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| List of years in American television: |
|---|
| 1978–79 United States network television schedule |
| 1979–80 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television programs currently in production |
This is a list of American television-related events of 1979.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3 | The USA Network is founded. |
| January 10 | The Music for UNICEF Concert is televised from New York City on NBC. |
| February 11 | In the U.S., 43 million viewers watch Elvis , an ABC movie starring Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley, despite being the first Elvis biopic film ever made. |
| February 18 | The Daytona 500 is broadcast live from start to finish, in its entirety for the very first time by CBS. It was won by Richard Petty. |
| February 20 | Melody Thomas makes her first appearance as Nikki Reed on The Young and the Restless . |
| March 5 | KSTP-TV in Saint Paul, Minnesota ends its 31-year relationship as the Twin Cities' NBC affiliate and joins ABC in what is called the network's biggest coup yet. NBC, meanwhile, aligns with Metromedia-owned independent station WTCN-TV, while former ABC affiliate KMSP-TV, having failed to procure an NBC affiliation, becomes independent itself. [1] [2] |
| March 6 | On NBC, Another World becomes the only soap opera to air regularly scheduled 90-minute telecasts (it would go back to 60-minute episodes in 1980). Meanwhile, on ABC, Family Feud increases its goal to 300 points. |
| March 19 | C-SPAN, an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched. |
| April 1 | Nickelodeon is founded. |
| April 8 | On CBS, the final episode of All in the Family is seen by 40.2 million American viewers (it will relaunch the following season as Archie Bunker's Place ). |
| April 20 | The 1,439th and final CBS episode of Match Game 79 airs – however, the show didn't air on April 5, causing the Friday episode from that week to air on April 9. The last 9 aired episodes were culled together from 3 separate taping sessions, leaving 6 unaired until Game Show Network aired them for the first time. Match Game continues for 3 more years in syndicated daytime (sans the omnipresent 2-year designation in the title). |
| April 22 | Friendly Fire , an ABC movie starring Carol Burnett as a mother who wants to know how her son died in Vietnam, airs. |
| April 23 | The Price Is Right , on CBS, moves to 11:00 A.M. EST, the time slot that it holds to this day. |
| May 16 | Kate Jackson makes her final appearance as Sabrina Duncan on Charlie's Angels . |
| May 17 | The Season 5 finale of Barney Miller features the cast stepping out of character to pay tribute to the late Jack Soo, who played detective Nick Yemana. Soo, who died of cancer on January 11, 1979, made his final appearance in the series in the season's ninth episode, "The Vandal". |
| May 26 | Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's make their final appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live as cast members. |
| June 1 | In Indianapolis, Indiana, NBC affiliate WRTV swaps affiliations with ABC affiliate WTHR, citing a stronger affiliation (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks). [3] |
| July 10 | KSD-TV, NBC affiliate in St. Louis, changes its call sign to KSDK-TV. |
| September 7 | ESPN, an all-sports channel, launches and becomes the first cable TV channel to be launched as a 24-hour channel. |
| September 9 | KNXV-TV goes on the air for the first time as Phoenix's first UHF station, airing with ONTV. It was soon stripped off ONTV in 1983, eventually going first with Fox in 1986, then to ABC via an affiliation agreement with Scripps Howard in 1995. |
| September 12 | On the two-hour season four premiere of Charlie's Angels on ABC, Shelley Hack is introduced as new angel Tiffany Welles, replacing Sabrina Duncan played by Kate Jackson. |
| September 19 | On the two-hour Eight Is Enough season premiere on ABC, both David and Susan Bradford married their respective loves in a double ceremony. |
| October 6 | KTAB-TV in Abilene, Texas begins broadcasting as a CBS affiliate, taking that affiliation from KTXS-TV. KTXS-TV then elevates its secondary ABC affiliation to full-time status, making Abilene one of the last markets in the country to receive full service from the three major networks. |
| November 4 | Jaws is broadcast on television for the first time on ABC. |
| November 25 | Pat Summerall calls his first NFL telecast (Minnesota Vikings–Tampa Bay Buccaneers) with John Madden. |
| December 1 | The Movie Channel, an American premium cable channel, begins broadcasting movies 24/7. The first movie to air was Roman Holiday. |
| Date | Show | Debut |
|---|---|---|
| January 12 | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | 1978 |
| January 14 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | 1977 |
| January 16 | Grandpa Goes to Washington | 1978 |
| March 2 | Jeopardy! (returned in 1984) | 1964 |
| March 16 | Makin' It | 1979 |
| March 30 | $weepstake$ | 1979 |
| Turnabout | 1979 | |
| April 8 | All in the Family | 1971 |
| April 20 | Match Game | 1973 |
| April 24 | The Paper Chase (returned in 1983) | 1978 |
| April 28 | What's Happening!! (returned in 1985) | 1976 |
| April 29 | Battlestar Galactica (returned in 1980) | 1978 |
| May 15 | Starsky and Hutch | 1975 |
| May 17 | Whodunnit? | 1979 |
| June 8 | Welcome Back, Kotter | 1975 |
| June 23 | Stockard Channing in Just Friends | 1979 |
| June 28 | Comedy Theatre | 1976 |
| July 6 | The Amazing Spider-Man | 1977 |
| July 11 | Sword of Justice | 1978 |
| July 12 | David Cassidy: Man Undercover | |
| August 1 | Good Times | 1974 |
| September 11 | Wonder Woman | 1976 |
| October 20 | The New Fred and Barney Show | 1979 |
| November 24 | Detective School | |
| December 8 | Godzilla | 1978 |
| Title | Network | Premiere date |
|---|---|---|
| All Quiet on the Western Front | CBS | November 14 |
| Backstairs at the White House | NBC | January 29 |
| Murder by Natural Causes | CBS | February 17 |
| Roots: The Next Generations | ABC | February 18 (7 episodes) |
| Death Car on the Freeway | CBS | September 25 |
| Salem's Lot | CBS | November 17 and 24 |
| Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July | ABC | November 25 |
| The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree | NBC | December 3 |
| The Miracle Worker | NBC | October 14 |
| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Television Network | Cable television | Unknown | ||
| National Christian Network | Cable television | Unknown | ||
| Satellite Program Network | Cable television | Unknown | ||
| C-SPAN | Cable television | March 19 | ||
| Take 2 | Cable television | April 1 | ||
| Galavision | Cable television | April 2 | ||
| Cornerstone Television | Cable television | April 15 | ||
| ESPN | Cable television | September 7 |
| Old network | New network | Type | Conversion date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTCG-TV | SuperStation WTBS | Cable television | Unknown | ||
| C-3 | Nickelodeon | Cable television | April 1 | ||
| Star Channel | The Movie Channel | Cable television | December 1 | ||
There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 5 | Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota | KMSP-TV | 9 | ABC | Independent | |
| KSTP-TV | 5 | NBC | ABC | |||
| WTCN-TV | 11 | Independent | NBC | |||
| June 1 | Indianapolis, Indiana | WRTV-TV | 6 | NBC | ABC | |
| WTHR-TV | 13 | ABC | NBC | |||
| October 6 | Abilene, Texas | KTXS-TV | 12 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | ABC (exclusive) | |
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 11 | Jack Soo | 61 | Actor (Nick Yemana on Barney Miller ) |
| January 16 | Ted Cassidy | 46 | Actor (Lurch on The Addams Family ) |
| January 27 | Dick Wesson | 59 | Actor, announcer ( The Wonderful World of Disney ) |
| June 2 | Jim Hutton | 45 | Actor ( Ellery Queen ) |
| June 22 | Hope Summers | 83 | Actress (Clara Edwards on The Andy Griffith Show ) |
| July 29 | Bill Todman | 62 | Game show producer ( Match Game , What's My Line? ) |
| August 17 | Vivian Vance | 70 | Actress (Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy ) |
| November 1 | Mamie Eisenhower | 82 | First Lady of the United States and spouse of President Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| November 30 | Zeppo Marx | 78 | Actor and comedian |
The year 1985 involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events of that year.
KCET is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV. The two stations share studios at The Pointe in Burbank; KCET's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Metromedia was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMont Television Network ceased operations and its owned-and-operated stations were spun off into a separate company. Metromedia sold its television stations to News Corporation in 1985, and spun off its radio stations into a separate company in 1986. Metromedia then acquired ownership stakes in various film studios, including controlling ownership in Orion. In 1997, Metromedia closed down and sold its media assets to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
BBC Gàidhlig is the department of BBC Scotland that produces Scottish Gaelic-language (Gàidhlig) programming. This includes TV programmes for BBC Alba, the BBC Radio nan Gàidheal radio station and the BBC Alba website. Its managing editor is Marion MacKinnon.
KMOX is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it is a 50,000 watt Class A clear-channel station with a non-directional signal. The KMOX studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Boulevard in the Park Pacific Building in St. Louis. KMOX refers to itself as "NewsRadio 1120 - The Voice of St. Louis". It is considered the first U.S. station to program all talk shows around the clock.
WUSA is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of Tegna Inc., which is based in suburban McLean, Virginia. WUSA's studios and transmitter are at Broadcast House on Wisconsin Avenue in northwest Washington's Tenleytown neighborhood. Among CBS affiliates not owned and operated by the network, WUSA is the third-largest by market size.
WTAE-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Hearst. WTAE-TV's studios are located on Ardmore Boulevard in the suburb of Wilkinsburg, and its transmitter is located in Buena Vista, Pennsylvania.
KSTP-TV is a television station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Hubbard Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to Minneapolis-licensed independent station KSTC-TV and radio stations KSTP, KSTP-FM (94.5), and KTMY. The five outlets share studios on University Avenue, on the Saint Paul–Minneapolis border; KSTP-TV's transmitter is located at Telefarm Towers in Shoreview, Minnesota.
WFLD is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV outlet WPWR-TV. The two stations share studios on North Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Loop, and transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower.
KGTV is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and its transmitter is located on Mount Soledad in La Jolla.
WIYY is a commercial radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is owned by Hearst Communications and broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format. WIYY shares studios and offices with sister stations WBAL and WBAL-TV on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore. WIYY's transmitter utilizes WBAL-TV's 'candlestick' antenna on the shared Television Hill candelabra tower.
Metromedia Square was a radio and television studio facility located at 5746 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on the southeastern corner of Sunset and Van Ness Avenue in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. For decades, it was recognizable by the white, ladder-like snake on the building's roof. This work of art was called "Starsteps" and was dismantled when ownership of the building changed hands in 2000. It was one of the Los Angeles landmarks that had previous landmark status in the late 20th century.
WRTV is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Meridian Street north of downtown Indianapolis, and its transmitter is located on the city's northwest side near Meridian Hills, Indiana.
Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It was eventually acquired by The Walt Disney Company and re-branded itself as Disney–ABC Television Group in 1996.
KHME is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the classic television network MeTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC affiliate KOTA-TV and low-power Fox affiliate KEVN-LD. The stations share studios on Skyline Drive in Rapid City, where KHME's transmitter is also located.
KERO-TV is a television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on 21st Street in Downtown Bakersfield, and its transmitter is located atop Breckenridge Mountain.
KFFV is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, airing programming from MeTV. It is owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting alongside Bellingham-licensed Univision affiliate KVOS-TV. The two stations share studios on Third Avenue South in Seattle; KFFV's transmitter is located on Capitol Hill east of downtown.
WGIR is a commercial AM radio station in Manchester, New Hampshire, with a news/talk radio format. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WGIR's studios and offices are on Foundry Street in Manchester. Much of the programming and news, but not the commercials, can be heard on co-owned WQSO 96.7 MHz in Rochester, serving the New Hampshire Seacoast.
Robert La Rue Stewart, popularly known in the Philippines as "Uncle Bob", was an American entrepreneur, TV personality, radio and TV producer in the Philippines. He founded GMA Network Inc. on June 14, 1950.
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Theatres.