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

Events

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."
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.
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.
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.

Other notable events

Television programs

Debuts

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

Ending this year

Date Program Network First aired Status Notes/References
March 5 Medical Horizons ABC September 12, 1955 Canceled
March 19 Jungle Jim Syndication September 26, 1955 Canceled
March 22 The Cisco Kid 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

Networks and services

Network launches

Network Type Launch date Notes
NTA Film Network Broadcast October

Network closures

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

Television stations

Station launches

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
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
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
Raleigh, North Carolina WRAL-TV 5 NBC

Network affiliation changes

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)
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.

Station closures

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation First air date Notes/Ref.
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
Sterling, Colorado KDZA-TV 3 DuMont 1955

Births

Deaths

References

  1. ↑ "NBC, Westinghouse complete exchange." Archived August 24, 2015, at WebCite Broadcasting, January 30, 1956, pg. 59.
  2. ↑ "The great swap takes place June 19; Westinghouse, NBC return to original properties." Broadcasting, June 14, 1965, pg. 83.
  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.
  4. 1 2 Weinstein, David (2004). The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television. Temple University Press. p. 38. ISBN 1-59213-499-8.
  5. ↑ Brown, Les (1977). The New York times encyclopedia of television. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-0721-3. OCLC 3239713.
  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. ↑ "About As the World Turns". CBS. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  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.
  9. ↑ Waggett, Gerard J. (November 1997). "The Edge of Night". The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Harper Paperbacks. pp. 254–266. ISBN 0-06-101157-6.
  10. ↑ Vincent Terrace, Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2nd edition, page 375, McFarland, 2014
  11. ↑ The Steve Allen Show Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine from the Museum of Broadcast Communications
  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.
  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.
  14. ↑ The Classic TV Archive Hey, Jeanne!/The Jeannie Carson Show Accessed 16 November 2020
  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. ↑ Reed, R.M. (2012). The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video. Springer US. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-4684-6521-1.
  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.
  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.
  19. ↑ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-8230-8315-2. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  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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