The Development and History of Color Television   (Part 2)
Examining the various proposed color systems, the FCC determined that the shortcomings of the compatible systems were fundamental and noted that if a viable alternative compatible system could not be developed, and the field-sequential color system was eventually adopted, the costs of modifying an even greater number of monochrome receivers would be prohibitive, denying the public of color service altogether. The commission therefore felt that it was unwise to delay the decision and on 10 October 1950, decided that the adoption of the color field-sequential system proposed by CBS was in the public interest. RCA appealed this decision, all the way to the Supreme Court, but the commission's actions were upheld. The CBS station in New York began regular color broadcasts on 25 June 1951. However, due to the military demands of the Korean War and the reallocation of resources towards the war effort, color receiver production could not be dramatically increased. On 19 October 1951, CBS discontinued color broadcasts due to the limited numbers of color receivers.

It was within this context that the NTSC, the entity which played a key role in setting monochrome standards in the United States, was reactivated to investigate the status of compatible color systems. On 21 July 1953, two years after their first meeting, the second NTSC approved a compatible all electronic color television dot sequential system (a modified version of RCA's system) and petitioned the FCC for adoption. On 17 December 1953 the FCC formally adopted a compatible color standard.

After the color standard was set in 1953, broadcasting stations were fairly quick to upgrade their transmission facilities to provide for color programming. Of the 158 stations operating in the top 40 cities, 106 had adopted color capabilities by 1957. Color programming offerings, however, remained fairly limited for quite some time. Although NBC increased its output of color programming to help its parent company, RCA, sell color receivers, the other major networks were not as supportive of this new innovation. As late as 1965, CBS provided only 800 hours of color programming the entire year and ABC only 600 hours. In addition to the limited programming, early sets were somewhat cumbersome to adjust for proper color reception, receiver prices remained fairly high, and manufacturers were reluctant to promote color receivers until the lucrative black and white market had been saturated. Consequently, consumers were fairly slow to adopt color technology. As of 1965, only 10% of U.S. homes had a color set. It was not until the late 1960s, over a decade after the standard was set, that color TV sales rose significantly. Today, approximately 95% of all US homes have color television.

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