1959 in American television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of American television-related events in 1959.
Events
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| April 6 | The original KYW-TV (now WKYC-TV) in Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first station in the United States to use the Eyewitness News brand for their newscasts. | [1] |
| June 16 | Adventures of Superman star George Reeves dies by a gunshot at the age of 45. While the official finding would be suicide, but some would later believe that he was actually murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. | [2][3][4][5] |
| November 29 | As part of the Sunday Showcase on NBC, the Grammy Awards were broadcast for the first time ever. | [6] |
Television programs
Debuts
Ending this year
| Date | Program | Network | First aired | Notes/References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 13 | Confession | ABC | 1957 | |
| January 14 | Pursuit | CBS | October 22, 1958 | |
| March 8 | Sky King | Syndication | September 16, 1951 | |
| March 13 | Northwest Passage | NBC | September 14, 1958 | |
| March 25 | Flight | Syndication | November 4, 1958 | |
| March 27 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | CBS | October 5, 1951 | |
| April 4 | Cimarron City | NBC | September 27, 1958 | |
| April 9 | Behind Closed Doors | NBC | October 2, 1958 | |
| April 14 | The George Burns Show | NBC | October 21, 1958 | |
| April 27 | Your Hit Parade | CBS | July 10, 1950 | Returned in 1974 |
| May | The Milton Berle Show | ABC | June 8, 1948 (on NBC) | |
| May 7 | December Bride | CBS | October 4, 1954 | |
| May 25 | Buckskin | NBC | July 3, 1958 | |
| May 26 | The Californians | NBC | September 24, 1957 | |
| June | Alex in Wonderland | NTA Film Network | March 10, 1959 | |
| June 3 | Frontier Doctor | Syndication | September 26, 1958 | |
| June 4 | Yancy Derringer | ABC | October 2, 1958 | |
| June 19 | Haggis Baggis | NBC | June 30, 1958 | |
| June 22 | The Restless Gun | NBC | September 23, 1957 | |
| June 25 | Mickey Mouse Club | ABC | October 3, 1955 | Returned in first-run syndication in 1977 |
| State Trooper | Syndication | September 25, 1956 | ||
| June 30 | 26 Men | Syndication | November 1, 1957 | |
| July 2 | Zorro | ABC | October 10, 1957 | |
| July 5 | Pete Kelly's Blues | NBC | April 5, 1959 | |
| July 13 | Cannonball | Syndication | October 6, 1958 | |
| July 24 | Bonomo, The Magic Clown | WNTA | September 11, 1949 (on NBC) | |
| August | This Is Alice | NTA Film Network | October 1959 | |
| August 20 | How to Marry a Millionaire | NTA Film Network | October 7, 1957 | |
| August 23 | Dragnet | NBC | December 16, 1951 | Returned in 1967 (in color) |
| August 28 | The Thin Man | NBC | September 20, 1957 | |
| September 10 | Man Without a Gun | NTA Film Network | November 6, 1957 | |
| September 23 | Trackdown | CBS | October 4, 1957 | |
| September 24 | The Rough Riders | ABC | October 2, 1958 | |
| September 28 | Polka Go-Round | ABC | June 23, 1958 | |
| October 9 | Pantomime Quiz | ABC | November 13, 1947 (on KTLA) | returned in 1962 as "Stump the Stars" on CBS |
| November 28 | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Syndication | January 7, 1958 | |
| Unknown date | Confession | Syndication | October 7, 1953 (on DuMont) | |
| Unknown date | Mackenzie's Raiders | Syndication | October 1, 1958 | |
| Unknown date | Tom Terrific | CBS | June 10, 1957 |
Made-for-TV movies and miniseries
| Title | Premiere date | Network |
|---|---|---|
| The Hate That Hate Produced | July 13–17 | WNTA-TV |
| The Jazz Singer | October 13 | NBC |
| The Turn of the Screw | October 20 | |
| The Moon and Sixpence | October 30 | |
| Murder and the Android | November 8 | |
Television stations
Station launches
Network affiliation changes
| Date | Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WITI | 6 | Independent (primary) NTA Film Network (secondary) |
CBS (primary) NTA Film Network (secondary) |
|
| WXIX-TV | 18 | CBS | Independent | |||
| April 26 | Portland, Oregon | KGW | 8 | ABC | NBC | |
| KPTV | 12 | NBC | ABC | |||
| August 1 | Huntsville, Alabama | WMSL-TV | 48 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) |
NBC (exclusive) | WMSL lost ABC affiliate upon the sign on of WAAY-TV, but would swap affiliations with WAAY-TV in 1968. Channel 48 as WYUR-TV (now WAFF-TV) would return to NBC on a fulltime basis in 1977. |
| August 22 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | WFRV-TV | 5 | ABC | NBC | Switch was reversed in 1983 |
| WLUK-TV | 11 | NBC | ABC | |||
| October 11 | Valley City/Fargo, North Dakota | KXJB-TV | 4 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
CBS (exclusive) | |
| October 15 | Yakima, Washington | KIMA-TV | 29 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
CBS (exclusive) | |
| November 8 | Bakersfield, California | KBAK-TV | 29 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
CBS (exclusive) | Secondary ABC affiliation went to NBC affiliate KLYD-TV when it signed on. |
| December | Greenwood, Mississippi | WABG-TV | 6 | CBS | ABC | |
| Unknown date | Bangor, Maine | WABI-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/NTA Film Network (secondary) |
CBS (primary) ABC/NTA Film Network (secondary) |
|
| WLBZ-TV | 2 | CBS (exclusive) | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) |
|||
| Hampton/Norfolk, Virginia | WVEC-TV | 13 | NBC | ABC | ||
| Portsmouth/Norfolk, Virginia | WAVY-TV | 10 | ABC | NBC | ||
| Presque Isle, Maine | WAGM-TV | 8 | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC (secondary) |
CBS (primary) NBC/ABC (secondary) |
||
Station closures
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | First air date | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 26 | Portland, Oregon | KGW | 8 | ABC | NBC | |
| KPTV | 12 | NBC | ABC | |||
| May 27 | Kalispell, Montana | KULR | 9 | Independent | October 20, 1958 | |
| August 25 | Nacogdoches, Texas | KTES | 19 | Independent | September 20, 1958 | |
| October 30 | Norfolk, Virginia | WTOV-TV | 27 | ABC | October 22, 1953 | |
| Unknown date | Lock Haven/Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | WBPZ-TV | 32 | ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) |
March 1958 | |