The year 1951 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1951.
Events
- March 21 â XEW-TV began transmissions, being the second oldest in Mexico City, with the first one being XHTV.
- March 22 â RCA introduces an eight-pound (3.6 kg) monochrome television camera with a 53-pound (24 kg) backpack transmitter, both operated by batteries. It is the first portable television camera.
- May 28 â The US Supreme Court upholds the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the CBS color television system.
- May 31 â Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), as predecessor of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Televisie (NOS), a first regular television broadcasting service started in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- June 25 â CBS presents its first commercial color telecast featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
- June â RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
- August 11 â The first baseball game is televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
- September 4 â The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
- September 29
- The first live sporting event broadcast coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised by NBC.
- CBS broadcasts the first American football game in color, between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia.
- September 30 â WXIA-TV signed on the air at 5 p.m., as WLTV on channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV (channel 2) and WAGA-TV (channel 5).
- October 2
- Danish language television station, DR TV, first launched in Copenhagen. The station broadcasts for one hour a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in an initial phase.
- NTS, The first television network in the Netherlands was launched at 8:15 pm.
- October 3 â The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series baseball game.
- October 12 â The Holme Moss transmitter is initiated in Northern England, making BBC Television available to the region for the first time.
- October 17 â Television broadcasts begin in Argentina from Primera Televisora Argentina on channel 7, Buenos Aires.
- October 20 â The CBS Eye logo makes its television debut.
- November 6 â Ukrainian Television commences regular broadcasts, becoming the second SSR in the USSR to introduce television.
- November 11 â Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording using a modified Ampex tape recorder.
- November 18 â Edward R. Murrow on See It Now presents a split screen view of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. It has erroneously been referred to as the first live transcontinental telecast.
- December â TV Tupi in São Paulo (Brazil) begins broadcasting Sua Vida Me Pertence ("Your Life Belongs To Me") starring Vida Alves, pioneering the telenovela genre.
- December 24 â The first televised opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, is broadcast by NBC.
- Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television series premiere. Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.
Programs/programmes
Debuts
- January 3 âÂÂ
- January 8 - Say It with Acting, game show, on NBC.
- January 20 - Two Girls Named Smith, situation comedy, on ABC.
- March 3 â Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC (1951âÂÂ1965)
- March 12 - Miss Susan, soap opera on NBC (1951)
- June 2 - The daytime version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
- June 16 â Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, variety show, with Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, on CBS
- July 1 - G. E. Guest House debuts on CBS.
- July 6 â Front Page Detective debuts on Dumont.
- July 14 - Assignment Manhunt debuts on NBC.
- July 16 â A British version of the What's My Line?, game show, on BBC (Like its American counterpart, it became one of the top-rated programs for the rest of the decade and made a celebrity of its host, Eamonn Andrews)
- August 3 - The Ad-Libbers, comedy sketch game show, on CBS. (1951)
- August 3 - Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series on ABC (1951-1953)
- September 3 â The first long-running soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, on CBS (1951âÂÂ1986)
- September 11 - The Bill Goodwin Show, a talk/variety program on NBC. (1951-1952)
- September 16- Sky King
- September 24 â Love of Life on CBS (1951âÂÂ1980)
- October 15 â Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951âÂÂ1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world's first major female television star
- October 28 - Out There, a science fiction program on CBS (1951-1952)
- November 26 - , musical variety series on NBC (1951-1953)
- December 14 â Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951âÂÂ1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
- Television version of Amos & Andy (1951âÂÂ1953)
- The Roy Rogers Show (1951âÂÂ1957), on NBC, starring Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951âÂÂpresent)
Ending during 1951
Births
Television debuts
References