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Live television refers to television broadcast in real time. Today it is used mostly for programs such as Today, CBS This Morning, and local television news. However, from the early days of television until about 1958, it was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Videotape did not exist until 1957.

In general live television was more common for broadcasting content produced specifically for television in the early years of the medium, before technologies such as videotape recording appeared. As video recording became more prevalent, many entertainment programs were recorded and edited before broadcasting rather than being shown live. Entertainment events such as professional sportsgames and awards programs continue to be generally broadcast live.

 

Memorable Events On Live Tv Channels

  • June 2, 1953 - the coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was the first to be televised live on British television.
  • November 24, 1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald (the alleged assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy) was shot in Dallas by nightclub ownerJack Ruby while being transferred to a county jail. Oswald was taken to Parkland Hospital, the same hospital in which President Kennedy and Governor Connally had been treated two days before, but died within approximately two hours after being shot.
  • November 25, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy's funeral was broadcast on live TV . It was seen by perhaps what was the largest viewing audience up to then. It was the first live TV coverage of a Presidential funeral. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas three days before, on November 22, 1963. The assassination initiated four days of non-stop live television news coverage seen by millions.
  • November 13, 1965 - Critic and author Kenneth Tynan became the first person to say the word "fuck" on British television while commenting on censorship during a live TV debate on the BBC. The incident helped to establish Mary Whitehouse as self-appointed guardian of television morality in the United Kingdom, and Tynan was fired.
  • December 24, 1968 - Apollo 8 Genesis reading during the 9th orbit of the moon.
  • July 20, 1969 - Apollo 11 the first moon landing by humans.
  • July 15, 1974 - Christine Chubbuck, a television news reporter for station WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida, committed suicide on live television by firing a revolver shot into her head.
  • January 28, 1986 - The Challenger explosion was seen on live TV by millions in the U.S.
  • November 9, 1989 - Live coverage of the abolishment of travel restrictions and the opening of the border to West Berlin after mass panic and jubilation from East Germans.
  • June 17, 1994 - The slow-speed chase of a vehicle containing American football star and murder suspect O. J. Simpson was broadcast live throughout the U.S., with NBC interrupting its coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals to do so.
  • April 30, 1998 - Daniel V. Jones, a cancer and HIV-positive patient apparently frustrated with his HMO coverage, ended a live televised stand-off with police on a Los Angeles freeway by committing suicide, shooting himself in the chin with a shotgun. The event, which took place on a Thursday afternoon, was witnessed by many children whose after-school cartoons had been interrupted in order to broadcast the incident (which originally began as a high-speed pursuit), and led many to criticize Los Angeles television stations' practice of airing police pursuits live.
  • September 11, 2001 - At 09:03am Eastern Daylight Time, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, in front of millions of viewers who were already watching live coverage of the unfolding terrorist attacks of that day. Major networks had broken into regular programming just minutes earlier with live shots of the twin towers after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower at 08:46am. Millions of viewers around the world watching live coverage of the attacks saw both buildings collapse.
  • March 23, 2003 - Sky News broadcast live coverage of US forces attacking an Iraqi position. Sky reporter David Bowden, embedded with the US Marines, gave a live running commentary on the battle, something viewers had not seen before.
  • July 7, 2005 - A live television report on the unfolding situation on the 7 July 2005 London bombings captured the sound of the Tavistock Square bus explosion at 09:46 British Summer Time.
  • September 21, 2005 - JetBlue Airways Flight 292 made an emergency landing in Los Angeles. The passengers were able to watch the incident unfold on live television.
  • August 16, 2008 - Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili chewed a tie during the news headlines on the BBC.
  • April 30, 2009 - During live coverage of a parade on the Dutch holiday Koninginnedag in the city of Apeldoorn, Netherlands an attack took place on the Dutch Royal Family after Karst R. Tates drove a car into a crowd of people before crashing into a monument. Although the royal family themselves were unharmed the incident resulted in a total of 8 fatalities leaving many others injured.