The year 1959 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1959.
Events
- January 15 â Tyne Tees Television, the Independent Television (ITV) franchise for North East England, begins broadcasting.
- February 1 â The earliest known interracial kiss on television occurs during a live performance of the play Hot Summer Night, broadcast on the British ABC program Armchair Theatre on the ITV network. The kiss is between Andrée Melly and Lloyd Reckord, the latter of whom would be featured in another early televised interracial kiss three years later in the play You in Your Small Corner.
- February 1 â Nihon Educational Television begins operating to the Kanto region of Japan, operating as a for-profit educational television station for its first year.
- March 1 – Fuji Television commences its regular operations in Japan.
- April 6 â KYW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio (later WKYC) becomes the first station to use the Eyewitness News name.
- May 13 â TV Continental signs on in Rio de Janeiro. It became the first station in Brazil to implement a videotape system six months later.
- May 28 â Initiation of Lebanon's first television station, Télé Liban.
- July 13âÂÂ17 â The Hate That Hate Produced, a documentary on Black nationalism in the United States, airs on WNTA-TV.
- July 24 â The Kitchen Debate occurs in Moscow, recorded on color videotape.
- August 10 â HCJB-TV, the first television station in Ecuador, starts a regular broadcasting service in Quito. The station was later sold to private interests and is now Teleamazonas.
- August 21 â The Catholic University of Chile begins broadcasting a partial service over Channel 2, the first TV station in Santiago, Chile.
- October 16 â OBXY-TV, predecessor of Panamericana Television, Peru, starts the first regular official broadcasting service in Lima.
- October 22 â Take a Good Look, an innovative comedy series created by Ernie Kovacs, premieres on ABC in the United States.
- October 27 â Anglia Television, the ITV franchise for Eastern England, begins broadcasting.
- October 31 â Ulster Television, the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland, begins broadcasting.
- October 31 â Western Nigeria Television (later known as Nigerian Television Authority) is launched in Nigeria, making it the first country to introduce television in Africa.
- November 22 â Sandmännchen, a children's bedtime stop motion series, premieres on East German television channel Deutscher Fernsehfunk. The series will continue airing on Rundfunk BerlinâÂÂBrandenburg into the 2000s, making it the longest-running animated television series in history with the greatest episode count for a single series.
- November 29 â The Grammy Awards are first televised as part of NBC's Sunday Showcase.
- December 26 â BNT 1, a member of Bulgarian National Television, the first television station in Bulgaria, starts a regular official broadcasting service in Sofia.
Programs/programmes
Debuts
- January 9 â Rawhide, CBS (1959âÂÂ1966)
- January 12 â The Bell Telephone Hour on NBC (1959âÂÂ1968)
- February 4 â Face to Face on BBC Television (1959âÂÂ1962)
- February 12 â As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me on West Germany's ARD (1959)
- February 16 â Emergency (1959) (Australia), one of the earliest Australian dramatic TV series
- April 4
- Charlesworth on BBC Television (1959)
- Shell Presents (1959âÂÂ1960) (Sydney and Melbourne Australia), Australian dramatic anthology series
- May 2 â Markham, featuring Ray Milland, on CBS (1959âÂÂ1960)
- June 1 â Juke Box Jury on BBC Television (1959âÂÂ1967, 1979, 1989âÂÂ1990)
- September 11 â The Troubleshooters on NBC (1959âÂÂ1960)
- September 12 â Bonanza on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color (1959âÂÂ1973)
- September 12 â The Man and the Challenge on NBC (1959âÂÂ1960)
- September 15 â Laramie on NBC (1959âÂÂ1963)
- September 20 â NBC Sunday Showcase on NBC (1959âÂÂ1960)
- September 21 â Love and Marriage on NBC (1959âÂÂ1960)
- September 30 â Men Into Space on CBS (1959âÂÂ1960)
- October 2 â Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone debuts on CBS (1959âÂÂ1964)
- October 4
- Dennis the Menace on CBS (1959âÂÂ1963)
- The Rebel on ABC (1959âÂÂ1961)
- October 5 â Bourbon Street Beat on ABC (1959âÂÂ1960)
- October 7 â Hawaiian Eye on ABC (1959âÂÂ1963)
- October 15 - The Untouchables on ABC (1959âÂÂ1963)
- November 19 - Rocky & His Friends on ABC (1959âÂÂ61)
- Unknown date
- Adelaide Tonight â 1959âÂÂ1973 (Adelaide, Australia)
- Bandwagon (1959âÂÂ1960) (Melbourne, Australia, on HSV-7)
- The Bert Newton Show (1959âÂÂ1960) (Melbourne, Australia, on GTV-9)
- The Bobby Limb Show (1959âÂÂ1964) (Australia) (title changed in 1961 to The Mobil-Limb Show)
- Club Seven (1959âÂÂ1961) (Melbourne, Australia)
- The Quick Draw McGraw Show in syndication (1959âÂÂ1962)
- Tales of the Riverbank (1959âÂÂ1963).
- This Man Dawson in syndication (1959âÂÂ1960)
Ending this year
Births
Deaths
Television debuts
References