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Vitaphone
in 1925 the vitaphone was invented and introduced a sound system to synchronize mudic and sound effects in motion pictures. it used a sixteen inch disc turntable that is connnected by gears to the projector mechanism. -
bell laboratories
Bell labratories devolops a 33 1/3 rpm disk system to synchronize a music track for the warner bros film "Don Juan" containing music composed by william axt -
National brodcasting company
NBC begins as the first radio network. estimated that 5 million radio sets were tuned in for the broadcast of their inauguration. -
scotsman John logie Baird
Scotsman John Logie Baird invents mechanical television which he calls a televisor -
Orange Network
The NBC Pacific Coast "orange network" debuts April 5, 1927 with its flagship station -
Movie Tone News
Movie-Tone News tallking theatrical newsreels debut in New York City. -
Philo Farnsworth
on sept 7th-- Philo Farnsworth transmits the first "electric television" -
Columbia Broadcasting System
the columbia broadcasting system begins radio broadcasting formed by the demise of the columbia phonograph broadcating system, a chain of some 16 stations which originated out of WOR-- Newark, New Jersey. -
RCA
RCA convinces phonograph labels including its own Victor label as well as Columbia
and other manufacturers to standardize on 78.26 rpm as the speed of all phonograph
records. Previous disk recording speeds might vary anywhere up to 80rpm in the U.S.
and even as high as 90rpm in England. -
Billboard
Billboard magazine publishes its first music chart of performed songs. -
first broadcast of the expanded NBC
first broadcast of the expanded NBC-- all the way to the West Coast, for a total of 47 stations in the chain. -
Scotsman John Logie Baird
Scotsman John Logie Baird demonstrates his system of mechanical television,
transmitting its signal from England to the United States over the Atlantic ocean. -
Edison Co.
The Edison Co. ceases the manufacturing of sound recordings. -
CBS
The West Coast "Don Lee" chain of radio stations joins the CBS radio network; it
was to later switch to Mutual in 1936. -
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Farnsworth transmits the first TV picture of a living person - his wife - on
Oct. 19, in his San Francisco laboratory; the picture is only about 3 1/2 inches square. -
Fritz Schroeter
To improve TV pictures, German scientist Fritz Schroeter applies for a patent on interlaced scanning. -
RCA
RCA laboratories work on a 33 1/3 rpm record system, but the system fails because the
material does not stand up to repeated plays. Sixteen more years will pass before a system -
Bell laboratories
An experimental "binaural" phonograph system is created by Bell laboratories.
The two channels of sound were on separate grooves of a 78rpm vinyl record, requiring -
Vladimir Zworykin
Vladimir Zworykin applies for a patent on a TV camera vacuum tube he calls the "Iconoscope." -
wing music
The Duke Ellington recording of "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing"
starts the "swing music" dance craze. -
The Lone Ranger
The first episode of "The Lone Ranger" radio series debuts on radio station -
Western Union
Western Union introduces the first "singing telegram" service. -
Richard M. Hollingshead
Richard M. Hollingshead opened the first Drive-In Movie Theater in Camden, NJ on
June 6...his company was called "Park-In Theaters, Inc." But the part which the public
remembered was that you "Drive-In", and so that name stuck. -
Harry Lubke
Harry Lubke, a former associate of Philo Farnsworth, builds an electronic television transmitter
for the Don Lee System in Hollywood -- which transmits one hour per day, six days per week,
using 300 scan lines at 20 frames per second, and claims to be the first TV station in the U.S. -
MBS
The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) begins operation on September 15, formed by
eight stations that carried "The Lone Ranger" produced at WXYZ Detroit, plus stations
WOR New York and WLW Cincinnati. Mutual was a network "owned and operated"
by its affiliated stations, and was later purchased by WOR in New York. Then it
was absorbed into Westwood One - CNN in 1999. -
AEG
AEG/Telefunken exhibits the first magnetic tape recorder in Germany. -
3-strip Technicolor
The first "3-strip Technicolor" feature-length motion picture -- "Becky Sharp" is made
by simultaneously exposing three black & white camera negatives through colored filters
in the camera, and then printing the results onto color positive stock for the projector;
The film is co-produced by Rouben Mamoulian with Kenneth MacGowan's "Pioneer
Pictures Corporation", and is distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. -
Billboard magazine
Billboard magazine publishes its first chart of top-selling records. -
Don Lee
The West Coast "Don Lee" chain of radio stations joins the Mutual Network on
December 29 giving Mutual a coast-to-coast reach. -
NBC
Christmas Night on the NBC Radio Network - The NBC Symphony Orchestra premiere
broadcast begins a 17-year run under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. -
CBS
The CBS radio network debuts the "CBS World News Round-Up" on March 13th
anchored by broadcast journalist Robert Trout. -
RCA/NBC
Electronic television demonstrated at the Chicago Worlds Fair by RCA / NBC; the
number of horizontal scan lines of early electronic TV systems varied from 500 to
750 with DuMont systems having the highest resolution around 750. -
Pepsi-Cola
National radio hit advertising jingle "Pepsi-Cola Hits The Spot" is written by
Eric Siday and Ginger Johnson, adapted from the tune of an 18th-century
English hunting song titled "John Peel". Johnson-Siday would write early
advertising jingles, and then Siday would form the first electronic jingle
company "Identitones" using early analog synthesizers in the 1960s. -
regular FM
Regular FM Radio broadcasting begins in New York City -
NTSC
The National Television Standards Committee adopts the "NTSC standard" of
525 interlaced horizontal scan lines for all U.S. commercial television broadcasts
and just under 30 frames per second consisting of two interlaced fields. -
ASCAP
ASCAP feuds with radio networks, which spawns the birth of a rival U.S. Performance -
James Petrillo's
James Petrillo's American Federation of Musicians (AF of M) Union begins a
"recording ban" from Aug., 1942 - Nov., 1944 to force record companies to pay royalties,
which starts the decline of the big-band era in favor of vocal groups and "crooner" vocalists -
American Broadcastin Network
The American Broadcasting Network officially begins on June 14 -- when it takes over
the NBC Radio "Blue" Network. Announcements for awhile identified it as the "Blue
Network of the American Broadcasting Company" or the "American Blue Network." -
AMPEX
Captured German magnetic tape recorders brought to the United States which are copied
for commercial use by A. M. Polikoff who founds AMPEX (he added "EX" for excellence.) -
FCC
The FCC approves regularly-scheduled commercial television broadcasting, following
the wartime "interruption", on seven East Coast television stations. -
first cable TV system
The first cable TV systems appear (called Community Antenna TeleVision systems,
or CATV) for carrying television signals by wire into areas that are geographically remote. -
Bell Laboratories
Bell Laboratories assembles the world's first transistor (a "point contact" type
so-called because two pointed metal contacts pressed the surface of a semiconductor.) -
KTLA
Jan 22 - The FCC approves the first commercial television station West of the Mississipi at a
subsidiary of Paramount Pictures - call letters are changed to KTLA - over channel 5
(formerly it was experimental TV station W6XYZ on channel 4, and later on channel 5.) -
Milton Berle
a young comedian named Milton Berle is the first person to be seen on television on an experimental broadcast; But it would be another 20 years before his network TV show for Texaco would result in him becoming known throughout the country as "Mr. Television." -
commercial
The commercial 33 1/3 LP (Long Playing) microgroove (1-mil) disc is introduced by Dr.
Peter Goldmark of Columbia Records; the first LP disk is released; it is 10" Columbia
record #4001 performed by classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin. -
AES
The Audio Engineering Society (The AES) is formed -
Hank McCune Hall
A local Los Angeles filmed TV sitcom which will air in 1950 on the full NBC network
called "Hank McCune Hall", about the life of a television variety show host, introduces
the technique of "the laugh track" -- "canned laughter" -- edited in from other comedy
shows, which unfortunately continues to plague sitcoms to this day... -
RCA
RCA Victor responds to the LP by developing large-hole 45 rpm phonograph records;
Although the effort failed to kill LPs, RCA's 45s eventually had the unintended
consequence of replacing 78s as the preferred media format for singles.