1960 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1960.

Events

Date Event Ref.
February 10 Jack Paar temporarily quit his television program because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three-minute news update. Parr walked out to the audience at the beginning of the show, announced that he was quitting, said "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and then walked off the stage. After network executives apologized personally, Parr resumed hosting the program a month later. His first show back started with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted..." [1][2]
February 18–28 On an exclusive basis for $60,000, CBS broadcasts coverage of the 1960 Winter Olympics from Squaw Valley, in Placer County, California, making these games the first Winter Olympics to be broadcast in the U.S. Hosted by future CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite, the coverage provided 31 hours of coverage over 11 days, including a healthy mix of alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and ski jumping. [3][4]
March 2 Lucille Ball files for divorce from husband Desi Arnaz, ending a 20-year marriage, and the I Love Lucy franchise on CBS. The final installment of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour would air almost a month later.
August 25-September 11 CBS broadcasts the 1960 Summer Olympics from Rome, Italy, hosted by a young Jim McKay, who would later host ABC's coverage of the 1964 Winter Olympics. These were the first Summer Olympics to be broadcast in the U.S. or any country in North America. [3][4]
September 24 After thirteen seasons of entertaining American children, the NBC children's show Howdy Doody ends. Clarabell the Clown says the final two words of the show ("Goodbye Kids"), after being assumed to only be mute throughout the show's run.
September 26 1960 United States presidential debates. American presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live by television. The candidates' behavior and/or appearance during the debate may have altered the outcome of the election. In addition to being the first presidential debates to be televised, the debates also marked the first time "split screen" images were used by a network.
December 31 Norma Zimmer officially becomes Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Also occurring in 1960

Television programs

Debuts

Date Debut Network Notes
January 1[5] The Deputy Dawg Show CBS
January 9 Home Run Derby First-run syndication
January 25 The Kate Smith Show CBS
February 7 Overland Trail NBC
June 8 Happy NBC
Tate
June 20[6][7][8] The Bozo Show WGN-TV
September 17 Checkmate CBS
September 18 The Tab Hunter Show NBC
September 23 Dan Raven NBC
September 27 The Tom Ewell Show CBS
September 29 My Three Sons ABC
Outlaws NBC
September 30 The Flintstones ABC
October 1 Popeye the Sailor NBC
The Shari Lewis Show
October 3 The Andy Griffith Show CBS [9]
October 4 Stagecoach West ABC
October 5 My Sister Eileen CBS
October 7 Route 66 CBS
October 10 Bringing Up Buddy CBS
Klondike NBC
October 11 The Bugs Bunny Show ABC
October 12 Peter Loves Mary NBC

Ending this year

Date Show Network Debut Notes
January 25 Love and Marriage NBC September 21, 1959
April 1 The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour CBS November 6, 1957
The Troubleshooters NBC September 11, 1959
June 10 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse CBS June 10, 1960
June 11 The Man and the Challenge NBC September 12, 1959
July 2 Home Run Derby First-run syndication January 9, 1960
September 7 Men Into Space CBS September 30, 1959
September 14 Tate NBC June 8, 1960
September 15 Markham CBS May 2, 1959
September 24 Howdy Doody December 27, 1947
Jubilee USA ABC January 22, 1955
Unknown date This Man Dawson First-run syndication 1959

Television stations

Station launches

Date Market Station Channel Affiliation Notes/References
January Lead, South Dakota KDSJ-TV 11 CBS Satellite of KOTA-TV (now KHME) in Sioux Falls
January 30 Walla Walla, Washington KNBS-TV 22 ABC
February 29 Richardson/Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas KRET-TV 23 Educational independent
March 17 Selma/Montgomery, Alabama WSLA (original) 8 ABC
May Aguadilla, Puerto Rico WOLE-TV 12 Independent
May 15 Hilo, Hawaii KHVO 4 ABC Satellite of KULA in Honolulu
May 23 Athens/Atlanta, Georgia WGTV 8 NET Flagship of Georgia Public Broadcasting
June Weston/Clarksburg, West Virginia WDTV 5 ABC Returned to the air after a five-year hiatus after broadcasting on UHF channel 35 as primary ABC/secondary NBC and DuMont affiliate WJPB-TV.
June 12 Mitchell/Sioux Falls, South Dakota KORN-TV 5 NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)
June 17 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania WPCA-TV 17 Independent
July 31 Sioux Falls, South Dakota KSOO-TV 13 NBC
September 14 Dallas, Texas KERA 13 NET
September 20 Tallahassee, Florida WFSU-TV 11 NET
October 1 Coos Bay, Oregon KCBY-TV 11 NBC (primary)
ABC/CBS (secondary)
October 5 Mankato, Minnesota KEYC-TV 12 NBC
October 10 Toledo, Ohio WGTE 30 NET
October 19 Ogden, Utah KWCS-TV 18 Educational independent
November 7 Pembina, North Dakota
(Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
KCND-TV 12 Independent (primary)
ABC/NBC (secondary)
November 15 Youngstown, Ohio WXTV 45 Independent
November 23 Fort Pierce, Florida WTVI 19 CBS
December 1 Ogden, Utah KVOG-TV 9 NTA Film Network
December 19 Eugene, Oregon KEZI-TV 9 ABC (primary)
CBS (secondary)
Unknown date Caguas, Puerto Rico WKBM-TV 11 Independent

Network affiliation changes

Date Market Station Channel Old affiliation New affiliation References
March 17 Montgomery, Alabama WCOV-TV 20 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive) Secondary ABC affiliations were lost when WSLA signed on the air to become a full-time ABC affiliate.
WSFA-TV 12 NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)
NBC (exclusive)
December 19 Eugene, Oregon
Coos Bay, Oregon
Roseburg, Oregon
KVAL-TV
KCBY-TV
KPIC
13
11
19
NBC (primary)
ABC/CBS (secondary)
NBC (exclusive) Lost CBS and ABC upon the launch of KEZI
Unknown date Columbus, Georgia WRBL 3 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
CBS (primary)
NBC (secondary)
Switch occurred on same day WRBL moved from channel 4 to 3, and WTVM moved from UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9.
WTVM 9 NBC (primary)
ABC/NTA (secondary)
ABC (primary)
NBC/NTA (secondary)
Hannibal, Missouri
(Quincy, Illinois)
KHQA-TV 7 CBS (exclusive) CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
Kalamazoo, Michigan
(Grand Rapids/Battle Creek, Michigan)
WKZO-TV 3 CBS (primary)
ABC/NBC (secondary)
CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
WKZO previously cleared NBC programs not picked up by existing NBC affiliate WOOD-TV until WKZO expanded its signal coverage. This allowed WOOD-TV and WKZO-TV to become full-time affiliates of their respective networks, but they both shared ABC until WZZM's 1962 sign-on.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin WXIX-TV 18 Independent Independent (primary)
ABC/CBS/NBC (secondary)
From 1960 to 1981, WVTV aired network programs rejected by all three of the primary network affiliates in the Milwaukee area. This is not to be confused with today's WXIX-TV in Newport, Kentucky.
Pueblo, Colorado KRDO-TV 13 NBC ABC Became a full-time ABC affiliate after the Pueblo television market merged with that of Colorado Springs.
Richmond, Virginia WWBT 12 CBS ABC
WTVR-TV 6 ABC CBS
Salt Lake City, Utah KCPX-TV 4 ABC NBC
KUTV 2 NBC ABC
Tacoma/Seattle, Washington KTNT-TV 11 Independent CBS
San Jose/Salinas/Monterey, California KNTV 11 Independent ABC
San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria/Santa Barbara, California KSBY-TV 6 NBC (primary)
ABC and CBS (secondary)
NBC (primary)
CBS (secondary)
Shreveport, Louisiana KSLA 12 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)
KTBS-TV 3 NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)
ABC (exclusive)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Florence, South Dakota
Reliance/Pierre, South Dakota
KELO-TV
KDLO-TV
KPLO-TV
11
3
6
NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)
CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
Lost the NBC affiliation upon the sign on of KSOO-TV
Texarkana, Texas/Arkansas
Shreveport, Louisiana
KCMC-TV 6 CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)
CBS (exclusive)

Station closures

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation First air date Notes/Ref.
March 13 Provo, Utah KLOR-TV 11 Independent December 17, 1958
March 21 Sacramento, California KVUE 40 Independent November 1, 1959
March 24 Nampa, Idaho (Boise, Idaho) KCIX-TV 6 Independent November 9, 1958
December 8 Bridgeport, Connecticut WICC-TV 43 ABC March 29, 1953
December 14 Walla Walla, Washington KNBS-TV 22 ABC January 30, 1960

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. "Jack Paar's Water Closet Joke". Censorship & Scandals. TV ACRES. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  2. "Paar Quits TV in Censorship Row". Los Angeles Evening Mirror News, February 13, 1960, p. 1.
  3. Spence, Jim (November 20, 1988). "Are Olympic TV Rights Worth the Price?". The New York Times.
  4. "Olympics and Television - Museum of Broadcast Communications". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  5. Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A–Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1903111277.
  6. "Bozo Timeline-1960s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  7. "Bob Bell,75". The Vindicator. 9 December 1997. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  8. "Bob Bell, Clown". The Albany Herald. 10 December 1997. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  9. "The Andy Griffith Show - American television program". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
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