1969 in American television Television related events in the USA during 1969
This is a list of American television -related events in 1969.
Events
Date
Event
Ref.
January 4
The Huntley–Brinkley Report , NBC 's nightly newscast, expands to include a weekend edition that would air on Saturdays, with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley alternating weeks anchoring the news solo. Later, mediocre ratings prompt NBC to replace the duo with other newsmen, with the broadcast's Saturday editions renamed the NBC Saturday News .
January 13
Dick York collapses on the set of Bewitched and is rushed to the hospital. He resigns from the show for health reasons. The character Darrin Stephens is played by Dick Sargent from then until the show's 1972 ending.
February 5
ABC runs the one and only airing of the notorious flop Turn-On , which was canceled after only one episode.
February 19
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. shoots its final scene and completes its run at approximately 4:31 p.m. at the CBS Studio Center . The final scene wrapped up with Jim Nabors saying the line “How interesting - and did she?”.
June 3
The science fiction television series Star Trek airs its final new episode after being canceled by NBC . Its subsequent sale into rerun syndication soon after leads to a rise in popularity that transforms Star Trek into one of the century's most successful entertainment franchises, which would later spawn sequel series for the next few decades.
[ 1]
July 20
All three commercial television networks broadcast a live transmission from the Moon, which was viewed by 720 million people around the world, with the landing of Apollo 11 ; at 10:56 p.m. EDT Neil Armstrong (followed soon afterwards by Buzz Aldrin ) steps onto the surface; viewers see a scan from broadcasts received at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station followed by Parkes Observatory in Australia.
[ 2]
September 8
Starting September 8, all daytime programming on both ABC and CBS is presented in color.
September 26
ABC affiliate WLTV in Bowling Green, Kentucky was knocked off the air due to the sabotaging explosion of their transmitter by a local bootlegger who did not appreciate the television exposure of his bootlegging ring. The station returned to the air with limited power on October 6. It would not return to full power until the station's new transmitter facility was activated in 1971.
[ 3] [ 4]
October 18
The Jackson 5 make their national television debut on The Hollywood Palace .
November 13
Vice President Spiro Agnew , in a televised speech from Des Moines, Iowa , stirs up a national controversy by attacking the network news commentaries.
December 7
The now-iconic Christmas television special, Frosty the Snowman , premieres on CBS , based on the song of the same name. The special has aired annually on the same network ever since.
[ 5]
Television programs
Debuts
Television films and specials
Changes of network affiliation
Ending this year
Date
Show
Network
Debut
Status
Notes
January 4
Fantastic Voyage
ABC
September 14, 1968
Ended
January 4
The Adventures of Gulliver
ABC
September 14, 1968
Ended
January 4
The Archie Show
ABC
September 14, 1968
Ended
January 4
Wacky Races (returned in 2017)
CBS
September 14, 1968
Canceled
Returned in 2017 on Boomerang ’s video-on-demand service
January 9
Blondie
CBS
September 26, 1968
Ended
January 11
Danger Island
NBC
September 7, 1968
Ended
January 15
Daktari
CBS
January 11, 1966
Ended
January 30
Journey to the Unknown
ABC
September 26, 1968
Ended
January 30
The Ugliest Girl in Town
ABC
September 26, 1968
Ended
January 31
The Felony Squad
ABC
September 12, 1966
Ended
February 23
The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
ABC
September 15, 1968
Ended
March 25
N.Y.P.D
ABC
1967
Ended
April 1
That's Life
ABC
September 24, 1968
Ended
April 13
The Mothers-in-Law
NBC
September 10, 1967
Ended
April 16
The Outsider
ABC
September 18, 1968
Ended
May 2
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
CBS
September 25, 1964
Ended
May 5
The Outcasts
ABC
September 23, 1968
May 19
The Big Valley
ABC
September 15, 1965
May 27
The Jerry Lewis Show
NBC
September 12, 1967
Ended
June 2
Peyton Place
ABC
September 15, 1964
Ended
June 3
Star Trek: The Original Series [ 1]
NBC
September 8, 1966
Ended
June 8
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
CBS
February 5, 1967
Canceled
June 8
Peanuts
1969
Canceled
Returned in 1973
August 31
The King Kong Show
ABC
September 10, 1966
Ended
September 6
The Lone Ranger
CBS
September 10, 1966
Ended
September 6
Journey to the Center of the Earth
ABC
September 9, 1967
Ended
September 16
The Guns of Will Sonnett
ABC
September 8, 1967
September 26
Eye Guess
NBC
January 3, 1966
Ended
September 26
Match Game
NBC
December 31, 1962
Ended
Returned in 1973 on CBS
December 26
The Joey Bishop Show
ABC
April 17, 1967
Ended
December 27
H.R. Pufnstuf
NBC
January 6, 1968
Ended
Networks and services
Network launches
Television stations
Sign-ons
Date
City of license /Market
Station
Channel
Affiliation
Notes/Ref.
January 13
Pikeville, Kentucky
WKPI-TV
22
NET
Part of the Kentucky Educational Television network as a satellite of WKLE /Lexington, Kentucky .
January 14
Garden City, New York (New York City )
WLIW
21
January 25
Monterey, California
KMST
46
CBS
February 8
Fayetteville, Arkansas
KGTO-TV
36
NBC
February 23
Morgantown, West Virginia
WNPB
24
NET
Later became part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network
March 3
Bloomington, Indiana
WTIU
30
NET
April 14
Eureka, California
KEET
13
NET
June 8
St. Louis, Missouri
KDNL-TV
30
Independent
now an ABC affiliate
July 14
Huntington, West Virginia
WVPB-TV
33
NET
Part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network
July 30
Nacogdoches, Texas
KAEC-TV
19
CBS
August 18
Jacksonville, Illinois (Quincy, Illinois /Hannibal, Missouri )
WJJY-TV
14
ABC
August 20
Kingsport, Tennessee (Johnson City /Bristol, TN -VA )
WKPT-TV
19
ABC
August 29
Miles City /Billings, Montana
KYUS-TV
3
Independent
September 8
Covington, Kentucky (Cincinnati, Ohio )
WCVN-TV
52
NET
Part of Kentucky Educational Television (KET) as a satellite of WKLE /Lexington
October
Manchester, New Hampshire
WXPO-TV
50
Independent
October 1
Victoria, Texas
KXIX
19
ABC
Signed on as a satellite of KIII /Corpus Christi
October 5
Baltimore, Maryland
WMPB
67
NET
Flagship of Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting
October 7
Marquette, Michigan
WJMN-TV
3
NBC
October 16
San Bernardino /Los Angeles, California
KHOF-TV
30
Independent
Originally licensed in Glendale, California
October 20
Hazard, Kentucky
WKYH-TV
57
Independent
[ 8]
October 25
Williston, North Dakota
KXMD-TV
11
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 26
Anniston, Alabama
WHMA-TV
40
CBS (primary) NBC (secondary)
October 29
Kansas City, Missouri
KCIT-TV
50
Independent
November 19
Elmira, New York
WENY-TV
36
ABC
Network affiliation changes
Date
City of license/Market
Station
Channel
Old affiliation
New affiliation
Notes/Ref.
January
Jamestown -Buffalo, New York
WNYP-TV
26
CTV (Canada)
Independent
January 1
Billings, Montana
KULR-TV
8
NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
ABC (exclusive)
Would re-join NBC in 1987
Lubbock, Texas
KCBD
11
NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
NBC (exclusive)
KDUB-TV
13
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)
KSEL-TV
28
Independent
ABC
May 12
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
KORN-TV
46
NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
ABC (exclusive)
NBC would return to the station (as KDLT) in 1983
August 18
Hannibal, Missouri (Quincy, Illinois )
KHQA-TV
7
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)
The secondary ABC affiliation ended with the sign-on of WJJY-TV in nearby Jacksonville, Illinois .
August 20
Bristol, Virginia (Bristol -Kingsport -Johnson City, Tennessee )
WCYB-TV
5
NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
NBC (exclusive)
The secondary ABC affiliation ended with the sign-on of WKPT-TV /Kingsport.
Johnson City, Tennessee (Kingsport -Bristol, TN -VA )
WJHL-TV
11
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)
October 9
Marquette, Michigan
WLUC-TV
CBS (primary) ABC and NBC (secondary)
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
Secondary NBC affiliation was dropped with the sign-on of WJMN-TV ; WLUC would trade network affiliations with WJMN to become an exclusive NBC affiliate in 1992
October 25
Williston, North Dakota
KUMV-TV
8
NBC (primary) ABC and CBS (secondary)
NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
Unknown date
Great Falls, Montana
KFBB-TV
5
ABC (primary) CBS (secondary)
ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)
KRTV
3
NBC
CBS
Lubbock, Texas
KSEL-TV
28
Independent
ABC
Santa Barbara, California
KEYT-TV
3
ABC (primary) CBS (exclusive)
ABC (exclusive)
Changed occurred on the occasion of the consolidation of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo markets.
Santa Maria, California
KCOY-TV
12
NBC (primary) CBS (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)
San Luis Obispo, California
KSBY
6
NBC (primary) CBS (secondary)
NBC (exclusive)
Station closures
Births
Deaths
See also
References
^ a b c TIME 1969: Woodstock, the Moon and Manson: The Turbulent End of the ‘60s . New York: Time Inc. Home Entertainment. 2009. p. 107.
^ "30th anniversary of Apollo 11: 1969-1999" . Apollo 11 30th Anniversary . NASA Goddard Space Flight Center . Retrieved 2019-07-20 .
^ Rash, A. V. (September 26, 1969). “WLTV Tower is Blasted By Dynamite .” The Park City Daily News . Bowling Green, Kentucky, p. 1, 18 . Archived from the original April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
^ Ryan, Ed (September 27, 1969). “Bowling Green Station’s TV Tower is Dynamited .” The Courier-Journal . Louisville, Kentucky. p. B1. Archived from the original April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
^ Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987 . Scarecrow Press. pp. 164– 165. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2 . Retrieved August 24, 2022 .
^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 . Scarecrow Press. pp. 86– 88. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5 .
^ TIME 1969: Woodstock, the Moon and Manson: The Turbulent End of the ‘60s . New York: Time Inc. Home Entertainment. 2009. p. 105.
^ Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State . ISBN 9781879688933 .
External links