In American television in 1994, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and re-brandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 18 | The Peanuts special You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is broadcast by NBC. It will prove to be the last new Peanuts special broadcast on television for eight years until A Charlie Brown Valentine airs on ABC. It was the last special in creator Charles Schulz's lifetime to air on TV and the gang's first appearance on NBC in over 25 years. |
|---|
| CBS wins the rights to broadcast the 1998 Winter Olympics from Nagano, Japan, after paying roughly $375 million. |
| 22 | NBC broadcasts the NHL All-Star Game for the fifth consecutive year. This would also mark the last time that NBC would broadcast a National Hockey League game for 12 years. |
|---|
| 23 | CBS, which had broadcast National Football League games since 1956, broadcasts its final telecast, with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38–21. CBS had been outbid during December 1993 for rights to the NFC package by the Fox Network. CBS, however, would regain NFL rights (taking over the AFC rights from NBC) in 1998. |
|---|
| 24 | During a segment on NBC's Today, host Bryant Gumbel asks "What is the internet, anyway?" |
|---|
| 30 | NBC airs the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. It's the first time that a network has aired two straight Super Bowls outright. While CBS did air the first two Super Bowls back to back, the first ever Super Bowl was really a simulcast between CBS and NBC. |
|---|
| 31 | Bill Cosby returned to NBC for a two-hour movie, The Cosby Mysteries, after ending production of The Cosby Show 21 months earlier. | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 1 | American pay television channel Encore launches seven new themed multiplex channels (Westerns, True Stories, Love Stories, WAM!: America's Kidz Network, Action and Mystery), primarily on TCI cable systems, becoming the first premium service to offer a suite of thematic channels. Starz, which features more recent movie fare than its parent channel, also debuts on this date as part of the Encore multiplex and would eventually become a rival to HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and The Movie Channel. |
|---|
| 12 | KTSP-TV in Phoenix changes its call letters to KSAZ-TV, reflecting its newly adopted "Spirit of Arizona" slogan.[1] |
|---|
| 19 | During the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, guest host Martin Lawrence makes sexually explicit jokes about female genitalia and feminine hygiene, which results in NBC banning him from appearing on the network (for the next year) and SNL (for life). In repeats of the episode, the offending section of the monologue is replaced by a title card read by an off-screen player (writer Jim Downey), saying that although SNL is neutral about the issues mentioned by Lawrence, network policy prevents his remarks from being re-broadcast, and that the incident almost cost the entire cast of SNL their jobs. |
|---|
| 21 | Sony Pictures Entertainment merged Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television into Columbia TriStar Television. Two of the Sony owned game shows (Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!) will be produced by the new unit for Sony's then-new future programs. CPT and TriStar TV are still in-active until 1999 and the beginning of 2001, respectively. |
|---|
| 23 | CBS's coverage of the short program in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway (fueled by the media frenzy from a scandal in which associates of figure skater Tonya Harding attacked Nancy Kerrigan) immediately becomes one of the highest rated prime time television programs in American history. |
|---|
| 25 | Bob Costas hosts his final episode of Later on NBC with a one-hour retrospective titled "One Last Time". |
|---|
| 28 | Greg Kinnear debuts as host of NBC's Later. | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 1 | The Pay television content advisory system, which describe the varying degrees of suggestive or explicit content in series and movies being broadcast by pay cable channels, are first implemented by HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel. A streamlined version of the system—a categorized, ten-point system of content labels and abbreviated codes—was implemented on June 10. |
|---|
| 11 | Viacom assumes control of Paramount Pictures, which includes Paramount Television. Later during the year Paramount/Viacom announces plans to initiate a new over-the-air television network, in conjunction with United Television. The new network, the United Paramount Network (or UPN for short), is initiated during January 1995. |
|---|
| 15 | Major League Soccer with ESPN and ABC Sports announced the league's first television rights deal without any players, coaches, or teams in place.[2] The three-year agreement committed 10 games on ESPN, 25 on ESPN2, and the MLS Cup on ABC. The deal gave MLS no rights fees but split advertising revenue between the league and networks. |
|---|
| 31 | Madonna appears on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and makes headlines for going on a profanity-laden tirade—one of the most censored events of American TV talk-show history, swearing 13 times during the interview. Though infamous, it results in some of the highest ratings of Letterman's late-night career. (Robin Williams would later describe the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman.") | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 13 | Johnny Carson makes a surprise appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman to deliver Letterman his "Top Ten Lists". This would prove to be Carson's final television appearance. |
|---|
| 14 | Phil Hartman along with Melanie Hutsell, Rob Schneider, Sarah Silverman, and Julia Sweeney appear in their final Saturday Night Live episode as cast members. Hartman is presented with a bronzed stick of glue, symbolizing how he had become "The Glue" of the show, a term coined by Adam Sandler.[4] |
|---|
| 23 | New World Communications reaches a multi-year affiliation agreement with Fox among their entire station group, seven of which were in the former Storer Broadcasting chain, along with four stations purchased from Argyle Television and four stations from Citicasters.[5] [6] In turn, Fox parent News Corporation purchased a 20 percent stake in New World. The terms of the agreement calls for all stations to switch to Fox after their existing contracts are up, initiating a wide-ranging realignment of television stations and network affiliations.[7] |
|---|
| concludes its seven-year run with the series finale, All Good Things... The two-hour finale was broadcast at 6 p.m. on most affiliates, rather than as part of the prime time lineup. |
| 25 | Shannen Doherty makes her final appearance as Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210. | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 11 | World Wrestling Federation wrestler Hulk Hogan signs a deal with World Championship Wrestling on a live broadcast of WCW Saturday Night. |
|---|
| 16 | ABC and Scripps-Howard Broadcasting confirm a wide-ranging affiliation pact securing the network's links with WXYZ-TV in Detroit and WEWS-TV in Cleveland. At Scripps-Howard's insistence, it also calls for KNXV-TV in Phoenix, WFTS-TV in St. Petersburg/Tampa (both outgoing Fox affiliates) and WMAR-TV in Baltimore (the market's NBC affiliate) to switch to ABC. The deal comes at the expense of KTVK and WJZ-TV, whose long tenures with ABC spanned 40 years and 47 years, respectively.[8] [9] |
|---|
| 17 | With all major networks providing live coverage, former NFL player O. J. Simpson, suspected in the murder of his former wife and her acquaintance, flees from police with his friend Al Cowlings in his white Ford Bronco; the low-speed chase ends with Simpson's surrender to police at his Brentwood mansion. NBC, who was broadcasting Game 5 of the NBA Finals between New York and Houston in the meantime, periodically covers the chase via a split-screen. |
|---|
| DirecTV, a direct broadcast satellite service, begins broadcasting in Jackson, Mississippi. |
| 19 | The World Wrestling Federation holds the second annual King of the Ring event on pay-per-view. The event in particular, is remembered among fans for featuring former National Football League player Art Donovan on commentary. Donovan seemingly had no familiarity with professional wrestling, and repeatedly asked the same questions throughout the event, notably, "How much does this guy weigh?" |
|---|
| 20 | NBC's Today moves into Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center. |
|---|
| 23 | The first ever Nurses Ball event airs on General Hospital. | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 3 | WJW-TV in Cleveland is the first of the New World Communications stations to switch to Fox, ending a 40-year affiliation with CBS. Former Fox affiliate WOIO, in turn, joins CBS and takes over operations of independent WUAB (owned by Cannell Communications) via a local marketing agreement; this allows for WOIO to set up a news department using WUAB's personnel.[14] [15] |
|---|
| The made-for-television film Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights premieres in syndication. The film is notable for last film or television series in which Don Messick voices Scooby-Doo and Boo Boo Bear before his retirement in 1996 (though he would voice Scooby-Doo one more time in the Scooby-Doo Mystery video game),[16] and the last in which Allan Melvin voices Magilla Gorilla (as well as his last film role overall). It is also the last Scooby-Doo production to be produced entirely by Hanna-Barbera. Beginning with 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo related animated films and television series would at the very least, co-produced by Warner Bros. Animation. |
| 4 | Fox covers regular season National Football League games for the first time with the launch of their pre-game program, Fox NFL Sunday. |
|---|
| 9 | The National Hockey League reaches a five-year, US$155 million contract with Fox[17] for the broadcast television rights to the league's games, beginning with the 1994–95 season.[18] |
|---|
| 11 | The 46th Primetime Emmy Awards were presented on ABC. |
|---|
| 12 | New World station WDAF-TV in Kansas City ends a 45-year affiliation with NBC to join Fox, with former Fox affiliate KSHB-TV linking up with NBC.[19] [20] |
|---|
| New World station KSAZ-TV in Phoenix ends a 40-year connection to CBS, with former independent KPHO-TV joining CBS.[21] Due to Fox affiliate KNXV-TV having a contract that ends three months later, KSAZ-TV operates as an independent for the interregnum.[22] KNXV-TV begins taking ABC programming on a piecemeal basis from soon-to-be former affiliate KTVK, the market's new independent. |
| Original Family Feud host Richard Dawson returns to the series after nine years, replacing his successor, Ray Combs; the show also expands from half-hour to full-hour episodes. |
| ABC affiliate WEWS, who previously aired only the first hour of Good Morning America, begins airing the full two-hour version of the show, and as a result, The Morning Exchange was shifted an hour back.[23] |
| 14 | Gaylord Broadcasting agrees to affiliate both KTVT in Dallas and KSTW in Tacoma/Seattle with CBS.[24] |
|---|
| 21 | The sitcom Daddy's Girls debuts on CBS. Although it is abandoned after three episodes, it is notable as the first series in which a gay principal character is played by an openly gay actor, Harvey Fierstein.[25] |
|---|
| Sam Waterston makes his first appearance on Law & Order as Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy. |
| Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric is merged into Dateline NBC, creating a Wednesday version of the series.[26] |
| 22 | The pilot episode for Friends airs on NBC. It will rank as being the fifteenth-most-watched television show of the week, scoring 14.7/23 Nielsen rating (each point represented 954,000 households) and nearly 22 million viewers.[27] [28] |
|---|
| 23 | UWF Blackjack Brawl airs live on SportsChannel America. This is the first and only major live television supercard event produced by Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). The event was a successor to UWF's only pay-per-view event, Beach Brawl. |
|---|
| 24 | The Marvel Action Hour, featuring animated adaptations of Iron Man and the Fantastic Four introduced by Stan Lee, debuts in syndication. | |
|---|
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 3 | Roughly a month and a half after making his final World Wrestling Federation television appearance, Randy Savage makes his World Championship Wrestling TV debut on a live edition of WCW Saturday Night. |
|---|
| 11 | New World station WITI in Milwaukee ends a 27-year affiliation with CBS (it had also been with CBS from 1959 to 1961) to join Fox. Outgoing Fox affiliate WCGV-TV and independent WVTV turn down CBS as it didn't align with the existing philosophy of Sinclair Broadcast Group (which operated both stations), with WCGV-TV choosing to join UPN. WVCY-TV refused to sell to the network,[31] while talks with independent WDJT-TV (channel 58), owned by Weigel Broadcasting, broke down in late September. With CBS considering piping in network-owned WBBM-TV or WFRV-TV to area cable companies,[32] Weigel officials and CBS resume talks, inking a deal with WDJT-TV on December 5, five days prior.[33] |
|---|
| New World station WJBK-TV in Detroit ends a 44-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox.[34] With former Fox affiliate WKBD owned by Paramount Stations Group and committed to UPN, and no other station in the market willing to affiliate or be acquired by the network, CBS purchases independent WGPR-TV (channel 62)—the first Black-owned television station in the mainland United States—from the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons. CBS takes over operations the day of the switch via a local marketing agreement.[35] [36] |
| New World station WAGA-TV in Atlanta ends a 43-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox.[37] Initially unable to find a replacement affiliate during the summer of 1994, CBS purchases WVEU (channel 69) from local interests,[38] but the startup process became moot when WGNX agreed to a deal with the network. WATL-TV is sold by Fox to Qwest Broadcasting and joins The WB.[39] [40] |
| 12 | New World station WTVT in St. Petersburg/Tampa ends a 39-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox. Former ABC affiliate WTSP joins CBS, while outgoing Fox affiliate WFTS-TV joins ABC and launches local newscasts the same day. |
|---|
| KNXV-TV in Phoenix ends their affiliation with Fox, allowing KSAZ-TV (temporarily operating as an independent) to join the network. As part of KTVK's slow disaffiliation from ABC, KNXV-TV begins carrying all ABC News programming, including World News Tonight and Nightline, while KTVK continues to run ABC's daytime and primetime lineups through the end of the year. | |
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation |
|---|
| January 26 | | | 61 | |
|---|
| March 16 | Salem, IN (Louisville, KY) | | 58 | Independent |
|---|
| April 1 | | | 47 | Shop at Home Network (primary)
Jewelry Television (secondary) |
|---|
| April 15 | | | 45 | Independent |
|---|
| April 16 | | | 30 | PBS / MPTV+ |
|---|
| May 10 | Dalton, GA–Chattanooga, TN | | 23 | TBN |
|---|
| June 6 | | | 65 | Independent |
|---|
| June 16 | | | 16 | |
|---|
| June 19 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul, MN | | 45 | |
|---|
| June 20 | | | 14 | |
|---|
| July 18 | | | 36 | Independent |
|---|
| July 20 | | KBVU | 28 | Fox |
|---|
| 31 | |
| August 1 | | | 66 | Independent |
|---|
| August 8 | Medford–Klamath Falls, OR | | 26 | Fox |
|---|
| August 18 | Danville, VA (Roanoke–Lynchburg) | | 24 | Independent |
|---|
| August 26 | Honolulu, HI | | 60 | Univision |
|---|
| August 31 | | | 54 | Local weather |
|---|
| September 1 | | KFCT | 22 | Fox |
|---|
| September 6 | | | 48 | Independent |
|---|
| September 20 | | | 21 | Independent |
|---|
| September 21 | | | 26 | FamilyNet |
|---|
| Florence–Myrtle Beach, SC | | 21 | Independent |
| October 15 | Kannapolis, NC (Charlotte) | | 64 | Independent |
|---|
| October 20 | New Orleans, LA | | 20 | LeSEA |
|---|
| October 21 | Rock Hill, SC (Charlotte) | | 55 | Independent |
|---|
| October 31 | | | 28 | Independent |
|---|
| December 29 | | | 50 | TBN |
|---|
| December 31 | | | 50 | HSN |
|---|
| Unknown date | Minneapolis–Saint Paul, MN | | 69 | 3ABN |
|---|
| Pittsburgh, PA | | 29 | Independent |
| | 64 | NBC | |
| Date | Name | Notability |
|---|
| January 19 | Kristi Lauren | Actress (I Hate My Teenage Daughter) |
|---|
| January 21 | Marny Kennedy | Australian actress (Mortified) |
|---|
| Chanelle Peloso | Canadian actress (Incredible Crew) |
| Booboo Stewart | Actor (Descendants) |
| February 1 | Harry Styles | English actor and singer (One Direction) |
|---|
| February 6 | Charlie Heaton | English actor (Stranger Things) |
|---|
| February 10 | Makenzie Vega | Actress (The Geena Davis Show, The Good Wife) and sister of Alexa Vega |
|---|
| February 11 | Dominic Janes | Actor (ER, Out of Jimmy's Head) |
|---|
| February 14 | Allie Grant | Actress (Weeds, Suburgatory, All Night) |
|---|
| Paul Butcher | Actor (Zoey 101) |
| February 15 | Corinne Foxx | Actress |
|---|
| February 21 | Hayley Orrantia | Actress (The Goldbergs) and singer |
|---|
| February 23 | Dakota Fanning | Actress (Taken) |
|---|
| Cameron Palatas | Actor |
| March 1 | Justin Bieber | Canadian singer and actor (Saturday Night Live) |
|---|
| March 2 | Kofi Siriboe | Actor |
|---|
| March 5 | Aislinn Paul | Canadian actress (Wild Card, , Heroes Reborn) |
|---|
| March 10 | JoJo | Ring announcer (WWE, Total Divas)[52] |
|---|
| March 12 | Christina Grimmie | American singer (The Voice) (d. 2016) |
|---|
| Tyler Patrick Jones | Actor (Ghost Whisperer) |
| March 14 | Ansel Elgort | American actor |
|---|
| Frankie Ryan Manriquez | Actor (Life with Bonnie, Higglytown Heroes) |
| March 16 | Sierra McClain | Actress |
|---|
| March 22 | Serena Kerrigan | Voice actress (Alicia on Go, Diego, Go!) |
|---|
| April 2 | Sofie Zamchick | Voice actress (Whoopi's Littleburg, Wonder Pets) and singer |
|---|
| April 4 | Chris O'Neal | Actor (How to Rock) |
|---|
| Nadia Alexander | Actress |
| April 9 | Joey Pollari | Actor |
|---|
| April 11 | Dakota Blue Richards | British actress (Skins) |
|---|
| April 12 | Saoirse Ronan | Canadian actress (Kingdom Hospital) |
|---|
| April 14 | Skyler Samuels | Actress (The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Scream Queens) |
|---|
| April 15 | Arif Zahir | Actor |
|---|
| April 16 | Liliana Mumy | Actress (, Higglytown Heroes, Catscratch, Chowder, The Cleaner, The Loud House) and singer |
|---|
| April 16 | Midori Francis | Japanese-American actress (Dash & Lily) |
|---|
| April 18 | Moisés Arias | Actor (Hannah Montana, Jean-Claude Van Johnson) |
|---|
| April 24 | Jordan Fisher | Actor (Liv and Maddie, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) |
|---|
| May 4 | Alexander Gould | Actor (Weeds) |
|---|
| May 6 | Noah Galvin | Actor |
|---|
| May 7 | Dylan Gelula | Actress (Jennifer Falls, Chasing Life) |
|---|
| May 9 | Braison Cyrus | Actor |
|---|
| May 10 | Cazzie David | Actress |
|---|
| May 16 | Miles Heizer | Actor (Parenthood) |
|---|
| May 20 | Peyton Clark | Actor (I Didn't Do It) |
|---|
| May 24 | Cayden Boyd | Australian actor |
|---|
| June 2 | Jemma McKenzie-Brown | English actress |
|---|
| June 3 | Anne Winters | Actress (Tyrant) |
|---|
| June 8 | Liv Morgan | Pro wrestler[53] |
|---|
| June 11 | Ivana Baquero | Spanish-American actress (The Shannara Chronicles) |
|---|
| June 15 | Alice Englert | Australian actress (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) |
|---|
| June 16 | Caitlyn Taylor Love | Actress (I'm in the Band, Ultimate Spider-Man) |
|---|
| June 23 | Connor Jessup | Actor (Falling Skies) |
|---|
| June 24 | Erin Moriarty | Actress (Red Widow, Jessica Jones) |
|---|
| June 29 | Camila Mendes | Actress (Riverdale) |
|---|
| July 6 | Camilla and Rebecca Rosso | Actresses |
|---|
| July 16 | Mark Indelicato | Actor (Ugly Betty, Dead of Summer) |
|---|
| July 17 | Jessica Amlee | Canadian actress (Heartland) |
|---|
| July 28 | Tyler Peterson | Actor (How I Met Your Mother) |
|---|
| August 9 | Forrest Landis | Actor |
|---|
| August 11 | Alejandro Aranda | Singer (American Idol)[54] [55] |
|---|
| August 17 | Taissa Farmiga | Actress (American Horror Story) and sister of Vera Farmiga |
|---|
| August 18 | Jessie Flower | Voice actress (The Emperor's New School, ) |
|---|
| Madelaine Petsch | Actress (Riverdale) |
| August 22 | Israel Broussard | Actor |
|---|
| August 25 | Natasha Liu Bordizzo | Actress |
|---|
| August 27 | Ellar Coltrane | Actor |
|---|
| September 8 | Cameron Dallas | Actor |
|---|
| September 13 | Mitch Holleman | Actor (Reba) |
|---|
| September 16 | Jesse Schwartz | Voice actor (Leo on Little Einsteins (2005–06)) |
|---|
| September 17 | Denyse Tontz | Actress (Big Time Rush, Dog with a Blog) |
|---|
| September 25 | Jansen Panettiere | Voice actor (Truman X on The X's) (d. 2023) |
|---|
| September 29 | Clara Mamet | Actress |
|---|
| October 9 | Jodelle Ferland | Actress (Kingdom Hospital) |
|---|
| October 13 | Noah Crawford | Actor (My Name is Earl, How to Rock) |
|---|
| October 24 | Paola Lázaro | Actress |
|---|
| October 25 | Chloe Rose | Canadian actress () |
|---|
| October 26 | Allie DeBerry | Actress (A.N.T. Farm) and model |
|---|
| Morgan Saylor | Actress (Homeland) |
| October 27 | Eddie Alderson | Actor (One Life to Live) |
|---|
| November 1 | Rocky Lynch | Actor and singer (R5) |
|---|
| November 8 | Lauren Alaina | Singer (American Idol) |
|---|
| November 10 | Zoey Deutch | Actress (Ringer) |
|---|
| November 11 | Connor Price | Canadian voice actor (The Save-Ums!) |
|---|
| November 13 | David Levi | Actor (The Naked Brothers Band) |
|---|
| November 15 | Emma Dumont | Actress (Bunheads, Aquarius) |
|---|
| November 16 | India Ennenga | Actress (Pinky Dinky Doo, Treme, The Returned) |
|---|
| Brandon Larracuente | Actor |
| November 17 | Raquel Castro | Actress |
|---|
| November 21 | Victoria de Lesseps | Television personality |
|---|
| November 22 | Dacre Montgomery | Australian actor (Stranger Things) |
|---|
| December 3 | Jake T. Austin | Actor (Wizards of Waverly Place, The Fosters, Go, Diego, Go!) |
|---|
| December 11 | Gabriel Basso | Actor (The Big C) |
|---|
| December 14 | Joshua Dionisio | Filipino actor |
|---|
| December 15 | Emma Lockhart | Actress |
|---|
| December 17 | Nat Wolff | Actor (The Naked Brothers Band) and singer |
|---|
| December 24 | LaShawn Tináh Jefferies | Voice actress (Uniqua on The Backyardigans) |
|---|
| December 26 | Samantha Boscarino | Actress (How to Rock) | |
|---|
