[Jeffhs]

I am amazed there was anything at all on television prior to World War II. I always thought that any TV broadcasting during this era would have been strictly experimental, not intended for viewing by the general public. Were there any real TV stations on the air before the war, or was it all just experimental closed-circuit programming sent to special receivers in laboratories? I think most of us were still listening to radio until after the war ended, when the first commercial TV stations came on the air. Cleveland's ABC affiliate on channel 5 was the city's first TV station, and it did in fact sign on for the first time in 1947. Channel 3 (NBC) and 8 (at the time CBS) signed on shortly after, in 1948 and 1949, respectively.