1998 in American television
| List of years in American television: |
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| 1997–98 United States network television schedule |
| 1998–99 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television shows currently in production |
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 1998. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
Events
January
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 5 | An affiliation swap occurs in Sacramento, California: KMAX-TV switches its affiliation to UPN after being purchased by Paramount Stations Group, while The WB affiliates with KQCA. |
| 12 | CBS acquires the rights to the AFC of the NFL as part of a $4 billion, eight-year contract; Fox and ABC renew their agreements for the NFC and Monday Night Football, respectively (Super Bowl XXXII, broadcast on January 25, would be NBC's last NFL game until 2006). |
March
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 29 | BBC Worldwide debuts BBC America. |
April
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 9 | The Price Is Right's 5,000th episode was broadcast on CBS. On the show, every pricing game is played for a car (something Price had only done once before. It has been repeated only once since then). |
| 11 | The National Cable Television Association announces they will discontinue the CableACE awards, due to the Emmy Awards recognizing cable programming. |
| 18 | Toon Disney – devoted to carrying animated series and movies, 24 hours a day, is launched The Walt Disney Company |
| 24 | A second special episode of Dallas, Dallas: War of the Ewings, airs on CBS seven years after the original series finished. |
May
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 11 | ZDTV, a technology-based cable channel, debuts. |
| 14 | 76.3 million people watch the series finale of Seinfeld. |
| 28 | Former Saturday Night Live actor and comedian Phil Hartman, then featuring on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, is shot and killed by his wife (who then kills herself). |
June
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery Home and Leisure debuts. |
| 29 | Lifetime Movie Network, a movie channel from Lifetime debuts. |
August
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 | More than a year after its acquisition by News Corporation's Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc., The Family Channel is re-initiated as Fox Family Channel, with the network now targeting a younger family-oriented audience than that of its predecessor. |
| A pre-season football game in Vancouver, British Columbia between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks is CBS's first NFL football broadcast since January 1994. | |
| 31 | Pax TV, a family-oriented broadcast network owned by Paxson Communications, begins broadcasting. (since 2007 has been known as Ion Television) |
September
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 14 | The revived edition of Hollywood Squares resumes syndication. Tom Bergeron served as host. |
October
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 4 | UPN adds two additional nights of programming to its schedule with primetime series added to Friday nights, including a movie block on Thursday nights. |
| 29 | WKOW (Madison, Wisconsin) became one of the first High-definition television broadcasts in digital television. |
November
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 20 | Nickelodeon's Hit Series Rugrats takes over the Big Screen in their first theatrical movie entitled The Rugrats Movie introducing a New character who will appear in the main series that next day. |
| 21 | Dil Pickles, from "The Rugrats Movie" becomes a main character in a new season of "Rugrats" just a day after they nearly destroyed the big screen with their biggest movie adventure. |
Programs
Debuts
Ending this year
Returning
| Show | Last aired | Previous network | New/Returning network | Date of return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The NFL Today | 1994 | CBS | Same | September 6 |
| Hollywood Squares | 1989 | Syndication | September 14 | |
| Match Game | 1991 | ABC | Syndication | September 21 |
Change of network affiliation
| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
|---|---|---|
| For Your Love | NBC | The WB |
| The Magic School Bus | PTV | Fox Kids |
| Sailor Moon | USA Network | Cartoon Network |
| Dragon Ball Z | Syndication | |
| Flipper | PAX |
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 5 | Sonny Bono | 62 | Singer and entertainer (The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour) |
| January 21 | Jack Lord | 77 | Actor (Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O) |
| February 19 | Grandpa Jones | 84 | Comedian and musician (Hee Haw) |
| February 23 | Philip Abbott | 74 | Actor (The F.B.I.) |
| March 10 | Lloyd Bridges | 85 | Actor (Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt) |
| April 17 | Linda McCartney | 56 | Musician (guest star on The Simpsons) (Paul McCartney's wife) |
| May 28 | Phil Hartman | 49 | Actor, comedian (Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, NewsRadio) |
| July 6 | Roy Rogers | 86 | Actor (The Roy Rogers Show) |
| July 21 | Robert Young | 91 | Actor (Father Knows Best, Marcus Welby, M.D.) |
| July 30 | Buffalo Bob Smith | 80 | Children's show host (Howdy Doody) |
| August 2 | Shari Lewis | 65 | Puppeteer (Lamb Chop's Play-Along) |
| September 23 | Mary Frann | 55 | Actress (Joanna on Newhart) |
| October 3 | Roddy McDowall | 70 | Actor (Tales of the Gold Monkey) |
| November 17 | Dick O'Neill | 70 | Actor (Family Matters, Home Improvement) |
| Esther Rolle | 78 | Actress (Florida on Maude and Good Times) | |
| December 6 | Michael Zaslow | 56 | Actor (Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light) |
| December 14 | Norman Fell | 74 | Actor (Stanley Roper on Three's Company) |
| December 22 or 23 | Michelle Thomas | 30 | Actress (Myra on Family Matters, Justine on The Cosby Show) |
| December 25 | Richard Paul | 58 | Actor (Carter Country, Match Game) |