This Day in History: First Televised Major League Baseball Game (Saturday, Aug 26th)

This Day in History:, First Televised Major League Baseball Game.

August 26, 1939.

Broadcast on station W2XBS, the first televised baseball game was played between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds.

The double-header broadcast was announced by Red Barber.

The teams split the wins, with the Reds winning 5-2 for the first and the Dodgers winning 6-1 second.

The broadcast was connected to the 1939 World's Fair, being held in New York.

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At this time, TV was so new there were only about 400 television sets in the area.

No regular programming existed yet.

Compared to MLB coverage today, the broadcast had only two cameras covering the field.

Regardless, the televised game was a success.

By 1946, television began to have regular programming.

In the 1950s, television became ubiquitous in America