List of years in television (table) |
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The following is a list of events affecting American television in 2008. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel launches.
Contents |
Date | Event |
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1 | CourtTV is rebranded as TruTV. |
2 | An interim agreement between Worldwide Pants Incorporated and the Writers Guild of America allows The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return with their full writing staffs, in spite of the ongoing WGA strike. By contrast, NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Last Call with Carson Daly and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, which are all produced by their respective networks, went back on the air without writers (except for Jay Leno, who writes his own material). |
7 | Due to the writers strike, plans to hold the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony were scrapped. A press conference which announced the winners was substituted for the program. |
23 | Konnie Huq presents her last episode of Blue Peter after over ten years, having become the longest-running female presenter and third longest-running overall in the shows' 50 year history. |
Date | Event |
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2 | VH1 Uno is discontinued by MTV Networks to expand distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses and onto regular cable systems. |
3 | Fox's telecast of Super Bowl XLII surpasses Super Bowl XXX as the most watched Super Bowl game on television (up to this point). It also becomes the second most watched television program trailing the 1983 M*A*S*H series finale and the highest rated telecast in Nielsen ratings since Super Bowl XXXIV. |
8 | The CW Television Network and the WWE announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown would leave the CW prime time schedule at the end of the 2007–2008 season. The news stepped in after negotiations between the CW and WWE failed to reach a deal to keep the show on the CW lineup. Three weeks later on February 26, MyNetworkTV announced that they would pick up the program and would add it to its lineup in September. |
9 | Both the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a tentative deal resolving the strike. Members vote three days later to end the strike. |
17 | The conversion of NTSC analog channels to DT channels using the ATSC system begins in the United States, with TV stations making last minute filings and their intentions about when they will start their switchover ahead of the February 17, 2009, mandatory date. Also, the US government starts mailing out (USD)$40.00 coupons/rebates to consumers to use in buying DTV converters before the switchover.
And in a 2 Hour TV Movie- Knight Rider returned to NBC with a new KITT being portrayed as a black 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang- and voiced by acting legend, Val Kilmer. |
18 | Nickelodeon celebrates the revival of its hit show The Fairly OddParents with the TV movie Fairly OddBaby. This has been the first new episode since 2006. |
24 | ABC's telecast of the 80th Academy Awards draws record low ratings in the history of the ceremony's telecast surpassing the ratings from the ceremony that took place in 2003. 31.76 million on average watched the show over its entire run with a Nielsen rating of 18.66 households watching. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
7 | Press Your Luck's own Michael Hanes wins $1,127,062 on The Price is Right. |
12 | The USA T.V. website Hulu goes live today. |
26 | CBS soap The Young and the Restless celebrates its 35th Anniversary. |
Date | Event |
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1 | ABC soap General Hospital celebrates its 45th Anniversary. |
28 | The WB Television Network, a former television channel launches again as an online website only. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
11 | Former model Parvati Shallow was announced the winner of Survivor: Micronesia. It was also announced that the next season will be filmed in high definition. |
16 | The Wilmington, North Carolina television market is selected by the FCC to be the first television market in the United States to sign off their analog channels for ATSC early, starting September 8. |
21 | David Cook is selected as the winner of seventh season of American Idol. |
24 | After over thirteen years, Kids' WB! ceases airing and becomes The CW4Kids. Kids' WB! would later launch again as an online website only on the same day. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | A large fire damages portions of Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles. |
17 | The third season premiere of NBC's America's Got Talent. |
19 | Big Ten Network and Comcast announced a carriage agreement deal. The channel was added to Comcast on August 15. |
28 | The premiere of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live was reaired following the death of its very first host and comedian George Carlin who died 6 days earlier on June 22. |
Date | Event |
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7 | The Jewelry Channel, a US home shopping service that was shown mostly on DirecTV and Dish Network, launches a going-out-of-business sale for its remaining items that was shown on the channel that would last until December 1. From December 1 onwards, TJC is now doing business as "The Liquidation Channel". |
21 | MGM Television and Weigel Broadcasting announce the launching of a new DT2 subchannel in the United States called This TV. |
Date | Event |
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1 | Fox affiliate XETV/Tijuana and CW affiliate KSWB-TV/San Diego switch network affiliations: KSWB to Fox, XETV to The CW. |
7 | The Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market gets its own NBC affiliate, WMBF-TV. |
8 | After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia (covering the Wheeling-Stubenville TV market) and sister station WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia (an NBC affiliate covering the Clarksburg-Fairmont TV market) add ABC to their DT2 subchannels. Both stations had been ABC secondary affiliates in the past. |
28 | ESPNU launches its HD version to only five American cable television or satellite carriers.[1] |
Big Ten Network reached carriage deal agreements with Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Brighthouse Networks, Mediacom and Cox Communications, ending the "cable carriage controversies" that the network had in its first year of existence. The network is now on all major cable TV systems in The Big Ten Region. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | Music: High Definition (MHD) is renamed Palladia. |
5 | Stand Up to Cancer, an event designed to raise cancer awareness, airs on ABC, CBS, NBC and E! in the United States, and on CTV, Citytv and Global in Canada. |
8 | The Wilmington, North Carolina television market officially becomes the first TV market in the United States to have all of its stations broadcast exclusively in digital, using the ATSC system. |
15 | WTMJ-TV/Milwaukee, Wisconsin drops all of its syndicated shows, featuring a lineup that consists of local news (including a four-hour afternoon news block from 3 to 7 pm, a first in the United States Central Time Zone) and NBC programming. |
20 | After an 11-year run on the Cartoon Network, the action-adventure block, Toonami, has been cancelled, effective 11 pm EST. |
21 | 60th Primetime Emmy Awards broadcasts on ABC. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
7 | NBC announces that NBC Weather Plus would sign off at the end of the year |
17 | United States Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota 6th) makes headlines when she asks for an investigation into whether of members of the United States Congress are anti-American during a live interview on Hardball with Chris Matthews. |
24 | Barack Obama airs a 30-minute infomercial that airs on CBS, NBC, Fox, BET, Univision, MSNBC and TV One. The infomercial is seen by 33.6 million viewers. |
Date | Event |
---|---|
4 | CNN becomes the first channel in the history to use hologram technology on television, during the 2008 United States Presidential Election. CNN's Jessica Yellin became the first person ever to be transmitted via hologram, followed by Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.[2] |
19 | Flint, Michigan PBS affiliate WFUM-TV (a.k.a. Michigan Television) permanently turned off its analog signal and is now broadcasting exclusively in digital, 9 months before the federally mandated analog shut off date of June 12, 2009, becoming the first station in its market, as well as the first PBS station in Michigan, to broadcast in digital only.[3][4] |
20 | The CW announces that it has terminated its Sunday Night deal with Media Rights Capital |
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 | WBQC-CA/Cincinnati, Ohio asks the FCC permission to change its callsign to WKRP in honor of the television series that was set in the city. |
4 | For the first time ever, a live music special is used to announce the nominees for the 51st Grammy Awards. |
8 | HD versions of American cable channels The Style Network, E! Entertainment Television and G4 were scheduled to launch, but did not launch, leaving many people with unanswered questions. Golf Channel and Versus are identified as their own separate HD versions instead (as 12/8/08, they no longer share HD channel space, they now broadcast 2 separate HD programs at the same time).[5] |
The Tribune Company, owners of WGN-TV/Chicago and KTLA/Los Angeles, among other properties, files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. | |
27 | After over 18 years, Fox drops children's programming. Its final children's programming block, 4Kids TV, goes off the air, and 4Kids Entertainment directs its programming to The CW4Kids. 4Kids TV would later launch as an online-only website on the same day. |
31 | Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks announce they are no longer carrying Viacom channels unless they come to an agreement with Viacom, and they did. |
NBC Weather Plus is acquired and replaced by The Weather Channel. |
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* = Was supposed to air its seventh season on January 13, but because of the WGA strike, it was postponed to January 11, 2009.
Show | Network (Last Aired) | Last aired | Network (New/Returning) | Returning |
---|---|---|---|---|
Paradise Hotel | Fox | 2003 | MyNetworkTV | February |
The Bachelorette | ABC | 2005 | ABC | May |
The Mole | ABC | 2004 | ABC | June |
Date | Show | Debut |
---|---|---|
January 1 | Mission: Man Band | 2007 |
January 6 | I Love New York | 2007 |
January 7 | Higglytown Heroes | 2004 |
January 18 | Game Head | 2005 |
January 21 | Codename: Kids Next Door | 2002 |
January 23 | Power of 10 | 2007 |
January 24 | Big Shots | 2007 |
January 27 | Shorts in a Bunch | 2007 |
January 28 | Madre Luna | 2007 |
January 30 | Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants | 2007 |
February 1 | Star Jones | 2007 |
February 3 | Life Is Wild | 2007 |
February 8 | Flash Gordon | 2007 |
February 11 | Girlfriends | 2000 |
February 11 | Notes from the Underbelly | 2007 |
February 15 | Las Vegas | 2003 |
February 20 | Cashmere Mafia | 2008 |
February 22 | 1 vs. 100 | 2006 |
February 23 | Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle | 2007 |
February 24 | CW Now | 2007 |
February 29 | About a Girl | 2007 |
March 1 | Eon Kid | 2007 |
March 3 | The Palace | 2008 |
March 3 | Welcome to The Captain | 2008 |
March 4 | Carpoolers | 2007 |
March 8 | Endurance | 2002 |
March 8 | The Batman | 2004 |
March 9 | Quarterlife | 2008 |
March 9 | The Wire | 2002 |
March 10 | October Road | 2007 |
March 13 | The NightCap | 2008 |
March 14 | Tucker | 2005 |
March 15 | Control Room Presents | 2007 |
March 15 | Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! | 2006 |
March 21 | The Return of Jezebel James | 2008 |
March 22 | Tom and Jerry Tales | 2006 |
March 23 | Blood+ | 2007 |
March 23 | Frisky Dingo | 2006 |
March 25 | Jericho | 2006 |
March 27 | Camp Lazlo | 2005 |
March 28 | How Much Is Enough? | 2008 |
March 28 | In the Loop with iVillage | 2006 |
March 29 | The Mint | 2007 |
March 30 | Unhitched | 2008 |
April 3 | Miss Guided | 2008 |
April 5 | Legion of Super Heroes | 2006 |
April 5 | Just Jordan | 2007 |
April 6 | Here Come the Newlyweds | 2008 |
April 7 | My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad | 2008 |
April 8 | Secret Talents of the Stars | 2008 |
April 11 | Amnesia | 2008 |
April 13 | Dirt | 2007 |
April 14 | New Amsterdam | 2008 |
April 15 | Ben 10 | 2005 |
April 18 | Canterbury's Law | 2008 |
April 20 | Oprah's Big Give | 2008 |
April 23 | Pussycat Dolls Present: | 2007 |
April 28 | High School Confidential | 2008 |
April 29 | The Riches | 2007 |
May 2 | Zoey 101 | 2005 |
May 9 | Merv Griffin's Crosswords | 2007 |
May 13 | Beauty and the Geek | 2005 |
May 13 | Women's Murder Club | 2007 |
May 14 | Back to You | 2007 |
May 15 | Lil' Bush | 2007 |
May 16 | The Montel Williams Show | 1991 |
May 16 | Moonlight | 2007 |
May 18 | Aliens in America | 2007 |
May 19 | Paradise Hotel | 2003 |
May 20 | Shark | 2006 |
May 25 | Class of 3000 | 2006 |
May 26 | Flavor of Love | 2006 |
May 26 | Wildfire | 2005 |
May 29 | Out of Jimmy's Head | 2007 |
May 30 | WWE Heat | 1998 |
May 31 | My Kid's a Star | 2008 |
May 31 | The Rich List | 2007 |
June 5 | HolbyBlue | 2007 |
June 11 | Men in Trees | 2006 |
June 13 | Pecados Ajenos | 2007 |
June 13 | Temptation | 2007 |
June 14 | World of Quest | 2008 |
June 21 | Dance on Sunset | 2008 |
June 25 | Farmer Wants a Wife | 2008 |
June 30 | Robson Arms | 2005 |
July 4 | Death Note | 2007 |
July 4 | Just In | 2008 |
July 6 | Assy McGee | 2006 |
July 11 | Dance Machine | 2008 |
July 11 | Duel | 2007 |
July 19 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2005 |
July 29 | Celebrity Family Feud | 2008 |
August 4 | American Gladiators | 2008 |
August 7 | Passions | 1999 |
August 11 | The Mole | 2001 |
August 17 | All Grown Up! | 2003 |
August 17 | Code Monkeys | 2007 |
August 17 | Fat Guy Stuck in Internet | 2007 |
August 22 | Richard & Judy | 2001 |
August 23 | ChalkZone | 2002 |
September 1 | The Suite Life of Zack & Cody | 2005 |
September 5 | Judge Maria Lopez | 2006 |
September 5 | Northwest Afternoon | 1984 |
September 5 | Swingtown | 2008 |
September 13 | El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera | 2007 |
September 15 | Grange Hill | 1978 |
September 17 | Wayside | 2007 |
September 20 | Kappa Mikey | 2006 |
September 20 | Toonami | 1997 |
September 23 | E!'s Pam: Girl on the Loose! | 2008 |
September 24 | Do Not Disturb | 2008 |
September 27 | My Family's Got GUTS | 2008 |
October 2 | MTV's Top Pop Group | 2008 |
October 11 | Tutenstein | 2003 |
October 21 | General Hospital: Night Shift | 2007 |
October 21 | The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency | 2006 |
October 24 | The Ex List | 2008 |
October 25 | America's Toughest Jobs | 2008 |
October 25 | Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion | 2008 |
October 26 | In Harm's Way | 2008 |
October 29 | Rap City | 1989 |
November 1 | Digimon Data Squad | 2007 |
November 1 | Making Fiends | 2008 |
November 3 | Power Rangers: Jungle Fury | 2008 |
November 16 | Total Request Live | 1998 |
November 20 | The Emperor's New School | 2006 |
November 25 | The Shield | 2002 |
November 27 | My Gym Partner's a Monkey | 2005 |
November 29 | Tak and the Power of Juju | 2007 |
December 8 | Boston Legal | 2004 |
December 12 | South of Nowhere | 2005 |
December 15 | My Own Worst Enemy | 2008 |
December 17 | Stylista | 2008 |
December 18 | Moral Orel | 2005 |
Date | Name | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
January 6 | Bob LeMond | 94 | Radio and TV announcer (Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver) |
January 16 | Allan Melvin | 84 | Actor (Magilla Gorilla, The Brady Bunch, All in the Family) |
January 18 | Lois Nettleton | 80 | Actress (In the Heat of the Night) |
January 19 | Suzanne Pleshette | 70 | Actress (The Bob Newhart Show) |
January 25 | Jahna Steele | 49 | Transgendered entertainer (Was "outed" on A Current Affair in 1992 and made a guest starring role on NYPD Blue in 1995) |
February 1 | Shell Kepler | 49 | Actress and presenter (General Hospital, HSN host) |
February 4 | Augusta Dabney | 89 | Actress (Another World, A World Apart, Loving) |
February 7 | John McWethy | 61 | News reporter/journalist (ABC News correspondent from 1979 to 2006; Was inside the Pentagon when it was struck by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 during the September 11, 2001 attacks) |
February 10 | Ron Leavitt | 60 | writer and producer (Happy Days, Married with Children) |
February 10 | Roy Scheider | 75 | Actor (seaQuest) |
February 12 | David Groh | 68 | Actor (Rhoda) |
February 14 | Bill Currie | 85 | Sportscaster/commentator for KDKA-TV/Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1981 |
February 16 | Steve Gerber | 60 | Illustrator/animator (Thundarr The Barbarian) |
February 16 | Perry Lopez | 78 | Character actor (Star Trek) |
February 19 | Claude "Grits" Gresham | 85 | Outdoor sportscaster (The American Sportsman) |
February 27 | William F. Buckley, Jr. | 82 | Host and commentator (Firing Line) |
February 27 | Myron Cope | 79 | Sportscaster at WTAE/Pittsburgh and color commentator for the Pittsburgh Steelers broadcasts |
February 28 | Dick Fletcher | 66 | Weathercaster/meteorologist at WTSP/St. Petersburg-Tampa, Florida |
March 16 | Ivan Dixon | 76 | Actor, producer and director (Hogan's Heroes) |
April 5 | Charlton Heston | 84 | Actor (The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, The Colbys) |
April 8 | Stanley Kamel | 65 | Actor (Monk) |
May 1 | Jim Hager | 66 | One half of the Hager Twins and a regular on Hee Haw |
May 3 | Beverlee McKinsey | 67 | Soap opera actress (Another World, Texas, Guiding Light) |
May 11 | Richard Towne "Dick" Sutcliffe | 90 | Christian children's' TV producer/animator (Davey and Goliath) |
May 15 | Alexander Courage | 88 | Composer (Star Trek theme song) |
May 18 | Joseph Pevney | 96 | Actor (Bonanza) |
May 24 | Dick Martin | 86 | Comedian and director (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) |
May 25 | Earle Hagen | 88 | Music composer/musician (The Andy Griffith Show) |
May 25 | Mitch Mullany | 39 | Actor (Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher) |
May 27 | Sydney Pollack | 73 | Producer/director and actor (The Fugitive, Will & Grace, The Sopranos and host of The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies) |
May 29 | Harvey Korman | 81 | Actor/comedian (The Carol Burnett Show, The Flintstones) |
June 2 | Mel Ferrer | 90 | Actor, producer and director (Falcon Crest, Return of the Saint) |
June 7 | Jim McKay | 87 | Sportscaster, journalist, narrator, and commentator for ABC, CBS and NBC Sports |
June 13 | Tim Russert | 58 | Journalist for NBC News and host of Meet the Press from 1991 to 2008 |
June 13 | Charlie Jones | 77 | Sportscaster for NBC and ABC Sports; Play-by-play TV announcer for AFL and NFL games |
June 14 | Neil MacNeil | 85 | Journalist (Washington Week in Review) |
June 16 | Tony Schwartz | 85 | Sound archivist/ad executive and creator of Barry Goldwater's 1964 "Daisy" political ad |
June 17 | Cyd Charisse | 86 | Actress, singer and dancer (The Love Boat, Frasier, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law) |
June 21 | Kermit Love | 91 | Puppeteer, costume designer, and TV actor (Sesame Street) |
June 22 | George Carlin | 71 | Actor, writer, director and comedian (The George Carlin Show, Shining Time Station) |
June 22 | Dody Goodman | 93 | Actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) |
June 29 | Don S. Davis | 65 | Actor (Stargate SG-1, Twin Peaks) |
July 3 | Larry Harmon | 83 | Entertainer (Bozo the Clown) |
July 4 | Jesse Helms | 86 | Congressman, senator and former television anchor/reporter/commentator for WRAL-TV/Raleigh, North Carolina |
July 12 | Tony Snow | 53 | Commentator (Fox News Sunday) and former White House Press Secretary. |
July 17 | Larry Haines | 89 | Actor (Search for Tomorrow) |
July 21 | Khia "K-Swift" Edgerton | 29 | Club radio DJ, Hip-Hop producer and remixer (The Wire, BET's Rap City) |
July 22 | Estelle Getty | 84 | Actress (The Golden Girls) |
August 7 | Bernie Brillstein | 77 | Producer and agent (Buffalo Bill, ALF, The Larry Sanders Show, NewsRadio) |
August 8 | John K. Cooley | 81 | Journalist and author (ABC News) |
August 9 | Bernie Mac | 50 | Actor and comedian (The Bernie Mac Show) |
August 10 | John Esmonde | 71 | British scriptwriter (The Good Life) |
August 10 | Isaac Hayes | 65 | Singer/songwriter and voiceover artist (South Park) |
August 15 | "Engineer Bill" Stulla | 97 | Children's TV show host ("Cartoon Express" on KHJ-TV/Los Angeles, California from 1954 to 1966) |
August 19 | Julius Carry | 56 | Actor (Doctor, Doctor, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.) |
September 1 | Don LaFontaine | 68 | Voiceover announcer (Entertainment Tonight) |
September 2 | Ike Pappas | 75 | News reporter (CBS News) |
September 2 | "Captain" Mike Ambrose | 69 | Weatherman at KGTV/San Diego, California |
September 3 | Jerry Reed | 71 | Actor and singer (The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Concrete Cowboys, Hee Haw) |
September 12 | George Putnam | 94 | News personality |
September 28 | John Harden Norris | 88 | Former owner of WGCB-TV/Red Lion, Pennsylvania, whose former AM sister station was the center of a dispute over the Fairness Doctrine, one that he eventually lost, in 1964. |
October 9 | Lloyd Thaxton | 81 | Host and producer (The Lloyd Thaxton Show, Fight Back! With David Horowitz) |
October 11 | Neal Hefti | 85 | Theme music composer (Batman, The Odd Couple (Both the film and the TV series)) |
October 15 | Jack Narz | 85 | Game show host (Beat the Clock, Concentration) |
October 25 | Anne Pressly | 26 | Anchorwoman and special assignment reporter for KATV/Little Rock, Arkansas |
November 4 | Michael Crichton | 66 | Author and screenwriter (ER) |
November 7 | Herb Score | 75 | Baseball player and TV/Radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Indians |
December 1 | Paul Benedict | 70 | Character actor, writer and director (The Jeffersons, Sesame Street) |
December 5 | Beverly Garland | 82 | Actress, singer and businesswoman (My Three Sons, Scarecrow and Mrs. King) |
December 8 | Robert Prosky | 77 | Actor (Hill Street Blues) |
December 11 | Maddie Blaustein | 48 | Voice actress (Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dinosaur King) |
December 12 | Van Johnson | 92 | Actor and singer (Batman, Here's Lucy, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957 TV movie)) |
December 18 | Majel Barrett | 76 | Actress (Star Trek: The Original Series) |
December 25 | Eartha Kitt | 81 | Actress, dancer and singer (Batman) |
Years in television: 2008 |
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Australia | Canada | Japan | United Kingdom |