1953 in American television explained

This is a list of American television-related events in 1953.

Events

Date	Event	Ref.
January 15	Harry Truman becomes the first U.S. president to broadcast his farewell address on both radio and television.
February 18	Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through at least 1955.
March 25	CBS conceded victory to RCA in the war over color television standards.
April 3	TV Guide is published for the first time, with 10 editions and a circulation of 1,562,000.
May 25	KUHT, the first non-commercial educational television station signs on the air in Houston, Texas. This launch preceded the launch of National Educational Television by almost a year.	^[1]

Television programs

Debuts

Date	Program	Network
February 10	Romper Room	First-run syndication
February 16	The Dotty Mack Show	DuMont
March 21	Johnny Jupiter	DuMont
May 8	Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop	DuMont
May 10	The Roy Doty Show	DuMont
May 19	The Music Show	DuMont
May 27	The Strawhatters	DuMont
June 20	Bank on the Stars
June 21	Washington Exclusive	DuMont
June 26^[2]	Terry and the Pirates
June 27	It's a Small World	DuMont
July 5	Old American Barn Dance	DuMont
July 7	Summer Night Theater	DuMont
July 9	Drama at Eight	DuMont
July 11	Medallion Theatre	CBS
August 18	Judge for Yourself
September 5	The Secret Files of Captain Video	DuMont
September 9	On Your Way	DuMont
	NBA on DuMont	DuMont
September 12	Bonino	NBC
September 13	The George Jessel Show	ABC
September 15	Pulse of the City	DuMont
September 20	Dollar a Second	DuMont
September 21	Marge and Jeff	DuMont
September 25	Melody Street	DuMont
September 29	Make Room For Daddy	ABC
October 2	The Comeback Story	ABC
	The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
	The Price of the Family
October 5	Of Many Things	ABC
October 7	Colonel Humphrey Flack	DuMont
October 7	Life with Elizabeth
October 8	Where's Raymond?	ABC
October 11	The Man Behind the Badge	CBS
October 16	Nine Thirty Curtain	DuMont
October 25	The Igor Cassini Show	DuMont
October 28	Joseph Schildkraut Presents	DuMont
November 4	Stars on Parade	DuMont
November 8	Opera Cameos	DuMont
November 11	Answers for Americans	ABC
December 30	Concert Tonight	DuMont
Unknown date	Place the Face	CBS
	All About Baby	DuMont

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
My Little Margie	CBS	NBC
The Ernie Kovacs Show	NBC	CBS
Chance of a Lifetime	ABC	Dumont
What's Your Bid?	ABC	Dumont
Man Against Crime	CBS	Dumont / NBC
Pantomime Quiz	NBC	Dumont
Meet Your Congress	NBC	Dumont
Blind Date	NBC	Dumont
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet	NBC	Dumont

Ending this year

Date	Program	Network	First aired	Notes
February 2	Report Card for Parents	DuMont	December 1, 1952
March 14	The Pet Shop	DuMont	December 1, 1951
March 23	Hollywood Opening Night		July 13, 1951 (on CBS)
March 26	Biff Baker, U.S.A.	CBS	November 13, 1952
April	The Amos 'n' Andy Show	CBS	1951
April 3	One Woman's Experience		October 6, 1952
April 10	One Man's Experience		October 6, 1952
May 1	Dark of Night	DuMont	October 3, 1952
May 1	Hollywood Screen Test	ABC	April 15, 1948
May 2	Kids and Company	DuMont	September 1, 1951
May 3	Victory at Sea	NBC	October 26, 1952
May 6	Happy's Party		September 6, 1952
May 12	Meet the Boss	DuMont	June 10, 1952
May 20	Stage a Number		September 10, 1952
June 7	Youth on the March	DuMont	October 9, 1949 (on ABC)
June 12	Tales of Tomorrow	ABC	August 3, 1951
June 13	Cowboy G-Men		September 13, 1952
June 14	New York Times Youth Forum		September 14, 1952
June 20	My Hero	NBC	November 8, 1952
June 21	The Alan Young Show	CBS	April 6, 1950
	The Ken Murray Show	CBS	January 7, 1950
June 28	The Doctor	NBC	August 24, 1952
June 30	Wisdom of the Ages	DuMont	December 16, 1952
July 3	Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop		May 8, 1953
July 27	It's a Small World	DuMont	June 27, 1953
July 28	Summer Night Theater	DuMont	July 7, 1953
July 30	Drama at Eight	DuMont	July 9, 1953
July 31	Ladies' Date		October 13, 1952
September 1	The Range Rider	Syndication	April 5, 1951
September 11	Gulf Playhouse	NBC	October 3, 1952
September 12	The Aldrich Family	NBC	October 2, 1949
September 13	The Old American Barn Dance	DuMont	July 5, 1953
September 15	Blind Date	DuMont	May 5, 1949 (on ABC)
September 22	Beulah	ABC	October 3, 1950
September 27	Trash or Treasure	DuMont	October 1, 1952
September 28	Shadow of the Cloak	CBS	June 7, 1951
September 30	A Date with Judy	ABC	July 10, 1952	Second version; first version aired in daytime from 1951 to 1952
October 1	City Hospital	CBS	November 3, 1951 (on ABC)
October 4	The Roy Doty Show		May 10, 1953
October 6	Where Was I?		September 2, 1952
October 11	Georgetown University Forum		July 3, 1951
October 11	What's It Worth		May 21, 1948
November 13	Front Page Detective		July 6, 1951
November 21	Terry and the Pirates		June 26, 1953
December 7	Monodrama Theater	DuMont	May 1952
December 26	Bonino	NBC	September 12, 1953
	Four Star Revue	NBC	October 4, 1950

Television stations

Station launches

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
January 1	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania		28
January 4			9	NBC
January 11			27	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
January 13			13	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
January 14			10	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
January 20			25	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
January 25		WABI-TV	5	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
February 1			25	NBC
February 8		WLVA-TV	13	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
February 13	New Britain, Connecticut	WKNB-TV	30	NBC (primary) CBS (secondary)
February 15			27	Independent
February 18		KOLN-TV	12	ABC	now on channel 10
February 22			61	CBS
			4	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
February 23		KXLY-TV	4	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
March 1	Johnstown/Altoona, Pennsylvania		10	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
			11	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			6	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
March 8	Lawton, Oklahoma		7	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			21	NBC
March 9			9	CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
March 13	Rome, Georgia		9	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)	Moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to become that area's ABC affiliate in 1958
March 14	Springfield, Missouri	KTTS-TV	10	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
March 16			3	DuMont
March 17			2	CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
		WWLP	61	NBC
March 18			4	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
March 23			11		City of license was changed to Houston in 1960.
March 29			43	DuMont/ABC
April 3			20	Independent (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			13	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
April 4	Amarillo, Texas		10	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
	New Castle, Pennsylvania		45	ABC	Now on channel 33
April 5	Flint, Michigan		57	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	Now NBC affiliate WEYI-TV on channel 25
		KRTV	17	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
April 7		WFTL-TV	23	NBC
April 9		WEEU-TV	33	NBC
April 12		KFDX-TV	3	NBC
April 14	Springfield, Massachusetts		55	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
April 17			20	CBS
April 18			8	NBC (primary) DuMont/ABC/CBS (secondary)
April 19			9	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
April 21		WLEV-TV	51	NBC
April 29	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico		6	Bilingual independent	Licensed to Tijuana, but is considered a border blaster serving the San Diego area; Now an affiliate of Mexico's Canal 5.
May 1			25	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS (secondary)
May 2			12	NBC
May 3			17	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
May 5		WFTL-TV	23	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			38	Independent (primary) CBS/ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary, select programs)
May 10			11	NBC
May 19		KELO-TV	11	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
May 23			18	NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC (secondary)
May 25	Houston, Texas	KUHT	8	Educational Independent
			6	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
May 31			38	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)
			10	CBS
			38	ABC
June 1			6	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
			24	NBC
June 3			12
June 6			25	DuMont
June 7			23	ABC
	Scranton, Pennsylvania	WDAU	22	CBS
June 14			49	ABC/CBS/NBC
June 15	Elmira, New York	WTVE	24	CBS and NBC (joint-primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
	Lafayette, Indiana		18	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
June 17		WTVP	17	ABC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
June 18			6	Independent	First station in Idaho, but lasted less than two months
June 19	Charleston, South Carolina		5	CBS
June 24	Roswell, New Mexico		8	NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC (secondary)
June 26		WGLV	57	ABC/DuMont
			8	CBS
June 29			5	NBC
June 30			27	CBS
July 1		KTVH	12	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
July 4			55	DuMont
July 5	Quincy, Illinois	WGEM-TV	10	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
July 6	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania		71	NBC
July 8		KLAS-TV	8	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
			15	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
	Warrensburg/Sedalia, Missouri		6	Independent
July 9		KFSA-TV	22	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
July 12			7	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
		WNAO-TV	28	CBS (primary) NBC/ABC/DuMont (secondary)
July 14			53
			10	NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC
July 19			29	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
July 24			3	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
August 1		WGVL	23	ABC
	Kansas City, Missouri	KMBC-TV	9	CBS	Shared time with WHB-TV
			5	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
August 2			9	CBS
	Tacoma/Seattle, Washington		13	NBC
August 10			54	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	Now Fox network affiliate KTVI channel 2 (was a Fox O&O from 1997 to 2008)
August 11		KFAZ-TV	43	Independent
August 14			6	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
August 15			8	NBC
			16	Independent
August 16	Texarkana, Texas-Arkansas		6	CBS
August 17			6	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
	Buffalo, New York		17	CBS/ABC/DuMont
		KMBY-TV	8	ABC/CBS/DuMont/NBC	Shared time with KSBW-TV
August 23			4	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
August 24		KRBC-TV	9	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont/ABC (secondary)
			19	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)
August 25		WICA-TV	15	Independent
			47	Independent
		WENS	16	Independent
August 27			53	DuMont
August 29			12	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (Secondary)
		WSTG	64	DuMont/ABC
		WTOB-TV	26	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
August 31		WTAO-TV	56	DuMont
	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		16	ABC
			21	Independent
September			40	ABC
September 1	Columbia, South Carolina		19	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			11	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
	St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota		11	ABC/DuMont	Shared time with KARE (now WTCN-TV)
September 5	Anderson, South Carolina		40	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
September 6			25	CBS
September 7			34	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
September 10			53	ABC/DuMont
September 11			8	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
September 13			10	NBC
September 15	Tucson, Arizona		4	NBC
September 16	Scranton, Pennsylvania		34	ABC
September 17			49	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			20	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
September 19			13	NBC
September 20			47	ABC (primary) CBS (secondary)
September 21			13	NBC
September 23	Hannibal, Missouri		7	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			8	CBS (primary) DuMont/NBC (secondary)
September 26			11	CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
September 27	Evansville, Indiana	WEHT	50	ABC	Originally licensed to Henderson, Kentucky at the time of sign-on
		KCMO-TV	5	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
		WMAZ-TV	13	CBS (primary) DuMont/NBC/ABC (secondary)
	Memphis, Tennessee	WHBQ-TV	13	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
	Monroe, Louisiana		8	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
			2	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
September 28			7	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
September 29			59	Independent
September 30		WMT-TV	2	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			12	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
			40	Independent
October		WHSV-TV	3	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
October 1			6	NBC
	Rockford, Illinois		13	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
	Springfield, Missouri		3	NBC
October 3	Milwaukee, Wisconsin		19	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
October 4			13	CBS
	Harlingen, Texas	KGBT-TV	4	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 6			28	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
October 8		WACH-TV	33	Independent
			11	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
October 9			3	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
October 12			49	ABC/DuMont
October 14			10	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
			12	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 15	Cedar Rapids, Iowa		9	ABC
	Johnstown/Altoona, Pennsylvania		56	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	This station moved to Jeannette, Pennsylvania, in 1997; now on channel 19.
			6	CBS
October 16		WPFA-TV	15	DuMont
October 18	Knoxville, Tennessee	WTVK	26	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
		WKLO-TV	21	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
October 20	Peoria, Illinois		19	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
		KSTM-TV	36
October 22		WTOV-TV	27	ABC
October 23	Houston, Texas		40	DuMont
October 24	Phoenix, Arizona		10	ABC	Shared-time stations
			7	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 25			3	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
	Lancaster, Pennsylvania		15	Independent
October 26		WJHL-TV	11	CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
October 31			14	Independent
November 1	New Orleans, Louisiana		61	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
			25	ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)
			10	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
					Shared time with WHEC-TV
	Temple, Texas		6	NBC
November 2		KTAG-TV	25	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
November 7	Columbia, South Carolina		10	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
November 8			19	Independent
November 9			2	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
	York, Pennsylvania		49	DuMont
November 11			15	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)
November 14			3	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont/NBC (secondary)
		KGTV	17	Independent
November 15			4	ABC
	Evansville, Indiana		61	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
			25	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
			12	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont/NBC (secondary)
November 16		KVVG	27	Independent
November 21			33	NBC
November 22			17	DuMont
	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KLPR	19	ABC
November 23		WJBF-TV	6	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
			21	NBC
November 25		WITV	17	ABC/DuMont
November 26		KBCI-TV	2	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
	Flint, Michigan		16	ABC.(primary) DuMont (secondary)
November 29			8	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	Now an exclusive ABC affiliate on channel 2
	Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KWWL-TV	7	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
December 1	Bloomington, Illinois	WBLN	15
	Harrisburg, Illinois		3	ABC
			7	Independent	Later became a primary NBC/secondary CBS and ABC affiliate before end of the year
	Worcester/Boston, Massachusetts		14	Independent	Not to be confused with today's WWOR-TV in Seacaucus, New Jersey
December 6			27	DuMont
			52	unknown
December 7		WAYS-TV	36	ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
December 10	Green Bay, Wisconsin		5	ABC
	Seattle, Washington		4	ABC
December 11			11	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
December 13		WJHP-TV	36	Independent
	Pittsburg, Kansas		7	NBC
December 14			58	Independent
		KFIA	2	NBC/ABC (joint primary)
December 15		KTVU	36	NBC
December 17		WEAU	13	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
December 18			2	NBC
December 19			5	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
		WICD	24	ABC
			3	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
			7	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
December 20			3	CBS (primary) DuMont/NBC/ABC (secondary)
	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma		9	CBS (primary) Paramount (secondary)
			6	NBC
December 21			8	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
December 22			9	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
December 24			4	NBC
			13	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
	Steubenville, Ohio		9	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
December 31			18	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
	Greenville, South Carolina		4	NBC
Unknown date	Des Moines, Iowa	KGTV	17	Independent
			38	CBS/NBC
		WTVE	24	DuMont
			30

Network affiliation changes

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation	Notes/Ref.
September 28	Albuquerque, New Mexico		4	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
October 4				NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
November 29	Nashville, Tennessee		4	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)
Unknown	Denver, Colorado		9	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	DuMont (primary) ABC (secondary)
		WFTV	38	CBS/NBC (joint primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)

Station closures

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	First air date	Notes/Ref.
July 13	Roanoke, Virginia	WROV-TV	27	Independent	February 15, 1953	First commercial station in the United States to permanently go off the air. In this case, it closed due to financial distress^[3]
August 12	Nampa, Idaho	KFXD-TV	6	Independent	June 18, 1953
December 15			25	ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)	November 1, 1953
December 18	Buffalo, New York	WBES-TV	59	Independent	September 29, 1953

Births

See main article: article and 1953 in television.

See also

• • • • 1953 in television 1953 in film 1953 in the United States List of American films of 1953

External links

• List of 1953 American television series at IMDb

Notes and References

1. http://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/KUHT.pdf "KUHT-TV: The University of Houston’s Second Great Vision."
2. Web site: Terry and the Pirates, Macao Gold . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102321/http://free-classic-tv-shows.com/Adventure/Terry-and-the-Pirates/1953-s1-ep01-Macao-Gold/index.php . 2016-03-04 . free-classic-tv-shows.com.
3. http://uhftelevision.com/26-44.html "History of UHF Television: 26-44"