In American television in 1999, 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 |
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| 6 | Bob Newhart receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
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| 11 | Jon Stewart debuts as host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, replacing Craig Kilborn, who moves to CBS to succeed Tom Snyder as host of The Late Late Show. |
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| 23 | Gene Siskel hosts his final episode of Siskel & Ebert with Roger Ebert. On February 3, 1999, Siskel announced that he would take a leave of absence for the rest of the season but promised to be back the next fall. On February 20, 1999, Siskel died suddenly from complications from a second brain surgery. On that final episode, Siskel and Ebert reviewed At First Sight, Another Day in Paradise, The Hi-Lo Country, Playing by Heart, and The Theory of Flight |
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| Paula Zahn leaves CBS News after 10 years. |
| 31 | The Denver Broncos win their second consecutive Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons with a score of 34–19. |
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| Family Guy premieres on Fox immediately following the Super Bowl. |
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| Date | Event |
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| 6 | UPN replaces its UPN Kids block with a new E/I-compliant block airing weekdays and Sunday mornings named Disney's One Too, a spinoff of ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning. |
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| In Schenectady, New York, PBS member station WMHQ is relaunched as WEWB-TV, a commercial broadcast station affiliated with The WB (the Capital District's first affiliate of that network). |
| PBS launches a 24-hour PBS Kids television network and new branding for its children's programming. |
| 7 | Viacom announced that the company would acquire CBS and its company, CBS Corporation (after CBS spun off Viacom in 1971 after the FCC forbids broadcast networks to own syndication units or more TV stations) which would cause the two companies to merge into one mega media empire. Which the merger would bring CBS and Paramount close. |
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| 12 | The 51st Primetime Emmy Awards presentation is aired on Fox. |
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| 20 | After four years, WGN's superstation feed drops programming from The WB and Kids' WB at the request of the network. The network's programs are replaced by movie, sports from Chicago's sporting teams and other broadcasts. |
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| 24 | The WB begins airing programming on Friday nights. |
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| 27 | The Rock garners the highest cable rating in WWF history with Mankind in a segment entitled "This is your life" on Raw Is War, which draws a record 8.4 rating.[1] [2] [3] |
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| Date | Event |
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| 4 | ABC affiliate WPTY, and sister station WLMT, both in the Memphis area, begin allowing The WB programming, most notably on WPTY for late nights, and some kids shows, like Pokémon, airing on WLMT.[4] [5] |
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| 7 | Donald Trump announces his 2000 presidential campaign on an episode of Larry King Live. |
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| 10 | The professional wrestling pay-per-view event, Heroes of Wrestling is broadcast from the Casino Magic hotel and casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Although the event was heavily promoted, it was only purchased by 29,000 households. Additionally, the event itself was generally regarded to be of poor quality: Wrestling Observer rated it the worst major wrestling event of 1999,[6] with its editor Dave Meltzer giving a rating of "absolute zero" to a tag team match featuring Luke Williams and Butch Miller facing Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Meltzer's colleague, Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly, has repeatedly referred to this match as the worst he has ever seen and rated it "minus more stars than there are in the universe"[7] |
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| 27 | The fourth and deciding game of the World Series airs on NBC. This is to date, NBC's 39th and final World Series. The New York Yankees defeat once again the Atlanta Braves, winning their second title in a row and 25th in franchise history. | |
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| Date | Event |
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| 1 | Richard Pryor appears in the cold open of the ABC sitcom Norm in what would prove to be his final television appearance. He would die in 2005, 6 years later. |
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| 15 | NASCAR strikes a deal with Fox Sports, FX, NBC, and TBS (later moved to TNT) worth $2.4 billion for a new six-year package,[8] covering the Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup) Series and Busch (now Xfinity) Series schedules. NASCAR wanted to capitalize on its increased popularity even more, so the organization decided that future deals would be centralized; that is, the networks would negotiate directly with NASCAR for a regular schedule of telecasts. The old deal arrangement saw each track negotiate with the networks to broadcast their races. As a result, NASCAR had races on CBS, TNN, ESPN, ABC, NBC, and TBS. However, NBC, which had just entered the sport, showed only one race in 2000. NASCAR wanted to increase the number of races by each partner, and have as many races on broadcast networks as possible, to prevent fans from missing races. |
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| 31 | ABC participates in the global broadcast 2000 Today with ABC 2000 Today. Peter Jennings anchors ABC's broadcast of the special from New York City, joined later by Dick Clark who hosts the countdown in Times Square. | |
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| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
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| Noggin | Cable and satellite | February 2 | A joint venture between Nickelodeon and the Children's Television Workshop, airing educational programming for pre-schoolers and school-aged children from both parties. Dish Network and Americast carried the network at launch. | |
| Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids | Cable and satellite | March 1 | A channel broadcasting games shows and sports-related programs from Nickelodeon. | |
Starz Cinema
Starz Family | Cable and satellite | May 1 | | |
HBO Comedy
HBO Zone | Cable and satellite | May 6 | First announced in April 1998, HBO Comedy airs comedic films plus HBO comedy series and stand-up specials, while HBO Zone airs programs aimed at young adults. | |
| PBS Kids | Cable and satellite/over-the-air multicast | September 6 | A 24-hour channel showing PBS' children's programs (notably excluding Sesame Street, whose pay TV rights were held by Noggin). | |
| DIY Network | Cable and satellite | September 30 | An interactive spin-off of HGTV carrying instructional programs related to "do it yourself" activities. | |
| Boyz Channel | Cable television | October 31 | A spin-off of the Fox Family Channel airing programmes aimed towards a young male audience. | |
| Girlz Channel | Cable television | October 31 | A spin-off of the Fox Family Channel airing programmes aimed towards a young female audience. | | |
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
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| January 1 | | KHCV | 45 | | |
| January 5 | | KWBA | 58 | | |
| January 19 | Twin Falls, Idaho | K26EW | 26 | TBN | |
| February 12 | | KCNG-LP | 25 | UPN (primary)
America's Voice (secondary) | |
| February 15 | | KPPX-TV | 51 | Pax TV | |
| February 19 | | KPXL-TV | 26 | Pax TV | |
| March 5 | Santa Fe/Albuquerque, New Mexico | KWBQ | 19 | | |
| March 12 | | W36AD | 36 | Independent | |
| April | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KAPX | 41 | Pax TV | |
| May 3 | | W62CL | 62 | UPN | Originally an LPTV translator of WAOM/Morehead, Kentucky |
| May 5 | Worcester, Massachusetts | WYDN | 48 | Prime Time Christian Broadcasting | Now a Daystar affiliate licensed in Lowell, Massachusetts |
| June 7 | Camden/Little Rock, Arkansas | KKYK-TV | 49 | | |
| Williamson, West Virginia | W45AZ | 45 | TBN | |
| June 17 | Batavia/Buffalo, New York | WPXJ-TV | 51 | Pax TV | |
| June 20 | | KFTC | 26 | Fox | |
| July 6 | Filer/Twin Falls, Idaho | KBGH | 19 | Educational independent | |
| July 9 | | KAIE | 38 | Religious independent | |
| August | Lincoln, Nebraska | K18CD | 18 | | Translator of KSNB/Superior |
| August 1 | Rio Grande City, Texas
| KTLM | 40 | Telemundo | |
| KGPX-TV | 34 | Pax TV | |
| August 4 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | W19AW | 19 | | |
| August 5 | | KWCV | 33 | The WB | |
| August 8 | Seattle, Washington | KBEH | 51 | ValueVision | |
| August 21 | | KUSG | 12 | CBS | Satellite of KUTV/Salt Lake City, Utah |
| August 27 | Waterville/Portland, Maine | WMPX-TV | 23 | Pax TV | |
| August 30 | | KWKB | 20 | The WB | |
| September 12 | | KWBT | 19 | The WB | |
| September 17 | Tuskegee/Montgomery, Alabama | WBMM | 22 | Pax TV | |
| November 1 | Tecate/Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
| KHUPN-TV | 49 | | |
| November 5 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | KXTU-LD | 57 | | |
| November 7 | | KNDX | 26 | Fox | |
| November 10 | | W52DC | 49 | | |
| November 15 | | KXND | 24 | Fox | |
| December 1 | | WFXS-DT | 55 | Fox | |
| December 22 | | WXON-LP | 54 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Boca Raton, Florida | WPPB-TV | 63 | Educational independent | |
| Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands | WVXF | 17 | | |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | KWBN | 44 | Daystar | |
| K55HW | 55 | Mas Musica | |
| KZMC-LP | 35 | America's Store | Translator of KNWS-LP/Brownsville |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | W41CV | 41 | WebFN | |
| Victoria, Texas | K27EG | 27 | | |
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| Date | Name | Notability |
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| January 1 | Diamond White | Actress (The Haunted Hathaways, The Lion Guard, Pinky Malinky) and singer |
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| January 4 | Gage Munroe | Canadian voice actor (Stoked, PAW Patrol, ) |
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| January 18 | Karan Brar | Actor (Jessie, Bunk'd) |
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| Mateus Ward | Actor |
| January 22 | Ricky Garcia | Actor (Best Friends Whenever) |
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| January 30 | Mavrick Moreno | Actor (Every Witch Way) |
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| February 10 | Tiffany Espensen | Actress (Phineas and Ferb, Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures, Kirby Buckets) |
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| March 2 | Caleb Lee Hutchinson | Singer (American Idol)[17] |
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| March 5 | Madison Beer | American singer |
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| March 20 | Olivia Stuck | Actress (Kirby Buckets) |
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| March 21 | Lexi DiBenedetto | Actress (Knight Squad, The Really Loud House) |
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| March 22 | Gavin MacIntosh | Actor (The Fosters) |
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| March 27 | Natasha Calis | Actress |
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| April 2 | Sophie Reynolds | Actress (Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything, Youth & Consequences) |
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| April 6 | Kwesi Boakye | Actor (Men of a Certain Age, The Looney Tunes Show, The Amazing World of Gumball) |
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| April 7 | Conner Rayburn | Actor (According to Jim) |
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| April 9 | Isaac Hempstead-Wright | English actor (Game of Thrones) |
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| May 5 | Jonny Gray | Canadian actor (Max & Shred) |
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| May 11 | Madison Lintz | Actress (The Walking Dead, Bosch) |
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| Sabrina Carpenter | Actress (Sofia the First, Girl Meets World, Milo Murphy's Law) and singer |
| May 22 | Camren Bicondova | Actress (Gotham) |
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| May 25 | Brec Bassinger | Actress (The Haunted Hathaways, Bella and the Bulldogs, School of Rock, All Night) |
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| May 26 | Kerry Ingram | English actress (Game of Thrones) |
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| May 28 | Cameron Boyce | Actor (Jessie, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything, Descendants, ) (d. 2019) |
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| May 30 | Sean Giambrone | Actor (The Goldbergs, Clarence) |
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| June 5 | Denisea Wilson | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
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| June 11 | Katelyn Nacon | Actress (The Walking Dead, T@gged) |
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| Saxon Sharbino | Actress (Touch, Love) |
| June 18 | Willie Spence | Singer (American Idol) (d. 2022) |
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| June 20 | Kayla Maisonet | Actress (Dog with a Blog, Stuck in the Middle) |
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| June 21 | Natalie Alyn Lind | Actress (The Goldbergs, Gotham, The Gifted) |
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| June 26 | Harley Quinn Smith | Actress |
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| June 27 | Chandler Riggs | Actor (The Walking Dead) |
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| July 5 | Gus Kamp | Actor (Best Friends Whenever) |
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| July 9 | Claire Corlett | Canadian voice actress (Sweetie Belle on ) |
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| August 4 | Kelly Gould | Actress (Rita Rocks, Jessie) |
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| August 13 | Corey Fogelmanis | Actor (Girl Meets World) |
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| Eli Brown | Actor (, Gossip Girl) |
| August 14 | Alison Thornton | Actress |
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| August 21 | Maxim Knight | Actor (Falling Skies) |
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| August 22 | Ricardo Hurtado | Actor (School of Rock) |
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| September 7 | Michelle Creber | Voice actress (Martha Speaks, ) |
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| Cameron Ocasio | Actor (Sam & Cat) |
| September 9 | Ronni Hawk | Actress (Stuck in the Middle, On My Block) |
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| September 13 | Zoey Burger | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
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| September 14 | Emma Kenney | Actress (Shameless) |
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| October 2 | Nathaniel Potvin | Actor (Mech-X4) |
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| October 6 | Will Shadley | Voice actor (Gorgonzola on Chowder) |
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| October 13 | Nell Tiger Free | English actress (Game of Thrones) |
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| October 15 | Bailee Madison | Actress (Trophy Wife, Once Upon a Time, The Fosters) |
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| October 16 | Jadiel Dowlin | Actor (Star Falls) |
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| Joshua Hoffman | Actor (Talia in the Kitchen) |
| November 1 | Buddy Handleson | Actor (Shake It Up, Wendell and Vinnie, Bella and the Bulldogs) |
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| November 5 | Zachary S. Williams | Actor (I Am Frankie) |
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| November 10 | Kiernan Shipka | Actress (Mad Men, The Legend of Korra, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) |
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| Michael Cimino | Actor (Love, Victor) |
| November 28 | Lee Rodriguez | Actress (Never Have I Ever) |
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| November 29 | Tim Johnson Jr. | Actor (Saturdays) | |
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