LISTEN: Happy Anniversary, Television! Revisiting the Medium’s Launch at the 1939 New York World’s Fair

Home TV News Apr 30, 2026 1:27pm PT LISTEN: Happy Anniversary, Television! Revisiting the Medium’s Launch at the 1939 New York World’s Fair 'Daily Variety' podcast dives into news, trends and personalities making headlines in showbiz By Cynthia Littleton Plus Icon Cynthia Littleton Business Editor @Variety_Cynthia Latest Take-Two Interactive’s Strauss Zelnick on ‘GTA 6’ Jitters, Zynga’s Turnaround and Investing in Original Properties 8 hours ago LISTEN: Kacey Musgraves Embraces Her Silly Side With ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Album and Tour 1 day ago LISTEN: Writer Aaron Tracy Explores the Life of the Author Who Excited Children’s Imaginations With ‘The Secret World of Roald Dahl’ 2 days ago See All Variety On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, we look ahead at plans for Variety’s TV Week celebration in a conversation with Variety’s Emily Longeretta. And we take a Vintage Variety look back at the momentous launch of television in the U.S. on the opening day of the New York World’s Fair in 1939, some 87 years ago today. Happy anniversary, television. April 30, 1939, the opening day of the landmark New York World’s Fair, is generally considered the launch date for commercial television in the U.S. RCA and NBC boss David Sarnoff flipped the switch and NBC broadcast three and a half hours of live material from the sprawling World’s Fair site in the Flushing Meadows area of Queens. (It’s now home to the Queens Art Museum.) Related Stories Abel Ferrara, Raika Hazanavicius, Giovanni De Maria Set for Angelica Gallo’s Gritty Feature Debut 'The Night Burns' (EXCLUSIVE)