1948 in American television
| List of years in American television: |
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| 1947–48 United States network television schedule |
| 1948–49 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television programs currently in production |
This is a list of American television-related events in 1948.
Events[edit]
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| March 4 | The C. E. Hooper Company releases the first-ever American television ratings. | [1][page needed] |
| April 3 | The NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Shaw, is first telecast. In this broadcast, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played in its entirety for the first time on television, and in concert. | |
| April 18 | The American Broadcasting Company begins operations as a television network, with its New York City-based station WJZ-TV serving as network flagship. | [2][page needed] |
| May 3 | CBS Television News premieres as the first network nightly newscast, hosted by journalist Douglas Edwards. | |
| June 21 | The 1948 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania becomes the first political convention to be telecast by the networks. | |
| July 30 | The DuMont Television Network becomes the first network to televise professional wrestling in prime time. | |
| November | Screen Gems was founded as the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Corporation. | |
| November 25 | CBS broadcasts its earliest known national telecast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. | |
| November 29 | CBS telecasts the first broadcast of a roller derby match. | |
| Unknown date | Ziv Television Programs was created by Frederick Ziv as a subsidiary of the Ziv Company, in order to specialize in the production of original television programs for syndication | [3] |
Other television events in 1948[edit]
- CBS begins television network programming.
- The number of homes in the United States with a television set reaches one million.
Television programs[edit]
Debuts[edit]
| Date | Debut | Network |
|---|---|---|
| January | Camera Hadlines | Dumont Television Network |
| January | I.N.S. Telenews | |
| January 9 | Playroom | |
| January 18 | The Original Amateur Hour | |
| February 9 | Court of Current Issues | |
| February 16[4] | Camel News Caravan | NBC |
| March 4 | Stop Me If You've Heard This One | NBC |
| April 4 | Author Meets the Critics | |
| April 14 | Scoreboard | Dumont Television Network |
| April 15 | For Your Pleasure[5] | NBC |
| Hollywood Screen Test | ABC | |
| June 8[6] | Texaco Star Theater | NBC |
| June 20[7] | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS |
| August 10 | Candid Camera | ABC |
| August 11 | The Laytons | Dumont Television Network |
| August 12 | Club Seven | ABC |
| August 15 | CBS Television News | CBS |
| August 23 | Foodini the Great | CBS |
| September 6 | Champagne and Orchids | DuMont |
| September 21 | Operation Success | Dumont Television Network |
| September 26[8] | Actors Studio | ABC |
| Stained Glass Windows | unknown | |
| September 27[9] | The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre | NBC |
| October 3[10] | The Philco Television Playhouse | NBC |
| October 17 | The Ford Television Theatre | CBS |
| October 19 | Off the Record | Dumont |
| October 20 | The Growing Paynes | DuMont |
| October 22 | Break the Bank | ABC |
| November 1[11] | Okay, Mother | WABD |
| Your Television Babysitter | Dumont | |
| TV Shopper | ||
| Amanda | ||
| November 4 | The Adventures of Oky Doky | |
| Fashions on Parade | ||
| November 7 | Newsweek Views the News | Dumont |
| Studio One | CBS | |
| November 21 | Lamp Unto My Feet | CBS |
| December 6 | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts | CBS |
| December 17 | The Morey Amsterdam Show | CBS |
| December 31 | The Johns Hopkins Science Review | CBS |
| Unknown date | The Alan Dale Show | Dumont |
| The Philco Television Playhouse | NBC | |
| The Stan Shaw Show | Dumont | |
| Your School Reporter | ||
| Boxing From Jamaica Arena | ||
| Wrestling From Columbia Park Arena | ||
| Wrestling From Jamaica Arena | ||
| The Needle Shop |
Changes of network affiliation[edit]
| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
|---|---|---|
| Author Meets the Critics | NBC | ABC |
| Mary Kay and Johnny | DuMont | NBC |
Ending this year[edit]
| Date | Show | Network | Debut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 30 | In the Kelvinator Kitchen | NBC | May 21, 1947 | |
| Unknown date | The World in Your Home | December 22, 1944 |
Networks and services[edit]
Network launches[edit]
| Network | Type | Launch date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Broadcasting Company | Over-the-air broadcast | April 18 | [12] |
| CBS | May |
Television stations[edit]
Station launches[edit]
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 9 | Cincinnati, Ohio | WLWT | 5 | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
Successor to experimental station W8XCT.[13] |
| March 11 | Baltimore, Maryland | WBAL-TV | 11 | NBC | |
| April 5 | Chicago, Illinois | WGN-TV | 9 | Independent (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary) |
|
| April 19 | Salt Lake City, Utah | KDYL-TV | 4 | NBC | |
| April 22 | Richmond, Virginia | WTVR-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
[14] |
| April 27 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | KSTP-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary) |
|
| May 6 | Los Angeles, California | KTSL | 2 | DuMont | Now KCBS-TV, a CBS O&O station |
| May 14 | Buffalo, New York | WBEN-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
Now a CBS affiliate since 1949 |
| May 15 | Newark, New Jersey (New York City, New York) |
WATV | 13 | Independent | |
| May 23 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WCAU | 10 | CBS | |
| June 9 | Boston, Massachusetts | WBZ-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
[15] |
| June 15 | New Haven/Hartford, Connecticut | WTNH | 6 (now 8) |
DuMont (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| New York City | WPIX | 11 | Independent | ||
| June 21 | Boston, Massachusetts | WNAC-TV | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
Defunct May 22, 1982 |
| July 21 | Toledo, Ohio | WSPD-TV | 13 | NBC | |
| August 10 | New York City | WJZ-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| August 25 | Los Angeles, California | KFI-TV | 9 | Independent | |
| September 16 | Los Angeles, California | KECA-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| September 17 | Chicago, Illinois | WENR-TV | 7 | ABC ((O&O) | |
| Los Angeles, California | KMTR-TV | 13 | Independent | ||
| September 29 | Atlanta, Georgia | WSB-TV | 8 (now on 2) | NBC | [16] |
| Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas | WBAP-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) |
||
| October 8 | Chicago, Illinois | WNBQ | 5 | NBC | |
| October 9 | Detroit, Michigan | WXYZ-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| October 24 | Detroit, Michigan | WJBK | 2 | CBS (primary) DuMont (Secondary) |
|
| October 31 | Cleveland, Ohio | WNBK | 3 | NBC | |
| November 1 | Baltimore, Maryland | WAAM | 13 | ABC | |
| November 24 | Louisville, Kentucky | WAVE-TV | 5 (now 3) |
NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary) |
|
| November 25 | Seattle, Washington | KRSC-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary) |
|
| November 29 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KOB-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary) |
|
| December 1 | Syracuse, New York | WHEN-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) |
|
| December 11 | Memphis, Tennessee | WMCT | 4 (now 5) |
NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary) |
|
| December 18 | New Orleans, Louisiana | WDSU-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC (secondary) |
|
| December 22 | San Francisco, California | KPIX-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont/Paramount (secondary) |
Network affiliation changes[edit]
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | New Haven/Hartford, Connecticut | WNHC-TV | 6 (now 8) |
DuMont | CBS | Retains DuMont affiliation on secondary basis until 1956 |
Births[edit]
Deaths[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "TV 'Amateur Hour' Gets 46.8 Rating". Broadcasting. 1948-03-08. p. 42.
- ^ "ABC TV Network". Broadcasting. 1948-04-19.
- ^ Newcomb, Horsce (2014). "Ziv Television Programs, Inc.". Encyclopedia of Television. Routledge. pp. 2626–2627. ISBN 9781135194796. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
- ^ NBC: America's Network Michele Hilmes, Michael Lowell Henry; University of California Press, 2007 - Performing Arts - 362 pages, page 176.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (2015). Short Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. p. 5. ISBN 9781476605159. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #13".
- ^ "Ed Sullivan Biography | Ed Sullivan Show". Edsullivan.com. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
- ^ Terrace, Vincent (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2007 (Volume 1). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3305-6.
- ^ Earle Marsh, Tim Brooks (1979). "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946-present". Ballantine Books. p. 145. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Hawes, William (2001). Live Television Drama, 1946-1951. McFarland. p. 245. ISBN 9781476608495. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 320. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "ABC TV Network" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 19, 1948. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Cincinnati's T-Day Observed Feb. 15". Broadcasting. 1948-02-23.
- ^ "WTVR (TV) to Start April 22, Channel 6". Broadcasting. April 19, 1948. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
- ^ "WBZ-TV Formally Opened at Boston". Broadcasting. June 14, 1948. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
- ^ "WSB-TV in Atlanta Opening on Sept. 29". Broadcasting. September 27, 1948. Retrieved July 27, 2019.