When did regular colo(u)r TV start in the USA?

[Old Sparky]

I'm prompted to ask the question as I recently bought a 2-DVD set of the four Ed Sullivan shows on which the Beatles appeared in 1964.  These, as some will know, date from February 1964, and all are monochrome.  The recordings are complete shows, including commercials, etc., as originally broadcast, and I'd have thought by then, such a top rated show would have been transmitted in colo(u)r.

[Terry]

Q: When did regular colo(u)r TV start in the USA?
A: Too soon!

The National Television Systems Committee submitted its system to the FCC for approval in July 1953. After one 'in house' demo broadcast, NBC made two further network transmissions before approval was granted on 17th December 1953. The first national broadcast after approval was on 1st January 1954 and, I think, most sources would quote 1954 as the answer to your question.

However, whether these were 'regular' transmissions is debatable.

Set prices were high. The first sets sold in New York cost $1,295, ($11,411 at 2016 prices) but the rush to get colo(u)r on-air and sets to market after approval had an impact on quality. It was said that it was not a case of being able to afford the TV that determined whether you owned a colo(u)r set but if you could afford to keep the engineer that came with it! Also, although sets from most major manufacturers were available at the beginning, most fell by the wayside towards the end of the 50s leaving RCA in pole position.

This was a problem for CBS and ABC because RCA owned NBC, and the other two networks were wary of promoting the competitors products by airing colo(u)r shows!

Colo(u)r production was expensive and, initially, there was no way of recording it in colo(u)r - a problem in a country that exists across several different time zones - and there were very few sets, so it is not surprising that the majority of programming remained firmly in black and white for at least ten years - as late as 1964, only 3.1% of TV sets in the US were colo(u)r sets - compare that with the first 10 years of UK colour!

So, it is not surprising that even high ranking shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show could still be in monochrome in 1964.

Even if the original broadcasts were in colo(u)r, is it possible that the DVDs came from a monochrome transcription?* Look at how many lost BBC programmes have surfaced from other countries as monochrome copies.

Don't forget that there was no demand for colo(u)r material, even in NTSC, outside the US before 1966, when Canada first started its own colo(u)r service.

* EDIT: I've just re-read the original post and note that I'd overlooked the bit about commercials being included. However, doesn't this point towards an off-air recording of some description? A studio recording wouldn't carry the commercials as they would be added later, surely - apart from the program sponsors material, of course.

Domestic recording facilities wouldn't have been around then, but is it possible that someone at an affiliate station recorded the programs on a mono machine?

[ppppenguin]

Seeing as NTSC colour started in the US in 1954 there wasn't even monochrome VTR then.

Actually colour started even earlier with the CBS sequential system in 1949. This was actually broadcast and sets were marketed. Without looking it up, I think it used 405 lines and 180Hz RGB sequential scanning.

Apart from flying spot telecine colour production was always very difficult and expensive before the advent of the Plumbicon tube. This arrived just in time for European colour services and revolutionised colour cameras.

[peter scott]

Not the best of photos but here's a CBS field sequential set in action at the Early Television Foundation:

   
   

Peter

[Terry]

Actually colour started even earlier with the CBS sequential system in 1949. This was actually broadcast and sets were marketed. Without looking it up, I think  it used 405 lines and 180Hz RGB sequential scanning.

It was 144Hz and started in January 1950. 

The transmissions increased throughout 1950 and into 1951 but, although highly popular, receivers were virtually only available in public viewing areas and the transmissions were totally incompatible with existing monochrome receivers. Manufacturers were reluctant to design adapters for their existing monochrome receivers and advertisers wouldn't pay to advertise on a network with virtually no viewers and, although sets from a manufacturer bought by CBS launched a TV set on the market in September 1951,  it was too little, too late, and CBS withdrew the service later in the same month.

Only 200 sets were built and 100 sold, CBS buying back the latter sets to avoid expensive lawsuits.

I didn't mention this phase as it had no relevance to the Ed Sullivan Shows that were the primary topic behind the original request for information.                                            

[Old Sparky]

Thanks, all, for the explanations. I guess for various reasons stated in your replies, colour TV took much longer to become the 'norm', than it did here. As to the Sullivan shows. AFAIK they are exactly as originally transmitted. Although the commercial breaks are similar to tose used by ITV in those days i.e. no 'product placement', most are by the main sponsors, Pillsbury. The DVDs were issued by SOFA Entertainment, inc., and are Copyright dated 1987 & 2003. The original broadcast dates (Feb. 9, 16, & 23, 1964, and Sept.12 1965 are given, but there are few other 'sleeve notes' in the package. (As an aside, it's stated that 73000000 people tuned into these shows, so whatever ABC & NBC put on in competition must have fared somewhat badly in the ratings!) Another, more technical question is how, in those days, did they network programmes over 4 or 5 time zones, assuming that tey were screened at the same local time everywhere?

[ppppenguin]

US timezones were a major reason for VTR development. Without it, no live show could be screened in prime time nationwide. The quadruplex sysem was released by Ampex in 1956. It was the first successful VTR. Its primary use in the 1950s was time shifting.