The History of the Television. The first mechanical television systems were developed by John Logie Baird in England and by Charles Jenkins in the U.S.

These sets used a motor to rotate a metal disk to produce the picture, rather than a picture tube. A neon tube behind the disk provided the light. By 1930, television was being broadcast from over a dozen stations in the U.S., not only from the major cities such as New York and Boston, but also from Iowa and Kansas. Several manufacturers were selling sets and kits.

The frequencies used for TV broadcasting at that time could travel long distances, so reception was possible hundreds of miles from the station. However, the pictures suffered from not only poor resolution, but also fading and ghosting.

In Columbus, Ohio, Murray Mercier, now 89 years old, was one of the first people to watch television. In England, regularly scheduled 30 line television programming was first broadcast by the BBC in September of 1929.

At first, only the picture was transmitted for a few hours a week, after regular radio broadcasting was completed for the day. By March of 1930, sound and pictures were transmitted together. Because of the poor picture quality, mechanical television was not a success.