1955 in American television
This is a list of American television-related events in 1955.
| List of years in American television: |
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| 1954–55 United States network television schedule |
| 1955–56 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television programs currently in production |
Events
| Date | Event | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| March 5 | Elvis Presley makes his first television performance on Louisiana Hayride, a program shown locally on KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana. | |
| March 15 | Andy Griffith stars in his television debut in the play No Time for Sergeants, broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company in The United States Steel Hour series. | |
| April 1 | The DuMont Television Network drastically decreases its programming; just eight series to keep the network operating, in anticipation of its eventual shutdown sixteen months later. | |
| May 9 | Harpo Marx makes a memorable appearance on I Love Lucy. | |
| Jim Henson's puppet show Sam and Friends first airs on NBC O&O station WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. | ||
| June 7 | The quiz show craze begins with the premiere of The 64,000 Dollar Question. The series spawns many imitations, including Twenty-One the next year. | |
| September 28 | World Series baseball is broadcast in color for the first time in the U.S., with WITN-TV in Washington, North Carolina signing on the air with the first game of the 1955 World Series as their first telecast. | [1] |
Television programs
Debuts
| Date | Debut | Network |
|---|---|---|
| January 2 | The Bob Cummings Show (also known as Love That Bob) | NBC[2] |
| January 3 | Hollywood Today | NBC |
| January 5 | Norby | |
| January 22 | Ozark Jubilee | ABC |
| February 27 | Key to the Ages | Dumont |
| April | Paul Dixon Show | WLWT |
| April 9 | Science Fiction Theater | Syndication |
| May 3 | Have a Heart | Dumont |
| May 9 | Sam and Friends | WRC-TV |
| June 3 | It's Alec Templeton Time | Dumont |
| June 25 | The Soldiers | NBC |
| June 28 | Talent Varieties | ABC |
| July 2 | The Lawrence Welk Show | |
| July 20 | Frankie Laine Time | CBS |
| September 10 | Gunsmoke | CBS |
| It's Always Jan | ||
| September 12 | Medical Horizons | ABC |
| September 14 | Hollywood Preview | Dumont |
| September 20 | Cheyenne | ABC |
| Joe and Mabel | CBS | |
| September 26 | Jungle Jim | Syndication |
| September 28 | Brave Eagle | CBS |
| September 29 | Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | |
| October 1 | The Honeymooners | |
| October 2 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | |
| October 3 | Captain Kangaroo | |
| Mickey Mouse Club | ABC | |
| October 20 | Wanted | CBS |
| October 31 | Matinee Theatre | NBC |
Changing network affiliation
| Program | Moving from | Moving to |
|---|---|---|
| Life Is Worth Living | DuMont | ABC |
Ending this year
| Date | Program | Network | First aired | Status | Notes/References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 11 | The Jack Carson Show | NBC | October 22, 1954 | Ended | |
| Stories of the Century | Syndication | 1954 | Canceled | ||
| April 6 | Norby | NBC | January 5, 1955 | Canceled | |
| April 7 | The Ernie Kovacs Show | DuMont | December 30, 1952 (on NBC) | ||
| April 8 | Dear Phoebe | NBC | September 1954 | Canceled | |
| April 22 | Where's Raymond? | ABC | October 1953 | Canceled | |
| June 16 | Willy | CBS | September 1954 | Canceled | |
| June 23 | The Public Defender | First-run syndication | 1954 | Ended | |
| June 25 | The Imogene Coca Show | 1954 | Canceled | ||
| June 26 | The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | ABC | 1953 | Canceled | |
| July 1 | Hawkins Falls | NBC | June 17, 1950 | Ended | |
| July 15 | Flash Gordon | DuMont/Syndication | October 15, 1954 | Canceled | |
| July 26 | Who Said That? | NBC | December 9, 1948 | Ended | |
| August 24 | My Little Margie | June 16, 1952 (on CBS) | Canceled | ||
| September 1 | Life with Elizabeth | Syndication | October 7, 1953 | Canceled | |
| September 3 | The Soldiers | NBC | June 25, 1955 | Ended | |
| September 17 | Musical Chairs | NBC | July 9, 1955 | Canceled | |
| September | Frankie Laine Time | CBS | July 20 | Canceled | Returned for a short run in Summer 1956 |
| November 1 | Talent Varieties | ABC | June 28, 1955 | Ended | |
| Unknown | The Jo Stafford Show | CBS | 1954 | Canceled | |
| That's My Boy | |||||
| Time for Beany | Paramount Television Network | February 28, 1949 | Ended | ||
Television stations
Station launches
Network affiliation changes
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 27 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WXIX-TV | 19 | ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary) |
CBS | |
| March | Wilmington, Delaware | WVUE | 12 | NBC | Independent | |
| September | Waco, Texas | KWTX-TV | 10 | Independent | ABC | |
| Unknown date | Little Rock, Arkansas | KATV | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
ABC (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Minneapolis, Minnesota | KEYD-TV | 5 | DuMont | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Mobile, Alabama | WEAR-TV | 3 | CBS | ABC | |
| Unknown date | Shreveport, Louisiana | KSLA | 12 | CBS (primary) ABC and DuMont (secondary) |
CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |
|
Station closures
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | First air date | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2 | Monterey, California | KMBY-TV | 8 | ABC/CBS/NBC/DuMont | August 17, 1953 | Shared time with KSBW-TV |
| February 4 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KMPT | 19 | Independent | November 8, 1955 | |
| February 12 | Charleston, West Virginia | WKNA-TV | 49 | ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary) |
September 17, 1953 | |
| February 26 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WCAN-TV | 25 | CBS | September 6, 1953 | |
| February 28 | Fairmont, West Virginia | WJPB-TV | 35 | ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) |
March 17, 1954 | |
| March 15 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WAYS-TV | 36 | ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) |
||
| April 1 | Asbury Park, New Jersey | WRTV | 58 | Independent | December 14, 1953 | Not to be confused with today's WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana |
| April 3 | St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota | WMIN-TV | 11 | ABC/DuMont | September 1, 1953 | Shared time with KARE (now WTCN-TV) |
| April 15 | Des Moines, Iowa | KGTV | 17 | Independent | November 14, 1953 | |
| April 30 | Stockton, California | KTVU | 36 | NBC | December 15, 1953 | |
| May 31 | Atlanta, Georgia | WQXI-TV | 36 | Independent | October 13, 1954 | |
| June 30 | Reading, Pennsylvania | WEEU-TV | 33 | NBC | April 9, 1953 | |
| July 1 | Newport News/Norfolk, Virginia | WACH-TV | 33 | Independent | October 8, 1953 | |
| July 15 | Providence, Rhode Island | WNET | 16 | ABC (primary) DuMont (Secondary) |
March 23, 1954 | |
| August 1 | Jackson, Mississippi | WSLI | 12 | ABC | March 27, 1954 | This station's operations merged with those of CBS affiliate WJTV to allow that station to move from UHF channel 25 to VHF channel 12. |
| December 15 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KTVQ | 25 | ABC | November 1, 1953 | |
| December 18 | Pensacola, Florida | WPFA-TV | 15 | DuMont | October 16, 1953 | |
Births
Deaths
References
- WITN history
- McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 497. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
External links
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