, provided wholesome antics that were within the range of family values.
Other favorites of the times were programs for children. Howdy Doody was a marionette show that featured Uncle Bob Smith, Clarabelle the clown, Indian princess Summer Fall Winter Spring, and others who interacted with the puppets before a live Audience of children called The Peanut Gallery. Women loved Queen For A Day, where the woman in the Audience with the saddest life story was showered with gifts fit for a queen, and given regal treatment for one day. Men loved sports, and bowling, boxing, and wrestling were top television draws in the early fifties. In the later part of the decade, baseball and football became regular programming, and were as popular as they are today.
Sports like boxing, basketball, football, wrestling and bowling were viewer favorites in prime time and on weekends. News shows like Huntley Brinkley, The Camel News Caravan, and Douglas Edwards with the News kept the public informed of national current events.
At the end of the nineteen fifties, there were overt 67 million TVs in the United States, many of which were replacements for junked black and white sets. Existing black and white programs were rapidly being updated to new color formats, and new programs were aired in color right from the start. Technology had advanced to where portable cameras could capture history in the making right from the scene. Baby steps were left behind and television entered a new era of giant leaps.
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