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The year 1940 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1940.

Events

• January - The FCC holds public hearings on television.
• February 25 - The first ice hockey game is televised, the New York Rangers vs Montreal Canadiens, from Madison Square Garden on W2XBS-TV.

The NHL New York Rangers were a tenant of the 50th-Street MSG from 1926 to 1968 (1932-33 Team Picture).

• February 28 - The first basketball game is televised, from Madison Square Garden; Fordham vs the University of Pittsburgh.
• March 15 - RCA cuts the price of television sets.
• May 21 - Bell Telephone Laboratories transmits a 441-line video signal, with a bandwidth of 2.7 MHz, by coaxial cable from New York to Philadelphia and back.
• June - W2XBS in New York (NBC) covers the Republican National Convention from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for 33 hours, over a five day period. The signal is transmitted via coaxial cable.
• August 29 - Peter Carl Goldmark of CBS announces his invention of a color television system.
• September 3 - CBS resumes its television transmissions with the first demonstration of high definition color TV, by W2XAB, transmitting from the Chrysler Building.

Births

• February 2, David Jason, actor
• February 6, Tom Brokaw, journalist
• February 8, Ted Koppel, journalist
• February 27, Howard Hesseman, actor
• March 7, Daniel J. Travanti, actor
• March 8, Susan Clark, actress
• April 25, Al Pacino, actor
• May 5, Lance Henriksen, actor
• July 22, Alex Trebek, Canadian-American game show host. Jeopardy!
• August 9, Beverlee McKinsey, actress
• December 1, Richard Pryor, comedian and actor (d. 2005)