<P> After the U.S. entry into World War II, the FCC reduced the required minimum air time for commercial television stations from 15 hours per week to 4 hours . Most TV stations suspended broadcasting; of the ten original television stations only six continued through the war . On the few that remained, programs included entertainment such as boxing and plays, events at Madison Square Garden, and illustrated war news as well as training for air raid wardens and first aid providers . In 1942, there were 5,000 sets in operation, but production of new TVs, radios, and other broadcasting equipment for civilian purposes was suspended from April 1942 to August 1945 (Dunlap). </P> <P> By 1947, when there were 40 million radios in the U.S., there were about 44,000 television sets (with probably 30,000 in the New York area). Regular network television broadcasts began on NBC on a three - station network linking New York with the Capital District and Philadelphia in 1944; on the DuMont Television Network in 1946, and on CBS and ABC in 1948 . </P> <P> Following the rapid rise of television after the war, the Federal Communications Commission was flooded with applications for television station licenses . With more applications than available television channels, the FCC ordered a freeze on processing station applications in 1948 that remained in effect until April 14, 1952 . </P> <P> By 1949, the networks stretched from New York to the Mississippi River, and by 1951 to the West Coast . Commercial color television broadcasts began on CBS in 1951 with a field - sequential color system that was suspended four months later for technical and economic reasons . The television industry's National Television System Committee (NTSC) developed a color television system based on RCA technology that was compatible with existing black and white receivers, and commercial color broadcasts reappeared in 1953 . </P>

When did television become available to the public