Did Early Television Used to Be in Profile?
After years of experimentation, the BBC initiated public transmissions. The first broadcast covered the 1966 elections, transmitted to American viewers via the Early Bird satellite, where color television was already more prevalent. However, UK viewers still received only black-and-white coverage.
Finally, on July 1, 1967, BBC2 introduced color television to the British public with a broadcast of the Wimbledon tennis championships, presented by David Vine. This historic broadcast utilized the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system, developed by German television engineer Walter Bruch. BBC2 had initially launched in black and white in 1964 with a high resolution of 625 lines, specifically in anticipation of the PAL color system.
The adoption of PAL signaled a significant shift for the British television industry, marking the arrival of a public color television service. PAL offered a notable improvement over the American NTSC system, which was often derisively referred to as “never twice the same color” due to its color instability compared to PAL.
Despite the introduction of color television, the transition was gradual, as not all programs were immediately equipped for color broadcasting. Color programming was implemented incrementally across different shows and networks.
Following BBC2’s lead in 1967, color broadcasting was launched on BBC1 and ITV on November 15, 1969. Initially, color signal coverage extended to only about half of the UK population, encompassing the London, Midlands, North-West, and Yorkshire television regions.
ITV’s first color broadcasts in Scotland commenced on December 13, 1969; in Wales on April 6, 1970; and finally in Northern Ireland on September 14, 1970. This staggered rollout highlights the logistical challenges of transitioning to color television broadcasting across a nation.
To offset the costs associated with this new technology, color TV licenses were introduced on January 1, 1968, priced at £10, double the cost of the standard £5 black and white TV license. This significant price difference reflects the premium placed on accessing color television broadcasts in the early days of its adoption.
