Adoption of the NTSC Standard in North America (1941–1953)

1. FCC creates NTSC to unify U.S. TV standards

   Jan 1, 1940Labels: Federal Communications, NTSC

   • NTSC
   • TV Tech

2. NTSC issues black-and-white technical recommendations

   Mar 1, 1941Labels: NTSC, 525-line system

   • NTSC
   • AES History

3. FCC approves NTSC standards for commercial TV

   Apr 30, 1941Labels: Federal Communications, NTSC

   • 1941 TV
   • CCIR M

4. Commercial broadcasting begins under 525-line system

   Jul 1, 1941Labels: 525-line system, Commercial broadcasting

   • CCIR M
   • 525 lines

5. World War II slows U.S. television expansion

   Dec 1, 1941Labels: World War, U S

   • NTSC
   • CCIR M

6. FCC halts new TV licenses in the “Freeze”

   Sep 30, 1948Labels: Federal Communications, License Freeze

   • TV Encyclopedia
   • UHF History

7. FCC adopts CBS field-sequential color standard

   Oct 11, 1950Labels: Federal Communications, CBS

   • NTSC
   • Field seq

8. CBS launches limited commercial color broadcasts

   Jun 25, 1951Labels: CBS, Color broadcasts

   • Premiere
   • Field seq

9. Korean War-related policy halts color set manufacturing

   Oct 20, 1951Labels: Korean War, Defense production

   • Premiere
   • Field seq

10. Sixth Report and Order ends the TV license freeze

    Apr 11, 1952Labels: Sixth Report, Federal Communications

    • TV Encyclopedia
    • UHF History

11. CBS withdraws its incompatible color system

    Mar 1, 1953Labels: CBS, Color standard

    • NTSC
    • Field seq

12. FCC approves compatible NTSC color standard

    Dec 17, 1953Labels: NTSC, Federal Communications

    • NTSC
    • TV Tech