On this day 53 years ago, the Federal Communications Commission issued the very first license to broadcast color television. The FCC awarded the landmark privilege to CBS. However, RCA charged that CBS’ color technology was inadequate and contested the license, which was scheduled to go into effect on November 3.
RCA’s challenge worked. A restraining order was issued on November 15. Despite this setback, CBS did eventually broadcast the first commercial color TV program in June 1951. Throughout the 1950s color TV technology continued to evolve. In 1956, a Chicago TV station became the first to broadcast entirely in color. Color television sets, however, remained less popular than black and white sets until the late 1960s. It wasn’t until 1968 that color televisions outsold black and whites for the first time.
