10 more interesting TV facts
Facts 1-5
1) One of the earliest inventors working in the field of TV, and the inventor credited with creating electronic TV as opposed to mechanical versions, American Philo Taylor Farnsworth refused to let his kids watch TV as he said it was rubbish.
2) John Logie Baird demonstrated a colour TV broadcast in 1938, although it took till the 1950s and 1960s for colour TV transmissions to become widespread worldwide.
3) The United Kingdom was the first country to have a public subscription licence fee – introduced in 1927 – which led to TV licences in 1946. Although the licence fee model wasn’t taken up in the USA, many countries around the world did and still do use this type of funding system for their TV, as this article shows http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26546570.
4) Those brought up watching only black and white TV as children are around 5 times more likely to dream in black and white than those brought up watching colour TV.
5) Product placement of any alcohol based product is illegal on Norwegian TV, as well as all other alcohol advertising.
Facts 6-10
6) Modern TV aerials have changed little from the original design patented by Japanese engineer Hidetsugu Yagi in 1926. If you are looking for Cheltenham TV aerial repair or aerial installation you could consider http://steveunettaerials.co.uk/services/tv-aerials-repair-and-installation-cheltenham/.
7) US TV hit show “Extreme Makeovers: Home edition” has actually caused a number of their beneficiaries to lose their homes. Although the makeover and any extensions were done by the programme for free, these new large properties left the owners with greatly increased outgoings with higher taxes and utility bills they couldn’t afford. Some participants took out mortgages or loans against the properties they couldn’t cover and ended in foreclosure.
8) The longest running current affairs programme in the world is BBC’s “Panorama”. The programme was first shown in 1953, meaning it has been on British screens for over sixty unbroken years.
9) When J.F.K. was assassinated in 1963, the US networks all suspended commercials for 4 days to cover his death and funeral. This probably cost them around one hundred million dollars.
10) In the United States the fictional character of John Munch, a cynical police detective, was played by actor Richard Belzer. Has appeared in a record breaking nine different series on five separate networks.