Television is undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of mass media ever developed. While a television set can have static, television itself is far from static. The medium has changed considerably since its inception and is bound to change even more in the near future. The Evolution of TV Back in 1948, only one in ten Americans had even seen a television set. TV’s popularity exploded shortly thereafter and in 1960, 70 million U.S. viewers tuned-in to watch Senator John Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon in the first-ever televised presidential debate. TV’s penetration continued. By the end of the 1980s, almost 53 million U.S. households subscribed to cable, while the number of cable networks increased from 28 in 1980 to 79 in 1989. Within the ensuing decade, the number of national cable video networks exploded to 171, and by the end of 1999, approximately 7 out of 10 television-owning households (more than 65 million) were cable subscribers. This growth trend continued through 2010, but then reversed. A 2013 Nielsen study found that the number of American households with TVs had been dropping since 2011, as a growing number of people have been “cord-cutting” by making the switch from traditional…