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1970 in American television

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List of years in American television:
1969–70 United States network television schedule
1970–71 United States network television schedule
List of American television programs currently in production

This is a list of American television-related events in 1970.

Events

Date Event Ref.
January 19 CBS launches Operation 100, a plan to beat NBC’s ratings in the last 100 days of the 1969-70 television season. This plan was accompanied with the slogan, “The man can’t bust our network.”
March 7 The “Eclipse of the Century,” which occurred on the East Coast of the United States, is covered by the news departments of all three American networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). [1]
March 16 The FCC closes the “Miami channel 10” case as the station becomes WPLG.
July 31 Chet Huntley anchors his final newscast with David Brinkley and retires, bringing down the curtain on a 14-year career at NBC News and, thus, as chief anchor of The Huntley-Brinkley Report. The next Monday, August 3, the program is renamed NBC Nightly News, its current title as of 2022.
August 2 NBC expands full-service newscasts to seven nights a week with NBC Sunday News; it replaces The Frank McGee Report.
September 5 The Banana Splits Adventure Hour airs on NBC for the last time, airing the same Christmas Special, which was previously shown on December 13, the previous year. Freeform aired it again on New Year's Eve in 2016.
October 5 The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) goes on the air for the first time as the replacement for its predecessor National Educational Television (NET). Most NET member stations joined PBS upon the latter’s sign-on.

Television programs

Debuts

Date Debut Network
January 5 All My Children ABC
January 30 The Tim Conway Show CBS
February 17 McCloud NBC
March 30 A World Apart ABC
The Best of Everything
Somerset NBC
September 12 Josie and the Pussycats CBS
September 17 The Flip Wilson Show NBC
Nancy
September 19 The Mary Tyler Moore Show CBS
September 20 The Tim Conway Comedy Hour
September 21 NFL Monday Night Football ABC
September 24 Barefoot in the Park
The Odd Couple
September 25 The Partridge Family

Ending this year

Date Program Network First aired Status Notes/References
April 3 The Flying Nun ABC 1967 Ended
Here Come the Brides 1968 Canceled
April 4 Petticoat Junction CBS 1963 Ended
April 16 Dragnet NBC January 12, 1967
May 7 Daniel Boone NBC 1964 Ended
May 15 Get Smart 1965 Ended
May 26 I Dream of Jeannie
June 14 Spider-Man ABC 1967 Ended
June 19 The Tim Conway Show CBS 1970 Ended
October 31 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! CBS 1969 Canceled Returned in 1978 as The Scooby-Doo Show on ABC
December 13 The Tim Conway Comedy Hour CBS 1970 Ended
December 19 H.R. Pufnstuf NBC 1969 Canceled The show remained on the NBC Saturday morning schedule in reruns until August 1972.

Networks and services

Network launches

Network Type Launch date Notes Source
PBS Over-the-air public television October 5 PBS was launched to replace the National Educational Television service. Most NET member stations signed up to become PBS member stations upon the network’s launch.

Network closures

End date Network Type First air date Notes/references
October 5 National Educational Television Over-the-air public television May 16, 1954

Television stations

Sign-ons

Date City of License/Market Station Channel Affiliation Notes/Ref.
January 1 Hagerstown, Maryland WHAG-TV 25 NBC Now an independent station
Marlborough, New Hampshire
(Boston, Massachusetts) 		WSMW-TV 27 Independent
January 5 Wichita, Kansas KPTS 8 NET Became a PBS member station on October 5.
February 1 Jackson, Mississippi WMAA-TV 29 NET Flagship of Mississippi ETV; became a PBS member station on October 5.
February 8 Iowa City/Cedar Rapids, Iowa KIIN 12 NET Part of Iowa Public Television; became a PBS member station on October 5.
February 15 College Station/Bryan, Texas KAMU 12 NET Became a PBS member station on October 5.
February 24 Bend, Oregon KVDO-TV 3 Independent
February 28 Utica, New York WUTR 20 ABC
March 4 Chattanooga, Tennessee WTCI 45 NET Became a PBS member on October 5.
March 5 Evansville, Indiana WNIN 9 NET
March 7 La Crosse, Wisconsin WXOW 19 ABC
April 5 Chicago, Illinois WSNS-TV 44 Independent
May Salina, Kansas K06LZ 6 NBC Originally a low-power translator of KSNW/Wichita
May 2 Flagstaff, Arizona KOAI-TV 2 NBC
May 12 Butte, Montana KTVM 6 NBC
June 1 Dubuque, Iowa KDUB-TV 40 ABC
July 18 Savannah, Georgia WJCL-TV 22 ABC
August 1 Pierre, South Dakota KTSD-TV 10 NET Part of South Dakota Public Broadcasting; became a PBS member station on October 5.
August 7 Dothan, Alabama WDHN-TV 18 ABC
August 10 Kansas City, Missouri KBMA-TV 41 Independent now an NBC affiliate
August 31 Louisville, Kentucky WKMJ-TV 68 NET Satellite of WKLE/Lexington, Kentucky as part of the Kentucky Educational Television network; became a PBS member on October 5.
September 13 Demopolis, Alabama WIIQ 41 NET Part of the Alabama Public Television network; became a PBS member three weeks later.
September 21 Yakima, Washington KAPP 35 ABC
October 3 Jackson, Mississippi WAPT 16 ABC
October 4 Indianapolis, Indiana WFYI 20 NET Became a PBS member station the day after its inaugural sign-on.
October 29 Columbus, Georgia (Auburn, Alabama) WYEA-TV 38 NBC
Kennewick, Washington KVEW 42 ABC Semi-satellite of KAPP/Yakima
October 30 Hagåtña, Guam (Agana) KGTF 12 PBS
November 1 Grandview/Bluefield/Beckley, West Virginia WSWP 9 PBS Part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network
November 23 Belton, Texas KNCT 46 PBS
December 21 Buffalo, New York WUTV 29 Independent Now a Fox network affiliate.
Unknown date Missoula, Montana KPAX-TV 8 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
New York City W53AA 53 CBS Low-powered translator of WCBS-TV; now Azteca America affiliate WKOB-LD on channel 42
Port Jervis, New York W64AA 64 Independent Low-powered translator of WNEW; now Estrella TV affiliate WASA-LD on channel 24
New York City W73AP 73 Independent Low-powered translator of WPIX; now First Nations Experience affiliate WNDT-CD on channel 14

Network affiliation changes

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Old affiliation New affiliation Notes/Ref.
January 1 Paterson, New Jersey
(New York City, New York) 		WXTV 41 Bilingual independent Spanish International Network
February 1 El Centro, California
(Yuma, Arizona) 		KECY-TV 9 ABC CBS Change occurred due to the shutdown of previous NBC affiliate KIVA.
Yuma, Arizona KBLU-TV 13 CBS NBC
May 31 Birmingham, Alabama WAPI-TV 13 ABC (primary)
CBS (secondary) 		NBC (exclusive)
Anniston, Alabama WHMA 40 CBS (primary)
NBC (secondary) 		CBS (exclusive)
Birmingham, Alabama WBMG 42
Tuscaloosa, Alabama WCFT-TV 33 Independent CBS
September 13 Rapid City, South Dakota KOTA-TV 23 CBS ABC and NBC (joint primary)
KRSD-TV 3 NBC CBS
October 3 Jackson, Mississippi WLBT 3 NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary) 		NBC (exclusive)
Unknown date Anchorage, Alaska KHAR-TV 13 Independent NBC
KTVA 11 CBS (primary)
NBC (secondary) 		CBS (exclusive)
Kalispell, Montana KCFW 9 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary) 		NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)
Missoula, Montana KECI-TV 13
Miles City-Billings, Montana KYUS-TV 3 Independent NBC
Pasco, Washington KEPR 19 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary) 		CBS (exclusive) Semi-satellite of KIMA/Yakima
Richland, Washington KNDU 25 ABC (primary)
NBC (secondary) 		NBC (exclusive) Semi-satellite of KNDO/Yakima
Yakima, Washington KIMA 29 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary) 		CBS (exclusive)
KNDO 23 ABC (primary)
NBC (secondary) 		NBC (exclusive)
Hazard, Kentucky WKYH-TV 57 Independent NBC [2]

Station closures

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation Sign-on date Notes
January 31 Yuma, Arizona KIVA 11 NBC October 8, 1953
February 6 Fort Lauderdale, Florida WSMS-TV 51 Independent December 6, 1968 Returned to air February 14, 1972, as WKID
February 23 St. Petersburg, Florida WSUN-TV 38 Independent May 5, 1953
March 18 Nacogdoches, Texas KAEC-TV 19 CBS July 30, 1969
June Manchester, New Hampshire WXPO-TV 50 Independent November 6, 1969
July 26 Greensboro, North Carolina WUBC 48 Independent November 6, 1967
September 1 Richardson, Texas KRET-TV 23 Educational independent February 29, 1960

Births

Main article: 1970 in television § Births

Deaths

Main article: 1970 in television § Deaths

See also

References

  1. ^ ABC NEWS 3:40 – March 7, 1970: Total Solar Eclipse The region near Nejapa, Mexico, is first to experience total darkness in midday.
  2. ^ Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State (PDF). ISBN 9781879688933 – via World Radio History.
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