This is a list of when the first publicly announced television broadcasts occurred in the mentioned countries. Non-public field tests and closed circuit demonstrations are not included.
This list should not be interpreted to mean the whole of a country had television service by the specified date. For example, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the former Soviet Union all had operational television stations and a limited number of viewers by 1939. Very few cities in each country had television service. Television broadcasts were not yet available in most places.
History
1920s and 1930s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1924 (pre-experimental on television) 1928 (mechanical television, – W2XCW) 1929 (mechanical) Germany (mechanical)Museum of Broadcast Communications: Germany (mechanical, after hours on two existing Melbourne radio stations - 3UZ and 3DB)Peter Luck, 50 Years of Australian Television p.15 (mechanical, in Scheveningen) 1930 (pre-experimental in Moscow wired in 1929) 1931 France (mechanical) (mechanical, – VE9EC) (mechanical, – МТЦ) (mechanical, cancelled because of the revolution) 1932 (mechanical)See Televisión mecánica en Argentina en 1932. Las experiencias de Ignacio M. Gómez por LR4 Radio Splendid de Buenos Aires 1934 (electronic television, Brisbane) 1935 France (electronic – PTT Radio Vision) (intermediate film; semi-electronic) (electronic, in Eindhoven by Philips) 1936 (electronic – BBC Television Service) (electronic television - Deutscher Fernseh Rundfunk)The Birth of Live Entertainment and Music on Television, November 6, 19361937 RCA Publicity Photographs. "Eighty-seven video programs were telecast by NBC last year," "Where Is Television Now? ", Popular Mechanics, August 1938, p. 178. Regularly scheduled electronic broadcasts began in April 1938 in New York (to the second week of June, and resuming in August) and Los Angeles. "Telecasts Here and Abroad," The New York Times, April 24, 1938, Drama-Screen-Radio section, p. 10; "Early Birds," Time, June 13, 1938; "Telecasts to Be Resumed," The New York Times, Aug. 21, 1938, Drama-Screen-Radio section, p. 10; Robert L. Pickering, "Eight Years of Television in California," California – Magazine of the Pacific, June 1939. Also note that many rural areas of the Southern United States didn't receive television until the late 1950s and early 1960s. 1937 (electronic) Poland (mechanical; Doświadczalna Stacja Telewizyjna)The Warsaw Voice: What's On? and (in Polish). 1938 (electronic, CT USSR) (electronic) 1939 (electronic; non-commercial until 1941 - NBC) (electronic, J2PQ)See The Evolution of TV: A Brief History of TV Technology in Japan: “Can you see me clearly?” ; Public TV Image Experiments . Italy (electronic, EIAR Trasmissioni Sperimentali Radiovisione)See Early Television in Italy Poland (electronic)
1940s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1943 Occupied France (Fernsehsender Paris) (electronic)1943. Mario Giampietro. La primera emisión electrónica de TV en Uruguay y América Latina 1944 France (RDF Télévision française) 1946 Czechoslovakia (pre-experimental) (XE1GC)
Philippines (BEC) 1948 (Rede Tupi) Czechoslovakia Netherlands (Philips Experimentele Televisie, experimental/terrestrial) 1949
1950s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1950 (official, XHTV-TV) (Rede Tupi, now defunct) (CMQ-TV) , Lower Saxony, , , West Berlin (NWDR) (returned, electronic, NHK) 1951 (LR3 TV) (DR)See DRs historie 1950-1959. (NTS)
(regular) 1952 (CBFT and CBLT) (La Voz Dominicana) (DFF)
, , , , West Berlin (NWDR-Fernsehen) Poland (TV Polska) (İTÜ TV, now defunct)
(KONA) (YVKA-TV, now defunct) (trials) 1953 (INR Télé Expérimentale Belge and NIR Belgische Televisie) (returned, NHK) Mongolia (DZAQ-TV)
(Telesaar) (SRG)
(KATV)
(sporadically until 1959) Czechoslovakia
(relays) (HVJ) 1954 (HJRN-TV) (ČST) (Programma Nazionale) (TMC)
(LTV)
(WKAQ-TV)
French Morocco (TELMA, went defunct shortly after) Bulgaria (MEI)
(NRK)
Lajes Field (CSL-TV) 1955 (ORF Fernsehen) (TGW-TV, now defunct) (Télé-Luxembourg) (official, HSI-TV)
(TTV)
(BBC) Kindley Air Force Base (ZBK-TV) (test programming, TV-kerho) (AFRTS Keflavik) Saudi Arabia Dhahran Airfield (experimental and regular programming, AJL-TV, now defunct) Romania (experimental) 1956 (YSEB-TV) (TES-TV, now defunct)
Algerian Departments (RTF Television Algiers) Iraq (BTV, now defunct and replaced by Al-Iraqiya TV) (TCN-9) (YNSA-TV) Romania (TVR) (HLKZ-TV) (Belarus 1) (MTRK) (1TV) Spain (TVE) (Radiotjänst TV)
(KUAM-TV) (CFN) (SAETA) (RTV Zagreb) (RTP) 1957 (UCV Televisión) (MTV, now defunct) (RTP)
Cyprus (RIK) Hong Kong (Rediffusion Television) Malta (LRT televizija) 1958 (Peking Television) (TVI) (OAD-TV) (Qazaqstan) (Moldova 1)
(ZBM-TV) 1959 Bulgaria (Bulgarian Television) (Canal 2 UC) (HCJB-TV, now defunct) (4VMR-TV) (HRTG-TV) (AIR-TV) (CLT) Nigeria (WNTV) (UTRK) (TVT) (Altyn Asyr)
Ryukyu Islands (KSDW-TV) (pre-experimental)
1960s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1960 Albania (RTSH) (Teletica)
Netherlands Antilles (PJC-TV) (NZBC TV) (NRK) (RPC)
(RTV) (Egyptian Television Network and Channel 1 (Syria)) (PPC) 1961 (NEC and TVRK) (Telefís Éireann) (Kuwait Television)
(RTV)
(WBNB-TV, now defunct) 1962 Congo-Brazzaville (RTC) (ETV) (Jajasan TVRI) (Sudan Television Service) (TTV) (TTT)
(First channel of its own, GBC) Kenya (Television Kenya) Malta (First channel of its own, MTV) 1963 (VoltaVision) (RTG) (RTI) (JBC, now defunct) (Televisyen Malaysia) (CTBS-DPRK) (SLTV) (TV Singapura Channel 5) (UTV) 1964 (ETV) (Aden TV) Overseas France Guadeloupe () Martinique () Réunion (ORTF La Réunion) (LBC) (Télévision Scolaire du Niger) (PTV and Pilot Television Dhaka) (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation)
(CBC-TV) Mauritius (MBC 1)
(KVZK-TV) 1965 Overseas France: French Polynesia (ORTF Télé Tahiti) New Caledonia () (GTV) (AIR-TV)
Suriname (STVS) (TV Cerro Cora) (Al Saudiya) (RTS)
(ZAL-TV) ( (On-island signal tower, Border Television) (RTT) 1966 Congo-Kinshasa (RTNC) Greece (EIR) (Sjónvarpið) (IETV, went defunct and replaced by Kan Educational) (RTT) (THVN) North Yemen (SABS-TV) (SYBS-TV) (ZNBC) 1967 French Somaliland (RTD) French Guiana (ORTF Guyane) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (ORTF Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) (RTM)
(SLTV) 1968 (TVE Guinea Ecuatorial) (JTV) (Libyan Television Service) (TRT 1) 1969 (Televisión Boliviana)
(Abu Dhabi TV)
(Saipan, WSZE-TV, now defunct)
1970s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1970 (QTV) (Independent Television System) 1972 (ZIZ) 1973 ( McMurdo Station (AFAN-TV)) (Bahrain TV) territories: (ZBTV) Hong Kong (free-to-air broadcasting service, RTV) (RTNM) 1974 (RTC) (Grenada Television) (Oman TV) ( (TVZ)) ( ()) 1975 (RTB) (RTNB)
(Cable & Wireless Dominica) (foreign-owned launching) (SABC TV, test transmissions) (experimental and regular programming, RPA) 1976 Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (BRT 1)
Palau (WALU-TV, now defunct) (SABC TV) (experimental) 1977 (ZNS-TV) (RTG) 1978 Afghanistan (Afghanistan National Television) (ORTB) East Timor (TVRI Dili) (Swazi TV) (TV Maldives) 1979 (returned, TVGE)
( (WAAB-TV)) (MBC) (ITN Sri Lanka) Burma (test programming)
1980s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1980 Burma (BBS, regular programming) (SVG-TV) (Vieira Communications Television) (experimental) 1981 (Channel 7) Mozambique (TEM)
South West Africa (SWABC) 1982 territories: (KNR) (TV de Mauritanie) (Rupavahini, national) (Televisão Experimental RDSTP, experimental) 1983 (Bop TV) Kampuchea (re-established, TVK) (LNTV) Mali (ORTM) (RTS) (Telefishanka J. D. Soomaaliya) (First channel of its own, Centro Televisivo Vaticano) (HTS, local) (VAP-TV18, now defunct) (pre-experimental) 1984 (TEVEC)
(SvF)
(First channel of its own, TV Åland)http://www.radiotv.ax/om-alands-radio (Swedish)
Svalbard (NRK)
Macau (TDM)
(taped service) 1985 (CTV) (NTV) (relays from mainland Australia)TV comes to Norfolk Islands, Pacific Islands Communication Journal, December 1984 1986 Mayotte (RFO Mayotte) Wallis and Futuna (RFO Wallis-et-Futuna)
(Bliss Cablevision) (TBN Ciskei) 1987 (Télé Tchad) (EM TV, Niugini Television Network) 1988 (Lesotho Television), (GBC TV, in Gaborone), 1989
(Cook Islands Television) (TEGB)
1990s Year Countries and territories Regular Pre-regular 1991 (NTV)
(First channel of its own, SSVC TV Cyprus) (Cayman 27, now defunct) (FITV) (FijiTV) 1992 (RTV Krajina Banja Luka) (TVS) (TTV) (Ir) (PMR TV) (TVR) (SBC Television 1) (TBV) 1993 (Eri-TV) (Al-Salam TV and PBC) (First channel of its own, San Marino RTV) (Post-independence, STVR) (TBV) 1994 (mainland, Coastal Television Network) 1995 (First channel of its own, ATV) (FijiTV) (Gambia Radio & Television Service)
(Sure South Atlantic Ltd) (WIV Channel 4) 1997 (Somaliland Space Channel)
(Peoples Television) 1999 (BBS) (TVM) (limited service)
2000s and 2010s Year Countries and territories 2000 (BTV, national) (TV Tonga, national) 2001 (foreign channels, no local service)
(BFBS, live service) 2002 (TV Kiribati, native, but suspended from 2013 to 2018) 2006 (ORTC) Gaza Strip (Al-Aqsa TV) (OTV, returned)
2008 (First channel of its own, 1FLTV) 2009 (RASD TV) 2010 (TV-CARIB) (South Sudan Television) 2011 (First channel of its own, TVNI) 2014 (Novorossiya TV) (Luhansk 24) 2018 (Kiri 1 TV, returned) 2019 (returned, Tuvalu.TV)
See also History of television List of years in television Geographical usage of television Prewar television stations Timeline of the introduction of color television in countries and territories Timeline of the introduction of radio in countries
Notes
References