U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 13

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 13: FIRST HOME TV "SETS"

Profile America — Sunday, January 13th.  Couch potatoes can trace their roots to this date in 1928, when three experimental television sets were installed in private homes in Schenectady, New York.  Not that there was much to see, the test broadcast by General Electric and RCA being of a woman smoking, followed by a man playing a ukulele.  The first home receivers — screens were only 1½ inches square; a far cry from today's theater-sized flat screens.  And in another departure from 1928, the percentage of U.S. households with TV sets now has held steady for many years at over 98 percent.  Even with heavy foreign competition, U.S. manufacturers ship close to $1.2 billion worth of TV sets annually.  Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  www.cbs6albany.com/station/history
U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB08-FFSE.03
2007 Economic Census, NAICS 334310, Table 1

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

RELATED LINKS
http://www.census.gov