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1949 in television

The year 1949 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1949.

Events

  • January 3: Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
  • January 11: A two-hour special on all American networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable.
  • January 20: The second inauguration of President Truman becomes the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast on television.
  • January 21: Your Show Time becomes the first filmed dramatic series on American network television.
  • January 31: The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcast on television from Los Angeles.
  • April 9: The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours. The first published appearance of the word "telethon" was in the prior day's newspapers.
  • May 30: WRTV-DT (Channel 6) signs on as WFBM-TV in Indianapolis, the first television station in the state of Indiana. Its first aired program was the documentary The Crucible of Speed, about the early history of the Indianapolis 500, followed by the inaugural live television coverage of the event.
  • August 25: RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
  • December 17: The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the English Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive BBC Television.
  • December 29: KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
  • First television broadcasts begin in Cuba.
  • For the first time, the Sears & Roebuck catalog includes televisions.

Debuts

Programs

Stations

  • January 1: KPRC-TV (Originally known as KLEE-TV) Signs on the air. They are the Second TV station in Texas, and the First in Houston. That same day, KTTV signs on in Los Angeles.
  • March 21: WTVJ signs on the air becoming the first television station in the state of Florida.
  • May 29: WVTM-TV (Originally WAFM, and later WABT and WAPI) signs on the air as the first TV station in Alabama
  • May 30: WRTV (originally WFBM-TV) signs on the air as the first TV station in Indiana
  • June 6: KFOR-TV (originally WKY-TV) signs on the air as the first TV station in Oklahoma
  • July 1 WBRC begins operations from Birmingham AL, just 1 month after WVTM started operations.
  • August 29: WOWT (originally WOW-TV) signs on the air for the first time, becoming the first television station in Nebraska, and one of the first in the Midwest.

Television shows

Programs ending during 1949

Changes of network affiliation

Births

Television debuts

References