Television became available in crude experimental forms in the late 1920s. After World War II, an improved form became popular in the United States and Britain, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the US and most other developed countries. The availability of storage media such as VHS tape (1976), DVDs (1997), and high-definition Blu-ray Discs (2006) enabled viewers to watch recorded material such as movies. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, digital television transmissions greatly increased in popularity. Another development was the move from standard-definition television (SDTV) (576i, with 576 interlaced lines of resolution and 480i) to high-definition television (HDTV), which provides a resolution that is substantially higher. HDTV may be transmitted in various formats: 1080p, 1080i and 720p. Since 2010, with the invention of smart television, Internet television has increased the availability of television programs and movies via the Internet through services such as Netflix, iPlayer, Hulu, Roku and Chromecast.
Cold Feet is a Britishcomedy drama television series produced by Granada Television for ITV. It was created by Mike Bullen, who also wrote most of the episodes, and produced by Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Spencer Campbell. The series began on 15 November 1998, following the successful one-off television film broadcast in 1997 and ran for 32 episodes before concluding on 16 March 2003. The series is set in Manchester and follows three couples, played by an ensemble cast, who have trouble with committing to each other however hard they try. The cast were not widely known before their appearances in the programme but their careers received significant boosts; most of the actors received British Comedy Award nominations and James Nesbitt won Best TV Comedy Actor three times. The series was and remains critically acclaimed, winning multiple British Comedy Awards, TRIC Awards, and the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. It maintained consistently high viewing figures, regularly beating other channels in head-to-head ratings battles.
Phonevision, also known as station KS2XBS, was an experimental television station in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by Zenith. It was the world's first pay television station. Zenith originally occupied the VHF Channel 2 frequencies since 1939, using this as an experimental station while they tried to perfect "PhoneVision".
Austin Nichols (born April 24, 1980) is an American television and movie actor. Nichols has appeared in guest spots on television shows such as CSI, Six Feet Under, and Deadwood. His film roles include the 2004 blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, in which he was cast as an academic and romantic rival to Jake Gyllenhaal's protagonist. In Wimbledon, a film also released in 2004, Nichols played an arrogant American tennis pro, opposite Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany. Signed to a rare holding deal with HBO, he most recently starred in his own series, John from Cincinnati. Nichols is the son of a 10-time water skiing champion and was raised in Austin, Texas. He became a successful competitive water skier himself, until a shoulder injury forced him to retire. Shortly afterwards, Nichols moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in acting.
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