The Advent of Color Television
The RCA CT-100 brings the world into the living room in full color.
Explore this event on the interactive timeline →While experimental color broadcasts happened earlier, 1954 marked the release of the RCA CT-100, the first mass-produced consumer color television. It utilized an incredibly complex tri-color CRT tube, transforming visual media and consumer entertainment forever.
Verified Facts
- The CT-100 cost $1,000 in 1954—equivalent to about $11,000 today. It was an extreme luxury item.
- Early color broadcasts were so rare that local newspapers would specifically print which shows would be "in color" each week.
- It took over a decade (until the mid-1960s) for color TV sales to outpace black-and-white sets in the US.