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I think you missed 2 big innovations that everybody would understand, and one a bit more obscure. First was the new transcontinental TV cable that allowed live pictures from coast to coast. Before that, the west coast had to watch a program a week later on scratchy film. Next was studio videotape in the middle 50's. The last, and more obscure, was the Image Orthicon camera tube. The old cameras required open sunshine or smoking hot studio lighting. With this new camera, you could televise outdoors on cloudy days (think sports here) and studio lighting became more like theater lighting, allowing for better productions and cooler actors. These cameras were so good they were used in one form or another into the 70's.

You did miss some other TV milestones. One of the biggest milestones was when all 3 major networks--ABC, CBS, NBC--dropped every single one of their programs from the time that the news broke of President John Kennedy being shot and killed on Fri., Nov. 22, 1963 on thru the next 3 days thru the funeral on Mon., Nov. 25, 1963. This was a huge TV breakthrough in reporting nonstop news of one topic that spanned nearly 4 days, and TV news reporting came of age during that year. There were no shoulder TV cameras back then, and the networks had to set up as many TV cams up as they were able to muster up to cover this horrendous event. They even recruited the local TV stations' cams in both Dallas, Texas and Washington, DC to cover this huge story that really put America on their heels and left us in shock for quite awhile. The legacy of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, and other reporters were paramount in dealing with this event. The other milestone was when TV stations began to go full color in 1965 and 1966, and color TVs were starting to come into stores and were selling like hotcakes during those years. Now, black & white TVs are a huge thing of the past just like the old analogue signal is now. Weather reporting on TV news programs has also come of age since the stations started their local news programs in the 1950s. From the first radar that was installed at TV stations and people reporting the weather like news anchors to what we have today of licensed meteorologists with weather science degrees and the computer graphics that are now used on local news programs, weather reporting has come a very long way from the early years. Now there are different types of weather satellites and radar systems that have given these weather people the advanced technology and tools that they need to let us know what the weather is doing in their neighborhoods and around the US. Hurricane tracking has really been so much better with this new weather tech and the National Hurricane Center at the forefront of the hurricane season every year. The Weather Channel has now become the 24/7 station for all of us to go to at any time of the day and nite to check on local and national weather news. Well, those are the milestones of the TV era that I have thought of that none of you thought about. Hope this will give you a much better perspective about the huge progress and innovations that TVs and TV stations have gone thru since the first TV station was launched around 1948. What a ride!!
Chari Mercier :)
St. Pete, FL

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Posted By: rsound @ 08/14/2009 7:41:31 AM

I think you missed 2 big innovations that everybody would understand, and one a bit more obscure. First was the new transcontinental TV cable that allowed live pictures from coast to coast. Before that, the west coast had to watch a program a week later on scratchy film. Next was studio videotape in the middle 50's. The last, and more obscure, was the Image Orthicon camera tube. The old cameras required open sunshine or smoking hot studio lighting. With this new camera, you could televise outdoors on cloudy days (think sports here) and studio lighting became more like theater lighting, allowing for better productions and cooler actors. These cameras were so good they were used in one form or another into the 70's.
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Posted By: cjfm @ 07/23/2009 11:48:23 PM

You did miss some other TV milestones. One of the biggest milestones was when all 3 major networks--ABC, CBS, NBC--dropped every single one of their programs from the time that the news broke of President John Kennedy being shot and killed on Fri., Nov. 22, 1963 on thru the next 3 days thru the funeral on Mon., Nov. 25, 1963. This was a huge TV breakthrough in reporting nonstop news of one topic that spanned nearly 4 days, and TV news reporting came of age during that year. There were no shoulder TV cameras back then, and the networks had to set up as many TV cams up as they were able to muster up to cover this horrendous event. They even recruited the local TV stations' cams in both Dallas, Texas and Washington, DC to cover this huge story that really put America on their heels and left us in shock for quite awhile. The legacy of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, and other reporters were paramount in dealing with this event. The other milestone was when TV stations began to go full color in 1965 and 1966, and color TVs were starting to come into stores and were selling like hotcakes during those years. Now, black & white TVs are a huge thing of the past just like the old analogue signal is now. Weather reporting on TV news programs has also come of age since the stations started their local news programs in the 1950s. From the first radar that was installed at TV stations and people reporting the weather like news anchors to what we have today of licensed meteorologists with weather science degrees and the computer graphics that are now used on local news programs, weather reporting has come a very long way from the early years. Now there are different types of weather satellites and radar systems that have given these weather people the advanced technology and tools that they need to let us know what the weather is doing in their neighborhoods and around the US. Hurricane tracking has really been so much better with this new weather tech and the National Hurricane Center at the forefront of the hurricane season every year. The Weather Channel has now become the 24/7 station for all of us to go to at any time of the day and nite to check on local and national weather news. Well, those are the milestones of the TV era that I have thought of that none of you thought about. Hope this will give you a much better perspective about the huge progress and innovations that TVs and TV stations have gone thru since the first TV station was launched around 1948. What a ride!!
Chari Mercier :)
St. Pete, FL