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

• 2005 in television – Doctor Who returns to series television after a sixteen year hiatus: Christopher Eccleston plays the Ninth Doctor. Star Trek: Enterprise is cancelled, ending an uninterrupted run of Star Trek series dating back to 1987.
• 2004 in television – Ken Jennings takes up an unprecedented residence on Jeopardy. Corner Gas debuts as one of Canada's most successful programs, and as the first successful sitcom in that country for decades. The Friends finale reaches 52.5 million Americans.
• 2003 in television – The O.C. is a surprise hit, Britain's This Is Your Life ends after 48 years.
• 2002 in television – The Osbournes reality show premieres on cable television. Great Britons debuts on the BBC, sparking much interest, and a series of spin-offs.
• 2001 in television – Lizzie McGuire starring Hillary Duff premieres. The Fairly OddParents premiere.
• 2000 in television – Survivor premieres on CBS, sparking an interest in "reality TV".

1990s

• 1999 in television – The Sopranos premiere on US cable, Gay Byrne retires from RTÉ's The Late Late Show.
• 1998 in television – Sex and the City premiere in the US, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? premieres on ITV1. The Seinfeld finale reaches 76.3 million Americans.
• 1997 in television – Ellen DeGeneres shocked many via her show, announcing she was a lesbian; parental advisories debuted on the show. Adult-targeted animated series become accepted, with the debuts of King of the Hill and South Park.
• 1996 in television – Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the US, Pop-up Video premieres on VH1. Only Fools and Horses is watched by over 24 million Britons, making it the highest rated British program ever outside of live state occasions, sports events, and soaps.
• 1995 in television – The O.J. Simpson trial disturbs daytime television for nine months, still, As the World Turns marks 10,000 episodes. The first Internet television shows are broadcast.
• 1994 in television – Friends premieres on NBC.
• 1993 in television – The Cheers finale reaches 80.4 million viewers. Beavis and Butt-head 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. Absolutely Fabulous premieres on the BBC.
• 1991 in television – First television sets with built-in closed-caption display are introduced in the US.
• 1990 in television – David Lynch's Twin Peaks airs.

1980s

• 1989 in television – The Simpsons and Seinfeld premiere
• 1988 in television – Roseanne premieres
• 1987 in television – Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman, Married with Children and Full House premiere, as does Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning a run of Star Trek series that would continue until 2005.
• 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. The last episode of The Edge of Night airs on ABC.
• 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. The last episode of The Doctors airs on NBC.
• 1981 in television – MTV debuts on Cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day; Hill Street Blues and Dynasty premiere. The unlikely marriage of Luke and Laura Spencer becomes the highest rated hour in soap opera history. The finale of To the Manor Born reaches nearly 24 million Britons.
• 1980 in television – A cliffhanger on Dallas asked "Who shot J.R.?"; it is the current 3rd most watched series episode in American television.

1970s

• 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. Abarembo Shogun begins 25-year run in Japan.
• 1977 in television – The mini-series Roots airs on ABC
• 1976 in television – South Africa has television service for the first time. UK punk group the Sex Pistols cause controversy and outrage by swearing on a London local television early evening show.
• 1975 in television – Saturday Night Live 's first time on TV; Sony introduces the Betamax, a home video tape recorder; Fawlty Towers premieres in Britain on BBC1.
• 1974 in television – Happy Days premieres on ABC. Monty Python comes to American TV audiences for the first time.
• 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 – Mary Tyler Moore and the Soap opera All My Children premiere.

1960s

• 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. Sesame Street starts its current 35+ season run; Monty Python's Flying Circus (UK) and The Brady Bunch (US) also debut.
• 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, while color is now the standard in all US television. Star Trek premieres in the United States.
• 1965 in television – Green Acres premieres
• 1964 in television – The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show, breaking television ratings records; Top of the Pops premieres on the BBC.
• 1963 in television – First episode of Doctor 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.

1950s

• 1959 in television – The science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit smashes recent BBC viewing records as it reaches its conclusion with over 11 million viewers.
• 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. The classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz airs on TV for the first time.
• 1955 in television – The Honeymooners premieres. Commercial television starts in the United Kingdom.
• 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; the long-running US soap opera The Guiding Light begins. TV Broadcasting begins in the Dominican Republic.
• 1951 in television – I Love Lucy debuts on CBS. The first long-running soap operas, Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life, also debut on CBS.
• 1950 in television – What's My Line? debuts on CBS. Television broadcasting begins in Mexico. The FCC approves CBS's color TV system.

1940s

• 1949 in television – The first Emmy Awards are presented. Television broadcasting begins in Cuba
• 1948 in television – Ed Sullivan show premieres on CBS. 1 million television sets are now in use in the US.
• 1947 in television – Howdy Doody and Meet the Press premiere on NBC. First World Series live broadcast 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 (network discontinued September 1955). 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.

1930s

• 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 public television broadcasting 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 later used 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. On July 14, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and his family use it to watch the first ever television drama, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth

1920s

• 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.

1900s

• 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.