This is a list of American television-related events in 1978.
| Date | Event |
|---|
| January 15 | Super Bowl XII airs on CBS, the first time the NFL's championship event is played and telecast at night. The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Denver Broncos 27-10. |
| January 23 | Roots One Year Later, a special examining the impact and influence of the miniseries, airs on ABC. |
| January 28 | The Doobie Brothers make a guest appearance on ABC's What's Happening!! |
| February 5 | ABC celebrates its silver anniversary with a retrospective special. |
| February 28 | Robin Williams makes his first appearance as Mork from Ork on an episode of Happy Days on ABC. The episode proved to be such a success, that it would soon give way to a spin-off starring Williams entitled Mork & Mindy. |
| March 7 | Showtime goes nationwide on the air. |
| March 22 | The Beatles spoof The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash airs on NBC. |
| March 26 – April 1 | CBS commemorates its golden anniversary in radio and TV broadcasting with CBS: On the Air, a 9½-hour retrospective special airing over 7 nights. |
| April 16–19 | Holocaust, starring James Woods and Meryl Streep first airs on NBC. |
| April 22 | The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live; the duo of Jake & Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) are introduced in a skit by Paul Shaffer (as Don Kirshner) and performs "Hey Bartender". |
| April 26 | Ringo Starr's, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper, airs on NBC, with Starr's fellow former Beatle, George Harrison, providing the narration. |
| May 1 | KDOG-TV, Houston's independent station, changes its call sign to KRIV-TV following its purchase by Metromedia. |
| June 12 | WHNB-TV, NBC affiliate in New Britain/Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut, changes its name to its current WVIT-TV, shortly after Viacom purchased the station. |
| June 26 | WTOP-TV changes its call sign to WDVM-TV. In return the NBC affiliate, WWJ-TV changes its call sign to WDIV-TV. |
| July 1 | In Charlotte, North Carolina, NBC affiliate WSOC-TV leaves the network and joins ABC, citing a stronger affiliation (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks, while ABC is in first place). NBC eventually aligns with Ted Turner-owned independent station WRET-TV (now WCNC-TV), tempted by promises Turner made to NBC to make $2.5 million worth of upgrades, including a stronger transmitter and the launch of a news department; former ABC affiliate WCCB becomes an independent station, and eventually a charter affiliate of Fox in 1986.[1] |
| July 10 | On ABC, the ABC Evening News is revamped to become ABC World News Tonight, employing a unique three-anchor setup (Frank Reynolds serving as lead anchor from Washington, Max Robinson presenting national news from Chicago, and Peter Jennings with international news from London). |
| August 1 | Taking advantage of an oral escape-clause in his contract with ABC, Harry Reasoner returns to CBS, eventually rejoining 60 Minutes, the program he anchored with Mike Wallace from its 1968 premiere until he joined ABC News in 1970. |
| September 17 | The ceremony formalizing the success of the peace talks between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat—the Camp David accords—is televised live from the White House East Room. |
| September 19 | The chairs on which Archie and Edith Bunker sat through 8 seasons of the CBS comedy All in the Family are presented to the Smithsonian Institution. |
| September 27 | Replacing Zara Cully and Damon Evans, Jay Hammer joins the cast of the CBS comedy The Jeffersons, for a short period of time. |
| October 7 | On NBC's Saturday Night Live, The Rolling Stones become the first and to date, only band to serve as both hosts and musical guests in the same episode. |
| October 31 | On NBC, Norma Brown wins $28,800 playing the Money Cards on Card Sharks, the first and only time a contestant has won the maximum amount. |
| November 9 | Jack Soo makes his final appearance as Nick Yemana on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller prior to his death from cancer on January 11, 1979. The Season 5 finale of Barney Miller (airing later that May) would subsequently, feature the cast stepping out of character to pay tribute to Soo. |
| November 12 | In Fort Smith, Arkansas, KLMN-TV (now Fox affiliate KFTA-TV) signs-on the air and takes CBS programming from KFPW-TV/KTVP. Both KFPW-TV and KTVP subsequently become full-time ABC affiliates, giving Fort Smith in-market affiliates of all three major networks. |
| November 17 | The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming Star Wars sequel. | |
There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.
| Date | Name | Notability |
|---|
| January 2 | Patricia de Leon | Actress |
| January 3 | Kimberley Locke | TV Personality (American Idol, Little Talent Show)[2] |
| January 5 | January Jones | Actress (Mad Men, The Last Man on Earth) |
| January 7 | Ryan Star | Singer |
| January 8 | Ron Pederson | Canadian actor (Mad TV) |
| January 9 | AJ McLean | Actor and singer (Backstreet Boys) |
| January 10 | Jill Nicolini | Actress |
| January 14 | Sage Brocklebank | Actor |
| January 15 | Jamie Clayton | Actress (Sense8) |
| Eddie Cahill | Actor () |
| January 24 | Kristen Schaal | Actress (Bob's Burgers, The Last Man on Earth, Gravity Falls) |
| January 26 | Kelly Stables | Actress (W.I.T.C.H., Two and a Half Men, The Exes) |
| February 2 | Rich Sommer | Actor (Mad Men) |
| February 3 | Kelly Sullivan | Actress (Henry Danger, The Adventures of Kid Danger) |
| Eliza Schneider | Actress (Beakman's World, South Park, Squirrel Boy) |
| February 6 | Har Mar Superstar | Actor |
| February 7 | Ashton Kutcher | Actor (That '70s Show, Two and a Half Men) |
| February 14 | Joanna Canton | Actress |
| Danai Gurira | Actor (The Walking Dead) |
| February 16 | John Tartaglia | Actor |
| February 20 | Lauren Ambrose | Actress (Six Feet Under) |
| Chelsea Peretti | Actress (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) |
| Jay Hernandez | Actor |
| February 21 | Nicole Parker | Comedian, actress and singer (Mad TV) |
| February 24 | Nicole Lyn | Actress |
| February 28 | Geoffrey Arend | Actor |
| March 1 | Donovan Patton | Actor (Blue's Clues, Team Umizoomi, Clarence) |
| Jensen Ackles | Actor (Days of Our Lives, Dark Angel, Smallville, Supernatural) |
| March 5 | Kimberly McCullough | Actress (Once and Again, General Hospital) |
| March 8 | Nick Zano | Actor (What I Like About You) |
| March 11 | Rob Simonsen | Composer |
| March 14 | Chris McCaleb | Director |
| March 16 | Matthew Montgomery | Actor |
| Brooke Burns | Actress |
| March 17 | Patrick Seitz | Actor |
| March 19 | Virginia Williams | Actress (One Life to Live, Monarch Cove, Fairly Legal) |
| March 23 | Anastasia Griffith | Actress (Damages, Trauma, Copper) |
| David Tom | Actor |
| Nicholle Tom | Actress (The Nanny) |
| Perez Hilton | Blogger |
| March 24 | Amanda Brugel | Actress |
| March 25 | Maribeth Monroe | Actress and comedian (Workaholics, The Brink) |
| April 1 | Jason Bell | American former professional football player |
| April 2 | Jaime Ray Newman | Actress (General Hospital, Eastwick) |
| Deon Richmond | Actor (The Cosby Show, Sister, Sister) |
| April 3 | Matthew Goode | Actor |
| April 6 | Lauren Ridloff | Actress |
| Tim Hasselbeck | American sports journalist |
| April 7 | Nelson Cragg | Director |
| Jimmy Akingbola | Actor |
| April 12 | Riley Smith | Actor |
| April 13 | Kyle Howard | Actor (My Boys) |
| April 15 | Chris Stapleton | Singer |
| April 17 | Lindsay Hartley | Actress and singer (Days of Our Lives, All My Children, Passions) |
| Adam Jamal Craig | Actor () |
| April 19 | James Franco | Actor (Freaks and Geeks) |
| Sheinelle Jones | American journalist and news anchor |
| April 20 | Clayne Crawford | Actor (Lethal Weapon) |
| Matt Austin | Actor (Power Rangers S.P.D.) |
| Matthew Wilkas | Actor |
| April 22 | Manu Intiraymi | Actor () |
| April 23 | Ian Brennan | Actor and writer |
| April 26 | Stana Katic | Actress (Castle) |
| Pablo Schreiber | Canadian-American actor (The Wire, Orange Is the New Black) |
| Stephen Williams | Jamaican-Canadian director |
| April 28 | Nate Richert | Actor (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) |
| Robert Oliveri | Former actor |
| April 29 | Tyler Labine | Actor (New Amsterdam) |
| May 1 | James Badge Dale | Actor (24, The Pacific, Rubicon) |
| May 2 | Kumail Nanjiani | American-Pakistani actor (Silicon Valley, Franklin & Bash, Adventure Time) |
| May 4 | Erin Andrews | Actress |
| May 5 | Santiago Cabrera | Venezuelan-born Chilean-British actor (Heroes) |
| May 8 | Matthew Davis | Actor (The Vampire Diaries) |
| May 9 | Daniel Franzese | Actor |
| May 10 | Corri English | Actress |
| Kenan Thompson | Actor (All That, Kenan & Kel, Saturday Night Live) |
| May 12 | Jason Biggs | Actor (Orange Is the New Black, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) |
| Malin Akerman | Actress (Childrens Hospital, Trophy Wife, Billions) |
| May 13 | Brooke Anderson | Former co-host of The Insider |
| May 15 | David Krumholtz | Actor (Numb3rs) |
| Caroline Dhavernas | Actress (Off the Map, Hannibal, Mary Kills People) |
| May 16 | Jim Sturgess | Actor |
| May 17 | Kat Foster | Actress ('Til Death) |
| Carlos Peña | Broadcaster |
| May 22 | Ginnifer Goodwin | Actress (Ed, Big Love, Once Upon a Time) |
| May 24 | | Actor (October Road), (How to Make It in America) |
| May 26 | Benji Gregory | Actor (ALF) |
| Adam Robitel | Director, producer, screenwriter, and actor |
| May 27 | Cindy Sampson | Canadian actress (Supernatural) |
| May 28 | Jake Johnson | Actor (New Girl) |
| June 1 | Link Neal | TV host |
| June 2 | Justin Long | Actor (Ed) |
| Nikki Cox | Actress (Unhappily Ever After, Las Vegas) |
| June 4 | Robin Taylor | Actor (Gotham) |
| June 5 | Nick Kroll | Actor, comedian and writer (The League, Kroll Show) |
| Rob Nelson | Afternoon anchor for Newsy, Scripps Television's all news channel |
| June 6 | Judith Barsi | Actress (d. 1988) |
| June 7 | Bill Hader | Actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live, South Park, Documentary Now!) |
| June 8 | Maria Menounos | Actress |
| June 9 | Michaela Conlin | Actress (Bones) |
| Brian Patrick Wade | Actor |
| June 10 | Shane West | Actor (Once and Again, ER, Nikita) |
| DJ Qualls | Actor (Legit) |
| June 11 | Joshua Jackson | Canadian actor (Dawson's Creek, Fringe) |
| June 12 | Shiloh Strong | Actor |
| Timothy Simons | Actor (Veep) |
| Jeremy Rowley | Actor |
| June 13 | Bianna Golodryga | Moldovan-born American journalist |
| June 15 | Ethan Embry | Actor (Brotherhood) |
| June 18 | Tara Platt | Voice actress (Naruto, Bleach, ) |
| June 19 | Dirk Nowitzki | NBA basketball player |
| Zoe Saldana | Actress |
| Mía Maestro | Actress and singer |
| June 20 | Mike Birbiglia | Actor |
| Quinton Jackson | Actor |
| June 21 | Erica Durance | Canadian actress (Smallville, Saving Hope) |
| June 24 | Geoff Keighley | Canadian gaming TV presenter (GT.TV, G4tv.com, Spike Video Game Awards) |
| June 26 | Tory Mussett | Actress |
| June 27 | Courtney Ford | Actress |
| June 29 | Lenard McKelvey | Media Personality (Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne, Hell of A Week) |
| Luke Kirby | Actor |
| Nicole Scherzinger | Singer |
| July 1 | Hillary Tuck | Actress () |
| July 2 | Owain Yeoman | Actor |
| July 4 | Becki Newton | Actress (Ugly Betty, The Goodwin Games) |
| Andrea Gabriel | Actress (Lost) |
| July 6 | Adam Busch | Actor (The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Men at Work) |
| Actress (Sister, Sister, Strong Medicine, Tia & Tamera) |
| Tia Mowry | Actress (Sister, Sister, Bratz, The Game, Tia & Tamera, Instant Mom) |
| July 8 | Rachael Lillis | Actress |
| July 9 | Linda Park | South Korean actress () |
| Sundance Head | Singer (American Idol, The Voice) |
| Kyle Davis | Actor |
| July 11 | Jeremy Rowley | Actor (iCarly, Bunsen Is a Beast) |
| July 12 | Michelle Rodriguez | Actress (Lost) |
| Topher Grace | Actor (That '70s Show) |
| July 13 | Jessica Barth | Actress |
| July 15 | Greg Sestero | Actor |
| July 18 | Eddie Matos | Actor (Port Charles) |
| July 19 | Ginifer King | Actress (The Haunted Hathaways) |
| Mark Proksch | Actor |
| Marcela Valladolid | American chef |
| July 21 | Josh Hartnett | Actor |
| Justin Bartha | Actor |
| July 22 | A. J. Cook | Actress (Higher Ground, Criminal Minds) |
| July 24 | Jeff Mauro | Co-host of the Food Network series The Kitchen |
| August 2 | Natashia Williams | Actress (Romeo!) |
| August 3 | Shanelle Workman | Actress |
| August 6 | Marisa Miller | Actress |
| August 8 | Countess Vaughn | Actress and singer (Moesha, The Parkers) |
| August 15 | Jennie Eisenhower | Actress |
| August 18 | Andy Samberg | Actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) |
| August 20 | Noah Bean | Actor (Damages, Nikita) |
| August 22 | James Corden | English comedian and host (The Late Late Show) |
| August 23 | Kobe Bryant | NBA basketball player (died 2020) |
| August 24 | Beth Riesgraf | Actress (Leverage, Caper) |
| August 25 | Kel Mitchell | Actor (All That, Kenan & Kel, Clifford the Big Red Dog, One on One, Pink Panther and Pals, Wild Grinders, Game Shakers) |
| August 26 | Amanda Schull | Actress (Pretty Little Liars, Suits, 12 Monkeys) |
| August 28 | Kelly Overton | Actress (All My Children, True Blood, Legends) |
| Rachel Kimsey | Actress (The Young and the Restless, Justice League Action) |
| August 29 | Danielle Hampton | Actress |
| September 4 | Wes Bentley | Actor (American Horror Story) |
| September 6 | Mathew Horne | Actor |
| September 7 | Devon Sawa | Actor |
| September 12 | Ben McKenzie | Actor (The O.C., Southland, Gotham) |
| Ruben Studdard | Singer and actor |
| September 13 | Megan Henning | Actress (7th Heaven) |
| September 16 | Michael Mosley | Actor (Scrubs, Pan Am, Sirens) |
| Matthew Rogers | American television host |
| September 17 | Nick Cordero | Actor (died 2020) |
| September 18 | Billy Eichner | Actor |
| September 20 | Charlie Weber | Actor (How to Get Away with Murder) |
| September 22 | Daniella Alonso | Actress (Revolution, The Night Shift) |
| September 23 | Keri Lynn Pratt | Actress (Jack & Bobby) |
| Josh Miller | Filmmaker |
| Anthony Mackie | Actor |
| September 25 | Rossif Sutherland | Actor |
| September 28 | Peter Cambor | Actor () |
| Nikki McKibbin | Singer (Popstars, American Idol) (died 2020) |
| October 1 | Katie Aselton | Actress |
| Nicole Atkins | Singer-songwriter |
| October 3 | Shannyn Sossamon | Actress |
| Jake Shears | Singer |
| Christian Coulson | Actor |
| October 4 | Dana Davis | Actress (Heroes, 10 Things I Hate About You, Franklin & Bash) |
| Phillip Glasser | Actor |
| Mark Day | Actor |
| October 5 | James Valentine | American musician |
| Morgan Webb | TV host |
| Jesse Palmer | TV host |
| October 7 | Omar Benson Miller | Actor (, Ballers, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) |
| October 10 | Jodi Lyn O'Keefe | Actress (Nash Bridges, Prison Break) |
| October 14 | Usher | Singer and Actor |
| October 15 | Devon Gummersall | Actor (My So-Called Life) |
| October 16 | Kala Savage | Actress |
| Novie Edwards | Actress and singer (Cyberchase, Total Drama Island) |
| October 17 | Erin Karpluk | Canadian actress (Being Erica) |
| October 18 | Wesley Jonathan | Actor (City Guys, What I Like About You, The Soul Man) |
| Jake Farrow | American television writer and actor |
| October 20 | Dionne Quan | Voice actress (Rugrats, The Fairly OddParents, All Grown Up!, Bratz) |
| David Caspe | American film and television writer |
| October 21 | Will Estes | Actor (American Dreams, Blue Bloods) |
| Michael McMillian | Actor (What I Like About You, True Blood, Hot in Cleveland) |
| October 22 | Zuzanna Szadkowski | Polish-American actress (Gossip Girl) |
| October 25 | Zachary Knighton | Actor |
| October 26 | CM Punk | Actor |
| October 27 | David Walton | Actor (New Girl, About a Boy) |
| October 28 | Gwendoline Christie | English actress (Wizards vs Aliens, Game of Thrones) and singer |
| Justin Guarini | Singer |
| October 30 | Matthew Morrison | Actor (Glee) |
| October 31 | Brian Hallisay | Actor (Privileged, The Client List, Revenge) |
| November 1 | Mary Kate Schellhardt | Actress |
| November 2 | Erika Flores | Actress (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) |
| November 6 | Nicole Dubuc | Actress (Major Dad, Young Justice) |
| Taryn Manning | Actress |
| Erik Cole | Former professional ice hockey left winger |
| November 9 | Sisqó | Actor |
| November 10 | Eve | Rapper and actress (Eve) |
| Diplo | DJ |
| David Paetkau | Canadian actor (Flashpoint) |
| November 12 | Ashley Williams | Actress (As the World Turns, Good Morning, Miami, The Jim Gaffigan Show) |
| November 15 | Samantha Shelton | Actress (Monarch Cove) |
| November 17 | Zoë Bell | New Zealand actress |
| Tom Ellis | Actor |
| Rachel McAdams | Actress (True Detective) |
| November 18 | Daniel Chong | Animator |
| November 19 | Eric Nenninger | Actor (Malcolm in the Middle) |
| Chad Doreck | Voice actor (Brad Carbunkle on My Life as a Teenage Robot) |
| November 20 | Nadine Velazquez | Actress (My Name is Earl, The League, Major Crimes) and model |
| November 24 | Katherine Heigl | Actress (Roswell, Grey's Anatomy, State of Affairs) |
| November 28 | Aimee Garcia | Actress (Greetings from Tucson, All About the Andersons, George Lopez, Dexter) |
| November 29 | Lauren German | Actress (Chicago Fire) |
| November 30 | Clay Aiken | Singer (American Idol, Celebrity Apprentice) |
| December 1 | Jen Psaki | |
| December 2 | Nelly Furtado | Singer |
| December 7 | Shiri Appleby | Actress (Roswell, Life UneXpected, UnREAL) |
| December 8 | Ian Somerhalder | Actor (Smallville, Lost, The Vampire Diaries) |
| December 9 | Jesse Metcalfe | Actor (Passions, Desperate Housewives) |
| December 10 | Summer Phoenix | Actress |
| December 11 | Minty Lewis | Voice actress (Eileen on Regular Show) |
| December 12 | Gbenga Akinnagbe | Actor (The Wire) |
| December 13 | B.J. Penn | Mixed martial artist[3] |
| December 18 | Josh Dallas | Actor (Once Upon a Time) |
| Ravi Patel | Actor |
| Katie Holmes | Actress (Dawson's Creek, The Kennedys) |
| December 19 | Patrick Casey | Actor |
| December 20 | Amanda Swisten | Actress |
| December 22 | Joanne Kelly | Actress |
| Anthony Jeselnik | Comedian |
| December 23 | Estella Warren | Canadian actress |
| December 28 | John Legend | Actor |
| December 30 | Michael Grimm | Singer |
| Tyrese Gibson | Singer | |
