Bet you didn't know this, but a major television milestone was reached last week.
Last Monday, May 18, was a big day in broadcasting history - it was 50 years to the day since the first weekly scheduled test programmes gave New Zealanders their first taste of television.
Big deal right?Well it sure was back in May 1959 and some information from Broadcasting Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman certainly illustrates how far we've come and possibly how far there is yet to go in the world of television.
The contrasts from those grainy 1959 broadcasts to today's breathtaking and frenetic pace is like going from black and white to high-definition television.
The story makes fascinating reading.
Transmission was limited to Auckland and to only two hours a week on Monday nights.
These early experiments continued successfully, and on January 28, 1960 the Government announced that it had decided to introduce television as an entertainment medium to New Zealand.
There have been dramatic changes in television broadcasting over the past 50 years.
"I think it would be fair to say that the average television viewer in 1959 would be utterly amazed by the quantity, quality, range and accessibility of the content New Zealanders of the 21st century take for granted."
You can say that again Dr Coleman.
"Today, we can watch high-definition, colour programmes across multiple channels, both free-to-air and pay, 24 hours a day.
"We can time-shift to watch content when it suits us, skip advertisements, pause to let the cat out, mute the boring bits, add captions, and pre-record all our favourite programmes at the push of a button.
"Just as television has changed beyond imagining in the last 50 years, digital convergence between the internet, telecommunications and broadcasting mean that changes are likely to be even more speedy and profound over the next 50 years."
Exciting times indeed.
Crikey, and I thought the introduction of VHS in the mid '80s was exciting.
In a future column, I will talk about the way in which we watch television has changed.
The advent of MySky and other time-shifting devices has changed things for good.
Don't miss: Zodiac, Sky Movies, Thursday, 8.30pm: Based on true events about the hunt for a serial killer in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early '70s. Director David Fincher (Panic Room, Curious Case of Benjamin Button) delivers a film that is creepy, gets under your skin and clings there long after the final credits.
Watch it in the dark and live a little.
Don't bother: Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Fridays, TV3, 9.40pm: At last, something different . . . not! Hair salon industry "expert" Tabatha Coffey helps to rescue struggling businesses and save them from the brink of disaster.
Too late to save this reality series from trouble I fear. Rinse and wash away.
