Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

What I Found Out About Television Rosita Sarnojj. ivho will be 11 years old in June, is the daughter of Robert W. Sarnojj, Executive Vice- President of the National Broadcasting Company, and the grand-daughter of Brig. General David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of the Radio Corporation of America. The following article appeared in the Winter, 1954, issue of "The Venturer," a publication of Miss Hewitt's Classes, New York, where she is in Grade VI. By Rosita Sarnoff o NE night, a few weeks ago, I was watching tele- vision when I began to wonder about it. I found there were a lot of questions to which I didn't know the answers. How old is television? How did it start.' How big is it and how many people can see it? I decided to find out the answers to my questions. By asking and reading I learned some interesting things. I am so used to watching television that I didn't realize that the broadcasting we have today is younger than I am. It is hardly more than five years old, although it took a long time to develop. This is how it started. As early as 1925, nearly 30 years ago, scientists were testing television in the laboratory. In 1931 a television station was put on top of the Empire State Building for experimenting. During those years many men worked hard to develop this invention. One of the most important of these men was Dr. Zworykin, who invented a tube called the iconoscope. This is known as the "eye" of the television camera. He also developed the kinescope, which is the "screen" of the television receiver. It is these two inven- tions which make it possible to see what is happening many miles away without leaving your living room. On April 30th, 1939, President Roosevelt was tele- vised at the New York 'World's Fair. This event has been called the "birth of the television industry." After this, it began to develop with telecasts of football games, hockey, basketball, and the circus from Madison Square Garden. In 1940 the Republican Convention was tele- vised in Philadelphia and was seen in New York. On May 2, 1941, the Government gave permission for TV programs to be sold to advertisers. But World War II stopped the development of television broad- casting. During the war, it was used by the Army and the Navy to control planes and bombs, and played an important part in helping to win the war. Rosita Sarnoff After the war television grew rapidly. The kind we have today really began about five years ago when many stations were built. Lots of sets were sold to people who wanted to see all the new programs. In 1951 television reached across the country for the first time, and people watching sets in New York, as well as other cities could see the signing of the Japanese Peace Treaty in San Francisco. In 1948 there were very few television stations and not many receivers; programs were being telecast only a few hours a day. Today, five years later, there are more than 300 television stations throughout the United States. There are now more than 25,000,000 sets, and there are programs all morning, afternoon, evening and late at night. Television can now be seen almost everywhere in the United States by most of the people. You can now sit at home and see many important and exciting events as they actually happen. You can also see drama, mystery, science, fiction, books, and many other types of entertainment and information. 'Very soon much of what we now view on television in black and white we shall be able to see in beautiful color. A little later we shall be able to sit at home and see programs originating not only in the United States but throughout the rest of the world. This is what I found out when I started asking some questions about television. 24 RADIO AGE