Details for WBAP-TV - Channel 5, First Television Station in Texas

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5439005680

Data

Marker Number 5680
Atlas Number 5439005680
Marker Title WBAP-TV - Channel 5, First Television Station in Texas
Index Entry WBAP-TV - Channel 5
Address 3900 Barnett St.
City Fort Worth
County Tarrant
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 662293
UTM Northing 3624851
Subject Codes communications; military topics
Marker Year 1983
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location 3900 Barnett St., Fort Worth
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text Founded by Amon G. Carter, noted publisher of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram", the first progam--a public appearance, Sept. 27, 1948, by President Harry Truman--made Texas the sixteenth state in the nation to open a commercial station. Among other "Firsts" of WBAP-TV are the first live entertainment in Texas ("Flying X Ranchboys"), and first Texas colorcast via NBC-TV, 1954. Today Channel 5 serves aproximately 60 counties in Texas and Oklahoma. Since its birth, television has made many advances. In Washington, D.C., 1927, Herbert Hoover (at that time Secretary of Commerce) appeared on the first major telecast in the nation. In 1931, H. & W. Corset Company in New York conducted the first experimental use of closed-circuit television to display its models to a buyer and sold $5,000 worth of merchandise. Modern commercial telecasting did not begin, however, until 10 years later, when New York opened the first station in the country. After a slow start, major strides were made in 1947 and 1948. As of July 1, 1967, the U.S. had 628 commercial and 128 educational stations, with 224 under construction. Of these, Texas had 49 commercial and 5 educational.
ATLAS_NUM=5439005680

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