How come that beside RCA's there are just a few '50's color sets preserved

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by KentTeffeteller

Back then, Color TV programming was spotty on NBC (RCA owned them) and rare on CBS and practically non-existent on ABC. Color network TV programming became common in 1967-1968.

It took about 12 or so years for color TV to become popular, for the reasons you mentioned, and that few people wanted to spend big money to see just a few color programs. Today, companies would not have waited 12 years, they'd bail out if it didn't take off in a year...