1954 in television

See also: 1953 in television, other events of 1954, 1955 in television and the list of 'years in television'.

Events

• January 1 – NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in NTSC color on 21 stations.
• January 3 – RAI launched in Italy.
• January 11 – The first weather forecast with an in-vision presenter is televised in the UK.
• March 23 – First television station in Puerto Rico airs his tests and starts transmission.
• April – The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts the Army-McCarthy hearings live and in their entirety.
• June 5 – The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.
• July 5 – First actual news bulletin aired on BBC.
• September 11 – The Miss America Beauty Contest airs for the first time on national television in the United States. 27 million viewers watched as Lee Ann Meriwether won the crown. Meriwether would later become a television actress, co-starring in Barnaby Jones in the 1970s.
• November 3 – Disney's Alice in Wonderland airs on ABC.
• December 12 – BBC Television screens its famous, and controversial, adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• First television broadcast begins in Colombia.
• Television Act 1954 authorises setting up the infrastructure for British commercial television.

Debuts

• January 4 – The Brighter Day (1954-1962) premieres.
• January – Annie Oakley (1954-1957) premieres.
• April 2 – The Grove Family, generally considered the first British TV soap opera, debuts on BBC Television (1954–1957).
• September – The Tonight Show begins airing on the NBC network (1954-present).
• October 21 – The CBS anthology series, Climax! (1954-1958) airs an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel, Casino Royale, starring Barry Nelson as an Americanized version of spy James Bond. This is the first dramatic adaptation of a Bond novel.
• October 27 – Disneyland (1954–1958).
• December 21 – Zoo Quest begins on BBC Television (1954-1964).
• Face the Nation premieres on CBS (1954-present).
• The Secret Storm (1954-1974) premieres.

Television shows

• Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946-1960).
• Howdy Doody (1947-1960).
• Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958).
• Meet the Press (1947-present).
• Candid Camera (1948-present).
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949-1995).
• The Goldbergs (1949-1955).
• The Voice of Firestone (1949-1963).
• Cisco Kid (1950-1956).
• The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958).
• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
• Truth or Consequences (1950-1988).
• What's My Line (1950-1967).
• Your Hit Parade (1950-1959).
• Dragnet (1951-1959).
• I Love Lucy (1951–1957).
• Love of Life (1951–1980).
• Search for Tomorrow (1951-1986).
• The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957).
• American Bandstand (1952-1989).
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966).
• My Little Margie (1952–1955).
• The Guiding Light (1952-present).
• The Honeymooners (1952-1970).
• The Today Show (1952-present).
• This Is Your Life (US) (1952-1961).
• Buick-Berle Show (1953-1954); the show was renamed The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967) this year.
• Panorama (UK) (1953-present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953-1983).

Ending this year

• Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954).
• Your Show of Shows (1950–1954).
• Flash Gordon (1953–1954).

Births

• January 5  – Pamela Sue Martin, actress.
• January 12 – Howard Stern, "shock-jock" radio host.
• January 19 – Katey Sagal, actress on Married... with Children.
• February 15 – Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama.
• March 1 – Catherine Bach, actress.
• March 1 – Ron Howard, actor, director.
• June 21 – Anne Kirkbride, actress.
• September 8 – Anne Diamond, television presenter.
• October 9 – Scott Bakula, American television actor.
• October 14 – Tanya Roberts, American actress.