People didn’t immediately embrace the new technology though. 10 years after its debut in 1936, the head of 20th Century Fox Darryl F. Zanuck (seeing TV as a competitor to movies) famous last words were predicting it would not catch on. He said he thought “People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” But they have not.
Here are some highlights:
- According to Nielsen television ratings, as of September 1, 2009, there are an estimated 114.9 million television households in the United States.
- The first TVs in 1948 cost $2,495 each.
- The first commercial was for a watch and the total profit to NBC was a whopping $7.
- TV news started in force with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
- In 2010 it’s about 3-D and Panasonic debuted the 152” 2160p 3-D plasma television – a very large plywood box!
