The term television can be used to refer to several kinds of audiovisual communication systems. These include over-the-air broadcasting, cable or closed-circuit TV, and self-programmable video appliances such as video cassette recorders (VCRs) and various video disk systems. To the extent that personal computer use entails sitting in front of a video screen looking at images and listening to accompanying sound, the CD-ROM, the Digital Video Display (DVD), video games, and Internet browsing can all be considered forms of television viewing. An understanding of the birth and early development of television requires some knowledge of American radio broadcasting, the model on which television was built as a technology, an industry, and an art. Indeed television was introduced to the American public as radio with pictures by the three companies that dominated the radio business. A wireless telegraph was invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1896. Its primary purpose was to address the needs that…