1954 in American television explained

This is a list of American television-related events in 1954.

Events

Date	Event	Ref.
January 1	The Rose Parade was broadcast in NTSC color for the first time ever. The NBC broadcast, possibly one of the earliest color broadcasts in American television history, used a new mobile color television studio truck, and the program is carried across the continent on 21 television stations. Color TV sets were placed in public viewing areas (e.g. hotel lobbies, etc.) by RCA as the first color sets wouldn't become available to the public for another few months.
February 28	The Westinghouse H840CK15 is first offered for sale, the second consumer all-electronic color television set. The set was discontinued about six months after its introduction.	^[1] ^[2]
March 28	Television arrives in the U.S. insular territory of Puerto Rico with the launch of WKAQ-TV in San Juan.	^[3]
April	The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts the Army–McCarthy hearings live and in their entirety.
April	The RCA CT-100 15-inch color sets hit the market. The CT-100 wasn't the world's first color TV, but it was the first to be mass-produced, with 4400 having been made.	^[4] ^[5]
May 16	National Educational Television launches as the nation's first non-commercial, educational broadcast television network.	^[6]
September 11	Lee Ann Meriwether wins the Miss America 1955 Beauty Contest, which is broadcast on national television for the first time. About 27 million viewers watched the future television actress win the crown in the pageant.	^[7]

Television programs

Debuts

Date	Debut	Network
January 2	The Spike Jones Show	NBC
January 3^[8]	Look Up and Live	CBS
January 4^[9]	The Brighter Day	CBS
January 9	Annie Oakley	First-run syndication
January 23	Stories of the Century	First-run syndication
February 1^[10]	The Secret Storm	CBS
February 23	Rocky Jones, Space Ranger	First-run syndication
March 11	The Public Defender	CBS
March 14	Night Editor	DuMont
April 1^[11]	The Wallace and Ladmo Show	KPHO-TV
April 2	Meet Corliss Archer	First-run syndication
April 8	Justice
April 18	The Martha Wright Show	ABC
April 20	Love Story	DuMont
April 26	The Tony Martin Show	NBC
April 30^[12] ^[13]	The Vampira Show	KABC-TV
June 25	The Stranger	DuMont
July 3	Stage Show	CBS
July 5	Concerning Miss Marlowe	NBC
July 6	One Minute Please	DuMont
July 6	Summer Playhouse	NBC
July 16	Gamble on Love	DuMont
July 16	The Best in Mystery	NBC
August 5	So You Want to Lead a Band	ABC
August 21	Waterfront	First-run syndication
August 27	Time Will Tell	DuMont
August 28		NBC
September	DuMont Evening News	DuMont
September 7	It's a Great Life	NBC
	Stop the Music	ABC
September 9^[14]	Captain Midnight	CBS
September 10	Dear Phoebe	NBC
September 12^[15] ^[16]	Lassie	CBS
September 13	Medic	NBC
September 15	The Best of Broadway	CBS
September 18	Willy	CBS
September 19	People Are Funny	NBC
September 21	Studio 57	DuMont
September 27	Caesar's Hour	NBC
	The Tonight Show
September 30	Shower of Stars	CBS
October 1^[17]	Flash Gordon	DuMont
October 1	The Lineup	CBS
October 2	The Imogene Coca Show	NBC
	The Jimmy Durante Show
October 3	Father Knows Best	CBS
October 4	December Bride	CBS
October 5^[18]	The Elgin Hour	ABC
October 7	The Mail Story	ABC
	Climax!	CBS
October 9^[19]	The Donald O'Connor Show	NBC
October 15^[20]	The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin	ABC
October 18^[21]	Producers' Showcase	NBC
October 18	Sherlock Holmes	First-run syndication
October 19	The Halls of Ivy	CBS
October 22	The Jack Carson Show	NBC
October 27	Walt Disney's Disneyland	ABC
November 1	The Ilona Massey Show	DuMont
November 7^[22]	Face the Nation	CBS
Unknown date	The Jo Stafford Show	CBS
	That's My Boy

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
The Ernie Kovacs Show	CBS	DuMont
Better Living TV Theater	ABC	Dumont
The Goldbergs	CBS	Dumont
Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena	NBC	Dumont

Ending this year

Date	Program	Network	First aired	Notes
January 1	Nine Thirty Curtain	DuMont	October 16, 1953
January 11	Of Many Things	ABC	October 5, 1953
January 18	Broadway Television Theatre	WOR-TV	April 14, 1952
January 18	Keep Posted	DuMont	October 9, 1951
January 21	Joseph Schildkraut Presents	DuMont	October 28, 1953
February 5	Guide Right	DuMont	February 25, 1952
February 2	Melody Street	DuMont	September 25, 1953
February 24	Answers for Americans	ABC	November 11, 1953
February 28	The Igor Cassini Show	DuMont	October 25, 1953
March 9	Pulse of the City	DuMont	September 15, 1953
April 3	Medallion Theatre	DuMont	July 11, 1953
April 10	NBA on DuMont	DuMont	September 9, 1953
April 11	The George Jessel Show	ABC	September 13, 1953
April 17	On Your Way	DuMont	September 9, 1953
May	Boxing from Eastern Parkway	DuMont	May 1952
May	The Abbott and Costello Show	syndication	September 1952
May 29	Johnny Jupiter		March 21, 1953 (on DuMont)
May 29	The Secret Files of Captain Video		September 5, 1953
May 28	The Campbell Playhouse	DuMont	June 6, 1952
May 30	The Fred Waring Show	CBS	April 17, 1949
June	ABC Mystery Theater	ABC	October 5, 1951
June 5	Your Show of Shows		February 25, 1950
June 17	Martin Kane, Private Eye	NBC	1949
June 25	My Friend Irma		January 8, 1952
June 27	Man Against Crime	NBC	October 7, 1949 (on CBS)
June 29	Love Story	DuMont	April 20, 1954
June 30	Stars on Parade	DuMont	November 4, 1953
July 2	The Pride of the Family	ABC	October 2, 1953
July 15	Broadway to Hollywood	DuMont	July 4, 1949
August 1	Juvenile Jury	NBC	April 3, 1947
August 2	The Dennis Day Show	NBC	November 23, 1951 (as The RCA Victor Show)
August 17	Suspense	CBS	January 6, 1949
August 20	Gamble on Love	DuMont	July 16, 1954
August 21	Bank on the Stars	NBC	June 20, 1953 (on CBS)
August 24	Summer Playhouse	NBC	July 6, 1954	Returned in 1957
September 3	The Best in Mystery	NBC	July 16, 1954
September 8	Night Editor		March 14, 1954
September 8	The Strawhatters		May 27, 1953
September 12	The Plainclothesman	DuMont	October 12, 1949
September 24	Marge and Jeff	DuMont	September 21, 1953
September 26	The Web	CBS	July 11, 1950
October 3	The Man Behind the Badge	CBS	October 11, 1953
October 10	Author Meets the Critics		April 4, 1948 (on NBC)
October 15	Time Will Tell		August 27, 1954
October 17	The Music Show		May 19, 1953
October 18	The Week in Religion		March 16, 1952
November 16	Rocky Jones, Space Ranger	Syndication	February 23, 1954
December 5	The Martha Wright Show	ABC	April 18, 1954
December 24	Meet Corliss Archer	DuMont	April 2, 1954
December 26	Rocky King Detective	DuMont	January 7, 1950
December 30	They Stand Accused	DuMont	September 11, 1949
Unknown date	Ramar of the Jungle		October 7, 1952

Television films and specials

• December 25 - The Walt Disney Christmas Show on CBS

Television stations

Station launches

Date	City of License/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
January 1			12	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
			9	CBS (primary) DuMont/ABC (secondary)
January 6	Danville, Virginia	WBTM-TV	24	ABC	^[23]
January 13			3
January 15			60		Now WMSB on channel 23
February 5		WCDC-TV	19	ABC	Satellite station of WTEN/Albany, New York
February 8		WRDW-TV	12	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
		KBID-TV	53	Independent
February 14		WTOC-TV	11	CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
February 16			5	NBC
February 17	Albany, New York	WTRI	13	CBS
March 1			6	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
March 9		KSAN-TV	32	Independent
March 13			23	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
March 17			15	NBC
		WJPB-TV	35	ABC (primary) NBC and DuMont (secondary)
March 20			28	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
March 21			5	CBS (primary) NBC, ABC, and DuMont (secondary)
March 22			5	ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary)
March 23			11	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
	Providence, Rhode Island	WNET	16	ABC (primary) DuMont (Secondary)
March 27		WSLI	12
March 28			8	ABC
			2	Independent
April 1		WQED	13	NET
April 5			9	NET
April 6	San Francisco, California		32	Independent
April 7			10	NBC
April 8			8	CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont/NBC (secondary)
April 9			6	NBC (primary) DuMont/ABC/CBS (secondary)
April 10			5	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
April 15		WHO-TV	13	NBC
		KVAL	13	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary)
			4	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
April 16			4	ABC
April 24				CBS
April 25			12	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
May 1	San Juan, Puerto Rico		4	Independent
May 3			21
May 15			3	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)
May 16		WGAN-TV	13	CBS
May 22			5	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
June 1	Ada, Oklahoma	KTEN	10	ABC
July 1			13	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)
			8	ABC (primary) DuMont and NBC (secondary)
		WDBO-TV	6	CBS (primary) DuMont/ABC/NBC (secondary)
July 2		KGEO-TV	5	ABC	License moved to Oklahoma City in 1963
July 4			48	NBC
July 8			4	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	Later a CBS O&O station (as KMOX-TV) from 1958 to 1986; now CBS affiliate KMOV
	Warrensburg/Sedalia, Missouri	KDRO-TV	6	Independent
July 12			4	CBS
July 15			16	DuMont
July 22		WTHI-TV	10	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
July 26			48
August 6	Nashville, Tennessee	WLAC-TV	5	CBS
August 14			2	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
August 15	Charleston, West Virginia		8	CBS
August 22			5	NBC
September 2		WTVD	11	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC (secondary)
September 6			13	Independent
September 8			27	DuMont
September 10		KUTV	2	ABC
September 11	Green Bay, Wisconsin		11	NBC
September 12			2	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
September 13	Traverse City/Cadillac, Michigan		7	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
September 16	Windsor, Ontario, Canada		9	CBC Television (primary) DuMont (secondary)	Licensed in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, but serves both sides of the Canada–United States border as per RKO General ownership at time of sign-on
September 18			13	ABC
			8	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
September 20			9
September 25			2	NBC
		WMTW-TV	8	ABC
September 26	Burlington, Vermont		3	CBS
			15	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
			12
September 29			5	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont/ABC (secondary)
			7	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 2		WGTH-TV	18	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
October 3			12	CBS
October 10	Sioux City, Iowa		4	NBC (primary) ABC/CBS (secondary)
October 13			36	Independent
October 14		KLTV	7	ABC (primary) CBS/NBC (joint primary) DuMont (secondary)
October 18			13	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 19		KAKE-TV	10	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
October 22			7	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary)
October 23			7	CBS (primary) ABC/NBC/DuMont (secondary)
October 27		WISN-TV	12	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
October 29			2	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
November 1			12	NET	Flagship of Nebraska ETV
November 20			13	ABC
November 28	Great Bend/Hays, Kansas	KCKT	2	NBC
December			27	Independent
December 5	Tulsa, Oklahoma		2	NBC
December 7			9	NET
December 8			5	NBC (primary) DuMont/ABC (secondary)
December 14			4	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
December 18	Atlanta, Georgia		36
December 24			23	Independent
December 25			12	NBC (primary) ABC (secondary)
December 28			19	CBS (primary) NBC/ABC (secondary)

Network affiliation changes

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation	Notes/Ref.
March			38	CBS (primary) NBC (secondary)	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
May 15	Austin/Rochester, Minnesota		6	CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary)	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
	Rochester, Minnesota		10	NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC (primary)	NBC (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary)
May 16			8	Educational independent
August 6	Nashville, Tennessee		8 (now on 2)	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	ABC (exclusive)
			4	NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)	Became an exclusive NBC affiliate upon the closure of DuMont in 1956.
Unknown date	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KMPT	19	ABC	DuMont

Station closures

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	First air date	Notes/Ref.
February 28			25	DuMont	June 6, 1953
March 13			10	CBS	May 31, 1953	Merged with KOLN-TV
March 31		KRTV	17	CBS (primary) NBC/ABC/DuMont (secondary)	April 5, 1953	Studio purchased by KATV
April			38	NBC/CBS (joint primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary)	1953
April 2			14	Independent	October 31, 1953
April 21			3	DuMont	March 16, 1953
April 29	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico		7	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	September 15, 1951
April 30			16	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)
May 1			43	Independent	August 11, 1953
May 5	Phoenix, Arizona		10	ABC	October 19, 1953	Merged with time-sharing station KOOL-TV, which went full-time on channel
May 17			46	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)	December 21, 1954
June 9	Kansas City, Missouri	WHB-TV	9	CBS	August 2, 1953	Merged with time-sharing station KMBC-TV, which went full-time on channel
July 2		WKJF-TV	53	Independent	July 14, 1953	Returned to the air in 1969 as WPGH-TV
July 11			38	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)	May 31, 1953
July 15		KBID-TV	53	Independent	February 8, 1954
July 17			52	Independent	December 6, 1953
August 1	Mobile, Alabama	WKAB-TV	48	CBS, DuMont	December 30, 1952
August 3		KSTM-TV	36	DuMont	October 20, 1953
September 19	Butte, Montana	KOPR-TV	4	CBS (primary) ABC (secondary)	August 23, 1953
October 15	Elmira, New York		24	DuMont, CBS, ABC	June 15, 1953	Tower collapse in Hurricane Hazel. Returned May 6, 1956 – February 13, 1957
October 23			19	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary)	August 24, 1953
December 16			53	DuMont	August 27, 1953
December 25			23	NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary)	March 13, 1954
December 31	Danville, Virginia	WBTM-TV	24	ABC	January 6, 1954
Unknown date			16	ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary)	1953

Births

See main article: article.

Deaths

See main article: article.

External links

• List of 1954 American television series at IMDb

Sources

• Book: Collins, Ace . Lassie: A Dog's Life . 1993 . Penguin Books . New York . 978-0-14-023183-0.
• News: Stevens . Val . News of TV and Radio . February 9, 1964 . . 2009-11-03 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Admiral C1617A Color TV. 2018-04-12. Visions4 Magazine. en-US. 2019-03-23.
2. Web site: Westinghouse H840CK15 Color TV. Observatory. Palomar. 2018-05-14. Visions4 Magazine. en-US. 2019-03-23.
3. Web site: Corporate Information. Telemundo.com. November 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20090123130010/http://msnlatino.telemundo.com/legal_corporate. January 23, 2009. dead.
4. Web site: RCA pioneers remember making the first color TV tube.
5. Web site: Rca Ct-100.
6. Web site: Ford Foundation Activities in Noncommercial Broadcasting, 1951-1976 . Ford Foundation . 2008 . November 24, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081201124452/http://www.fordfound.org/archives/item/0303/text/012 . December 1, 2008. dead .
7. Web site: Lee Meriwether Biography. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102222807/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/48556/Lee-Meriwether/biography. dead. November 2, 2012. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. Hal. Erickson. Hal Erickson (author). 2012. November 23, 2022.
8. Book: Hyatt . Wesley . The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . 1997 . Watson-Guptill Publications . 978-0823083152 . registration . 22 March 2020. 264-265.
9. Book: Hyatt . Wesley . The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . 1997 . Watson-Guptill Publications . 978-0823083152 . 22 March 2020. 71–72.
10. Web site: The Secret Storm stilled.
11. Book: Hollis. Tim. Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America's Local Children's TV Shows.. 2001. Univ. Press of Mississippi.. 36.
12. Newsweek May 24, 1954, p. 84, TV-Radio "Vampire"
13. TV Guide July 17–23, 1954 p. 10, "Local Ghoul Makes Good"
14. Book: Woolery . George W. . Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series . 1985 . The Scarecrow Press . 0-8108-1651-2 . 103–105.
15. [#Collins|Collins]
16. [#Stevens|Stevens]
17. Web site: Flash Gordon (1954) . Epguides.com . George Fergus . 2017-03-26.
18. Book: Tim Brooks . Tim Brooks (television historian) . Earle Marsh . . Ballantine Books . New York . Eighth . 2003 . Elgin TV Hour, The (Dramatic Anthology) . 359–60 . 978-0-345-45542-0.
19. Alex McNeil, Total Television, appendix with network television schedule
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. .
21. https://web.archive.org/web/20120607060047/http://www.producersshowcase.org/list.html Producers' Showcase library
22. Book: Face the Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-Winning News Broadcast. Bob Schieffer. Simon & Schuster. New York City. 21–22 . 978-0641658730. Bob Schieffer.
23. http://uhftelevision.com/14-25.html “History of UHF Television: 14-25”