Transition to Color Television Broadcasting in Western Europe (1967–1975)

1. PAL and SECAM compete for European standard

   Jan 1, 1967Labels: PAL, SECAM, Western Europe

   By the mid-1960s, Western Europe faced a practical choice about how to do colour TV on the 625-line system: most countries leaned toward PAL (developed in West Germany), while France promoted SECAM. This “standards split” mattered because transmitters, studio gear, and TV sets had to match the system used in each country. The decisions made in 1967 shaped how quickly colour spread and how easily viewers near borders could watch neighbouring channels.

   • Color TV
   • SECAM

2. BBC2 begins regular colour broadcasting

   Jul 1, 1967Labels: BBC2, PAL

   The United Kingdom’s rollout began on BBC2, which used the 625-line UHF network and the PAL system. BBC2’s first colour day included Wimbledon coverage, showing how sports were often used to demonstrate colour’s value. Starting on one channel first also let broadcasters and manufacturers scale up equipment and consumer sets before colour reached the bigger mass-audience channels.

   • BFI Screenonline
   • Color TV

3. West Germany launches PAL colour on ARD and ZDF

   Aug 25, 1967Labels: West Germany, ARD, ZDF

   West Germany officially launched colour television using PAL at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin, with a symbolic start button pressed by Willy Brandt. Importantly, colour began on two major channels at once (ARD and ZDF), helping push faster adoption. This was a major turning point because it validated PAL as a working national system and influenced other PAL-choosing countries.

   • Wiki Germany TV
   • Color TV

4. Netherlands starts PAL colour television service

   Sep 21, 1967Labels: Netherlands, PAL

   The Netherlands followed quickly by beginning colour broadcasting with PAL, showing how momentum was building across Northern and Western Europe. Early adoption in multiple nearby countries also increased cross-border pressure: viewers could see colour elsewhere and wanted it at home. This helped make colour not just a technical upgrade, but also a cultural expectation.

   • EACE Timeline
   • Color TV

5. France launches SECAM colour on ORTF’s second channel

   Oct 1, 1967Labels: France, ORTF, SECAM

   France launched colour TV using the SECAM system on ORTF’s second channel, creating a clear alternative to PAL. This strengthened the European “two-system” reality: PAL dominated much of Western Europe, while SECAM shaped France’s domestic rollout and affected neighbouring regions with French-language viewing. The result was that some households near borders later needed multi-standard TV sets to receive everything in colour.

   • SECAM

6. Switzerland begins scheduled colour broadcasts using PAL

   Oct 1, 1968Labels: Switzerland, PAL

   Switzerland began scheduled colour broadcasting after the government set PAL as the national norm, following technical evaluations and political debate. The decision had real consumer impact: French-speaking regions near France faced the cost and inconvenience of needing sets compatible with both PAL and SECAM to watch all channels in colour. Switzerland’s launch highlights how language regions and geography shaped colour TV choices in Western Europe.

   • Swiss Museum
   • Color TV

7. BBC1 and ITV start nationwide colour in the UK

   Nov 15, 1969Labels: BBC1, ITV, UK

   After two years of BBC2 colour, the UK expanded colour to its two biggest networks: BBC1 and ITV. This changed colour TV from a “premium/early adopter” feature into a mass-market service, because most popular entertainment and news audiences were on these channels. The move also reinforced the long-term shift away from the older 405-line black-and-white system toward 625-line colour broadcasting.

   • UK TV 1969
   • BFI Screenonline

8. Denmark ends colour “tests” and begins regular colour era

   Apr 1, 1970Labels: Denmark, regular-colour

   Denmark began colour test broadcasts earlier, but formally ended the test phase and moved toward regular colour service in 1970. Large international events (especially sports) helped justify the investment and encouraged viewers to buy colour sets. This shows a common pattern in Western Europe: a long test period followed by a policy and operations decision to treat colour as normal broadcasting.

   • DR Wiki
   • Color TV

9. Belgium broadcasts first colour programme on RTB

   Jan 1, 1971Labels: Belgium, RTB

   Belgium’s French-language broadcaster RTB aired its first colour broadcast in 1971, marking the start of wider Belgian colour adoption. Belgium’s language communities and proximity to France and the Netherlands made colour planning more complex, since viewers could receive signals from multiple countries and systems. Early Belgian colour broadcasts helped build the case for converting more production and news workflows to colour.

   • RTBF Explained
   • Brussels Times

10. RTÉ airs first domestic outside broadcast in colour

    Mar 17, 1971Labels: RT, outside-broadcast

    In Ireland, early colour transmissions were followed by an important milestone: the first domestic outside broadcast in colour, covering the Railway Cup Finals. Outside broadcasts were harder than studio shows because cameras and links had to work reliably on location. This step signaled that colour was moving from special experiments into everyday national coverage of major events.

    • Irish TV 1971
    • RT Television

11. Norway launches regular colour television on NRK

    Jan 1, 1972Labels: Norway, NRK

    Norway launched regular colour television at the start of 1972, after years of handling colour mainly for selected imported or live international material. This was another example of gradual transition: broadcasters needed upgraded cameras, studio lighting, transmitters, and staff training. By the early 1970s, the spread of PAL in neighbouring countries also made colour more practical and expected.

    • EACE Timeline
    • Color TV

12. Spain introduces PAL colour broadcasts and colour test card

    Jan 1, 1975Labels: Spain, PAL

    Spain introduced PAL colour broadcasts in 1975, including a dedicated colour test card used to set up and check colour accuracy on home TVs. Test cards were a practical part of the transition: they helped engineers and viewers confirm that colour signals were being transmitted and received correctly. This phase marked Spain’s move from preparation and trials toward full colour scheduling later in the decade.

    • TVE Test Card
    • Color TV

13. Transition outcome: colour becomes normal across Western Europe

    Dec 31, 1975Labels: Western Europe, PAL, SECAM

    By the mid-1970s, most of Western Europe had moved from small colour trials to regular colour schedules, with PAL dominant in many countries and SECAM anchored in France. The key outcome was not a single “switch,” but a shared new baseline: broadcasters planned major programming assuming colour production and colour viewing. This period also left a long legacy of system compatibility issues (PAL vs SECAM) that shaped TV manufacturing and cross-border viewing for years.

    • Color TV
    • SECAM