By the 1950’s television was commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions and became the primary medium for influencing public opinion. Broadcast television was free, and it was hard for studios to convince people to look away from a cheap medium that was already in their own homes. Meanwhile, many in-demand stars who weren’t blacklisted left the studios behind and flocked to television, too.
During the Cold War, paranoia grew in Hollywood and the rest of the United States over communism. Hundreds of actors, musicians, writers, producers and directors suspected of supporting communism were blacklisted and denied work.