ACMI Project : The TV Age

(1945-1965)

By Kash Ngan,
Pattiya Buakaew,
Denise Tam and
Beatriz Gotoda
Content:
1.Evolution of Television after World War II

2.Delays of Television in Australia

3.Hollywood attempt to win back audience

4.How Television changed the moving image

Evolution of TV after WWII: Before WWII
TV Sets, stations and networks

Unaffordable for normal citizens

Limited programs/channels
Evolution of TV after WWII: During WWII
Slowed development of television

Limited broadcasts/ channels (U.S.)

90% war-related programs

Either broadcasting about war or went off-air

War pictures/ news before normal tv programs

Propaganda footages

Television stations Radar operated stations (U.K.)

People who did not go to war:

relied on radios and televisions (main source of info.)

Women worked in the factories, producing war-toys

Rationing- limited consumption of gas, food and clothing

Evolution of TV after WWII: During WWII

Winston Churchills wartime broadcast

(October 1, 1939)
Evolution of TV after WWII: Post WWII
shaping social and economic (Politicians were filmed giving speed,
advertisements. People can see them debating.)

Relaxing: Sitcom and soap opera

E.g. These Are My Children - first soap opera in the U.S. (1949)

Civil rights: News

Cartoon: The Mickey Mouse Club

Evolution of TV after WWII: Post WWII
Delays of Television in Australia

Was bogged down in political debate under the Menzies government.

Introducing TV: public service (UK) VS commercial business (USA)
Delays of Television in Australia
impact of television on Australia society and moral values
Delays of Television in Australia
The pleas of would-be media entrepreneurs and electronics manufacturers
> Menzies delayed arrival of television to Australia

In 1954, the new two-tiered system of TV:

1. A government-funded service run by the ABC
2. Two commercial services station in Melbourne & Sydney
Delays of Television in Australia
In 1956, the Summer Olympics gave a deadline for the introduction
of TV.
Delays of Television in Australia
Most popular shows were high budget drama and comedy
Lucky Partner (1940 USA)
(mostly imported from US ) Drama & Comedy

TV stations carried quiz shows, variety and new

(live, cheap & locally produced)

Pick-A-Box (1948)
A quiz show in ATN7 by Bob Dyer
Delays of Television in Australia
Hollywood attempt to win back audience
Film Industry 1950s Television
 Advantages that film enjoyed over television
Wide-screen experiences - increasing the screen size

Colour

CinemaScope

Stereophonic sound
Bizzare Gimmicks attempt by Hollywood

Smell-O-Vision

Aromas were
pumped into the
theatre while the film
was in progress.

Seats in the cinema rigged with

electrical buzzers.
3D Films

Bwana Devil(1952) was the first stereoscopic film.

View through special Polaroid glasses

How Television redefined the Moving Image

The world in your living room

Convenient and cheap entertainment

1955 - half of U.S. homes had one TV set

2010 - average U.S. home 2.93 TV sets
How Television redefined the Moving Image

Faster, more accessible information

News Channels were the beginning
Broadcasting & Live Streaming
Elections Coverage
Wars
Sports
How Television redefined the Moving Image
Talk shows & Television Series
 References

How Television redefined the Moving Image:

https://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2010/u-s-homes-add-even-more-tv-sets-in-2010.html
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024822?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/olympics_1948_gallery_07.shtml
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/kennedy-nixon-debates
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html

https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/inventions/bizarre-movie-gimmicks-from-the-1950s/
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/these-1950s-movie-gimmicks-will-shock-you/