Facts about TV top 100,000,000. Interesting facts about television

Over the course of its entire history, television has accumulated a large number of interesting facts: the origin of the names “blue screen” and “soap opera”, advertising cost records and other funny events - we will tell you about the most striking of them in this article.

"Blue Screen" - an echo of the past

Presenters often pronounce such a phrase as “blue screen”, for example: “you can see phone numbers on your blue screens.” “Blue screen” is what the TV screen is called, but few people know why.

Old models of cathode ray televisions are history, and therefore few people remember that when they turned on, a blue color appeared on the screen. This was due to the fact that the signal from the TV tower did not arrive immediately, and during the period of no signal there was such a wonderful blue noise on the screen. This is where the popular name “blue screen” comes from.

Another interesting fact is that the blue screen was not only on color TVs, but also black and white, and on the latter it was more expressive.

Why soap operas?

TV series are often called “soap operas,” but few people know where this name came from. In the 30s of the last century, before the advent of television, audio works, the so-called serials, were broadcast on the radio.

Due to the fact that the series were broadcast on weekdays during the daytime, the main audience for these programs were women. The sponsors of the broadcast of such series on the radio were the manufacturers of household chemicals Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and others, hence the name “soap series”. The popularity of radio programs in this genre was overwhelming, so the press coined the term “soap opera.”

The first advertisement was shown on July 1, 1941 in the USA, and imagine, the video cost the customer only $9. Moreover, this amount also included the production of the video itself by the TV channel. The commercial lasted 10 seconds and advertised watches from the Bulova Watch Company. You can see these unique shots below.

It's not just Apple's popular gadgets

Director Ridley Scott (he directed the film “Gladiator”), commissioned by Apple, created an advertising video called “1984” and it lasted 90 seconds. The content of the advertisement was reminiscent of an exciting episode from a film. By the way, this video is considered the most popular in the history of the advertising business on TV. You can evaluate it yourself...

Snooker's second wind

With the advent of color television, the BBC chose snooker to demonstrate the beauty of color broadcasting.

In the middle of the 20th century, this type of billiards, snooker, began to lose its popularity. Television gave this game a second life, making the game very popular. The channel broadcast all snooker championships, because the green billiard table and multi-colored balls perfectly conveyed the beauty of broadcasting in color format.

TV viewing tax

The British pay tax to watch the BBC.

Since 2010, the UK has introduced a tax on the operation of the BBC television channel. The peculiarity of the channel is that it has become public and without advertising. The amount of this tax is about 146 pounds per year. Moreover, sellers must enter all TV buyers and their addresses into the BBC database, so that the broadcaster can track those who do not pay this tax.

First trial over television

Two people are suing over a cockroach being shown on TV.

This curious incident occurred at the beginning of the television era. One company showed a cockroach in close-up in its advertising video, as a result of which two US residents, out of fear, broke the screens of their television receivers in order to “kill” the insect. After this, these persons filed a lawsuit against the owners of the video to compensate them for the cost of losses.

New Year's greetings without the president

This funny incident happened on New Year's Eve 1992. At this time, the USSR ceased to exist, so Mikhail Gorbachev actually no longer had the right to congratulate, and Russian President Yeltsin was unable to do this. Therefore, the residents of the CIS countries were congratulated on the New Year 1992 by the humorist Mikhail Zadornov, who was the host of the New Year’s program “Blue Light”.

Along with this, another rather funny fact happened: the comedian was so carried away by his performance that he delayed the chiming clock for one minute.

CNN - 7/24

The first news channel to broadcast around the clock was CNN (Cable News Network).

The start of broadcasting of one of the most famous channels in the world was given on June 1, 1980. The channel was broadcast only on cable networks and was broadcast around the clock from the first day. CNN pioneered broadcasting news events not in prime time, but live and in real time.

The Japanese are real TV fans

The Japanese love watching TV the most in the world. On average, every Japanese person watches TV about 9 hours a day.

The first title of the series "Friends"

One of the most beloved and popular TV series in the world, Friends, was originally supposed to be called Sleepless Cafe. But at the initial stage, the creators changed their minds and decided to change the name to a simpler and more interesting one - “Friends”.

Longer than "Santa Barbara"

Everyone thinks that the longest series is “Santa Barbara,” but this is far from true. The longest running series is Guiding Light. If “Santa Barbara” had 2,137 episodes, then “Guiding Light” had as many as 15,762 episodes. This series was shown on screens from 1952 to 2009, and was watched by several generations of the family.

Shooting cops

One of America's favorite genres is police series. According to statistics, an ordinary American cop uses his weapon once every 25 years, and fires 1-2 shots at the same time. According to researchers, in the TV series, police use weapons every 2-3 days, firing at least 10 shots.

A funny incident happened in 1962 on Swedish television. The expert, responding to complaints from viewers that color television is still inaccessible, said that everyone can organize viewing of programs in color, and right now. To do this, you just need to pull a nylon stocking over your head. After which I gladly did it myself.

It is not the Americans, but the Japanese who are considered the most fanatical TV fans. They spend about 9 hours watching every day.

In the 80s, Finnish television was forced to officially stop broadcasting our cult animated film “Well, wait a minute!” The cartoon was accused of excessive cruelty, and the main villain was called not the wolf, but the hare: they say, it is because of him that the poor wolf constantly finds himself in unpleasant situations. They are somehow strange, these Finns...

The first televisions in the USSR were not industrial, but homemade. When the equipment was not yet officially on sale, local “lefties” began to assemble it themselves. But the number of hand-made ones was negligible: in Moscow it amounted to no more than 30 units.

On the last day of 1986, a terrible embarrassment occurred on the German channel. Instead of the New Year's address of the then Chancellor Helmut Kohl, his old wishes - last year's - were put in place.

The host of the “Film Travelers Club” Yuri Senkevich was awarded a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the permanent presenter of the longest-running program on television.

The first recorded broadcasts appeared on television only in the 1970s - before that time, recording technologies were imperfect. So the announcers and presenters had to take the rap exclusively “live”, blushing at their own mistakes and slips.

According to the program for the development of Soviet television, approved in 1984 until the end of the 20th century, by 2000 the list of all-Union broadcasting programs should have included as many as four channels! It was assumed that one of them would work around the clock.

In the history of Soviet and Russian television, there has been a single case when it was not a politician who addressed the people with a New Year’s address. In 1991, Yeltsin was not yet officially the president of Russia, and Gorbachev was no longer the president of the USSR, and the Union itself no longer existed either. The honorary mission to congratulate the people on the holiday was entrusted to Mikhail Zadornov. The satirist performed live and became so enraged that he did not meet the allotted time. The newly minted Russians raised their glasses and listened to the chimes a minute later than planned.

TV ( televisorium translated as “to see far”) is an electronic device that receives and transmits image and sound via wireless channels or cable. And the most important thing is that people love TV so much that they simply cannot imagine their life without it.

To be honest, it’s hard to imagine that nowadays someone doesn’t have a TV at home. It happens that it may not be just one TV in a house or apartment. And it doesn’t matter at all what model the TV is: either it’s a huge plasma that covers the entire wall, or it’s small and black and white.

Yes, what can I say, a typical evening for many, even working people, is the same: they come home from work, have dinner, turn on the TV and watch their favorite films or TV series. And if there is also a TV in the kitchen, then in general you can do two things at once - watch TV while eating dinner. Perhaps it’s just a habit that people have developed. Who knows? But you know, many people sometimes lack some thrill in life or adrenaline, so they watch a horror film or thriller. In this way, they compensate for the lack of spice in everyday life, and without leaving home) As they say, they tickle their nerves :)

And today we will tell you about interesting facts related to TV:

1. In Sweden in 1962 there was only one channel, which was black and white. And one technical expert of the channel (apparently with a good sense of humor :)) reported on television live that a new technology for switching to color mode had appeared - for this you need to put a nylon stocking on your head, which, in fact, he did personally.
2. In the old era, when there was only black and white television, the cameras had red filters that turned the image green, so instead of red lipstick, actresses and announcers had their lips painted green.
3. The origin of the phrase “soap opera” appeared in 1930, when on American radio there were serial serials with tearful plots, which were mainly listened to by housewives, and their sponsors were manufacturers of soap and detergents, here’s a clue to where this phrase came from.
4. Until the 1970s, all programs and broadcasts were broadcast live, because at that time there was no such video recording technology as there is now. Poor presenters and announcers - after all, if they made a mistake, then the whole country saw it.
5. In Finland in 1980 it was banned from showing the Soviet cartoon “Well, wait a minute!” that we all loved. This was motivated by the fact that this cartoon is excessively cruel, since the main character is the Hare, a real sadist who constantly created painful situations for the Wolf. Just like that, here's the turn
6. In Germany, on New Year's Eve on December 31, 1986, the German television channel ARD mistakenly showed last year's New Year's address from Chancellor Helmut Kohl. I can imagine how much such a mistake would cost any channel nowadays)
7. A well-known person, Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich, is included in the Guinness Book of Records for being the host of the longest-living program “Film Travel Club”.
8. An American teenager in modern times spends 12 thousand hours studying at school, and 14 thousand hours watching TV. Now it’s clear why there are so many bad students))
9. The average Japanese sits in front of the TV 9 hours a day - this is necessary and apparently the tailbone does not hurt)
10. Watching color TV is less harmful than black and white: bright colors stimulate the color-perceiving apparatus of the eye, relieving some of the load from the accommodative muscles.
11. At the end of 1991, there was complete confusion with the New Year's address to the people. Gorbachev was formally the president of the USSR, but he no longer decided anything, and Yeltsin was also unable to congratulate him for unknown reasons. The honorary role was offered to Mikhail Zadornov, who was the presenter of “Blue Light”. The satirist spoke live and got so carried away that he spoke a minute longer. For his sake, the chimes were delayed. And this happens)

The fact that in our time television has become an integral source of information for any age group of people is of course good, but it is still better not to abuse the large amount of time we spend in front of the TV, because it does not have a very good effect on the psyche and health. Don't forget to take a break from the blue screens from time to time and take a walk in the fresh air

Television plays an important role in the life of a modern person. For the last century, it has been providing people with news, entertaining them, making them laugh, cry, or even scare them. This began with the early days of black and white televisions and continues through to today's colorful flat screens. In this review, we will talk about little-known, incredible and simply fun facts related to television.

1. The power of persuasion

In 1969, the United States wanted to cut the public broadcasting budget. Rogers, who was relatively unknown at the time, went to Washington to convince Congress. As a result, the estimated budget of $9 million was increased to $22 million.

2. Chanel didn't skimp

3. Black and white or color?

It is known that most people dream in color. However, people who grew up in the era of black and white television tend to dream in black and white.

4. Ban on viewing

Philo Taylor Farnsworth is considered the inventor of modern television. Interestingly, he did not allow his children to watch TV.

5. "The house is closed for renovations"

In the USA, the reality show “House Closed for Renovation” was extremely popular for 9 years (2003-2012). Few people know that it has driven many families into bankruptcy and foreclosure on their properties.

6. TV tax

In the UK, people who own a television must pay a TV tax of $230 to support the BBC.

7. The Tireless Dave Thomas

The founder of the American fast food chain Wendy's, Dave Thomas, has starred in more than 800 commercials for his company. No one in history has made more commercials.

8. Hijacking a TV station

In 1987, a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Doctor Who. He appeared on screens across the country wearing a mask and spouting some nonsense for some time. As a result of this stranger
never caught.

9. "TV Ghost"

In the 1930s, the television series "Television Ghost" was shown on screens. In it, an actor disguised as a dead man talked about how he was killed.

10. Product placement is illegal

Product placement is illegal in Norway. This is implicit advertising in which characters in films and TV shows use products that have real commercial analogues.

11. "CSI Effect"

Thanks to television series about police work, criminals have become better at covering up the tracks of their crimes. This was called the "CSI Effect".

12. The first pianist on TV

American pianist Earl Wilde was the first person to play the piano on television. 60 years later, he became the first person to stream video games online.

13. 15 years of life on TV

On average, each person in the United States spends 15 years of their life watching television. 70% of Russians watch TV daily.

14. Longest animated series

The Simpsons is the longest running animated series in American television history. The second longest running animated series is Hey Arnold!

15. The most popular series in the world

The British TV show Top Gear is the most popular series in the world.

16. Suicide Live

In 1974, broadcaster Christine Chubbuck announced during a television broadcast that "in keeping with Channel 40's policy of as much blood and guts as possible on air, viewers will be shown a suicide attempt for the first time." She then pulled out a gun and killed herself by shooting herself in the head.

17. "Deadly Rooms"

"Deadly Rooms" is a documentary series released in 1995 that showed Chinese orphanages. Children there repeatedly died of hunger.

18. TV - The Great Manipulator

Wayfarer sunglasses almost became a relic in the 1980s. However, Ray-Ban signed a product placement deal that saw the glasses featured in nearly 60 television shows and films, dramatically increasing their popularity.

19. 5 hours daily

Today people watch much less television due to the rapid development of the Internet. However, the average American still spends 5 hours every day watching TV.

20. First interracial kiss

The first interracial kiss on American television was aired during an episode of Star Trek. Interestingly, the scene was filmed with and without a kiss, but the actors (Shatner and Nichols) deliberately ruined every shot taken without a kiss.

21. TV broadcast cost $100 million

After President Kennedy died in 1963, television networks broadcast only the scene of his funeral non-stop for 4 days. This cost $100 million in lost advertising revenue.

22. TV on mobile devices

Progress does not stand still. 25% of people watch TV shows on mobile devices.

23. 17 days of advertising life

There is hardly a single person who likes annoying advertising. In the United States, people spend about 17 days of their lives watching commercials.

24. John Munch

John Munch (played by Richard Belzer) is the only fictional character played by the same actor to be featured in 10 different television series. These include Law & Order and The X-Files.

25. Comedy series "Seinfeld"

Seinfeld is an American comedy series that aired for 11 years (1989 - 1988). Every episode has a hidden Superman.