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| A Brief History of Television News |
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We all benefit from television news. They be news contents on global
events, national stories, or local happenings, television news are part
and parcel of the way we're given information on current events and
help us cope with circumstances that shape contemporary living and our
individual lives. But have you ever wondered when the history of television news began?
Prior to the first television news broadcast, daily news began to air on a regular basis in 1938 with the program "World Today" on CBS. Developed by Edward R. Murrow, its length was only 15 minutes and aired in the evenings. Ten years later, CBS began broadcasting TV News initiated by Douglas Edwards and produced by Don Hewitt. Since then, television news became an indispensable means of disseminating information to a large audience. In 1950, television news started to evolve and experiment on other formats such as the program "See It Now" under the direction of Don Hewitt and produced by Fred Friendly, which had a magazine format and aired from cost-to-coast. This was made possible by utilizing the just-completed coaxial cable. By the 1950's, successive development in television news took place. Other television networks also began, unwittingly, to contribute to the history of television news. Pat Weaver through NBC launched the "Today", which was a morning magazine show on January 14, 1952. On September 23 of the same year, Americans were able to listen to the speech of President Nixon on Checkers. One of the most notable broadcasts in the history of television news were the live telecasts of the Army-McCarthy hearings that was aired for 36 days beginning April 22, 1954 to up to 20 million viewers. Advancements in technology spurred the rapid growth of the television industry. CBS developed videotapes for use in the Douglas Edwards news show in 1956. The discovery of videotapes allowed news people to deliver pre-recorded news events at a later time using video clips. The launch of TELSTAR, the pioneer in communication satellites, into orbit by AT&T helped improve the way television news was broadcast. However, CBS and NBC were the prevailing authorities in television news. CBS experimented on lengthened news with a magazine/documentary format through "60 Minutes". Through satellite broadcast, the telecast of the moon landing became possible in 1969, which was watched by 94% of television households. Following the successes of television news, Ted Turner in 1980, made a great contribution in the history of television news by launching the Cable News Network (CNN), a cable channel based in the U.S. that broadcast news 24/7 at various locations from around the globe. |
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