TV MAN: Hey, you there.
JOSH: Are you talking to me?
TV MAN: Yes, I'm talking to you.
JOSH: Agh.
TV MAN: I bet you love watching the TV - but have you ever wanted to know how it all started, and how it changed the world?
JOSH: Well, I mean, not really. I was kind of just trying to find something to watch.
TV MAN: Well, too bad. Come with me, because I'm about to take you on a wild ride through the past, present and future of TV.
JOSH: You're inside the screen. I don't think I can literally come with you.
TV MAN: Don't act like it's a stupid thing to say. There's a person in the TV talking to you.
JOSH: Yeah, fair enough.
TV MAN: Now. Let's begin.
JOSH LANGMAN, REPORTER: While many people (COUGH) …
While many people had a hand in the invention of TV, a guy named Philo Farnsworth is who most people credit for it. In 1927, he wowed the press with a demo of the first electronic television transmission.
MAN: The simple image, the straight line being hazily reproduced.
And while it might look like a few squiggly lines, at the time, this was huge.
Soon, TV stations began to pop up, like the BBC Television Service in the UK. Then, almost 30 years later, mainstream television arrived down under. Wait a second, 30 years? Took ya long enough.
MAN 2: Hello there, and good evening.
TV was a game-changer, and it grew fast. Soon enough, things became a little more colourful - and the way we saw the world changed, literally. TV meant we could actually see the world, and even beyond.
MIKE COLLINS: How is the quality of the TV?
MAN 3: Oh, it’s beautiful Mike, it really is.
Television became the way we remembered and interacted with historic events. It changed the way we related to politicians.
RONALD REAGAN: My fellow Americans.
And to the news. It influenced the way we dressed, the way we talked.
BART SIMPSON: Eat my shorts.
And influenced our attitudes towards race, religion, gender and class.
BIG BIRD: Luisa Maria, I’m going to have a baby!
It was also a powerful educational tool, helping kids around the world to learn about the world.
TANIA NUGENT: Welcome to this week’s BTN.
Of course, TV had its critics. In fact, it was sometimes called the "idiot box" because some thought it was making us less intelligent, shortening our attention spans, stopping us from reading books and going outside to play. TV was also criticised for exposing young people to violence, unrealistic beauty standards and of course - lots and lots of advertising.
Fast forward to 2023, and the way we get our entertainment and news fix has changed again. Now, broadcast TV is competing for eyeballs with streaming services and social media. And once again, these new mediums are changing the way we see the world and the way we interact with it.
So where does that leave the old TV? Well, some have predicted that pretty soon it'll go the way of the radio, or even disappear altogether. But that hasn't happened yet. In fact, last year, TV viewership in Australia rose for the first time in 5 years. And with streaming services becoming more expensive and less profitable, some reckon broadcast TV could make a comeback. But whatever happens, this box has cemented its place in human history.
TV MAN: And that is the history, and possible future of TV.
JOSH: Huh cool. Well, let's see what else is on.
TV MAN: Wait, what are you doing? No, no, don’t do that. Don’t do that -
