List of years in television

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

2000s

• 2003 in television -
• 2002 in television - The Osbournes reality show premieres on cable television.
• 2001 in television - The Fairly Oddparents premiere
• 2000 in television - Survivor premieres on CBS, sparking a brief interest in "reality tv". The Lizzie McGuire Show premiere.

• 1999 in television - The Sopranos premiere on cable television
• 1998 in television - Sex and the City premiere
• 1997 in television - King of the Hill premiere
• 1996 in television - Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S..
• 1995 in television - First television program broadcast via the Internet
• 1994 in television - Friends premieres on NBC.
• 1993 in television - Beavis and Butthead begins airing on MTV
• 1992 in television - After 30 years on the air, Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show, handing the reins to Jay Leno.
• 1991 in television - First television sets with bulit-in closed-caption display are introduced in the U.S
• 1990 in television - David Lynch's Twin Peaks airs.

• 1989 in television - The Simpsons and Seinfeld premiere
• 1988 in television - Roseanne premiere
• 1987 in television - Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman, Married with Children and Full House premiere
• 1986 in television - The FOX Broadcasting Company becomes the United States' fourth commercial television network.
• 1985 in television - Sabado Gigante moves from Santiago, Chile to Miami, Florida; The Golden Girls debuts on NBC
• 1984 in television - The Cosby Show debuts on NBC
• 1983 in television - Over 125 million Americans tune in to watch the final episode of M*A*S*H
• 1982 in television - Cheers and Family Ties debut on NBC
• 1981 in television - MTV debuts on Cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day; Hill Street Blues and Dynasty premiere
• 1980 in television - "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger on Dallas

• 1979 in television - 43 million viewers watch Elvis! on ABC.
• 1978 in television - The premiere of Dallas on CBS paves the way for the return of the prime time Soap opera
• 1977 in television - South Africa has television service for the first time.
• 1976 in television - UK punk group the Sex Pistols cause controversy and outrage by swearing on national television
• 1975 in television - Saturday Night Live 's first time on TV; Sony introduces the Betamax, a home video tape recorder
• 1974 in television - Happy Days premieres on ABC
• 1973 in television - Large-screen projection color TVs hit the market
• 1972 in television - M*A*S*H premieres
• 1971 in television - All in the Family premieres
• 1970 in television - The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the Soap opera All My Children premiere

• 1969 in television - A live transmission from the moon is viewed by 600 million people around the world when Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.
• 1968 in television - First live network transmission of video from inside a manned U.S. space capsule in orbit
• 1967 in television - PAL and SECAM standards introduced in Europe. In the USA, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Carol Burnett Show premiere
• 1966 in television - Canadian television stations broadcast in color for the first time.
• 1965 in television - Green Acres premieres
• 1964 in television - The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show, breaking television ratings records
• 1963 in television - First episode of Dr Who is broadcast in the UK.
• 1962 in television - Walter Cronkite becomes the anchorman of the CBS Evening News
• 1961 in television - The Dick Van Dyke Show premieres
• 1960 in television - American Presidential Candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live on television

• 1959 in television - The quiz show scandals
• 1958 in television - Ampex demonstrates their design for a color Video Tape Recorder
• 1957 in television - Jack Paar becomes the permanent host for NBC's Tonight Show
• 1956 in television Television transmission begins in Australia. - Black-and-white portable TV sets hit the market
• 1955 in television - The Honeymooners premieres
• 1954 in television - NTSC video standard introduced. The Tonight Show begins airing on the NBC network; The long-running Disneyland begins
• 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
• 1951 in television - I Love Lucy debuts on CBS.
• 1950 in television Television broadcasting begins in Mexico. The FCC approves CBS's color TV system

• 1949 in television - The first Emmy Awards are presented
• 1948 in television - Ed Sullivan show premieres on CBS
• 1947 in television - Howdy Doody premieres on NBC First World Series is broadcast live on both the DuMont Television Network and NBC.
• 1946 in television - The BBC resumes television broadcasting after its suspension during the Second World War. RCA demonstrates all-electronic color television system. FCC issues first network license to DuMont.
• 1945 in television - DuMont begins first network broadcasts, August 9. Applies for first network license.
• 1944 in television -
• 1943 in television - The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is formed
• 1942 in television - FCC terminates all television broadcasting because of the war. DuMont petitions FCC to resume broadcasting and receives approval.
• 1941 in television - Commercial TV authorized by the FCC
• 1940 in television - The FCC holds public hearings on television.

• 1939 in television - The BBC suspends its television service owing to the outbreak of the Second World War. The first major league baseball game is televised. Broadcasts from 1939 New York World's Fair.
• 1938 in television - DuMont manufacturers and sells first all electronic television sets to the public. Baird gives the first public demonstration of colour projection television
• 1937 in television - RCA demonstrates projection television
• 1936 in television - The BBC starts a regular national television brodcasting service in the UK.
• 1935 in television - First TV broadcasts in Germany
• 1934 in television - Philo Farnsworth demonstrates a non mechanical television system
• 1933 in television - CBS suspends its television broadcasts
• 1932 in television - First televised United States Presidential election coverage
• 1931 in television - Allen B. DuMont perfects long-lasting reliable cathode-ray tubes 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

• 1929 in television - In September the Baird Television Development Company begins experimental broadcasting in association with the BBC.
• 1928 in television - Baird demonstrates a mechanical colour television system. On May 28, the first television station WGY begins broadcasting in Schenectady, New York.
• 1927 in television - Baird demonstrates the first ever system for recording television. His Phonovision system records pictures and sound on conventional 78rpm gramophone records.
• 1926 in television - On January 26 John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of mechanical television to members of the Royal Institution.
• 1925 in television - On October 2 John Logie Baird achieves transmission and remote display of the first television pictures in his laboratory.
• 1923 in television - Vladimir Zworykin patents the "Iconoscope", the first ancestor of the electric scanning television camera.

• 1908 in television - In a letter to Nature A.A. Campbell-Swinton describes the modern electronic camera and display system which others are to develop throughout the 1920s.
• 1907 in television - Boris Rosing transmits silhouette images of geometric shapes, using a Nipkow disc, mirror-drum, and a cathode-ray tube receiver.
• 1900 in television - The word television is coined by Constantin Perskyi at the International Electricity Congress in Paris.