Timeline of the introduction of color television in countries

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

This is a list of when the first color television broadcasts were transmitted to the general public. Non-public field tests and closed-circuit demonstrations are not included.

Countries and territories which never had black and white television (i.e. the first broadcasts were in color), such as Zanzibar, Brunei, Botswana, Laos, South Africa, Namibia, Macau, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Palau, Bhutan, Vanuatu, Faroe Islands, Malawi, The Gambia, Tonga, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Somalia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania and Nepal are not included in this list.

Country	Year	Network or channel	Color system	Notes
Afghanistan	1983	RTA	PAL	Experimental color transmissions started in the late 1970's.
Albania	1981	RTSH	PAL	Color broadcasts had been available from Yugoslavia since 1971, and Italy since 1977.
Algeria	1979	RTA	SECAM
American Samoa	1969	KVZK-2	NTSC	KVZK-2 was a National Educational Television affiliate.
Angola	1983	TPA	PAL
Argentina	1978	LS 82 Canal 7	PAL-N	Introduced for the 1978 FIFA World Cup (regular full color transmission began at midnight on Thursday 1 May 1980). In 1969, Canal 13 made experimental transmissions in NTSC, but did not receive government approval. Subsequently, the project was cancelled.
Armenian SSR	1973	Armenia 1	PAL	First transmission was the May Day Parade in Yerevan. Full-time color transmissions since Christmas Eve 1978.
Australia	1967	ATV-0 (now ATV-10).	PAL	Introduced Thursday, June 15, 1967 with live coverage of the Pakenham races. Full-time color transmissions since Saturday, March 1, 1975.
Austria	1969	ORF	PAL	First transmission was the Eurovision broadcast of New Year Concert from Vienna on Wednesday, January 1, 1969. Full-time color transmissions since January 15, 1975.
Azerbaijan SSR	1983	AzTV	PAL
Bahamas	1983	ZNS-TV	NTSC	Color transmissions had been available from Miami since 1954 (WTVJ) and West Palm Beach since the late-1950s[1]
Bahrain	1972	Bahrain TV	PAL
Bangladesh	1980	BTV	PAL
Barbados	1971	CBC	NTSC
Belize	1984	Channel 7	NTSC
Benin	1982	OTRB	PAL
Byelorussian SSR	1961	Belteleradio	SECAM	The first Soviet Bloc country and first country in Eastern Europe to introduce color tv. Full color service came in the 1970's.
Belgium	1971	RTB/BRT	PAL	Color broadcasts from France (SECAM), Germany and Netherlands (PAL) were available since 1967. Early receivers were very costly owing to multiple standards: PAL/SECAM/625 lines and monochrome/819 lines
Bermuda	1968	ZBM-TV	NTSC	ZBM was an affiliate of the U.S. network CBS.
Bolivia	1980	TV Boliviana	NTSC	Experimental color broadcasts began in the mid 1970's.
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1978	Televizija Sarajevo	PAL
Brazil	1972	Bandeirantes/Globo	PAL-M	First transmissions (unofficial and just for specific programs) were made between 1962 and 1963 using NTSC. Tests for the regular transmissions begins in 1970 with the Mexico's FIFA World Cup, and the first official transmission being the coverage of the 12th Caxias do Sul Grape Festival in February 1972. Full-time color transmissions since 1978.
Bulgaria	1970	BNT	SECAM
Burma	1984	MRTV	NTSC
Burundi	1983	RTNB	SECAM
Kampuchea	1981	National Television of Kampuchea	PAL	Full-time color transmissions started in 1985. Last country in Asia with black and white transmission to introduce color television.
Canada	1966	CBC, CTV	NTSC	Launched simultaneously in English and French at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 1, 1966, at the beginning of Canada's 100th year as a nation. Color broadcasts from the United States had been available since the mid-1950s. Full-time color transmissions since 1974, Some privately owned and low powered stations continued to broadcast in black and white until the late 1970's.
Central African Republic	1982	RTC	SECAM
Chad	1982	Télé Tchad	SECAM
Chile	1978	TVN, Canal 13	NTSC	Channel 13 began closed-circuit and special public demonstrations of specific events from 1965 on the Santiago, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar areas. First transmission in color was in the 13th Viña del Mar Festival, but only for export until the 18th edition. First nationwide color show transmitted was in Teletrece newscast of Canal 13 on Saturday, April 1, 1978.[2] Full-time color transmissions since mid 1979.
China	1973	CCTV	PAL	Urban areas began color broadcasts in 1973. Full-time color transmissions since 1984 nationwide.
Colombia	1979[3]	Inravisión	NTSC	Test broadcasts in SECAM were held in 1966.[4] Test for the regular transmissions began in 1971 with the coverage of that year's Pan American Games held in Cali. In 1974, the inauguration of West Germany's FIFA World Cup was aired in color in closed circuit at two colosseums in Bogota and Cali.[5] Full-time color transmissions since Saturday, December 1, 1979.[3]
Congo (Brazzaville)	1975	TeleCongo	SECAM
Costa Rica	1973	TICA-TV	NTSC
Croatia	1972	Televizija Zagreb	PAL
Cuba	1958	Tele-Color, S.A. Tele Rebelde (1975)	NTSC	Ended in 1959 as a result of the Cuban Revolution; returned in 1975.
Cyprus	1976	CyBC	SECAM
Czechoslovakia/ Czech Republic	1971	ČST	SECAM
Denmark	1968[6]	Danmarks Radio	PAL	First introduced for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.[6] The national broadcaster's programming transitioned to color throughout 1969 and "color tests" were officially ended on Wednesday, April 1, 1970.[6] Color broadcasts had been available from Germany since 1967.
Djibouti	1974	RTD	SECAM
Dominican Republic	1969	Color Visión	NTSC
Ecuador	1974	Ecuavisa Teleamazonas	NTSC
Egypt	1973	ETV	PAL
Equatorial Guinea	1976	RNGE	SECAM
El Salvador	1973	YSU-TV	NTSC
Estonian SSR	1967	ETV	SECAM/ PAL	First color broadcasts came from Moscow; first local color program was transmitted on Saturday, December 30, 1972. Transitioned from SECAM to PAL 1992-1999.
Ethiopia	1979	ETV	PAL
Finland	1969	YLE/MTV	PAL
France	1967	ORTF	SECAM	Introduced on La Deuxième Chaîne at 2:15pm (14:15) on Sunday, October 1, 1967. The first channel TF1 remained B&W for years due to being transmitted in the older 819-line standard: its transition to color 625-line began on Thursday, January 1, 1976 and the full nationwide color coverage was only achieved in 1983.[7]
French Polynesia	1971	RFO	SECAM
French Guiana	1974	RFO	SECAM
Gabon	1973	RTG	SECAM
Georgian SSR	1984	Georgian Public Broadcaster	SECAM	The last country with black and white transmission to introduce color television.
East Germany	1969	DFF	SECAM	Introduced on Friday, October 3, 1969 on the new second television channel launched for that purpose with a symbolic launch button pressed by Walter Ulbricht on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the GDR on Tuesday, October 7. The television tower in East Berlin was also opened that day.
West Germany	1967	ARD/ZDF	PAL	Introduced on both channels simultaneously at 9:30am on Friday, August 25, 1967 with a symbolic launch button pressed by Willy Brandt on the International Radio and Television Fair in West Berlin.
Ghana	1980	GBC	PAL
Gibraltar	1969	GBC	PAL
Greece	1976	ERT	SECAM
Greenland	1984	KNR	PAL	Color broadcasts from Canada had been available since 1972, but were NTSC.
Guadeloupe	1972	RFO	SECAM
Guinea	1971	RTG	PAL	Color broadcasts from the Ivory Coast had been available since 1970, but were SECAM.
Guinea-Bissau	1981	RTGB	PAL
Guatemala	1970	RTG	NTSC	First Central American country to introduce color television; color broadcasts available from Mexico since 1967.
Guam	1970	KUAM-TV	NTSC	KUAM was a primary NBC affiliate that also carried some programming from ABC and CBS.
Haiti	1971	Télé Haïti[8]	NTSC
Honduras	1973	Canal 3 Honduras	NTSC
Hong Kong	1970	TVB	PAL	Full-time color broadcasts since 1975.
Hungary	1971	Magyar Televízió	SECAM	Full color broadcasts introduced in 1975.
Iceland	1973	RÚV (Sjónvarpið)	PAL	Full-time color broadcasts since 1976.
India	1978	Doordarshan	PAL	Experimental color broadcasts began in 1978. Color broadcasts from Pakistan had been available since 1977. Full color broadcasts were introduced in 1982.
Indonesia	1979	TVRI	PAL	Full-time color broadcasts began on Tuesday 24 August 1982.
Iran	1973	NIRT	SECAM
Iraq	1968	RTI	SECAM	First Muslim country to introduce color television.
Ireland	1971	RTÉ	PAL	Introduced for the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 in Dublin on Saturday, April 3, 1971; color broadcasts from United Kingdom available since 1967–69.
Israel	1977	IBA/IETV	PAL	Introduced for the coverage of the Egyptian president's visit to Israel in November 1977, then reintroduced for the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 in Jerusalem on Saturday, March 31, 1979. Gradual transition to full-time color transmissions from 1980 to 1983. Full-time color transmissions since February 1983. Color broadcasts from Jordan and Egypt had been available since 1974.
Italy	1972	RAI	PAL	Introduction temporarily stalled by political turmoil. Color broadcasts from France (SECAM) had been available since 1967, and from Austria (PAL) since 1969. Privately operated transmitter chains made these signals available as far as Rome. First color test was in 1972 Summer Olympic Games. Full-time color transmissions started on Tuesday, February 1, 1977.
Ivory Coast	1970	RTI	SECAM
Jamaica	1975	JBC	NTSC
Japan	1960	NHK/NTV TBS YTV ABC	NTSC-J	The first Asian country to introduce color television, on Saturday, September 10, 1960.[9]
Jordan	1974	JTV	PAL
Kazakh SSR	1977	Kazakhstan	PAL	Full color transmissions introduced in the 1980's.
Kenya	1978	KBC	PAL
North Korea	1977	KCTV	PAL	Full color broadcasts were introduced by 1980.
South Korea	1975	KBS/MBC	NTSC	Test color broadcasts began in 1975. Full-time color broadcasts since 1981.
Kuwait	1974	KTV	PAL
Kirghiz SSR	1981	Kyrgyz Television	SECAM	Experimental color broadcast for the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Latvian SSR	1968	LTV	SECAM/ PAL	First color broadcasts came from Moscow. First local color program was transmitted on Monday, January 28, 1974. Switched from SECAM to PAL on February 2, 1998.
Lebanon	1975	Télé Liban	PAL
Liberia	1975	LBS	PAL
Libya	1976	Al-Libyah TV	PAL
Lithuanian SSR	1968	LRT	SECAM/ PAL	Used SECAM as part of the USSR 1968-1990, and 1990-1997. PAL has been in use since 1997.
Luxembourg	1972	Compangnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion	PAL SECAM	The then only channel for audiences in Luxembourg, France and Belgium originally used the French/Belgian 819-line B&W standard. After Belgium and France opted for different color systems, Luxembourg broadcast two versions of the same channel. All later RTL channels aimed at French-, German- and Dutch-speaking audiences in Europe adopted the standards of their target markets.
Macedonia	1974	Televizija Skopje	PAL
Madagascar	1977	MBS	SECAM
Malaysia	1978	RTM	PAL	Introduced in Peninsular Malaysia on Thursday 28 December 1978 and in Sabah and Sarawak on Sunday 31 August 1980. Color had been available from Southern Thailand since 1972 and Singapore since 1974. Full-time color broadcasts began on Friday 1 January 1982.
Maldives	1984	TVM	PAL	Color had been available from India since 1982.
Mali	1984	ORTM	SECAM
Malta	1978	TVM	PAL	Color broadcasts from Italy had been available since 1977, full color service began in 1981.
Martinique	1969	RFO	SECAM
Mauritania	1984	TV de Mauritanie	PAL
Mauritius	1975	MBC	SECAM	Color television arrived on a full-time schedule in 1978.
Mexico	1963	Canal 5 Telesistema Mexicano (now Televisa)	NTSC	Launched Friday, February 8, 1963 with the program Paraiso Infantil. Color had been available previously in a few border cities, on a limited basis. Full-time color transmissions started with the 1968 Summer Olympic Games. Curiously, Mexico had its own system of color television, invented by Guillermo González, prior to NTSC adoption.
Moldavian SSR	1978	TeleRadio-Moldova	SECAM/ PAL
Monaco	1973	TMC	PAL / SECAM	Color broadcasts from France had been available since 1967.
Mongolia	1975	MNB	SECAM
Montenegro	1974	JRT/Televizija Titograd (now TV CG 1)	PAL
Morocco	1973	RTM	SECAM	First test transmission was in 1972.
Mozambique	1984	TVM	PAL
Netherlands	1967	NPO	PAL	Introduced on both national channels on Thursday, September 21, 1967.
Netherlands Antilles	1973	TeleCuraçao	NTSC
New Caledonia	1971	RFO	SECAM
New Zealand	1973	NZBC	PAL	Introduced in November 1973, as part of preparations for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, held in Christchurch in February 1974.[10] Full-time color was achieved by December 1975.[11]
Nicaragua	1973	Televicentro Canal 2	NTSC
Niger	1979	Télé Sahel	SECAM	Color broadcasts had been available from Nigeria from 1974, but were PAL.
Nigeria	1974	WNTV	PAL
Norway	1972	NRK	PAL	Experimental color broadcasts introduced for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. Regular test transmissions from Saturday, January 1, 1972. Full-time color broadcasts since Wednesday, January 1, 1975. Color broadcasts had been available from Sweden since 1970, in parts of Norway.
Oman	1984	Oman TV	PAL
Pakistan	1976	PTV	PAL	Full-time color transmissions arrived in 1982.
Panama	1972	NTP	NTSC
Paraguay	1979	TV Cerro Corá	NTSC
Peru	1977	Telecentro	NTSC	First color test transmission was done in 1967 by Panamericana Televisión for a soap opera, while the first color broadcast was the coverage of the 1978 election. Full-time color transmissions began on Monday 26 December 1983.
Philippines	1966	ABS-CBN	NTSC	First color test transmission was in 1963. Commercial launch in June 1966 using RCA color; and full-time color transmissions began in 1971 when color sets became more widespread in the Manila area and suburbs.
Poland	1971	TVP	SECAM	First time color program was broadcast on March 16, 1971 & regular broadcasting began on December 6, 1971 for 6th PUWP congress. Transitioned to PAL on January 1, 1994 for all TVP channels except for TVP1 which transitioned on January 1, 1995.
Portugal	1979	RTP	PAL	First experimental broadcasts for the coverage of the 1976 election. Introduced for the Portuguese version of Jeux Sans Frontières on Wednesday, September 5, 1979; color broadcasts from Spain available since 1972. Full-color transmissions started on Monday, March 10, 1980.
Qatar	1974	QBS	PAL	Color broadcasts from Bahrain had been available since 1973.
Réunion	1972	RFO	SECAM
Romania	1983	TVR	PAL	Despite being in the Eastern Block, Romania chose not to adopt SECAM, unlike the other Warsaw Pact countries. Full-time color broadcasts since 1990. Romania became the last country in Europe to introduce color television.
Rwanda	1982	ORINFOR	SECAM
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1971	RFO	SECAM	Color transmissions had been available from Newfoundland and Labrador since 1967, but were NTSC.
Saudi Arabia	1973	SAGTS	SECAM
Senegal	1975	RTS	SECAM
Sierra Leone	1978[12]	SLBS	PAL
Singapore	1974	Radio Television Singapore (RTS)	PAL	Full-time color broadcasts began on 1 November 1977.
Slovakia	1972	ČST	SECAM
Slovenia	1976	Televizija Ljubljana	PAL
Spain	1972	RTVE	PAL	Color broadcasts had been available from France since 1967, but were SECAM. First color test was in 1972. Full-time color broadcasts since 1977, although monochrome commercials continued to be made until 1978. The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid was a color production, but it was televised in black-and-white to the local audience.
Sudan	1976	Sudan TV	PAL
Suriname	1977	STVS	NTSC
Sweden	1970	Sveriges Radio TV	PAL	Test transmissions started on Wednesday, December 14, 1966. Regular color service and color license fee introduced Wednesday, April 1, 1970.
Switzerland	1968	SBC	PAL	Color transmission had been available from France and Germany since 1967.
Syria	1980	STV	PAL
Taiwan	1969	CTV	NTSC	Full-time color transmissions since 1975.
Tajik SSR	1982	TVT	SECAM	Experimental color broadcast for the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Thailand	1969	Channel 7	PAL	Although television in Thailand originally employed a 525-line screen (System M, US standard at the time), the country opted for PAL color, which necessitated a conversion to system B (625 lines), starting with Channel 7 in November 1967. Regional stations converted between 1972 and 1975.
Togo	1979	TVT	SECAM
Trinidad and Tobago	1969	TTT	NTSC
Tunisia	1976	RTT	PAL
Turkey	1981[13]	Ankara Television	PAL	Test transmissions started with the New Year's Eve celebrations on Thursday, December 31, 1981; full color television did not start until Sunday, July 1, 1984. Color broadcasts from Greece had been available since 1976.
Turkmen SSR	1970	Turkmen Television	SECAM	Introduced on Saturday, October 31, 1970 in preparation for the start of Ramadan.
Uganda	1975	UTV	PAL
Ukrainian SSR	1968	UT-1	SECAM/ PAL	SECAM used during the USSR. Experimental color broadcasts came in 1968. Full-time color arrived around 1975.
United Arab Emirates	1974	UAE-TV	PAL
United Kingdom	1967	BBC 2	PAL	Introduced on BBC 2 for Wimbledon coverage on Saturday, July 1, 1967. The launch of the BBC 2 "full" colour service took place on December 2, 1967. Some British TV programs, however, had been produced in colour even before the introduction of colour television in 1967, for the purpose of sales to American, Canadian, and Filipino networks. Full-time colour broadcasts since 1969.[14] Full nationwide colour broadcasting achieved in 1976.
United States	1950	CBS	CBS	Field sequential color system; experimental; ended 1951.[15] The first country with black and white transmission to introduce color television.
United States	1953	NBC CBS	NTSC	Dot sequential system.[16] The United States gradually transitioned from black-and-white to color television between 1953 and 1974.
United States - Alaska	1966	KENI-TV (now KTUU)	NTSC	First program in color, on Monday, September 19, 1966, was the premiere episode of That Girl, an ABC show. KENI was a primary affiliate of both NBC and ABC.
United States - Hawaii	1965	KONA-TV, now KHON-TV; KHVH-TV, now KITV; KGMB	NTSC	KHVH was an ABC affiliate, KGMB was CBS, and KONA was NBC.
USSR Russia	1967	Soviet Central Television (Now Channel One (Russia))	SECAM	Introduced specifically for the 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary of the October Revolution. Full-time colorcasts began with the Revolution's 58th anniversary, in 1975.
Upper Volta	1976	Volta Vision	SECAM	This country is now known as Burkina Faso.
Uruguay	1980	CXB-10	PAL-N	Introduced for the 1980 Mundialito but locally broadcast in B&W. Local color broadcasting started in 1981.
Uzbek SSR	1984	MTRK	SECAM	Experimental color broadcast for the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Venezuela	1972	RCTV Venevision	NTSC	Color television arrived on a full-time schedule on Saturday 1 December 1979 by TVN5. Transition completed on Sunday 1 June 1980.
Vietnam	1977	VTV	PAL	The first color television program aired on Tết.[17] Color televisions were available only in big cities until the late 1980s.
U.S. Virgin Islands	1968	WBNB-TV	NTSC	WBNB was a CBS affiliate. This station was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
North Yemen	1979	NYRTC	PAL
South Yemen	1981	SYRTC	PAL	Color broadcasts had been available from North Yemen since 1979.
Yugoslavia Serbia	1971	JRT/Televizija Beograd (now RTS1)	PAL	Introduced on the launch of the second TVB channel (TVB 2), as it was the first Yugoslav channel to start in color. From the late 1970s, TVB 1 switches to color, thus making all channels broadcast in color. (both TVB 1 and TVB 2, as they were only the channels available in that time)
Zaire	1980	OZRT	SECAM
Zambia	1977	ZNBC	PAL
Zimbabwe	1984[18]	ZBC	PAL

References

1. rogersimmons.com: "West Palm Beach TV Station Ads"
2. La llegada de la televisión en colores (The beginning of color television), video in Youtube
3. "Desde mañana TV en color. By Gonzalo Guillen. El Tiempo, Nov 30, 1979".
4. Universidad y Medios Masivos, Del Estado de Bienestar Al Mercado. By Milcíades Vizcaíno Gutiérrez. Page 37
5. Luís Ángel Arango Library, Las primeras imágenes a color 1974, Historia de la televisión en Colombia, accessed 6 July 2011
6. 40 år med farve-tv fra DR
7. Television history: the French exception?, INA, accessed 21 January, 2011
8. http://www.memoireonline.com/01/14/8596/m_Television-hatienne-par-cble-et-couleur-locale--la-tele-Hati-15.html
9. ja:テレビ
10. "Technology Changes Television | INSIDE TVNZ | tvnz.co.nz". Television New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
11. Television One listings in the Otago Daily Times in November and December 1975 clearly show all but the occasional television show being broadcast in color.
12. World Broadcasting: A Comparative View, Alan Wells, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, page 173
13. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING IN TURKEY
14. "Colour Television Chronology". Archived from the original on 27 October 2010., British TV History.
15. "Color Television Enchants Viewers at Its Public Debut", The Washington Post, January 13, 1950, p. B2. "CBS Color Television To Make Public Debut In N.Y. Next Week," The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 1950, p. 18. "CBS Color Preview Seen By 2,000 in Philadelphia", The Wall Street Journal, December 16, 1950, p. 10. "Commercial Color TV To Have Its 'Premiere' Over CBS Monday", The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 1951, p. 14. "All Color TV Put on Shelf Indefinitely", The Washington Post, October 20, 1951, p. 1.
16. "NBC Launches First Publicly-Announced Color Television Show", The Wall Street Journal, August 31, 1953, p. 4. "First Home Reception of Color TV Proves Effective in Operatic Field," The New York Times, November 1, 1953, p. 1. "Radio-TV Notes," The New York Times, November 20, 1953, p. 32. "F.C.C. Rules Color TV Can Go on Air at Once", The New York Times, December 19, 1953, p. 1.
17. "New Year quiet in South Vietnam". The Citizen 134 (193) (Ottawa). Associated Press. February 17, 1977. p. 47. South Vietnam … announced Thursday that it will broadcast the country’s first color television program for this year’s Tet holiday.
18. A Concise Encyclopedia of Zimbabwe, Donatus Bonde, Mambo Press, 1988, page 410