Years in Television - 1940s

1940s

• 1940: the American Federal Communications Commission holds public hearings on television
• 1941: First television advertisements aired
• 1942: FCC terminates all American television broadcasting because of the war; DuMont petitions FCC to resume broadcasting and receives approval
• 1943: Hänsel und Gretel is the first complete opera to be broadcast on television
• 1944: American Broadcasting Company (ABC) formed
• 1945: National Broadcasting Company (NBC) begins the first regularly scheduled network service in the United States
• 1946: RCA demonstrates all-electronic color television system
• 1947: First broadcast of Howdy Doody and Meet the Press; the World Series is broadcast live for the first time
• 1948: First broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show
• 1949: First broadcast of Come Dancing and Mama; the first Emmy Awards are given