1961 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1961.

Events

Date	Event	Ref.
January 20	President John F. Kennedy becomes the first president to be inaugurated with a color telecast. NBC's news division provided coverage in color.
January 25	John F. Kennedy held the first live televised presidential press conference.
March 5	The launch of the spacecraft Freedom 7 in a 15-minute sub-orbital spaceflight is seen by 45 million American television viewers.^[1] Alan B. Shepard becomes the first U.S. astronaut in space. He was the second person to travel into space, ^[2]following the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. ^[3]
May 5	In a speech on "Television and the Public Interest" to the National Association of Broadcasters, Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow describes commercial television programming as a "vast wasteland" and tells the broadcasters that they could do a better job of serving the public.
May 29	Dave Garroway announces that he would be leaving the Today show on NBC.
July 1	The Brighter Day airs its first episode after moving to Los Angeles from New York City. The move also marks the writing out of Baby Dennis and his love interest, because the actors who played them didn't want to relocate.
September 23	NBC begins its long-running series of movie presentations under the umbrella banner, NBC Saturday Night at the Movies. The first movie to be broadcast was the 1953 film How to Marry a Millionaire, starring Marilyn Monroe.
November 19	Lucille Ball marries Gary Morton

Other events in 1961

The Sports Broadcasting Act was passed into law.

Television programs

Debuts

Date	Debut	Network
January 1	The Dick Tracy Show	Broadcast syndication
January 5	Mister Ed	Broadcast syndication
January 20^[4]	You're in the Picture	CBS
January 23	The Americans	NBC
January 30^[5]	The Yogi Bear Show	Broadcast syndication
February 9	Gunslinger	CBS
February 27	Acapulco	NBC
March 17	Five Star Jubilee	NBC
March 31	'Way Out	CBS
April^[6]	The Ernie Kovacs Show	ABC
April 2^[7]^[8]	The Asphalt Jungle	ABC
April 29^[9]	Wide World of Sports	ABC
May 8	Whispering Smith	NBC
June 3	Ripcord	Broadcast syndication
July 6	Great Ghost Tales	NBC
July 14	Westinghouse Preview Theatre	NBC
September 1	Tales of the Wizard of Oz	Broadcast syndication
September 17	Car 54, Where Are You?	NBC
September 17^[10]	The DuPont Show of the Week	NBC
September 17^[11]	Follow the Sun	ABC
September 19	Cain's Hundred	NBC
September 20	The Joey Bishop Show	NBC
September 25^[12]	87th Precinct	NBC
September 26	Ichabod and Me	CBS
September 26^[13]	The Dick Powell Show	NBC
September 27	Top Cat	ABC
September 28	Hazel	NBC
September 29	Target: The Corruptors!	ABC
October 1	Bus Stop	ABC
October 2	Ben Casey	ABC
October 2	Password	CBS
October 2^[14]^[15]^[16]	Window on Main Street	CBS
October 3	Calvin and the Colonel	ABC
October 3	The Dick Van Dyke Show	CBS
October 3	The New Breed	ABC
October 4^[17]	The Alvin Show	CBS
October 4	Mrs. G. Goes to College	CBS
October 5	Frontier Circus	CBS
	The Investigators	CBS
	The New Bob Cummings Show	CBS
October 6	The Hathaways	ABC
October 6	Straightaway	ABC
October 9	The Everglades	Broadcast syndication
October 10	Alcoa Premiere	ABC
October 11	The Bob Newhart Show	NBC
October 12^[18]	Margie	ABC
December 11	The Mike Douglas Show	Broadcast syndication

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
Walt Disney Presents	ABC	NBC
The Detectives
Rocky and His Friends
The Wonderful World of Disney
Bachelor Father	NBC	ABC
Mister Ed	Syndication	CBS

Ending this year

Date	Show	Network	Debut
January 6	Dan Raven	NBC	September 23, 1960
February 13	Klondike		October 10, 1960
April 7	Happy		June 8, 1960
April 12	My Sister Eileen	CBS	October 5, 1960
April 24	Acapulco	NBC	February 27, 1961
April 30	The Tab Hunter Show	NBC	September 18, 1960
May 1	The Play of the Week	NTA Film Network	October 12, 1959
May 15	The Americans	NBC	January 1961
May 23	The Tom Ewell Show	CBS	September 27, 1960
May 31	Peter Loves Mary	NBC	October 12, 1960
June 27	Stagecoach West	ABC	October 4, 1960
June 29	The Ford Show	NBC	October 4, 1956
July 3	Bringing Up Buddy	CBS	October 10, 1960
September 18	Peter Gunn	NBC	September 22, 1958
September 22	Five Star Jubilee		March 17, 1961
September 22	Westinghouse Preview Theatre		July 14, 1961
December 1	The Huckleberry Hound Show	First-run Syndication	September 29, 1958
December 15	Sam and Friends	WRC-TV (Washington, D.C.)	May 9, 1955
December 28	The Investigators	CBS	October 5, 1961
Unknown	This Is Your Life	NBC	October 1, 1952

Network launches

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes
Christian Broadcasting Network	Religious-formatted television network	October 1	First religious broadcasting network in the United States

Network closures

Network	Type	End date	Notes
NTA Film Network	Broadcast	November	Launched in October 1956, the NTA Film Network was another attempt to create a fourth television network in the wake of the closing of the DuMont Television Network two months prior. The network relied on filming the programming before sending it to air on its affiliates.

Networks and services

Closures

Network	Type	Closure date	Notes	Source
NTA Film Network	Cable television	November

Television stations

Station launches

Date	City of License/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
January 21	Idaho Falls, Idaho	KIFI	8	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
January 30	Phoenix, Arizona	KAET	9	NET
February 1	Hot Springs, Arkansas	KFOY-TV	9	NBC
February 6	Portland, Oregon	KOAP-TV	10	NET	Flagship of Oregon Public Broadcasting
February 27	Douglas, Arizona	KCDA	3	Independent
March 29	Kansas City, Missouri	KCSD-TV	19	NET
June 18	Beaumont, Texas	KBMT	12	ABC
July 5	Vermillion, South Dakota	KUSD-TV	2	NET	Later became the flagship of the South Dakota Public Broadcasting television network
July 22	Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands	WBNB-TV	10	CBS (primary) NBC (secondary)	First licensed television station in the Virgin Islands
August 7	Elk City, Oklahoma	KSWB	8	CBS
September 5	Charlotte, North Carolina	WUTV	36	ABC (primary) NBC/CBS (secondary)
September 16	Louisville, Kentucky	WLKY	32	ABC
September 25	Tacoma, Washington	KTPS	28	NET
September 27	Norfolk, Virginia	WHRO-TV	15	NET
October 2	Washington, D.C.	WETA	26	NET
October 3	Medford, Oregon	KMED-TV	10	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 10	Richland, Washington	KNDU	25	ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)
November 5	New York City	WUHF	31	Independent
November 6	Carbondale, Illinois	WSIU-TV	15	NET
November 13	Augusta/Portland, Maine	WCBB	10	NET	Maine's first educational station; now part of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network
November 19	Waycross/Valdosta, Georgia	WXGA-TV	8	NET	Part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting television network
November 27	Hilo, Hawaii	KHAW-TV	11	NBC	Satellite of KHAW-TV (now KHON-TV)/Honolulu
December 18	Flagstaff, Arizona	KVLS	13	Independent
December 18	Fresno, California	KAIL	53	Independent

Network affiliation changes

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation
April 2	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WISN-TV	12	ABC	CBS
April 2	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WITI	6	CBS (primary) NTA Film Network (secondary)	ABC (exclusive)
September 16	Louisville, Kentucky	WAVE	3	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)	NBC (exclusive)
October 3	Klamath Falls, Oregon	KOTI	2	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)	ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)
October 3	Medford, Oregon	KOBI	5	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
Unknown date	Lexington, Kentucky	WKYT-TV (formerly WKXP-TV)	27	CBS (exclusive)	ABC (primary) CBS (secondary)
	Mankato, Minnesota	KEYC-TV	12	NBC	CBS
	Ogden, Utah	KVOG-TV	9	NTA Film Network	Independent

Station closures

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	First air date	Notes/Ref.
February 16	Fort Pierce, Florida	WTVI	19	CBS	November 23, 1960
August	Douglas, Arizona	KCDA	3	Independent	February 27, 1961
August	Rochester, New York	WVET-TV	10	CBS/ABC	November 1, 1953	Merged operations with current CBS affiliate WHEC-TV

Births

Deaths

References

^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 360–361.
^ Burgess 2014, pp. 99–100.
^ Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 332–333.
^ "Time Listings: Jan. 20, 1961". Time. January 20, 1961. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 929–933. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ Rico, Diana. Kovacsland. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. Retrieved January 22, 2019
^ McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 64.
^ 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. 63.
^ "50th Anniversary of Wide World of Sports Celebrated". ESPN MediaZone. April 21, 2011. Information about the broadcasters obtained directly from the original telecast.
^ The DuPont Show of the Week: Awards at the Internet Movie Database
^ Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, 2009, p. 486.
^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 254. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
^ 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. 917.
^ 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. 1138.
^ "CTVA US Drama - "Window on Main Street" (1961-62) starring Robert Young". ctva.biz. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 24. ISBN 978-1538103739.
^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 853. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved November 22, 2021.

Sources

Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House. ISBN 9780307483201.
Burgess, Colin (2014). Freedom 7: The Historic Flight of Alan B. Shepard Jr. Springer-Praxis books in space exploration. New York; London: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-01155-4. OCLC 902685533.
Swenson, Loyd S. Jr.; Grimwood, James M.; Alexander, Charles C. (1966). This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury. The NASA History Series. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. OCLC 569889. NASA SP-4201. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2007.

External links

List of 1961 American television series at IMDb

[FOOTNOTESwensonGrimwoodAlexander1966360–361-1] Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 360–361.

[FOOTNOTEBurgess201499–100-2] Burgess 2014, pp. 99–100.

[FOOTNOTESwensonGrimwoodAlexander1966332–333-3] Swenson, Grimwood & Alexander 1966, pp. 332–333.

[4] "Time Listings: Jan. 20, 1961". Time. January 20, 1961. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-11.

[5] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 929–933. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[dianarico-6] Rico, Diana. Kovacsland. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. Retrieved January 22, 2019

[mcneil-7] McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 64.

[Brooks_and_Marsh2-8] 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. 63.

[9] "50th Anniversary of Wide World of Sports Celebrated". ESPN MediaZone. April 21, 2011. Information about the broadcasters obtained directly from the original telecast.

[IMDB-10] The DuPont Show of the Week: Awards at the Internet Movie Database

[Brooks_and_Marsh1-11] Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, 2009, p. 486.

[tt-12] McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 254. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.

[cd-13] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved June 22, 2022.

[mcneil3-14] 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. 917.

[BrooksandMarsh-15] 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. 1138.

[ctva-16] "CTVA US Drama - "Window on Main Street" (1961-62) starring Robert Young". ctva.biz. Retrieved 2020-09-10.

[17] Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 24. ISBN 978-1538103739.

[:0-18] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 853. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved November 22, 2021.

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