This is a list of American television-related events in 1974.

Events

Date Event Ref.
January 31 CBS broadcasts The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a multi-Emmy-winning adaptation of Ernest J. Gaines’ novel of the same name which follows the 110-year life of a former slave from the American Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Cicely Tyson is tapped to play the title role.
February 1 KIVI-TV signs-on the air, giving the Boise market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
February 8 After 20 years and 5,195 episodes, The Secret Storm ends its run on CBS’s daytime schedule. Ten days later, the show is replaced by Tattletales, a Bert Convy-hosted game show that is devoted to celebrity gossip.
March 11 The children’s special Free to Be… You and Me, produced by comedic actress Marlo Thomas, airs on ABC.
March 13 The Execution of Private Slovik, a made-for-TV film telling the story of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion after the American Civil War, airs on NBC.
March 18 CBS's cancellation of Here's Lucy marks the end of the television reign of Lucille Ball, which lasted 23 consecutive years beginning with the 1951 premiere of I Love Lucy.
March Chuck Scarbarough joined WNBC-TV and revamps its format as NewsCenter 4, signaling the debut of the NewsCenter format. [1]
April 5 The Dean Martin Show ends its run on NBC after 264 hour-long episodes. NBC will continue to air periodic editions of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast over the next 10 years.
April 26 KPVI signs-on the air, giving the Idaho Falls market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
August 8 U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his pending resignation live on television, effective at 12 Noon EDT the next day, at which time Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as President.
WEVU (now WZVN-TV) signs-on the air, giving the Fort Myers market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
August 25 Al Ham's music theme Part of Your Life made its debut on WBTV-TV in Charlotte. [2]
September 10 Born Innocent, a controversial film starring Linda Blair, airs on NBC. The film, which involved a fourteen-year-old being sent to what the television preview deemed a women's prison (when in reality it was a reform school), drew heavy criticism due to an all-female rape scene, the first ever seen on American television. The scene was deleted in subsequent re-airings after a group of girls assaulted an eight-year-old with a pop bottle, influenced by the scene in the film.
October 6 Monty Python's Flying Circus, the British sketch comedy series that aired its final episode this year, is first shown on American television when PBS member station KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas airs it at 10 p.m. Central Daylight Time.[3][4]
November 28 For the fourth time this year, ABC aligns with a new station as WOPC-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania brings full-time ABC service to the Altoona-State College market. WOPC-TV struggles for viewers and goes dark in 1982; ABC would return to Altoona (and channel 23) in 1988 when Fox affiliate WWPC-TV (then a satellite of WWCP-TV in Johnstown) breaks from its simulcast with WWCP-TV.

Other notable events

Television stations

Sign-ons

Date City of License/Market Station Channel Affiliation Notes/Ref.
February South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana WNIT 34 PBS
February 1 Nampa/Boise, Idaho KITC 6 ABC
March 31 Orlando, Florida WOFL 35 Independent
April 26 Pocatello, Idaho KPVI 6 ABC
May 5 Los Angeles, California KVST-TV 68 Non-commercial independent
July 25 South Bend, Indiana WMSH-TV 46 Independent
August 8 Naples/Fort Myers, Florida WEVU 26 ABC
August 11 Booneville, Mississippi WMAE-TV 12 PBS Part of MSETV
September 9 Grand Forks, North Dakota KGFE 2 PBS Part of Prairie Public Television
September 29 New York City WBTB-TV 68 Independent
October 5 Hagerstown, Maryland WWPB 31 PBS Part of Maryland Public Television
Sacramento, California KMUV-TV 31 Independent now a CW owned-and-operated station
November 28 Johnstown, Pennsylvania WOPC 38 ABC Now WATM-TV on channel 23
December 1 New Haven, Connecticut WEDY 65 PBS Part of the Connecticut Public Television network
December 15 Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, Iowa KRIN 32 PBS Part of Iowa Public Television

Network affiliation changes

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Old affiliation New affiliation Notes/Ref.
August 5 Bakersfield, California KJTV 17 ABC CBS
October 6 Monroe, Louisiana KNOE-TV 8 CBS (primary)
NBC (secondary)		 CBS (exclusive)
West Monroe/Monroe, Louisiana KLAA 14 Independent NBC Was temporarily off the air from 1971 to 1974
Unknown date Augusta, Georgia WJBF-TV 6 ABC (primary)
NBC (secondary)		 ABC (exclusive)
WRDW-TV 12 CBS (primary)
NBC (secondary)		 CBS (exclusive)

Station closures

Date City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation Sign-on date Notes
March 28 Lebanon, New Hampshire WRLH 31 NBC September 10, 1966; had been silent from 1968 to August 3, 1971
April 30 Roanoke, Virginia WRFT-TV 27 ABC March 4, 1966 Returned to air September 7, 1974 – February 11, 1975, as WRLU
Unknown date Chicago, Illinois WXXW 20 PBS September 20, 1965 Would return to the air in February 1983 as WYCC

Television shows

Debuting this year

Premier Title Network
January 7 How to Survive a Marriage NBC
January 7 Jackpot! NBC
January 15 Happy Days ABC
February 1 Good Times CBS
February 10 Apple's Way CBS
February 18 Tattletales CBS
March 3 Nova PBS
May 6 The $10,000 Pyramid ABC
July 1 High Rollers NBC
July 1 Winning Streak NBC
July 4 Bicentennial Minute CBS
July 29 Name That Tune NBC
September 4 That's My Mama CBS
September 7 Run, Joe, Run NBC
September 7 Land of the Lost NBC
September 7 Valley of the Dinosaurs CBS
September 7 Shazam! CBS
September 7 Hong Kong Phooey ABC
September 9 Rhoda CBS
September 9 Dinah! Syndication
September 9 The $25,000 Pyramid Syndication
September 11 Little House on the Prairie NBC
September 12 Harry O ABC
September 13 Chico and the Man NBC
September 13 The Rockford Files NBC
September 13 Police Woman NBC
September 13 The Texas Wheelers ABC
September 13 Kolchak: The Night Stalker ABC
September 13 Planet of the Apes CBS
September 14 The New Land ABC
September 14 Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers CBS
September 21 Nakia ABC
December 23 The Big Showdown ABC
December 23 Money Maze ABC

Ending this year

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New anchor at WNBC-TV." Broadcasting, March 18, 1974. p. 87. Archived issues available via americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ↑ "WBTV's Cussed, Discussed News Theme Gets Overhaul". The Charlotte Observer. 1974-08-07.
  3. ↑ Young, Bill. "Monty Python: 1969-2014". Tellyspotting: Your Brit TV Pub. KERA. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ McCall, Douglas (2014). Monty Python: a chronology, 1969-2012 (Second ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 36. ISBN 0-7864-7811X
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