Norway Goes From Black-and-White TV to Color In the Middle of a Broadcast



One defining moment of film and television history was the introduction of color. Its adoption was faster in some areas and slower in others; the last black-and-white theatrical animation from a major American studio was released in 1946, while black-and-white live-action content from those same studios was still very prolific. Color TV broadcasting also took time to take off. Although experiments in color television began as early as the '50s, it wouldn't be until the mid-'60s that color would become commonplace. Television broadcasting in Norway officially began in 1960, making the country one of the last to launch television in Europe. The reason for this was the country’s geography and rural settlement, which made it a very expensive operation. It wasn’t, however, until 1972 that broadcasts in color began to appear. The first network to offer programs in color was Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) — otherwise known as Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. On New Year’s Eve, the network went from black-and-white to color, right in the middle of the broadcast of a show.