1962 in American television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of American television-related events in 1962.
Events
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | The 1962 Rose Bowl game on NBC is the first coast-to-coast live color television broadcast of a college football game in the United States. | |
| NBC introduces the Laramie Peacock before the midnight showing of the day's episode of Laramie | ||
| March 24 | On Fight of the Week, ABC televises the Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III boxing match from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fight ends when Paret falls unconscious at the hands of Griffith, which would lead to his death ten days later. | |
| April 16 | Walter Cronkite succeeds Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS Evening News; he would remain so for the next 19 years. | |
| September 25 | The Spanish International Network begins operation as the first Spanish-language television network in the United States | |
| November 15 | NBC-primary/CBS-secondary affiliate WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky becomes the first UHF television station to broadcast in color. | [1] |
Also in 1962
- The All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962 requires UHF (channels 14-83) tuners to be on all consumer television sets in addition to the VHF tuner.[2][3]
- Zenith Electronics markets its first color television set, 21-inch round screen set.
Television programs
Debuts
Ending this year
| Date | Show | Network | Debut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | The Dick Tracy Show | First-run syndication | January 1, 1961 | |
| January 6 | The Yogi Bear Show | First-run syndication | January 30, 1961 | |
| March 1 | The New Bob Cummings Show | CBS | October 5, 1961 | |
| March 25 | Bus Stop | ABC | October 1, 1961 | |
| March 30 | The Hathaways | ABC | October 6, 1961 | |
| Tonight Starring Jack Paar | NBC | July 29, 1957 | ||
| April 1 | Adventures in Paradise | ABC | October 5, 1959 | |
| April 4 | Straightaway | ABC | October 6, 1961 | |
| April 5 | Mrs. G. Goes to College | CBS | October 4, 1961 | |
| April 8 | Follow the Sun | ABC | September 17, 1961 | |
| April 12 | Margie | ABC | October 12, 1961 | |
| April 18 | Top Cat | ABC | September 27, 1961 | |
| April 22 | Maverick | ABC | September 22, 1957 | |
| April 30 | 87th Precinct | NBC | September 25, 1961 | |
| April 30 | Bronco | ABC | September 23, 1958 | |
| May 10 | Outlaws | NBC | September 29, 1960 | |
| May 15 | Cain's Hundred | NBC | September 19, 1961 | |
| May 18 | The Detectives | NBC | October 16, 1959 (on ABC) | |
| May 23 | Window on Main Street | CBS | October 2, 1961 | |
| May 31 | Oh! Those Bells | March 8, 1962 | ||
| June 2 | Tales of Wells Fargo | NBC | March 18, 1957 | |
| June 5 | Ichabod and Me | CBS | September 26, 1961 | |
| June 5 | The New Breed | ABC | October 3, 1961 | |
| June 8 | Target: The Corruptors! | ABC | September 29, 1961 | |
| June 9 | Calvin and the Colonel | ABC | October 3, 1961 | |
| June 13 | The Bob Newhart Show | NBC | October 11, 1961 | |
| June 24 | Lawman | ABC | October 5, 1958 | |
| June 26 | The Everglades | Syndication | October 9, 1961 | |
| July 28 | Room for One More | ABC | January 27, 1962 | |
| September 1 | Checkmate | CBS | September 17, 1960 | |
| September 6 | Frontier Circus | CBS | October 5, 1961 | |
| September 12 | The Alvin Show | CBS | October 4, 1961 | |
| September 17 | Hennesey | CBS | September 28, 1959 | |
| September 18 | The Comedy Spot | CBS | June 28, 1960 | |
| September 25 | Bachelor Father | ABC | September 15, 1957 (on CBS) | |
| September 28 | The Brighter Day | CBS | January 4, 1954 | |
| November 13 | The Beachcomber | Syndication | February 20, 1962 | |
| December 22 | The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show | ABC | September 29, 1962 | |
| Unknown | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | NBC | 1955 | |
| The Quick Draw McGraw Show | First-run syndication | September 28, 1959 | ||
Network launches
| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish International Network | Broadcast over-the-air | September 29 | The first foreign-language television network to broadcast in the United States |
| Connecticut Public Television | Public broadcasting network | October 1 | Beginning with the sign-on of WEDH in Hartford, Connecticut, the network would eventually expand to four stations over the next 12 years. |
| Mizlou Television Network | Ad-hoc syndication service | Unknown date | Mizlou programming was syndicated to several commercial television outlets, as well as CATV systems. |
Television stations
Station launches
Network affiliation changes
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Durham, North Carolina | WTVD | 11 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) |
|
| Raleigh, North Carolina | WRAL-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) |
ABC (exclusive) | ||
Station closures
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 16 | Midland, Texas | KDCD-TV | 18 | December 9, 1961 | Returned to the air on January 15, 1968 | |
| February 28 | Youngstown, Ohio | WXTV | 45 | Independent | November 15, 1960 | |
| August 1 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPCA-TV | 17 | Independent | July 10, 1960 | Returned to the air January 31, 1963 |
| August 26 | Odgen, Utah | KVOG-TV | 9 | Independent | December 1, 1960 | |
| November 17 | Boston, Massachusetts | WTAO-TV | 56 | Independent | May 17, 1962 | Experimental station |