Television set Nikola Tesla, type Tesla-59

Manufacturer: Radio Industry Nikola Tesla

Place and time of production: Belgrade, SFRY, 1958–1963

Dimensions (cm): 44 . 47 . 40

Inventory number: Т:10.2

In Yugoslavia, television program was first presented in December 1939, at the Phillips stand in the Dutch pavilion at Belgrade Fair. During the summer of 1956, television program was first broadcasted wirelessly from an improvised studio at the building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. It was possible to follow the program on televisions placed in the windows of several stores in Belgrade. 

Two years later, Fair’s program was broadcasted as part of the second Technical Fair, so August 23, 1958 is considered to be the start of broadcasting of television program in Serbia. The anchor man began the program by saying: “Good afternoon, dear viewers. Television Studio Belgrade is starting to broadcast its experimental program. Today, you are watching our first show”. Since 1972, the program has been broadcast in colour.

In 1958, Belgrade Radio Device Factory Nikola Tesla, began the production of the first television set, which was put on the market the following year, under the name Nikola Tesla type 59. It was a television set with vacuum tubes, 17” screen and 12 channels. Production of television sets was demanding, so the television set was considered to be a luxury item. Still rare, in the 1960s, television sets were brought out on terraces so that the neighbours and passers-by could all watch the program together. Nikola Tesla type 59 was produced until 1963.