First color TV broadcast?

[Bob Wright]

Was at my Sunday School class party last night, and the subject of the first program to be broadcast in color came up. I said Bonanza, but some argued it was
Star Trek. So, did a little research today.

Bonanza was broadcast in color in the fall of 1959. Star Trek was sort of a science fiction series that began in 1966.

The first color broadcast program was the Tournament of Roses Parade, New Year's Day, 1954.


Bob Wright

 

[Wyandot Jim]

My Dad in 1957, talked the TV store into loaning him a color TV. He had a football party to watch Ohio State play in the Rose Bowl. We also watched the Parade. We lived 65 miles from the broadcast station so the picture wasn't that good.
We bought our first color in 1966 and kept it until 1985. The first color movie we saw was "The Wizard Of Oz" It started in B&W then turned to color.
The history of color TV and the battles fought over it I find interesting

On June 25, 1951, CBS broadcast the very first commercial color TV program. Unfortunately, nearly no one could watch it on their black-and-white televisions.


The First Color Shows

This first color program was a variety show simply called, "Premiere." The show featured such celebrities as Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Faye Emerson, Arthur Godfrey, Sam Levenson, Robert Alda, and Isabel Bigley -- many of whom hosted their own shows in the 1950s.

"Premiere" aired from 4:35 to 5:34 p.m. but only reached four cities: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Although the colors were not quite true to life, the first program was a success.
Two days later, on June 27, 1951, CBS began airing the first regularly-scheduled color television series, "The World Is Yours!" with Ivan T. Sanderson. Sanderson was a Scottish naturalist who had spent most of his life traveling the world and collecting animals; thus the program was about Sanderson discussing artifacts and animals from his travels. "The World Is Yours!" aired on weeknights from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.

 

[6gun]

Even with color out in 1950's our family never could afford color TV till the 70's, TV's were very expensive back in those days.

 

[SAJohn]

It wasn't until the early 70's that I could afford a color TV.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Even with color out in 1950's our family never could afford color TV till the 70's, TV's were very expensive back in those days.

Yep I think we paid around $450.00 that's $3300 in todays $$$$

 

[427mach1]

Our first color TV had a 25" screen and was $500, some time around 1970. And it was big and HEAVY!

 

[Hugh]

My Dad in 1957, talked the TV store into loaning him a color TV. He had a football party to watch Ohio State play in the Rose Bowl. We also watched the Parade. We lived 65 miles from the broadcast station so the picture wasn't that good.
We bought our first color in 1966 and kept it until 1985. The first color movie we saw was "The Wizard Of Oz" It started in B&W then turned to color.
The history of color TV and the battles fought over it I find interesting

On June 25, 1951, CBS broadcast the very first commercial color TV program. Unfortunately, nearly no one could watch it on their black-and-white televisions.


The First Color Shows.

This first color program was a variety show simply called, "Premiere." The show featured such celebrities as Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Faye Emerson, Arthur Godfrey, Sam Levenson, Robert Alda, and Isabel Bigley -- many of whom hosted their own shows in the 1950s.

"Premiere" aired from 4:35 to 5:34 p.m. but only reached four cities: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Although the colors were not quite true to life, the first program was a success.
Two days later, on June 27, 1951, CBS began airing the first regularly-scheduled color television series, "The World Is Yours!" with Ivan T. Sanderson. Sanderson was a Scottish naturalist who had spent most of his life traveling the world and collecting animals; thus the program was about Sanderson discussing artifacts and animals from his travels. "The World Is Yours!" aired on weeknights from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Jim,

Thank you very much. The first time I had ever heard of or seen a television was Halloween on or before 1951. Out in our VERY rural county in western Washington we went to a house (because houses were a few miles apart we went in someone's car), the people had a large for those days television. I thought it was some kind of movie and it was in color. The next time I saw a television was the summer of 1953. My parents' house didn't get a television until 1956; that one was a six inch black and white television in a "box" about three or more feet tall.

Didn't see much television until a year or so during the 1960's, and then I was outside of the USA for about six or seven years and didn't see television. Didn't own my own 12" black and white Sears model until 1972.

 

[cadillo]

I bought my first color TV in 1974. It was a 21" portable RCA, and it was $425.00, a lot of money in those days as I was making just under $5.00 per hour. Up until that point my folks had never had a color set, but after my Mother saw mine, it didn't take very long.

 

[sceva]

As kids; on long car trips we used to see how many houses had TV's ( We would look for antenna's on the roof) The day I was born in 1952 my dad was on the roof putting up the antenna for our first TV and didn't want to come down till it was done. I was almost born in the hallway at the hospital ( Maybe one of the reasons for their divorce a year later?) My grandmother had the first color set I ever watched and I recall the greenish tinted faces on the Midwestern Hayride show she liked to watch.

 

[6gun]

I remember my dad buying a B&W TV from a local motel that was selling them off cause they were replacing them with colored sets, that old used B&W TV was the first TV we ever had that didn't need tubes a big step up for us at the time we were still 10 years away from having a color set.

Always had to adjust the rabbit ears to try and tune in one of the 3 local channels, we didn't have one of those fancy roof antenna's for was for rich folks.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Our Family had a B&W TV in 1949. Got to watch Hoppy, Gene, and the boys. I think that is who they were because of so much snow on the screen. Test pattern was always fun to watch :D
Then we got another one in 1951 while on Travis AFB. The other one was sold at auction, along with all my toys and bike :( :( :( , when Dad was called up for Korea. I Remember Kate Smith and all the other adult stuff being watched the most. "When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain" :D

 

[Slyk Willy]

I recall that there was a screen that you could buy that when taped to the front of your B&W TV, it would give you "color". It was the most horrible, distorted image, but the upper area was cast in blue, the lower area was cast in green and the stuff in-between was a mess. It was the poor man's color set and that's what we had.

 

[427mach1]

Does anybody remember the tube-testing machines? I remember my dad taking tubes out of the TV, going to the hardware store (?), plugging the suspect tubes into the correct socket in the machine, and repeating until the bad tube was found.....

 

[6gun]

Does anybody remember the tube-testing machines? I remember my dad taking tubes out of the TV, going to the hardware store (?), plugging the suspect tubes into the correct socket in the machine, and repeating until the bad tube was found.....

Yes indeed we spent more time going over to the drug store that had a tube tester trying to find which tube died now on the TV we had in the early 60's than we did watching it.

 

[WIL TERRY]

I REGRET buying one of the damn things atall in the first place !! Whatta waste of " time, energy, truth, and the American way of life."

 

[protoolman]

Well in 1982 in rural western Montana we only got one channel so we watched that one channel on a portable B&W tv. Color tvs cost to much to justfy buying one. We finally bought a bigger color set the next year before I went in the Navy. I remember watching a rerun of Sanford and Son and figuring out the pickup was red. I thought it was green like our old similiar garbage hauling pickup. I do remember black and white was sharper and color seemed a bit fuzzy for years.

 

[Paul B]

One of the first jobs I got after getting out of the Air Force in 1964 was delivering and setting up color TVs. Got to where I absolutely hates the Motorola 310 and that huge Magnavox that had a large screen TV, tape and record players. The 310 because it was almost impossible to adjust the damn thing to were the colors would stay stable. The Magnavox because it was inevitable that whoever bought one lived on the top floor of an apartment building and the elevator was too small to carry that monster. It was always up several flights off stairs and if you're on the bottom you not only have the full weight of that beast but the top edge had an overhang that would catch you on the throat and try to strangle you to death. Besides that, the pay was lousy. If you were not careful adjusting the three color guns you'd snag an unhealthy 25,000 volts that certainly woke one up. :shock: Ah, those were the days. :lol:
Paul B.

 

[RSIno1]

Born in 1950. I remember the big discussion at home about upgrading to the very expensive 25" RCA color console TV in the early 60s.

 

[JPGLSG]

Well Bob...looks like you successfully got everyone in this post in the way back machine with the color TV thing. A good read indeed........... Thanks all

 

[Colonialgirl]

We watched Black and white until we moved to Maryland in 1979 and then in 1980 bought a color set from Montgomery Wards. It lasted until it got hit TWICE by lightening down here in Florida in the late 1980's.

 

[Cooperhawk]

When I came back from VN in 1966 I was stationed at Edgewood Arsenal, part of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds . I splurged and bought a color TV. My little girl was in awe. She thought we were rich.

 

[Bob Hath]

The first TV show to be filmed in color was The Cisco Kid.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

The first TV show to be filmed in color was The Cisco Kid.

Guess you didn't read the previous post of mine. Which are the facts HAAAAA Poncho :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[twobit]

The first TV show to be filmed in color was The Cisco Kid.

Pancho and Crisco...I remember them well. (yes I called him Crisco like the cooking oil)!

We got our first color set around 1972. I was 12. Papa was tight with money. Old B&W set wasn't broke.

I guess I'm more like my Papa than I admit, because just last month we got our first flat screen LED HD TV. The old big tube set (a Phillips from about 2002) just would not die. I finally threw it out last month. I'm 54 now.