FIRST - Television Station in Texas - Fort Worth
Posted by: 
QuesterMark
N 32° 45.041 W 097° 15.903
14S E 662536 N 3624979
On September 27, 1948, WBAP-Fort Worth became the first television station in Texas--and indeed in the whole South--to go on the air, carrying a speech by President Harry Truman.
Waymark Code: WMRKM
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/27/2006
Views: 38
Founded by Amon G. Carter, noted publisher of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram", the first progam--a public appearance, Sept. 27, 1948, by President Harry Truman--made Texas the sixteenth state in the nation to open a commercial station.
Among other "Firsts" of WBAP-TV are the first live entertainment in Texas ("Flying X Ranchboys"), and first Texas colorcast via NBC-TV, 1954. Today Channel 5 serves approximately 60 counties in Texas and Oklahoma.
Since its birth, television has made many advances. In Washington, D.C., 1927, Herbert Hoover (at that time Secretary of Commerce) appeared on the first major telecast in the nation. In 1931, H. & W. Corset Company in New York conducted the first experimental use of closed-circuit television to display its models to a buyer and sold $5,000 worth of merchandise.
Modern commercial telecasting did not begin, however, until 10 years later, when New York opened the first station in the country. After a slow start, major strides were made in 1947 and 1948.
As of July 1, 1967, the U.S. had 628 commercial and 128 educational stations, with 224 under construction. Of these, Texas had 49 commercial and 5 educational; 16 others were due to be completed soon. (Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967)
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 09/27/1948
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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