Too Busy Illustrators

Beginning in the 1970s, TV Guide heavily featured illustrated covers by various artists. Whereas the prior decade was mostly photography, the new decade was dominated by established illustrators meeting short deadlines. Two of the most frequently used were Bernie Fuchs and Richard Amsel. Each had a distinct style that was readily identifiable. Each used a minimalist approach, capturing the essence of the personality's face and character.

The top row features Fuchs, the bottom highlights Amsel from the mid-1970s.

Television Ratings: 1970s Part 5

TV NIELSENS 1970s: (L-R: 78-79/79-80) 

The ABC network was riding high in 1978-79. Two purple blocks show lost viewers, but One Day At A Time remained in the top 20. Eight Is Enough (red) remained steady. Three's Company (dark green) was riding high while its spin-off, The Ropers, had its highest viewership. As the 1970s close out, ABC's two shows were the only chink in a solid CBS domination. Taxi and Happy Days (blue) hit their high and low points, respectively. Both Charlie's Angels and Barney Miller (purple) ratings were down over the previous season.

Television Ratings: 1970s Part 4

TV NIELSENS 1970s: (L-R: 76-77/77-78) 

A viewer shift began as two nostalgia sitcoms, Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, traded the number one spot. Baretta (gray) broke into the top ten for the only time. Charlie's Angels remained steady while Welcome Back, Kotter reached its high point before disappearing after the novelty wore thin. Two shows (lavender) remained solid, with The Love Boat honing in at 14. Jack Webb's 1978 series, Project UFO (yellow), made its only appearance in the top 20 before being canceled in 1979. Of note is the umbrella program, The Big Event 1976-77 (orange), re-titled from NBC Sunday Night Movie in the hope that something from the network might stick. The production was shown at various times and days to gauge viewership patterns. In addition to the major films it broadcast, it also featured concerts, sporting events, and original television movies. 

Television Ratings: 1970s Part 3

TV NIELSENS 1970s: (L-R: 74-75/75-76)

The new fad in sitcoms where serious issues are juxtaposed with comedy is led by All In The Family. Four shows (orange) premiered strongly, as did two The Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-offs (yellow). Moore's show, The Waltons, and M.A.S.H. dropped viewership while seven gimmick police/P.I. shows (gray) remain in the bottom ten. The Rockford Files never again ranked in the top twenty, but its fan base skyrocketed in syndication. 

Television Ratings: 1970s Part 2

TV NIELSENS 1970s: (L-R: 72-73/73-74)

There is consistent viewership for the top six shows. Norman Lear's invasion with All In The Family and Maude proved to be strong contenders. Cannon and The Bob Newhart Show increased their popularity while The Six Million Dollar Man, Happy Days, and Good Times (yellow) started their series on a positive. Gunsmoke remains the only primetime western in the top 20, but the sun is setting for Here's Lucy and The Partridge Family (orange).

Television Ratings: 1970s Part 1

TV NIELSENS 1970s: (L-R: 70-71/71-72)

Note Robert Young's popularity in Marcus Welby, M.D., Medical Center and Ironside lost viewers; Adam-12 unwavering about mid-pack; Mannix hit its stride with a big jump; The debut of Sanford and Son (gray) proved to be a winner from its 1972 debut. The Doris Day Show (gray) squeaked in a respectable showing for its second season. Rather remarkable considering her character changed every season, from a widow to a single, carefree career woman, i.e., Mary Tyler Moore's hit series. 

Note: Not color-highlighted yet, interesting to note, the Carl Reiner inspiration, The New Dick Van Dyke Show (#18/right column), had its only top 20 rating in its first season with an ideal time slot. However, its ratings were lower than its supporting shows, and it was subsequently moved to the graveyard of doom, Sunday nights. A fourth season never materialized, due mostly to a controversy between Reiner and CBS. A network he refused to work with again.

Zenith Chromacolor

 

In the late 1950s, many electronic manufacturers, such as RCA, General Electric and Admiral, were changing from hand-wired metal chassis in their radios and televisions to printed circuit boards. While circuit boards save time and errors in assembly, they are not well suited for use with vacuum tube equipment, in which high temperatures are generated that can break down boards, eventually causing the boards to crumble if one attempts to remove a tube. Zenith, and to a lesser extent Motorola, avoided this problem by continuing to use hand-wired chassis in all their vacuum tube equipment. Zenith kept circuit boards out of their televisions until the Chromacolor line of the early 1970s, and even then used them only with solid state components, mounting the four tubes used in the Chromacolor "4 tube hybrid" on the steel chassis. Zenith began using circuit boards in radios when they converted to solid-state in the late 1960s, but even Zenith's early transistor radios were completely hand-wired with socketed transistors. For many years, Zenith used its famous slogan, "The quality goes in before the name goes on." Due to the use of this chassis construction and high-quality components, Zenith televisions and radios of the 1950s to 1970s found today are often still working well, needing little work to restore them to like-new operating condition. 

~ edited from Wikipedia