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This page indexes the individual year in television pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.
2000s - 1990s - 1980s - 1970s - 1960s - 1950s - 1940s - 1930s - 1920s - 1900s
- 1999 in television - The Sopranos (HBO), Family Guy and Futurama (FOX), The West Wing (NBC) premiere. Gay Byrne retires from RTÉ's The Late Late Show. The Walking with Dinosaurs documentary airs on BBC One. In the Netherlands, the original Big Brother premieres on Veronica. Bhutan becomes the final country in the world to start television transmissions.
- 1998 in television - The Seinfeld finale reaches 76.3 million Americans. Long-running series debuts include Sex and the City, Will & Grace, Charmed, That '70s Show and, in the UK, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is a massive hit.
- 1997 in television - Ellen DeGeneres and her sitcom character, both come out of the closet; parental advisories debuted on the show. Adult-targeted animated series become accepted, with the debuts of King of the Hill and South Park. Stargate SG-1, the longest-running sci-fi show in U.S. history, premiers. Channel 5 launches in the UK.
- 1996 in television - Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the US, The 'last ever' episode of Only Fools and Horses is watched by 24.35 million Britons.
- 1995 in television - The O.J. Simpson trial disturbs daytime television for nine months. The WB and UPN networks are launched. Britain's Come Dancing ends after 46 years.
- 1994 in television - Friends and ER premiere on NBC. NFL on FOX debutes, The National Lottery Live premieres on BBC One in the UK and gets 20.17 million viewers.
- 1993 in television - The X-Files debuts on the Fox Network. Carlton Television takes over the London Weekday ITV franchise from Thames Television. The Cheers finale reaches 80.4 million US viewers. Beavis and Butt-head begins airing on MTV, about two dimwitted teenage boys and their mischief. David Letterman moves from NBC to CBS; Conan O'Brien debuts on NBC, and takes his place. The Power Rangers, a long running children's program, debut on FOX.
- 1992 in television - After 30 years on the air, Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and is replaced by Jay Leno. Absolutely Fabulous premieres on BBC One.
- 1991 in television - First television sets with built-in closed-caption display are introduced in the US. Cigar and pipe tobacco adverts are banned from UK television. The last episode of Dallas airs on CBS.
- 1990 in television - David Lynch's Twin Peaks airs.Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-2000), British Satellite Broadcasting launches in the UK, and merges with Sky Television, becoming British Sky Broadcasting.
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- 1989 in television - The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Fast Forward, Family Matters, and Acropolis Now premiere. Sky Television (now BSkyB) launches in the UK. Doctor Who ends in the UK after a 26 year run, but the series was to return in 2005.
- 1988 in television - Roseanne and The Comedy Company premiere. Death on the Rock aires on ITV in the UK.
- 1987 in television - Married... with Children and Full House premiere, as does Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning a run of Star Trek series that would continue until 2005. ITV launches a full daytime schedule as schools programmes move from that channel to Channel 4.
- 1986 in television - The FOX Broadcasting Company becomes the United States' fourth commercial television network. Casualty premieres on BBC1 in the UK. Search for Tomorrow ends a 35-year run on daytime.
- 1985 in television - Sábado Gigante moves from Santiago, Chile to Miami, Florida; The Golden Girls debuts on NBC. Discovery Channel signs on. The Oprah Winfrey Show debuts. EastEnders premieres on BBC1 in the UK.
- 1984 in television - The Cosby Show debuts on NBC. The last episode of The Edge of Night airs on ABC. Mother And Son + The Gillies Report, premiere. The Bill and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends premiere on ITV in the UK.
- 1983 in television - 125 million Americans tune in to watch the final episode of M*A*S*H. Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings become sole anchors of nightly newscasts on NBC and ABC, respectively. The UK's first country-wide breakfast television service launches, Breakfast Time on BBC1. Mini-series The Dismissal + Return To Eden premiere in Australia.
- 1982 in television - Cheers, Family Ties and Late Night with David Letterman debut on NBC, while Channel 4 and S4C launch in Britain.
- 1981 in television - MTV debuts on Cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day; Hill Street Blues and Dynasty premiere. The unlikely marriage of Luke and Laura Spencer becomes the highest rated hour in soap opera history. The finale of To the Manor Born reaches nearly 24 million viewers in the UK. Dan Rather replaces the retiring Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News.
- 1980 in television - A cliffhanger on Dallas asked "Who shot J.R.?", and it is the current 3rd most watched series episode in American television. Cable News Network is launched. Kingswood Country premiers. SBS (Special Broadcasting Service)is launched.The first Children in Need telethon is broadcast on BBC1 in the UK.
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- 1969 in television - Live coverage of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk is viewed by 600 million people around the world. Sesame Street debuts on the PBS precursor NET; Monty Python's Flying Circus (BBC1 in the UK) and The Brady Bunch (ABC in the US) also debut.
- 1968 in television - First live network transmission of video from inside a manned U.S. space capsule in orbit. 60 Minutes (CBS), One Life to Live (ABC) and Laugh-In (NBC) debut, as does Dad's Army on BBC1 in the UK.
- 1967 in television - PAL and SECAM colour standards introduced in Europe, with the UK's BBC2 the first in that continent to transmit in color. In the USA, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Carol Burnett Show premiere on CBS, while the NFL and AFL stage Super Bowl I on CBS and NBC.
- 1966 in television - Canadian television stations broadcast in color for the first time, while color is now the standard in all US television. Star Trek premieres on NBC. Cathy Come Home is broadcast on BBC1. Patrick Troughton replaces William Hartnell as lead on Doctor Who
- 1965 in television - Green Acres premieres on CBS, as does Days of Our Lives on NBC, and Tomorrow's World on BBC1.
- 1964 in television - The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, breaking television ratings records; Top of the Pops premieres on BBC1. BBC2 is launched. Jeopardy! and Another World premiere on NBC.
- 1963 in television - Doctor Who premieres in the UK with William Hartnell in the title role. The Doctors (NBC) and General Hospital (ABC) premiere on the same day.
- 1962 in television - Walter Cronkite becomes the anchorman of the CBS Evening News; Johnny Carson takes over the NBC Tonight Show. Z-Cars and The Saint premiere in the UK.
- 1961 in television - The Dick Van Dyke Show premieres on CBS, as does The Avengers on ITV in the UK.
- 1960 in television - American Presidential Candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live on television. The Flintstones is the first US cartoon created for adults in primetime on ABC (in the United States). The long-running UK soap Coronation Street debuts on ITV.
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- 1959 in television - The science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit smashes recent BBC viewing records as it reaches its conclusion with over 11 million viewers. Ampex introduces their design for a color Video Tape Recorder. Concentration begins a 20-year run.
- 1958 in television - The Quiz show scandals wipe out the hugely successful US shows The $64,000 Question and Twenty One. In Canada, the CBC begins nationwide TV service. Blue Peter and Grandstand premiere on the BBC in the UK.
- 1957 in television - Cinderella, the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television, airs once on CBS to an audience of 107 million people, making it the most-watched broadcast ever on U.S. television. Later that year, Jack Paar becomes the permanent host for NBC's Tonight Show and Dick Clark's American Bandstand debuts nationally, lasting until 1989. The Sky at Night premieres on the BBC. In Australia, future "King of Television" Graham Kennedy debuts on In Melbourne Tonight.
- 1956 in television Television transmission begins in Australia. - Black-and-white portable TV sets hit the market.Elvis Presley appears on the Ed Sullivan Show and due to controversy can only be filmed from the waist up. The classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz airs on TV for the first time in the U.S.. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley begin a 14-year partnership on the NBC evening news. As the World Turns premieres on CBS. DuMont Television Network ceases operations. Hancock's Half Hour premieres on the BBC, and What the Papers Say on ITV.
- 1955 in television - The Honeymooners and Gunsmoke premiere. Commercial television starts in the United Kingdom with the slow roll-out of the ITV network.
- 1954 in television - NTSC video standard introduced. The Tonight Show begins on NBC network with Steve Allen; Disneyland begins on ABC. The controversial adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four is broadcast on the BBC.
- 1953 in television - The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is seen by approximately 20 million TV viewers in the United Kingdom. TV Guide is published for the first time.
- 1952 in television - The first political advertisements appear on U.S. television. The Guiding Light moves to TV after 15 years on radio. NBC launches Today. Television broadcasting begins in Canada. TV Broadcasting begins in the Dominican Republic. The Flowerpot Men premieres on the BBC. Hockey Night in Canada debuts on television after 29 years on radio; it becomes the world's longest-running sports broadcast.
- 1951 in television - Television transmission begins in Argentina - I Love Lucy debuts on CBS. The first long-running soap operas, Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life, also debut on CBS (they last until 1986 and 1980, respectively). The UK version of What's My Line? premieres on the BBC.
- 1950 in television - What's My Line? debuts on CBS, beginning a 25 year run. Television broadcasting begins in Mexico. The FCC approves CBS's color TV system. Andy Pandy premieres on the BBC.
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- 1939 in television - The BBC suspends its television service owing to the outbreak of World War II. The first major league baseball game is televised. Broadcasts from 1939 New York World's Fair.
- 1938 in television - DuMont manufactures and sells the first all electronic television sets to the public. Baird gives the first public demonstration of color projection television. The BBC broadcasts the world's first ever television science fiction (R.U.R.), and television crime series (Telecrime).
- 1937 in television - The BBC Television Service broadcasts the world's first televised Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night.January 4th, beginning of daily schedule on French television Paris PTT.
- 1936 in television - The BBC starts a regular high-definition (over 200 lines) television service in the UK, the first of its kind in the world.
- 1935 in television - First TV broadcasts in Germany. The final transmissions of John Logie Baird's 30-line television system are broadcast by the BBC. First TV broadcasts in France on February 13th on Paris PTT Vision.
- 1934 in television - Philo Farnsworth demonstrates a non-mechanical television system. The agreement for joint experimental transmissions by the BBC and John Logie Baird's company are comes to an end.
- 1933 in television - The first television revue, Looking In, is broadcast on the BBC.
- 1932 in television - The BBC starts a regular public television broadcasting service in the UK.
- 1931 in television - Allen B. DuMont perfects long-lasting reliable cathode-ray tubes later used for television reception. Canada's first television station, VE9EC, begins broadcasting in Montreal.
- 1930 in television - Baird installs a television at 10 Downing Street, London, the British Prime Minister's residence. On July 14, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and his family use it to watch the first ever British television drama, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth
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