Abstract:
Television came to North Carolina in 1949. In that year, two stations, WFMY-2 in Greensboro and WBTV-3 in Charlotte, began broadcasting. Early television sets were expensive, averaging $300 to $400 per set. Their size was small, too, and they usually had only an 8-foot x 10-foot screen. The television set became a status symbol. While traditional “rabbit ears†could pick up the television signal, many people chose to put up outdoor roof antennas, so their neighbors would know they had a television set. Television had a major impact on North Carolina in introducing a new form of mass media.