When did the first television picture broadcast in the us?

Answer 1

The first public demonstration of television in the US was in 1928 by Philo Farnsworth. He continued his development work and showed a fully electronic system in 1929. It was this technology that was used for the first commercial broadcasts by RCA in 1939.

Farnsworth was not the only one working on television. John Logie Baird in the UK first showed a working television system in 1925 and others in the US were also developing similar systems. RCA found themselves in a long legal battle during the 1930s and it was only in 1939 that patent disputes were settled to allow RCA to begin their broadcasts.

The BBC in England beat RCA to the first public broadcasts in 1929, using Baird's system and then in 1936 they changed to a fully electronic television system. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 caused the BBC television service to be halted, so as television started in the US, it also ceased in the UK.

Answer 2

Although there were numerous demonstrations from 1928, the first commercial, public broadcasts didn't begin until 1939 when RCA started its first television service. A number of commercial and legal issues prevented the technology from being used until that time.