The document provides a brief history of television from its beginnings in the 1920s through developments in the 2010s. It outlines key milestones such as John Logie Baird's early demonstrations of television in 1926, the start of regular BBC broadcasts in 1936, and the shutdown of British television during WWII. It then discusses the reopening of BBC TV after the war in 1946 and expansion of coverage, the introduction of color broadcasts in 1967, and the launch of satellite television and digital terrestrial broadcasts in later decades.

1. The Brief history of
Television
By: Maria Alcnantara and Anna Burnley-Davies

2. 26 January 1926: First public demonstration of television
to members of the Royal Institution by John Logie Baird
in his London Laboratory.
8 February 1928: John Logie Baird successfully transmits
television pictures across theAtlantic.
5 March 1929: John Logie Baird broadcasts television
using the BBC’s London transmitter.
1920s

3. 14 July 1930: First British television drama: Pirandello’s The Man with a Flower
in his Mouth.
The first BBC channel was BBC 1 it started broadcast in 1932, it was more
commonly know as BBC Television at the time.
24 January 1934: EMI demonstrates a workable electronic television camera. They
name their camera the ‘Emitron’.
2 November 1936: BBC Television begins broadcasting regular high-definition
programmes from Alexandra Palace to the London area
12 May 1937: First major electronic television outside broadcast: the Coronation of
King George VI. Nine thousand TV sets are sold in the London area.
1 September 1939: British television is shut down immediately at the advent of
WWII. It is estimated that there are 20,000 TV sets in Britain at this time.
1930s

4. 7 June 1946: BBC television re-opens after the
war.
July-August 1948: London hosts the 1948
Summer Olympics, the first Olympic tournament
to be broadcast to home television.
17 December 1949: BBC TV Midlands
transmitter opens.
1940s

5. 2 June 1953: Biggest outside broadcast to date: Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II.
21 July 1955: BBC TV Northern Ireland transmitter opens. 95%
of the UK can now receive BBC television.
In the 1950s the television remote makes it first appearance
2 May 1965: First trans-Atlantic satellite television transmission
from the USA is made via the geosynchronous satellite Intelsat I,
nicknamed “Early Bird”.
1 July 1967: Regular colour transmissions begin on BBC2.
21 July 1969: First live television pictures of men on the moon.
1950s and 60s

6. January 1971: The Open University begins broadcasting from the
old BBC studios at Alexandra Palace.
29 July 1981: Biggest outside broadcast to date: the wedding of
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (750 million viewers in 74
countries).
1 January 1982: New ITV contracts start. New companies include:
Central Television, TVS, and TSW.
6 February 1989: Launch of Sky television (satellite television
provider)
1970s/80s

7. 1 January 1993: New ITV contracts start. New companies
include: Carlton Television, Meridian Broadcasting,
Westcountry Television and GMTV. Old companies lost in the
franchise change include: TV-AM, TVS, TSW and Thames.
31 March 1997: Channel 5 begins broadcasting.
17 October 2007: The gradual switch-off of all analogue
terrestrial TV broadcasts begins. The last regions will be
switched off in 2012.
25 December 2007: The BBC launches iPlayer, an internet
service for watching previously aired TV shows.
1990s and 2000s

8. 2012–2013: The BBC sells Television Centre, and moves most of its
operations from Television Centre to other BBC sites, particularly Broadcasting
House and MediaCityUK in Salford. ITV plc also relocates many of its
studios and operations from the Old Granada Studios to MediaCityUK,
including the Coronation Street set.
4 January 2012: Netflix launches its movie and TV streaming service in the
UK.
16 February 2016: BBC Three becomes online-only.
1 September 2016: A TV Licence becomes a requirement for watching BBC
iPlayer online.
1 January 2017: The BBC commences its renewed Charter, and from April
Ofcom becomes the first external regulator for the BBC.
2010s

9. History of TV channels and shows