Theater Television: A History

Douglas Gomery

Television technology has not always been used in the home. Indeed during the late 1940s and early 1950s the major corporations of the U.S. motion-picture industry attempted to bring television entertainment into movie theaters. They did this to protect their positions in the mass entertainment marketplace. The necessary technology was developed just before and immediately after the Second World War. Attempted innovation occurred from 1947 and 1954. But theater television never became widespread and since 1955 has been relegated to only special events, such as major boxing matches. This article analyzes and explains the technological history of theater television through the stages of invention, innovation, and diffusion.

Print ISSN
Published
1989-02
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J02826