Editing 1938 in television (section)

==Events==
*February 11 – [[BBC Television]] in England broadcasts the first ever [[science fiction on television|television science-fiction]], a 35-minute adaptation of a segment of the play ''[[R.U.R.]]'' by the [[Czech Republic|Czech]] playwright [[Karel Čapek]].
*March 12 – First news bulletin aired by BBC television, in sound only. Previously, the service has broadcast [[British Movietone News]] cinema [[newsreel]]s.
*April 1 – The [[Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race]] is first televised by the BBC.
*April 19 – The first televised [[association football]] match, [[England national football team|England]] vs. [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]], shown by the BBC.
*April 30 – The [[FA Cup]] Final is televised for the first time by the BBC.<Ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/april/fa-cup-final/ | title=The FA Cup Final first televised }}</Ref>
*May 12 – W2XBS telecasts the 1937 film ''[[Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel]]''. The staff projectionist accidentally plays the last reel out of order, ending the film 20 minutes early. [[NBC]] is unable to obtain the rights to first run movies for many years to follow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jeff560.tripod.com/chronotv.html|title=A U. S. Television Chronology, 1875-1970|website=jeff560.tripod.com|accessdate=November 3, 2022}}</ref>
*May 14 – The first quiz show, ''Spelling Bee'', is televised by the BBC.
*May – Communicating Systems, Inc. of New York introduces the first electronic television sets available to the general public in the U.S. Model with {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} tube is $125–$150, 5-inch tube is $195–$250. Image only; sound apparatus is $15 more. Sets become available in department stores in June.
*June – [[DuMont Laboratories|DuMont]], an electronics company, introduces television sets in the US, receiving both pictures and sound. $650 for a 10 by 8-in. screen, $395 for 8¼ by 6½ in.
*June 7 – An excerpt from ''[[Susan and God]]'' is the first Broadway play with its original cast to be broadcast on television. Station [[WNBC|W2XBS]] uses exact replicas of the stage sets, with [[Nancy Coleman]], [[Gertrude Lawrence]] and [[Paul McGrath (actor)|Paul McGrath]] appearing on the broadcast.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Joseph N. |title=Some Television 'Firsts' |url=https://archive.org/details/variety137-1940-01/page/n87 |access-date=11 July 2019 |work=Variety |date=January 3, 1940 |page=88}}</ref>
*June 24 – [[Test cricket|Test Match Cricket]] is broadcast for the first time by the BBC, with coverage of the second test of [[The Ashes]] series between [[England cricket team|England]] and the [[Australian cricket team|Australia]]n team, live from [[Lord's Cricket Ground]].
*September 29 – License for [[W9XAT]] [[Minneapolis, Minnesota|Minneapolis]], Minnesota, granted in 1929, expires. Television does not resume in the area for a decade.
*October 26 – The first televised [[ice hockey]] match, [[Harringay Racers]] vs. [[Streatham|Streatham Redskins]], shown by the BBC.
*November – Due to freak atmospheric conditions, a BBC TV broadcast from London is received in New York City. A film camera was used to record the silent images which included the performance of a play, a cartoon, and other matter. A four-minute excerpt from this filmed recording survives and is, as of 2014, considered the only surviving example of a pre-war BBC television transmission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/BbcTelevisionReceivedInNewYork-1938|title=BBC Television received in New York - November 1938|author=Alexandra Palace Television Society|access-date=2017-02-11}}</ref>
*November 12 
**NBC's W2XBS broadcasts what is the first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire on [[Wards Island]] near Manhattan.
**[[John Logie Baird]] gives the world's first public demonstration of a colour television broadcast (previous demonstrations of colour television in the UK and US have been via closed circuit). The 120-line image is projected at the [[Dominion Theatre]], London on a 12 by 9 feet (3.7 by 2.7 m) screen in front of an audience of 3,000 people.
*December 12 – Start of daily television broadcasting in Moscow (USSR).
*December 31 – 9,315 television sets are sold in England.