1956_in_American_television

1956 in American television

Television related events in the USA during 1956

This is a list of American television-related events in 1956.

Events

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[1] [1]
"NBC, Westinghouse complete exchange." Archived August 24, 2015, at WebCite Broadcasting, January 30, 1956, pg. 59.

[2] [2]
"The great swap takes place June 19; Westinghouse, NBC return to original properties." Broadcasting, June 14, 1965, pg. 83.

[3] [3]
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network Cable and TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). New York: Ballantine. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

[weinstein-4] [4]
Weinstein, David (2004). The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television. Temple University Press. p. 38. ISBN 1-59213-499-8.

[5] [5]
Brown, Les (1977). The New York times encyclopedia of television. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-0721-3. OCLC 3239713.

[brown-6] [6]
The New York Times Encyclopedia of Television by Les Brown (Times Books, a division of Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Company, Inc., 1977), ISBN 0-8129-0721-3, p. 348

[7] [7]
"About As the World Turns". CBS. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-09-07.

[newcomb-8] [8]
Newcomb, Horace, ed. (February 3, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 1764–1765. ISBN 978-1-135-19479-6.

[1997_Encyc-9] [9]
Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "The Edge of Night". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Harper Paperbacks. pp. 254–266. ISBN 0-06-101157-6.

[TV-10] [10]
Vincent Terrace, Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2nd edition, page 375, McFarland, 2014

[muse-11] [11]
The Steve Allen Show Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine from the Museum of Broadcast Communications

[mcneil-12] [12]
McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, ISBN 0 14 02 4916 8, p. 375.

[BrooksandMarsh-13] [13]
Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (Sixth Edition), New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39736-3, p. 458.

[ctva-14] [14]
The Classic TV Archive Hey, Jeanne!/The Jeannie Carson Show Accessed 16 November 2020

[Woolery-15] [15]
Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.

[16] [16]
Reed, R.M. (2012). The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video. Springer US. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-4684-6521-1.

[Daytime2-17] [17]
Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 425–426. ISBN 978-0-8230-8315-2. Retrieved March 22, 2020.

[tt-18] [18]
McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 939. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.

[Daytime-19] [19]
Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-8230-8315-2. Retrieved 19 March 2020.

[Brooks-20] [20]
Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

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Date	Event	Ref.
January 28	Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on the CBS program, Stage Show, the first of six appearances on the series.
January 30	NBC swaps its Cleveland radio and TV stations to Westinghouse Broadcasting in exchange for Westinghouse's own Philadelphia radio and TV stations. The trade was eventually reversed in 1965.	^[1]^[2]
February	U.M. & M. TV Corporation acquires the pre-October 1950 releases of Paramount Pictures cartoons and theatrical shorts, excluding the Popeye the Sailor cartoons (which were sold to Associated Artists Productions in June) and the Superman cartoons. This includes most Fleischer/Famous Studios-produced cartoons. Those assets would eventually be purchased by National Telefilm Associates about fourteen months later.
April	U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver holds congressional hearings on the rising rates of juvenile crime and publishes an article in Reader's Digest named "Let's Get Rid of Tele-Violence."
April	NBC owned-and-operated station WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV) in Chicago, Illinois becomes the first television station to locally broadcast in color.
April 14	The Ampex company demonstrates a videotape recorder at the 1956 NARTB (now National Association of Broadcasters) convention in Chicago. It was the demonstration of the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex. ABC, NBC, and CBS place orders for the recorders.
August 6	The DuMont Television Network ends network operations, with a live broadcast of a boxing match being the network's final broadcast.	^[3]^[4]
May 22	NBC introduces a brightly-hued peacock logo to denote the network's first color broadcasts. An animated version of the peacock would air the following year.	^[5]
October	National Telefilm Associates launches the ad-hoc NTA Film Network in the latest attempt to create a fourth television network two months after the demise of the DuMont network.
October 29	CBS uses its Ampex VTR to record the evening news, anchored by Douglas Edwards, which was then fed to the West Coast stations three hours later. This event marks the first use of videotape in network television programming.
October 29	Chet Huntley and David Brinkley take over anchor duties of NBC's evening newscast, which is renamed The Huntley-Brinkley Report.
November 3	CBS televises the first-ever broadcast of the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release The Wizard of Oz. An estimated 45 million people viewed the broadcast.
November	Jonathan Winters uses videotape and superimposing techniques to be able to play two characters in the same skit for his NBC television show. This occasion marks the first use of videotape for a network television entertainment program.
December 31	Bob Barker makes his national television debut on the game show Truth or Consequences.
December 31	Guy Lombardo hosts his first televised New Year's Eve celebration on CBS.
Unknown date	Portable black-and-white television sets were marketed for the first time.

Date	Debut	Network
January 3^[6]	Queen for a Day	NBC
January 3	Do You Trust Your Wife?	CBS
April 2^[7]^[8]	As the World Turns	CBS
April 2^[9]	The Edge of Night	CBS
April 8	Telephone Time	CBS
May	The Open Mind	NET
May 12^[10]	The Gabby Hayes Show	ABC
June 24^[11]	The Steve Allen Show	NBC
July 3	The Kaiser Aluminum Hour	NBC
September 3	The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu	Broadcast syndication
September 7	The Adventures of Jim Bowie	ABC
September 7	Treasure Hunt	ABC
September 8^[12]^[13]^[14]	Hey, Jeannie!	CBS
September 12	Twenty-One	NBC
September 18	Conflict	ABC
September 21	The Sheriff of Cochise	Broadcast syndication
September 21	Ethel Barrymore Theatre	Dumont
September 23^[15]	Circus Boy	NBC
September 24	Stanley	NBC
September 25	Broken Arrow	ABC
September 25	State Trooper	Broadcast syndication
September 29^[16]	The Gale Storm Show	CBS
October 1	Dr. Christian	Broadcast syndication
October 3	The Adventures of Hiram Holliday	NBC
October 4^[17]	The Ford Show	NBC
October 4	Playhouse 90	CBS
October 4	Wire Service	ABC
October 5^[18]	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	CBS
October 5	The Dinah Shore Chevy Show	NBC
October 5	The West Point Story	CBS
October 14^[19]	The Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon Show	CBS
October 21	Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers	NBC
October 29	The Huntley–Brinkley Report	NBC
November 11^[20]	Air Power	CBS
November 26	The Price Is Right	NBC
December 18	To Tell the Truth	CBS
	Bingo at Home	Dumont

Date	Program	Network	First aired	Status
March 5	Medical Horizons	ABC	September 12, 1955	Canceled
March 19	Jungle Jim	Syndication	September 26, 1955	Canceled
March 22	The Cisco Kid	Syndication	September 5, 1950	Ended
April 28	It's Always Jam	CBS	September 10, 1955	Canceled
June 3	It's a Great Life	NBC	September 7, 1954	Ended
June 14	Stop the Music	ABC	May 5, 1949	Ended
June 23	The Jimmy Durante Show	Unknown	1954	Ended
September 11	This Is Show Business	NBC	July 15, 1949	Ended
September 22	The Honeymooners	CBS	October 1, 1955	Canceled
Unknown date	Super Circus	ABC	1949	Ended

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes
NTA Film Network	Broadcast	October
Sports Network Incorporated	Cable television	Unknown

Network	Type	End date	Notes
DuMont Television Network	Broadcast	August	^[4]
Paramount Television Network	Broadcast	Unknown date

1956_in_American_television

1956 in American television

Events

Other notable events

Television programs

Debuts

Ending this year

Networks and services

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Date	Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/References
January 1	Hastings, Nebraska	KHAS-TV	5	NBC
	Memphis, Tennessee	WREC-TV	3	CBS
	Odessa, Texas	KOSA-TV	7	CBS
January 7	Laredo, Texas	KHAD-TV	8	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS (secondary)
January 15	Big Spring, Texas (Odessa/Midland, Texas)	KBST-TV	4	ABC
January 30	Abilene, Texas	KPAR-TV	12	CBS
January 30	Denver, Colorado	KRMA-TV	6	NET
February 1	Savannah, Georgia	WSAV-TV	3	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
February 9	Hayes Center, Nebraska	KHPL-TV		CBS	Satellite of KHOL-TV (now KHGI-TV) in Kearney
February 19	Juneau, Alaska	KINY-TV	8	ABC
February 20	Columbus, Ohio	WOSU-TV	34	NET
April 1	Roseburg, Oregon	KPIC	19	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS (secondary)
April 13	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KETA-TV	13	NET	Flagship of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority
April 26	Marquette, Michigan	WLUC-TV	6	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)
April 29	Richmond, Virginia	WRVA-TV	12	CBS
April 29	Spartanburg, South Carolina	WSPA-TV	7	CBS
May 4	Las Vegas, Nevada	KSHO-TV	13	ABC
May 6	Chattanooga, Tennessee	WRGP-TV	3	NBC
May 10	Fresno, California	KFRE-TV	12	CBS
May 21	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WITI-TV	6	Independent
May 22	Corpus Christi, Texas	KRIS-TV	6	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
May 29	Daytona Beach/Orlando, Florida	WESH-TV	2	NBC
June 3	Tucson, Arizona	KDWI-TV	9	ABC
June 11	Daytona Beach/Orlando, Florida	WESH-TV	2	Independent
June 24	Madison, Wisconsin	WISC-TV	3	CBS
June 25	Memphis, Tennessee	WKNO	10	NET
July 13	Columbus, Mississippi	WCBI-TV	4	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)
July 29	Miami, Florida	WCKT	7	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
August 1	Chico/Redding, California	KVIP-TV	7	NBC
August 5	Hagåtña, Guam	KUAM-TV	8	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC (secondary)
August 8	Andalusia, Alabama	WAIQ	2	NET	Part of the Alabama Educational Television network; now Dozier, Alabama-licensed WDIQ
August 12	Knoxville, Tennessee	WBIR-TV	10	NBC (primary) CBS (secondary)
	Medford, Oregon	KOTI	2	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
	Sherman, Texas (Ada, Oklahoma)	KVSO-TV	12	NBC
August 13	Bristol, Virginia (Bristol/Johnson City/Kingsport, Tennessee)	WCYB-TV	5	NBC (primary) ABC (Secondary)
August 21	Evansville, Indiana	WTVW	7	ABC
August 24	Carlsbad, New Mexico	KOCT	6	ABC
September 1	El Paso, Texas	KILT	10	ABC
September 10	Elmira, New York	WSYE-TV	18	NBC
September 18	Montrose, Colorado	KFXJ-TV	10	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/NTA Film Network (secondary)	Now KREY-TV; calls previously used on a station in Grand Junction, Colorado
September 30	Corpus Christi, Texas	KSIX-TV	10	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 13	Presque Isle, Maine	WAGM-TV	8	CBS
October 15	Dickenson, North Dakota	KDIX-TV	2	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)
December 15	Portland, Oregon	KGW	8	ABC
December 15	Raleigh, North Carolina	WRAL-TV	5	NBC

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation	References
January 1	Waco, Texas	KWTX-TV	10	ABC	CBS
March 1	West Palm Beach, Florida	WIRK-TV	21	Independent	August 31, 1953
Unknown	Denver, Colorado	KOA-TV	9	DuMont (primary) ABC (secondary)	ABC (secondary)
Unknown	Windsor, Ontario, Canada Detroit, Michigan, United States	CKLW-TV	9	CBC Television (primary) DuMont (secondary)	CBC Television (exclusive)	Would become a CBC owned-and-operated station in 1975.

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	First air date
January 21	Columbia, South Carolina	WCOS-TV	25		April 25, 1953
April 29	Greenville, South Carolina	WGVL	23		July 15, 1953
April 30	Wichita, Kansas	KEDD-TV	16	Independent	August 15, 1953
June 16	Ashtabula, Ohio	WICA-TV	15	Independent	August 25, 1953
September 4	Reading, Pennsylvania	WHUM-TV	61	CBS	February 22, 1953
Unknown date	Des Moines, Iowa	KGTV	17		1953
Unknown date	Sterling, Colorado	KDZA-TV	3	DuMont	1955