1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Ah television. In some cases, screens have taken over our lives. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: But how did those blurry, faint images on a two 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 1: or three inch screen back in the nineteen twenties evolve 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: into one of the most recent innovations called the wireless 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: transparent TV. Just a big, clear piece of glass that 6 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: turns into a TV with a click. I'm Patty Steele. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: The ups and downs of the evolution of television. Next 8 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. You can't 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: argue with the fact that TV, for better or for worse, 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: has completely transformed the way we human beings entertain ourselves. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: Imagine what that must have felt like the moment you 12 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: walked into your living room and looked at this box, 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: this piece of wooden furniture with a tiny glass screen. 14 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: It pops to life. You're looking at people, places, in 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: things in real time that in the history of the 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: world you would only have been able to see in person. 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: But the screens were as little as two or three inches. 18 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: In fact, the earliest mass produced TV was so unclear 19 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: it began without real people on the screen because the 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: human face was too subtle For those early TVs. They 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: used vividly painted ventriloquist dummies, so people could see a 22 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: face of some sort with human voices adding the dialogue. 23 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: That was in the nineteen twenties, but the technology rapidly evolved. 24 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty nine, RCA aired the opening of the 25 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: New York World's Fair with a speech by President Franklin 26 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: Delan R. Roosevelt, the first president to appear on TV, 27 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: and he gave that speech on the one hundred and 28 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: fiftieth anniversary of George Washington's inauguration. By nineteen fifty, TV's 29 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: got a whole lot more watchable. At the beginning of 30 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: the fifties, just about one percent of households had a television, 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: but that number hit ninety percent just ten years later 32 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty. In those early days, your TV was 33 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: in a big, usually wooden piece of furniture, fun to 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: decorate around, but they still had fairly small screens. Want 35 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: to change the channel or the volume? Well, in the 36 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: fifties there was a unit that connected to your TV 37 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: by wires, but hardly anybody had it. It was aptly 38 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: named lazy Bones, so you didn't have to get off 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: the couch. I guess a little bit later there were 40 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: remote units that worked by emitting a clinking or clicking 41 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: sound that would trigger the controls, thus the term a clicker. Now, 42 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: the problem is your TV would also respond to similar sounds, 43 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: including everything from a spoon hitting a glass bowl to 44 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: the jingle of your dog's collar. So for the most 45 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: part you had to get off the couch to control 46 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: the TV until an effective remote control arrived around nineteen seventy. Now, 47 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: despite all that, it was magical. We could see the 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: people who ran our country. We could see every thing 49 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: from wars to royal weddings to dramas, mysteries, comedies, important funerals, 50 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: talk and entertainment shows and all those fabulously beautiful and 51 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: engaging TV and movie stars. It changed our world and 52 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: the way we saw ourselves and those around us, and 53 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: the development of the technology was breathtaking. What's amazing is 54 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: that most shows weren't broadcast in color until the nineteen seventies. 55 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: That's just fifty years ago or less. And it wasn't 56 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: until the seventies and into the eighties that TV transitioned 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: to twenty four hours a day. Before that, they were 58 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: on the air from around ten am till nine pm 59 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: at first, then later in the fifties and sixties, stations 60 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: would go off the air later at night, anywhere from 61 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: eleven fifteen to one am. They'd run the news first, 62 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: usually just fifteen minutes of news on like twenty four 63 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: hours today, and then they'd run a test pattern all 64 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: night that allowed you to balance the black, white, and 65 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: raise of your TV set, as well as the picture size. 66 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: When color TV arrived, they broadcast color bars during the 67 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: night so you could adjust your color, and then around 68 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: six am, the early morning shows would pop back on 69 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: and forget watching your favorite shows or movies on demand. 70 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: It was all appointment viewing or you missed it. In fact, 71 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: it was a really big deal with millions tuning in 72 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: when one of the networks would run The Wizard of Oz, 73 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: which was a yearly TV special from nineteen fifty nine. 74 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: All the way until nineteen ninety one, you couldn't even 75 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: record a show to watch what you wanted, when you 76 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: wanted until the nineteen seventies. It was nineteen seventy six 77 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: when the first VHS video recorder, costing about one thousand 78 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: bucks arrived that's close to five thousand in today's money. 79 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: Plus you had to buy the videotapes too, and that 80 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: is when the slippery slope toward on demand TV began. 81 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: In the eighties and nineties, cable and sound ITV arrived, 82 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: which again changed everything. It allowed for a lot more 83 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: programming options, including channels for sports, news, and entertainment, all 84 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: twenty four hours a day, and it only got easier 85 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: to lose yourself to the screen as the tech grew 86 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: at an exponential speed. Those screens became completely addictive. If 87 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: you take a look at how we filled our free 88 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: time before and after the advent of television, it's wild 89 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: and more than a little disturbing. Before TV, we were 90 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: all involved in outside political, artistic, and charitable organizations. We 91 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: played instruments like the piano, violin, harp, and horns. We painted, gardened, knitted, 92 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,679 Speaker 1: did woodworking, socialized. We slept longer and spent more time 93 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: with family and friends, because well, that's how we filled 94 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: our time then. But TV freed us from the burden 95 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: of creativity. We no longer had to search for things 96 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: to occupy, or time or people. It was right there 97 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: in front of us twenty four hours a day. Think 98 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: about it. Americans now spend an average of over seven 99 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,119 Speaker 1: hours a day watching some kind of a screen. Add 100 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: to that your work day and time to sleep, and 101 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 1: there's not much else now. On the other hand, in fairness, 102 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: TV has allowed us to see things outside of our 103 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: own circle of influence. We see drama, comedy, news, art, nature, 104 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: famous authors, journalists, naturalists, artists, influencers from every walk of life. 105 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: And now the pictures are clearer, the sound purer and fuller, 106 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: and the choices of what we watch and when way broader. 107 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: Couple that with technology that includes screens that are just 108 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: a sheer sheet of glass until you turn it on 109 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: and it bursts into life, becoming full spectrum. The better 110 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: the tech, the more totally immersive television becomes. Problem is, 111 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: there are so many chores voices, each coming with increasingly 112 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: high subscription fees. It's becoming less affordable for US viewers 113 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: and less profitable for the production companies. So what's next? 114 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, all with a thing called fast TV. 115 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: That acronym stands for free ads supported television, and a 116 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: lot of folks in the industry say that's the future. 117 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: But think about that, free TV shows paid for by 118 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: commercial breaks. Wait, isn't that what television was thirty forty 119 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: fifty sixty years ago. Hmm, Let's just pretend we don't 120 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: notice that, right, Okay. If today's episode of the Backstory 121 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: has sparked your curiosity, or if you have any other 122 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: stories you would like to share with me, please reach 123 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: out and please please subscribe, direct message, leave a review, 124 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: and follow on Facebook at Patty Steele and at Real 125 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: Patty Steele on Instagram. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a 126 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and 127 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer 128 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 129 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 130 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at real Patty Steele and 131 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 132 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't 133 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.