1940s–1960s American Television’s Impact on the Film Industry
1940s–1960s
American Television’s Impact on the
Film Industry
Introduction
Television in American households between the 1940s and 1960s emerged as a competitor for the film industry, causing the film industry to become more innovative and advance more creatively across different forms of media. The arrival of American television helped set the stage for innovations in camera work, storytelling, mass-media, and celebrity influence.
The Rise of At-Home Television
The rise of at-home American television sets between the 40s to 60s to show the hours watched per day and the rising numbers of TV households across the country that would contribute to a greater change in audience.
“the number of TVs in the United States grew steadily from 6,000 sets in 1946 to 12 million televisions in 1951. By 1955, half of American households had a television.” (Human Progress Team. 2017)
Figure 1: Americans' homes with TV going from 9.0% in 1950 to 91.3% in 1963.
Note. From Media Coverage of Occupy: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement, by Lisa Wade, The Society Pages
(https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/11/21/mediacoverageofthecivilrightsmovement/
By 1960, there were 440 stations and households routinely spending over five hours a day watching television. Networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC reached millions of viewers, creating an audience larger than anywhere else in the world.
Figure 2: Part of the Graph shows hours watched per day, going from about 4.5 hours per day in 1949 to about 6 hours per day in 1969
Note. From When Did TV Watching Peak? by Alexis C. Madrigal, 2018,
(https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/when-did-tv-watching-peak)
As a result of television popularity, movie theater attendance in the United States decreased from around 90 million in 1946 to 45 million by the end of the 1950s. (Fiveable Content Team, 2025)
It can be argued that a 43% rise of people living in faraway suburban homes between 1947-1953 caused a challenge in travelling to these theaters and also influenced this decline. However, television was undeniably the biggest reason as owning a television could also mean saving on money and not having to buy movie tickets. The audiovisual experience with television’s smaller screens became sufficient for consumers, with more storytelling information in a TV series than in a shorter feature film.
Throughout the 50s, Hollywood found ways to differentiate the cinematic experience with widescreen formats CinemaScope, Cinerama, and VistaVision. These formats helped distinguish itself from the 4:3 standard ratio that television sets had.
Figure 2: 35mm film is almost square (1.33:1). So, shooting a wide angle shot (2.35:1) would fit on the film strip if it is horizontally compressed. This compression leaves space on the film strip for audio tracks. To unsqueeze this wide-angle image during theater screenings, an anamorphic lens that would be placed over a projector lens.
Note. From What is Cinemascopt? By Rafael Abreu, 2020
(https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-cinemascope/)
CinemaScope, Cinerama, and VistaVision
In 1953 and 1954, CinemaScope and VistaVision were created, offering higher resolution and improved image quality. Cinerama, another widescreen format, was created in 1952. Although short-lived and much more expensive, it would help inspire modern innovations, such as IMAX.
Critics might counterargue that the film industry would have come up with these inventions anyways without TV as film had already been working on new formats in the years prior. But, the pressures from television marketing and advertising caused film to develop these inventions at faster speed.
Changes in Narrative, Camera, and Editing Style
Television’s limitations with slow-moving camera work matched the slow pacing and stagnant cameras in expensive stage-like productions of the 60s with films such as, David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962). and Joseph Mankiewicz's Cleopatra (1963).
Figure 3: 2001: A Space Odyseey’s famous flying bone cutting to spaceship
Note: From The Iconic Match Cut Matches "Perfectly" - 2001: A Space Odyssey by WhatCulture, (n.d.).
(https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2019/12/fd51f1e167725e03-600x338.jpg)
It was until the mid- to late 60s when there was a huge shift in narrative, camera, and editing innovation in films that could also have possibly helped with production spending. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1966) was one of the most expensive films at the time, though lesser than Lawrence ($15,000,000) and Cleopatra ($44,000,000). Setting the highest standard for science fiction with artistic experimentation, the film unusually achieved a photorealism with its special effects, laying foundation for the future’s special effects blockbusters, such as Star Wars (1977), and serving as a symbolic turning point toward a future world’s reliance on computers and advanced VFX.
This film cut, famously transitioning from a flying bone to a spaceship (Movieclips, 2019, 0:54-1:03), symbolizes a milestone in evolution or a jump in time to show how far humans have come with scientific invention and technology.
To contrast from TV’s long-running episodic structure, Kubrick’s film packs more ongoing analysis with its threads. With unmatched symbolism and ambiguity, the threads that feature the hominids, the astronauts in space, and the Stargate feel barely connected with the monolith reappearing throughout.
Combining Media and Celebrity Influence
Figure 4: Film poster of Batman: The Movie (1966)
Note. From Batman: The Movie by IMDb, (n.d.),
(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/mediaviewer/rm2738703617/?ref_=tt_ov_i)
Successful shows with popular iconic characters like Batman (1966) demonstrated the ways that television could help finance or promote feature films, with its feature film released between the first and second season. This method is echoed in future decade catalogues and certainly in today’s streaming world of Marvel films/TV shows consisting of many storyline-crossovers, keeping fans engaged over longer periods of time and greatly reducing financial risks associated with feature film production by earning revenue from other products.
Figure 5: Front Cover of Marilyn Monroe from Modern Screen Magazine
Note. From Pulp Nonfiction: A Brief History of Celebrity Magazines by PrintMag, 2020 (https://www.printmag.com/featured-design-history/pulp-nonfiction-a-brief-history-of-celebrity-magazines/#utm)
Aside from pop culture characters promoting and marketing films were celebrities. The news on TV would sometimes blur reality and fiction by providing access into celebrity personal lives. Marilyn Monroe might be seen as being childlike in one lens, but then described as being unstable through another.
However, print media, such as newspapers and magazines also helped in expanding publicity, scrutiny, and off-screen controversies, too. When studios lost a lot of power in the 50s-60s, some publications collaborated with Hollywood to “report on the intimate details”. (PrintMag 2020, March 27). If a celebrity drove popularity and sales in the latest advertisement/magazine issue, this meant the studio’s film could possibly do well financially, too.
Conclusion
The 40s-60s exemplified what comes out of wartime, news distorting facts, and the connections between technology, celebrity culture, and artistic contributions across different platforms. This was the most impactful time for film as the innovations created in response to television parallels the ongoing competition that film faces currently with video games, social media, and virtual/augmented reality.
References
Abreu, Rafael. (2020, May 31) What is CinemaScope? Definition and Examples for Filmmakers Studio Binder
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-cinemascope/
Box Office Mojo. (n.d.) Cleopatra (1963).
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0056937/
Fiveable Content Team (2025, September). 10.2 Golden Age of Television.
Human Progress Team (2017, Feb 6) The Evolution of Television over the Years
https://humanprogress.org/the-evolution-of-television/?utm
Hundley, Matthew (2009, May 18) Lumière v. Méliès: A Cinematic Dichotomy. Fountaindale Public Library
https://www.fountaindale.org/georges-melies-conjuring-magic-in-early-cinema/
IMDb, (n.d.), Batman: The Movie
(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/mediaviewer/rm2738703617/?ref_=tt_ov_i)
Johnson, J. (n.d.) Early days of print publications and celebrity culture
https://about.proquest.com/en/blog/2023/how-print-publications-shaped-celebrity-culture/
Madrigal, A.C. (2018, May 30). When Did TV Watch Peak? The Atlantic.
https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/when-did-tv-watching-peak
PrintMag (2020, March 27) Pulp Nonfiction: A Brief History of Celebrity Magazines
PrintMag (2020, March 27) Pulp Nonfiction: A Brief History of Celebrity Magazines
[Image].
Williams, Owen, 2014, 8th July, Film Studies 101: Ten Movie Formats That Shook The World.
Empire Online
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/film-studies-101-movie-formats/
The Numbers. (n.d.) Lawrence of Arabia (1962). https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lawrence-of-Arabia#tab=summary The Society Pages (2020, November 17) The Power of Television https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/11/21/mediacoverageofthecivilrightsmovement/ WhatCulture. (n.d.) The Iconic Match Cut Matches "Perfectly" - 2001: A Space Odyssey [Image]. A Space Odyssey. https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2019/12/fd51f1e167725e03-600x338.jpg
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