Television alternate history--is this ASB?

Is there a non-ASB POD that can occur early enough so that television is at a mid-1950's level of technology and home availability by September 1st, 1939?
 
Well, it was available, more or less. The predecessor of WNBC came on the air in April 1939, using more or less the same technical standards as after the war.

http://onetuberadio.com/2014/04/27/1939-television-here-at-last-and-here-to-stay/

There were few receivers in existence, but if anyone in New York wanted to spend $200+, they could watch.

I believe the BBC had a TV signal on the air at that time, similar to postwar format, but they pulled the plug for the duration.
 
Germany had also very advance Television hardware in that Time
Manfred von Ardenne presented in august 1931 at Berlin, the frist full electronic broadcasting system including camera system transmitter and receiver TV.
at first Picture were with 180-line, from 1937 on with a 441-line, 50 interlaced frames per second, compare to BBC system with 405-line in 1936.
in 1934 start the first public television station in the world Fernsehsender „Paul Nipkow“ with it first broadcast of regular TV program until 1944.
in 1939 the German TV receiver "Einheits-Fernseh-Empfänger E1" start mass production (10,000 units), but the start of WW2 ended the production after 50 units
 
In order to push 1950's TV landscape 20 years back to the 1930's, you need two things to happen:
First there is the technological aspect. Pre-wwII tv sets used a device called a Nipkow disk. Basically this was a spinning disk with holes in that when coupled to a stroboscope at the rear would illuminate a square lune by line and pixel by pixel. This thing was huge and unwieldy. However one of the byproducts of the development of radar in WWII was the cathode ray tube that and the associated electronics that would eventually evolve from an oscilloscope into a TV screen. There was a likewise progress on going on with the tv cameras also. So in short: It took brain effort put into electronics research in WWII to take the TV from experimental technology to practical. Without that, we need another reason to push research in the pre-war years to such a level that practical CRT monitors are available for use in TV's by the mid 1930's. If a company or government would push the development of ship's radar the TV might well come as a byproduct but we're talking about a Rand Corporation style think tank here and other then Edison Corp, Siemens or Howard Hughes, I don't really see anyone with both the resources or the stamina.

Second, and most importantly we need something viable to broadcast. 1950's TV was mainly driven by the 1950's TV shows and the US networks got that one thing right before everyone else. Most non-US state networks just broadcast TV as radio programs with images. So even with action-packed programming such as live sports there really wasn't that much difference between radio and TV, mostly really not enough for a person to invest in a still expensive piece of new technology. I remember being told that the one event that pushed TV into mainstream acceptance in Germany were the 1972 Olympics, being broadcasted live. Beforehand you might find a TV as an expensive plaything in the more affluent households, but for the rest, people relied on radio for their live coverage of events and on the movie theatre for their entertainment. So to push TV to the 1930's you not only need the technology buy also a visionary that understands that the new technology needs a new form of entertainment. Otherwise, the only viable use of television I can think of is for the Nazis to broadcast their goosestep marching parades and for the Soviet Union to blast their propaganda live to every community neighborhood center.

So technology and applications, you need both.
 
Second, and most importantly we need something viable to broadcast.

Fernsehsender „Paul Nipkow“ was pioneer in that !
Not only were there the first public television station in the world
They broadcast a wide spectrum of programs, they even produce own Tv-plays and first TV series !
Sadly there Programs were influence and dictated by Ministry of Propaganda, so it was quite bothersome with Nazis garbage

Here there program of friday 7 January 1938 (source german Wiki)
20.00 Vor der Haltestelle (short interview with people on street)
20.05 Ufa-Tonwoche (news)
20.18 Fünf Personen suchen Anschluss (Ufa-short Movie)
20.30 Das Patentkunstschloss (Tv-play or Short Movie ?)
20.47 Eulenspiegelei (comedy show by Theo Lingen)
21.05 Ufa-Tonwoche (news)
21.18 Fünf Personen suchen Anschluss (replay from 20.18)
21.30 Das Patentkunstschloss (replay from 20.30)
21.47 Eulenspiegelei (replay from 20.47)
22.00 closedown of today program

And Thanks to Modern invention of Youtube here some moving picture
WARNING: This program contains some Suggestive dialogue and NAZI Ideology, view with caution !
 
In order to push 1950's TV landscape 20 years back to the 1930's, you need two things to happen:
First there is the technological aspect. Pre-wwII tv sets used a device called a Nipkow disk. .

This was true in the 1920's and 1930's, and I believe there were still some mechanical TV signals on the air in the late 1930's. But the NBC station in New York was on the air in 1939 and all electronic. Receivers were available starting for about $200, and they definitely used CRT's. They were more or less the same as the modern standard, although 441 lines rather than 525.

CRT's were probably cheaper after the war, but they were definitely available and in use in 1939. There was TV broadcasting in New York throughout the war. There weren't many receivers at that point, but what we think of as "postwar" TV started in 1939.
 
Consider something: there were major league baseball games that could be covered by TV, except MBL prohibited network radio from having access. What happens if a competing league, in the Depression, hoping to add $$, gives NBC Red (or somebody) the right to broadcast? And then finds not only do they get $$ from network, they get more fans in seats... (They would, BTW, as the broadcasting widens the audience.) Not to mention other sports. Like, frex, the May Classic from Indy... Or midget car racing. Or "Hockey Night in America"... (I figger CBC-TV'd do that first, tho.:p)
 
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