It was released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976 across North America[2] at a retail price of US$169.95 (equivalent to $910 in 2023).

[3] In 1974, Alpex Computer Corporation employees Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel developed a home video game prototype consisting of a base unit centered on an Intel 8080 microprocessor and interchangeable circuit boards containing ROM chips that could be plugged into the base unit.

[1][4] Lawson worked with industrial designer Nick Talesfore and mechanical engineer Ronald A. Smith to turn the prototype into a viable project.

Jerry Lawson replaced the 8080 with Fairchild's own F8 CPU; while Nick Talesfore and Ron Smith were responsible for adapting the prototype's complex keyboard controls into a single control stick, and encasing the ROM circuit boards into plastic cartridges reminiscent of 8-track tapes.

John Donatoni, the marketing director of Fairchild's video games division, stated that the console followed the razor and blades model where they would sell the "hardware, and then we're going to make the profit on the cartridge sales".

[7] Fairchild announced the console at the Consumer Electronics Show on June 14, 1976, and the Federal Communications Commission approved it for sale on October 20.

[11] Marketing for the console included an event featuring Ken Uston playing Video Blackjack[12] and commercials starring Milton Berle.

[7] The console was licensed in Europe to television manufacturers[13] and led to the clone consoles of Ingelen Telematch Processor in Austria, Barco Challenger in Belgium, ITT Telematch-Processor and Nordmende Color Teleplay μP in Germany, Dumont Videoplay System and Emerson Videoplay System in Italy, Luxor TV-Datorspel and Luxor Video Entertainment Computer in Sweden, and Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer in the United Kingdom.

The sound was now mixed into the RF modulator so you could adjust it on your TV set instead of a fixed volume internal speaker.

[17] The Channel F is based on the Fairchild F8 microprocessor, which was innovative compared to other contemporary processors and integrated circuits.

The savings from using standard pin layout enabled the inclusion of 64 bytes of internal scratchpad RAM in the CPU.

The Channel F is able to use one plane of graphics and one of four background colors per line, with three plot colors to choose from (red, green, and blue) that turns white if the background is set to black, at a resolution of 128 × 64, with approximately 104 × 60 pixels visible on the TV screen.

The earlier artwork was created by nationally known artist Tom Kamifuji and art directed by Nick Talesfore.

[citation needed] The console contained two built-in games, Tennis and Hockey, which were both advanced Pong clones.

In Hockey, the reflecting bar could be changed to different diagonals by twisting the controller knob and could move all over the playing field.

This Videocart was shown in a single sales brochure released shortly after Zircon acquired the company.

Through a secret button combination a hidden game could also be started, the box and instruction booklet has multiple hints about the needed code.

Even with the redesigned Channel F II in 1978, Fairchild was unable to meet the sales that the VCS and its games were generating.

His overall conclusion was that the games "serve a limited, but useful, purpose" and that the "strength of the Channel F offering is in its excellent educational line for children".