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List of years in American television: |
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1995–96 United States network television schedule |
1996–97 United States network television schedule |
List of American television programs currently in production |
In American television in 1996, notable events included television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
Date | Event |
---|---|
20 | Fox introduces its FoxTrax "glowing puck" during its telecast of the 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game. |
28 | Chris Isaak and Brooke Shields make guest appearances on a post-Super Bowl episode of Friends on NBC. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
8–9 | Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen win a combined total of $146,529 cash prizes from two episodes (including the $10,000 wedge played with the Double Play token and two Ford Mustangs), making the couple the biggest winner in the history of Wheel of Fortune ; They remain the biggest winners for a team, and will hold the record until Michelle Lowenstein wins $1,026,080 on October 14, 2008. |
28 | Paxson Communications completes their $40 million purchase of ABC affiliate WAKC-TV in Akron, Ohio, from ValueVision. [1] Hours after the sale closed, Paxon president Dean Goodman arrives at WAKC-TV's studios and tells the staff, "news ceases at this moment", firing the entire news department and all station management. [2] This makes Akron (a part of the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton television market) the largest city in the United States without a commercial television newscast. [3] |
29 | ABC affiliate KBAK-TV and CBS affiliate KERO-TV swap affiliations in Bakersfield. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | More than 1 billion households worldwide now own television sets. |
4 | DISH Network, a Direct Broadcast Satellite service, begins as a service of EchoStar. |
31 | WrestleMania XII from the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California is broadcast on pay-per-view. In the main event, Shawn Michaels defeats Bret Hart in a 60-minute Iron Man match to win the WWF Championship for the first time. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
6 | The first ever Major League Soccer game is broadcast live on ESPN. The San Jose Clash hosted D.C. United at Spartan Stadium with San Jose winning on a goal by Eric Wynalda. |
28 | Dexter's Laboratory , a spin-off series from What a Cartoon! , premieres on Cartoon Network. The show is considered to be the network's first Cartoon Cartoon (although this brand name did not exist yet until July 1997). |
Date | Event |
---|---|
14 | Fox airs a television film that serves as the first attempt to revive Doctor Who following its suspension in 1989. It was intended as a backdoor pilot for a new American-produced Doctor Who TV series. It introduced Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor in his only televised appearance as the character until "The Night of the Doctor" in 2013. Although a ratings success in the United Kingdom, the film did not fare well on American television and no series was commissioned. The series was later relaunched on the BBC in 2005. |
16 | More than 12 million Americans watch the final episode of Murder, She Wrote on CBS, "Death By Demographics". Through its 12-year run, the series had become the longest-running American murder mystery drama. |
18 | Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs its final episode on Comedy Central. The final film to be featured is 1978's Laserblast . The series will eventually move to The Sci-Fi Channel, where it would run for three more seasons. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | Major League Baseball broadcasts debut on Fox. |
3 | Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S. |
CBS affiliate WCPO-TV and ABC affiliate WKRC-TV, both in Cincinnati, Ohio, switch network affiliations. | |
19 | CBS affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina is awarded the first experimental high-definition television license in the United States. |
23 | At the World Wrestling Federation's pay-per-view event King of the Ring, wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Jake Roberts. After the match, Austin makes a certain victory speech in what would famously become as the "Austin 3:16" catchphrase. |
30 | New York PBS member station WNYC-TV, owned by the city of New York, signs off for the final time; sold to a joint venture between Dow Jones & Co. and ITT Corp., it relaunches as commercial sports-oriented independent station WBIS-TV (while operating as a non-commercial educational station, WNYC-TV had been licensed with a commercial classification). |
Date | Event |
---|---|
6 | When it becomes evident that Anna Stuart will be next to die in a serial killer storyline on the NBC soap opera Another World , many fans start letter-writing campaigns to save the actress; the NBC studios in New York City also report a great number of switchboard telephone calls regarding Stuart's imminent demise. Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps decides that actress Alice Barrett will be killed off the show instead. |
New World Communications sells NBC affiliates KNSD-TV in San Diego, California, and WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, their lone remaining stations that didn't switch to Fox, to NBC's owned-and-operated division. | |
7 | At the WCW produced pay-per-view event Bash at the Beach, Hulk Hogan turns heel for the first time in 15 years and announces the formation of the New World Order with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. |
17 | News Corporation (the owners of 20th Century Fox and the FOX Television Network) announced that it would acquire New World in an all-stock transaction worth $2.48 billion. The purchase by News Corporation was finalized in early 1997, folding New World's ten Fox affiliates into the former's Fox Television Stations subsidiary and making all twelve stations affected by the 1994 agreement owned-and-operated stations of the network. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
19 | NBC affiliate in Charleston, WCIV, and ABC affiliate WCBD-TV swap network affiliations. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
7 | Paula Zahn is named a Saturday anchor of CBS Evening News . |
Fox Kids airs for the final time on St. Louis affiliate KNLC, which is dropped due to KNLC owner Larry Rice's decision on putting ministry messages instead of ads. KTVI picks up the program block the following Monday. | |
8 | The 48th Primetime Emmy Awards are presented on ABC. |
WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, becomes a Fox-owned station, a year after Fox had acquired it and WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina. This ended WBRC-TV's 47 year affiliation with ABC; in turn, ABC links up with low-power station WBMA-LP (supplemented with two full-power satellites, WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa and WJSU-TV in Anniston). Former Fox affiliate WTTO-TV becomes an independent before affiliating with The WB the next year, while former WTTO-TV satellite WNAL in Gadsden switches to CBS. | |
15 | USA Network ends its USA Cartoon Express block, expanding its newer USA Action Extreme Team block to weekdays. |
16 | Wheel of Fortune introduced a gameplay round called Jackpot which contestants can win an accumulated pot based on the value spun throughout the round. The round would remain intact until 2013. |
17 | The O. J. Simpson civil trial begins. |
30 | A revival of the game show Shop 'til You Drop premieres on the Family Channel along with a new game show called Shopping Spree . Both shows would last on the channel until August 14th 1998, the final day of the Family Channel branding. Shop would get revived in 2000 on PAX. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
2 | Seven newscasters were dismissed by WCBS-TV (channel 2) in New York. |
6 | President Clinton and Senator Bob Dole participate in the first 1996 presidential debate with Jim Lehrer of PBS moderating. [4] |
7 | Nickelodeon adds an extra half-hour of programming, branded as "More Nickelodeon", on weekdays at 8:00pm Eastern/7:00pm Central. The "More Nickelodeon" block included new episodes of The Secret World of Alex Mack plus new series Hey Arnold! , KaBlam! , and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss . For the next two weeks, viewers were encouraged to "Spot the Dot" using game pieces found at Blockbuster Video stores and in Nintendo Power magazine for a chance to win a Nintendo 64. |
9 | Vice President Gore and former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp participate in the 1996 Vice Presidential debate at Mahaffey Theater. [5] |
10 | Turner Broadcasting System merged into Time Warner. |
Greg Kinnear hosts his final episode of NBC's Later . The show would then revolve a set of rotating guest hosts for the next three years. | |
16 | Clinton and Dole participate in the final presidential debate at the University of San Diego. [6] |
20–26 | Fox broadcasts its first ever World Series. The New York Yankees won their 23rd title (and first since 1978) against the Atlanta Braves in only six games. |
30 | WBKP in Calumet, Michigan signs on the air, giving the Upper Peninsula both its first full-time ABC affiliate (WLUC-TV had dropped its primary ABC affiliation the previous year in favor of its secondary NBC affiliation) and full-time affiliates of the "Big Three" networks. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | Seven regional sports networks operated by Prime Network relaunched as Fox Sports Net. |
4 | In tribute to the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series , an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine features Captain Benjamin Sisko and the crew travel back in time to prevent the assassination of Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise by a Klingon using a booby-trapped tribble. Its sister series Voyager produced a similar episode, "Flashback". |
The infamous "Pillman's got a gun" angle with Brian Pillman and his former tag-team partner Stone Cold Steve Austin airs on USA Network's Monday Night RAW . | |
23 | Bob Hope's final television special, Bob Hope... Laughing with the Presidents, airs on NBC. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | The long-running 25 Days of Christmas event begins on The Family Channel. |
8 | Paramount Television and Viacom purchased a 50% stake in UPN from Chris-Craft and United Television for approximately $160 million. It made UPN a joint partnership between Chris-Craft and Viacom (and later a Viacom property as a whole) at this point. |
15 | Five years after its series finale, a movie version of Dallas , entitled Dallas: J.R. Returns , is broadcast by CBS. |
17 | 6 years after dropping the title, TBS resumes using the term Superstation. |
31 | ABC affiliate WAKC-TV in Akron, Ohio, disaffiliates from the network after 53 years and drops all remaining entertainment programming to carry Paxson Communications' inTV infomercial network. The station's studios had previously relocated from Akron to the Cleveland suburb of Warrensville Heights. [7] [8] |
Show | Last Aired | Previous Network | New title | New Network | Returned |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doug | 1994 | Nickelodeon | Disney's Brand Spanking New! Doug | ABC | September 7 |
Gargoyles | 1996 | Syndication | Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles | ||
The Dating Game | 1989 | Same | Same | September 9 | |
The Newlywed Game | |||||
Shop 'til You Drop | 1994 | Lifetime | The New Shop 'til You Drop | The Family Channel | September 30 |
What A Cartoon! (World Premiere Toons) | 1996 | TBS/Cartoon Network | The What A Cartoon! Show | Cartoon Network | October 9 |
Premiere date | Title | Channel |
---|---|---|
February 4 | Gulliver's Travels (miniseries) | NBC |
February 11 | Night of the Twisters | The Family Channel |
February 24 | The Late Shift (miniseries) | HBO |
April 9 | Face of Evil | CBS |
April 28 | The Beast | NBC |
May 14 | Doctor Who | Fox |
September 24 | After Jimmy | CBS |
November 15 | Dallas: J.R. Returns | |
November 17 | Titanic | |
December 15 | The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue | The Family Channel |
December 17 | Unlikely Angel | CBS |
Show | Seasons | In Production | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | 4 | Yes | [9] |
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | 4 | Yes | [10] |
Mad About You | 4 | Yes | [11] |
Martin | 4 | Yes | [12] |
Show | Moved from | Moved to |
---|---|---|
Brotherly Love | NBC | The WB |
In the House | UPN | |
Minor Adjustments | ||
Candid Camera | Syndication | CBS |
Gargoyles | ABC | |
Doug | Nickelodeon | |
TekWar | USA Network | Sci-Fi Channel |
Major League Baseball Game of the Week | CBS | Fox |
The Mask | CBS/Syndication | |
Shop 'til You Drop | Lifetime | The Family Channel |
Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
BET on Jazz | Cable television | January 15 | ||
Sundance Channel | Cable and satellite | February 1 | ||
America's Health Network | Cable and satellite | March | ||
Starz! 2 | Cable television | March | ||
Ovation | Cable television | April 21 | ||
Nick at Nite's TV Land | Cable and satellite | April 29 | ||
Animal Planet | Cable and satellite | June 1 | ||
M2 | Cable and satellite | August 1 | ||
Fox Sports Arizona | Cable and satellite | September 7 | ||
Fox News Channel | Cable and satellite | October 7 | ||
Discovery Civilization Network Discovery Travel & Living Network Discovery Kids Channel Discovery Science Network | Digital cable | October 7 | ||
Research Channel | Cable television | November | ||
ESPNews | Cable and satellite | November 1 | ||
HBO Family | Cable television | December 1 | ||
CN8, The Comcast Network | Cable television | December 1 | ||
CNN/SI | Cable and satellite | December 12 | ||
Old network name | New network name | Type | Conversion Date | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
America's Talking | MSNBC | Cable and satellite | July 15 | ||
Prime Deportiva Prime Sports Intermountain West Prime Sports KBL Prime Sports Midwest Prime Sports Northwest Prime Sports Rocky Mountain Prime Sports Southwest Prime Sports West | Fox Sports Américas Fox Sports Utah Fox Sports Pittsburgh Fox Sports Midwest Fox Sports Northwest Fox Sports Rocky Mountain Fox Sports Southwest Fox Sports West | Cable and satellite | November 1 |
Network | Type | End date | Notes | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|
WWOR EMI Service | Cable television | December 31 | Advance Entertainment Corporation, which had acquired WWOR EMI Service in mid-1996, discontinued the channel on December 31. WWOR's satellite transponder slot was given to Discovery Communications' Animal Planet channel. | |
Intro Television | Cable television | December 31 | Intro Television, which showed sample programs from cable networks such as Cartoon Network, Sci-Fi Channel, The History Channel, and The Box, was replaced by Plex: Encore 1 on January 1. |
Date | Market | Station | Channel | Prior affiliation | New affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 1 | Honolulu, HI | KHON-TV | 2 | NBC | Fox |
KHNL | 13 | Fox | NBC | ||
Idaho Falls–Pocatello, ID | KPVI | 6 | ABC | NBC | |
KIFI-TV | 8 | NBC | ABC | ||
Macon, GA | WGXA | 24 | ABC | Fox | |
WPGA-TV | 58 | Fox | ABC | ||
Mobile, AL–Pensacola, FL | WALA-TV | 10 | NBC | Fox | |
WPMI | 15 | Fox | NBC | ||
New Orleans, LA | WVUE-TV | 8 | ABC | Fox | |
WGNO | 26 | The WB | ABC | ||
WNOL-TV | 38 | Fox | The WB | ||
Twin Falls, ID | KKVI | 35 | ABC | Fox | |
Reno, NV | KAME-TV | 21 | Fox | UPN | |
March 1 | Bakersfield, CA | KERO-TV | 23 | CBS | ABC |
KBAK-TV | 29 | ABC | CBS | ||
March 14 | Greensboro, NC | WBFX | 20 | CTN | The WB |
April 1 | Fairbanks, AK | KTVF | 11 | CBS | NBC |
April 4 | Binghamton, NY | WICZ-TV | 40 | NBC | Fox |
May 26 | South Bend, IN | W12BK | 12 | Independent | ABC |
June 3 | Cincinnati, OH | WCPO-TV | 9 | CBS | ABC |
WKRC-TV | 12 | ABC | CBS | ||
June 19 | Greensboro, NC | WGGT-TV | 48 | ABC | UPN |
July 1 | New York, NY | WNYC-TV/WBIS | 31 | PBS | Independent |
August 19 | Charleston, SC | WCBD-TV | 2 | ABC | NBC |
WCIV | 4 | NBC | ABC | ||
September 1 | Birmingham–Tuscaloosa, AL | WBRC | 6 | ABC | Fox |
WDBB/WTTO | 17/21 | Fox | Independent | ||
WCFT-TV | 33 | CBS | ABC | ||
WJSU-TV | 40 | CBS | ABC | ||
WNAL-TV | 44 | Fox | CBS | ||
W58CK | 58 | Independent | ABC | ||
Lincoln, NE | KSNB-TV | 4 | ABC | Fox | |
September 29 | Mobile, AL–Pensacola, FL | WFGX | 35 | Independent | The WB |
December 31 | Akron–Cleveland, OH | WAKC-TV | 23 | ABC | inTV |
Date | Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 5 | Bluefield, WV | WVGV-TV | 59 | The WB |
Date | Name | Notability |
---|---|---|
January 3 | Florence Pugh | Actress |
January 9 | Oana Gregory | Actress ( Crash and Bernstein ) |
January 15 | Dove Cameron | Actress ( Liv and Maddie , Descendants , Descendants: Wicked World , Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ) and singer |
January 17 | Caitlin Sanchez | Voice actress (Dora on Dora the Explorer (2008–11)) |
January 18 | Sarah Gilman | Actress ( I Didn't Do It ) |
January 22 | Sami Gayle | Actress ( Blue Bloods , Milo Murphy's Law ) |
January 27 | Braeden Lemasters | Actor ( Men of a Certain Age , Betrayal ) |
February 1 | Rahart Adams | Actor ( Every Witch Way ) |
February 7 | David Castro | Actor ( Shadowhunters ) |
Jake Goldberg | Voice actor (Pablo on The Backyardigans (2006–10)) | |
February 9 | Jimmy Bennett | Actor ( No Ordinary Family ) |
Kelli Berglund | Actress ( Lab Rats , Lab Rats: Elite Force ) | |
February 17 | Sasha Pieterse | Actress ( Pretty Little Liars ) and singer |
February 19 | Allen Alvarado | Actor ( Flight 29 Down ) |
February 21 | Sophie Turner | English actress ( Game of Thrones ) |
February 28 | Bobb'e J. Thompson | Actor ( That's So Raven , Tyler Perry's House of Payne ) |
March 22 | Maxwell Jacob Friedman | Pro wrestler [13] |
March 22 | Gig Morton | Canadian actor ( Mr. Young ) |
March 30 | Madeleine Peters | Canadian voice actress ( Martha Speaks , My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ) |
March 31 | Liza Koshy | Actress |
April 3 | Sarah Jeffery | Canadian actress ( Descendants: Wicked World ) |
April 4 | Austin Mahone | American singer |
April 6 | Miranda May | Actress ( Bunk'd ) |
April 10 | Audrey Whitby | Actress ( The Thundermans ) |
April 14 | Abigail Breslin | Actress ( Scream Queens ) |
April 17 | Dee Dee Davis | Actress ( The Bernie Mac Show ) |
April 18 | Roy Woods | Singer |
April 25 | Allisyn Ashley Arm | Actress ( Sonny with a Chance , So Random! ) |
May 3 | Noah Munck | Actor ( iCarly , The Goldbergs ) |
May 8 | Noah Centineo | Actor ( The Fosters ) |
May 9 | Mary Mouser | Actress ( Body of Proof , Scandal , Cobra Kai ) |
May 14 | McKaley Miller | Actress |
May 17 | Ryan Ochoa | Actor ( iCarly , Pair of Kings ) |
May 18 | Violett Beane | Actress |
May 24 | Frank Dolce | Actor ( Sons of Tucson ) |
June 16 | Cody Lohan | Actor ( Living Lohan ) |
June 20 | Claudia Lee | Actress |
June 25 | Lele Pons | Actress and youtuber [14] |
July 16 | Nicky Jones | Voice actor ( Chowder ) |
July 13 | Jena Irene | Singer ( American Idol ) [15] |
July 16 | Chayce Beckham | Singer ( American Idol ) [16] |
July 17 | Jermaine Harris | Actor ( Saturdays ) |
July 21 | Joey Bragg | Actor ( Liv and Maddie ) |
July 22 | Skyler Gisondo | Actor |
July 23 | Rachel G. Fox | Actress |
July 24 | Herizen F. Guardiola | Actress |
July 30 | Austin North | Actor ( I Didn't Do It ) |
July 31 | Blake Michael | Actor ( Dog With a Blog ) |
August 1 | Cymphonique Miller | Actress ( How to Rock ) and singer |
August 7 | Liam James | Actor |
August 12 | Torri Webster | Canadian actress ( Life with Boys ) |
August 13 | Tessa Albertson | Actress |
August 21 | Jamia Simone Nash | Actress ( The Backyardigans , The Young and the Restless ) |
August 22 | Mickey Graue | Actor ( Lost ) |
August 25 | Naelee Rae | Actress ( The Backyardigans , The Guiding Light ) |
September 1 | Zendaya | Actress ( Shake It Up , K.C. Undercover , Euphoria ) and singer |
September 2 | Austin Abrams | Actor ( Dash & Lily , Euphoria ) |
September 4 | Victoria Moroles | Actress ( Liv and Maddie , Teen Wolf ) |
September 6 | Alex Christian Jones | Actor ( Kickin' It ) |
September 10 | Kamil McFadden | Actor ( K.C. Undercover ) |
September 12 | Colin Ford | Actor ( Under the Dome , Jake on Jake and the Never Land Pirates ) |
September 13 | Lili Reinhart | Actress ( Riverdale ) |
September 15 | Jake Cherry | Actor |
September 18 | Kurt Doss | Actor ( Ruby & the Rockits ) |
October 9 | Bella Hadid | American model and sister of Gigi Hadid |
October 10 | Sarah Carpenter | Actress ( Girl Meets World ) |
October 16 | Tyler Perez | Actor ( WITS Academy ) |
October 28 | Sarah Carpenter | Actress ( Girl Meets World ) |
November 2 | Liam Obergfoll | Actress ( Talia in the Kitchen ) |
November 6 | Chelsea Zhang | Actress ( Titans , Daybreak , Andi Mack ) |
November 14 | Mason Gooding | Actor ( Love, Victor ) |
November 18 | Noah Ringer | Actor |
November 19 | Gabrielle Elyse | Actress ( Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn , The Thundermans ) |
November 21 | Grace Van Patten | Actress |
November 22 | Hailey Baldwin | American fashion model and daughter of Stephen Baldwin |
Mackenzie Lintz | Actress ( Under the Dome ) | |
Madison Davenport | Actress ( Shameless , From Dusk till Dawn: The Series ) and singer | |
December 6 | Stefanie Scott | Actress ( A.N.T. Farm ) |
December 8 | Teala Dunn | Actress ( Wonder Pets , The Naked Brothers Band , Are We There Yet? , The Thundermans ) |
December 11 | Hailee Steinfeld | Actress and singer |
Jack Griffo | Actor ( The Thundermans ) and singer | |
December 20 | Timothy McCartney | Actor |
December 21 | Kaitlyn Dever | Actress ( Justified , Last Man Standing ) |
December 29 | Dylan Minnette | Actor ( Lost , Awake , 13 Reasons Why ) |
December 30 | Raymond Cham | Actor ( Mech-X4 ) |
Date | Name | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
February 3 | Audrey Meadows | 73 | Actress (Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners ) |
February 13 | Martin Balsam | 76 | Actor (Murray on Archie Bunker's Place ) |
February 15 | McLean Stevenson | 68 | Actor (Lt. Col. Henry Blake on M*A*S*H ) |
Tommy Rettig | 54 | Child actor (Jeff on Lassie ) | |
March 4 | Minnie Pearl | 83 | Comedian |
March 5 | Whit Bissell | 86 | Character actor |
March 9 | George Burns | 100 | Comedian ( The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ) |
March 11 | Vince Edwards | 67 | Actor ( Ben Casey ) |
April 21 | Jimmy Snyder | 77 | Sports commentator ( The NFL Today ) |
May 20 | Jon Pertwee | 76 | Actor ( Third Doctor on Doctor Who ) |
June 2 | Ray Combs | 40 | Host of Family Feud |
June 5 | Vito Scotti | 78 | Character actor, Gilligan's Island |
June 16 | Mel Allen | 83 | Sports commentator |
July 21 | Herb Edelman | 62 | Actor (Stanley Zbornak on The Golden Girls ) |
August 27 | Greg Morris | 62 | Actor ( Mission: Impossible ) |
September 13 | Tupac Shakur | 25 | Actor and songwriter |
October 6 | Ted Bessell | 61 | Actor and director (Donald on That Girl ) |
October 28 | Morey Amsterdam | 87 | Actor and comedian (Buddy on The Dick Van Dyke Show ) |
October 31 | Arthur Peterson Jr. | 83 | Actor ( Soap ) |
November 13 | Alma Kitchell | 103 | Hostess ( In the Kelvinator Kitchen ) |
December 8 | Howard Rollins | 46 | Actor (Tibbs on In the Heat of the Night ) |
December 12 | Larry Gates | 81 | Soap opera actor ( Guiding Light ) |
December 14 | Edward K. Milkis | 65 | Producer |
In American television in 1994, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and re-brandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
WEWS-TV is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of three stations that have been built and signed on by Scripps. WEWS-TV's studios are located on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, and its transmitter is located in suburban Parma.
In American television during 2004 notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brands sold. Its headquarters were located in San Jose, California.
WOIO is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Lorain-licensed CW affiliate WUAB, the latter station transmitting over WOIO's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement. WOIO, WUAB and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WOIO and WUAB sharing transmitter facilities in suburban Parma.
WUAB is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Shaker Heights–licensed CBS affiliate WOIO, the latter station whose full-power spectrum WUAB transmits over via a channel sharing agreement. WUAB, WOIO and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WUAB and WOIO sharing transmitter facilities in suburban Parma.
WVIZ is a PBS member television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Ideastream Public Media alongside classical music station WCLV and co-managed with Kent State University–owned WKSU, the NPR member for both Cleveland and Akron. The three stations share studio facilities at the Idea Center on Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland; WVIZ's transmitter is located in suburban Parma, Ohio.
WHK is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, carrying a talk format known as "AM 1420 The Answer". Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region as an affiliate for the Salem Radio Network. WHK's studios are currently located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while the transmitter site resides in neighboring Seven Hills.
WVPX-TV is a television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, it is jointly operated with Canton-licensed Grit affiliate WDLI-TV, which transmits using WVPX-TV's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement.
WQHS-DT is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language networks Univision and UniMás. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, it is the only full-power Spanish-language television station in the state of Ohio. WQHS-DT's studios and transmitter are located on West Ridgewood Drive in suburban Parma.
WKBF-TV was a television station that broadcast on channel 61 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, from January 1968 to April 1975. Owned and operated by Kaiser Broadcasting as one of an eventual group of six stations, it was the first ultra high frequency (UHF) independent station to serve northeast Ohio and the last outlet constructed by the Kaiser chain during the 1960s to begin operations. Despite airing several high-profile local programs, Kaiser's efforts to establish itself in Cleveland never took root because of the establishment of a second independent outlet, WUAB, later that same year, as well as general stagnation in the Cleveland market. In April 1975, Kaiser shut WKBF-TV down and sold its programming inventory to WUAB in exchange for a minority stake in that station.
WTAM is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and carries a news/talk and sports radio format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WTAM is also Northeast Ohio's primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System.
WKSU is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Kent, Ohio, featuring a public radio format. Owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media, WKSU's primary signal encompasses the Akron metro area, Greater Cleveland and much of Northeast Ohio as the regional affiliate for National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service. The station's reach is extended into the Canton, Mansfield, Lorain, Ashtabula, Sandusky, New Philadelphia and Wooster areas via a network of five full-power repeaters, two low-power translators, and one on-channel booster.
WHKW is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, featuring a Christian radio format. Owned by Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region. WHKW's studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while its transmitter site is in neighboring Broadview Heights.
WARF is a commercial radio station licensed to Akron, Ohio, known as "Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler" and carrying a sports format. Owned by iHeartMedia, WARF serves the Greater Cleveland and Akron metro areas as an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio and VSiN. The station also carries play-by-play of the Cleveland Monsters and Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball, and Spanish broadcasts of Cleveland Guardians home games.
WRLM is a religious television station licensed to Canton, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland–Akron television market. The station is owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). Through a channel sharing agreement with PBS member station WEAO, the two stations transmit using WEAO's spectrum from an antenna in Copley, Ohio.
Between 1994 and 1996, a wide-ranging realignment of television network affiliations took place in the United States as the result of a multimillion-dollar deal between the Fox Broadcasting Company and New World Communications, announced on May 23, 1994. Unprecedented in the broadcast industry, the deal resulted in twelve stations owned by, or in the process of being purchased by New World, switching network affiliations to Fox over the course of a two-year period when existing contracts expired. These stations were long-standing affiliates of the traditional "Big Three" television networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC, in some of the country's largest markets, with the majority having been aligned with CBS individually for over 40 years.
WAKR (1590 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Akron, Ohio, and known as "Soft Hits 93.5 FM". Locally owned and operated by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station primarily services the Akron metropolitan area, including both Summit County and Portage County.