Highlights from the first 100 Years of Television

 By Bruce Shawkey

Great article in The Guardian on highlights from the first 100 years of television. Here are of ones I found most interesting and/or experienced first-hand. 

I start with Janet Jackson's famous (infamous?) "nip slip" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance – in which her right breast was accidentally exposed for less than a second. It led to the Federal Communications Commission fining CBS $550,000.

Technically, her nipple was covered by a nipple ring, but the network was still fined.  It was the fifth largest fine in television history, with the largest fine ($24 million) going to Univision for lack of children’s shows. Did you know there are federal regulations that require television broadcasters to devote a portion of their programming to educational and informative shows for kids. The Howard Stern radio show also got fined $1.7 million for various infractions.

January 26, 1926: John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution, from his lab in Soho. The subject of the demonstration was Stooky Bill, Baird’s ventriloquist dummy, because it was thought the lighting generated too much heat for a human to bear. Bright lighting and the heat it produces continue to be an issue to this day.

1937 The BBC’s first televised coverage of Wimbledon. It lasted for about 30 minutes and was followed by programs about gardening and puppets.

1937 Football is televised for the first time, with a program called Football at the Arsenal, a match between Arsenal and Arsenal’s reserve team.

1947 The wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip necessitates a whole day of programming. The wedding is broadcast without sound.

1951  The Amos ’n’ Andy Show, aired on CBS, becomes the first show with an all-Black cast. It immediately becomes controversial, with the NAACP calling for its cancellation, on the basis that it “tends to strengthen the conclusion among uninformed and prejudiced people that Negroes are inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest.”

1955 The world’s first televised interracial kiss is broadcast, during a BBC production of Othello, between US actor Gordon Heath and British actor Rosemary Harris.

1963 The assassination of John F Kennedy. It is claimed that 93% of all American households watched his funeral on television.

1965 Theatre critic Kenneth Tynan becomes the first person to swear on television, after using the word “fuck” during a live broadcast of the satirical late-night show BBC-3. After threats of lawsuits – and one letter to the Queen stating that Tynan “ought to have his bottom smacked,” the BBC apologizes.

1967 BBC becomes the first channel in Europe to regularly broadcast in color, starting with coverage of Wimbledon.

1969 The Apollo 11 moon landing, sometimes referred to as the single greatest moment in television history, is watched by a reported 650 million people worldwide. 

1974 The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali forges the way for international sports coverage, being shown live in 50 countries and introducing viewers to the concept of pay-per-view.

1979 BBC debuts the landmark wildlife series Life on Earth, in which David Attenborough tracks the evolution of life. It is best known for an unexpected encounter between Attenborough and a gorilla named Poppy.

1980 Dallas reveals who shot JR, and 350 million globally tune in.

1980 BBC broadcasts the James Bond film Live and Let Die, and more people watch it than any other film in the entire history of British TV.

1985 Live Aid, a 16-hour transatlantic charity concert, is watched by 1.5 billion worldwide.

1997 The death of Princess Diana. The announcement of her death, and subsequent coverage, would dominate television for the following week. Commercial channels dropped advertising for much of the day of her funeral, which would become the second most-watched broadcast in all of British television.

2001 9/11. Reports say that a billion people worldwide either saw the attacks live or through television news.

2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a televised statement announcing that the UK is being put into Covid lockdown. Simulcast across the bulk of news channels, it becomes the ninth most-watched event in British television history.