1950
NBC
launches Today show and The Adventures of Superman (faster than
a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings etc)
Phonevision,
first pay-per-view service
James
Stewart gains landmark profit share ('the percentage deal') in Winchester
73
AC
Nielsen's Audimeters start to track TV viewing
first
credit card - Diners Club
first
Bertelsmann book club formed
'Hollywood
Ten' convicted of contempt of Congress
ABPC
sells Welwyn studios
'Eady
Levy' taxes cinema tickets in UK to support British Film Production
Fund
1951
Columbia
Pictures establishes Screen Gems television program subsidiary
1.5
million television sets in US
US
television advertising revenue exceeds radio ad revenue
Cahiers
du cinema founded in France by Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
launch
of commercial radio in Japan
Viewing
of Cinerama
Hammer
establishes permanent studio at Bray
Wang
Laboratories founded
still
cameras get built-in flash units
CBS
buys rights to Desilu's I Love Lucy
Granada
buys Variety Theatres Company
Warner
sells cinema chain
Warner
signs landmark finance-distribution deal with Fidelity Pictures
Johan
Jacobsen founds Flamingo Film in Denmark
1952
Bing
Crosby's company tests video recording
Nixdorf
Computer founded
Sony
produces first transistor radios
Univac
projects the winner of the presidential election on CBS
Universal
International sold to Decca Records
Walt
Disney forms Walt Disney Inc. and WED Enterprises for a 'family
park' to be called Disneyland
US
Supreme Court reverses 1915 decision in overturning NY court's ban
on screening of The Miracle, ruling that motion pictures are protected
by First Amendment
1953
Nordwestdeutsche
Rundfunk inaugurates commercial TV in West Germany
Fairfax
obtains Associated Newspapers
Monogram
changes name to Allied Artists (merging with subsidiary)
Warner
releases contract employees
Disney
establishes Buena Vista Distribution Company as group's film distributor
US
Screen Writers Guild allows producers to delete credits for any
screenwriter with Communist ties
1954
Village
theatres (later Village Roadshow Group) founded
Sumner
Redstone gains control of National Amusements Inc (NAI)
first
Disneyland TV show debuts on ABC network
Television
Act establishes UK Independent Television Authority (ITA)
USSR
launches Sputnik
regular
color TV broadcasts begin in the US
ITC
television production company founded by Lew Grade
Disney
and ABC network sign agreement about building of Disneyland. ABC
invests $500,000 cash, guarantees all WED bank loans and gets 35%
ownership of Disneyland (with all profits from park's food concessions
for 10 years)
US
Supreme Court upholds lower court decision allowing Republic Pictures
to sell Gene Autry and Roy Rogers films to TV without their permission
1955
NBC
president David Sarnoff says "Television will never be a medium
of entertainment"
Warner
Brothers Presents launched on ABC network
EMI
buys Capitol Records in US
Rank
merges Odeon and Gaumont cinema chains
music
recorded on tape in stereo
US
record sales reach $277 million
US
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences excludes anyone on
Hollywood blacklist from consideration for Oscars
Disneyland
opens in Anaheim, with 1 million visitors within 6 months
launch
of Mickey Mouse Club, Disney's second TV show
RKO
sells pre-1948 film library to General Teleradio
1956
television
broadcasting in Australia
Granada
TV starts broadcasting in UK
first
transatlantic telephone cable
MGM
leases The Wizard of Oz to CBS, first screening of feature during
prime time
US
Supreme Court rejects argument that blacklisting violates employee
rights
television
in 71% of US households
first
hard disk drive at IBM
Warner
agrees to produce 'telefilms' for ABC network
1957
Treaty
of Rome establishes European Economic Community
first
Japanese car sold in US
talent
agency MCA buys Paramount's pre-1948 film library for $50 million
Disney
introduces Zorro tv series
Island
in the Sun features first US film kiss between white and black actors
1958
MCA
buys Universal's 750 acre back lot for $11 million
Film
Industry Defence Organization (FIDO) established in UK to oppose
sale of films to broadcasters
Warner
Bros records formed
color
videotape recording
laser
invented at Bell Labs
Bank of America launches first US credit card
AT&T
markets first modems
1,244
cinemas in Austria (one per every 5,600 people)
1959
local
ads go on cable TV in the US
Xerox's
first automatic paper copier
Tisch
brothers buy Loews cinema chain from MGM
US
record sales reach $600 million
Kirch
establishes Beta Film as German distributor for US feature films
Ealing
studios sold to BBC
De
Gaulle establishes Ministry of Culture, subsidises production through
Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC)
<-
1940's + 1960's ->
