1949 in television

The year 1949 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1949.

Events

• January 3 – Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
• January 11 – A two-hour special on all American networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable.
• January 21 – Your Show Time becomes the first filmed dramatic series on American network television.
• January 31 – The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcast on television from Los Angeles.
• May – The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours.
• August 25 – RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
• December 17 – The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the English Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive BBC Television.
• December 29 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• First television broadcasts begin in Cuba.
• For the first time, the Sears & Roebuck catalog includes televisions.

Debuts

• January 17 – The Goldbergs, a situation comedy, debuts on CBS (1949–55).
• May 5 – Series Stop the Music debuts on American Broadcasting Company for a five-year run over seven years.
• June 27 – Captain Video and His Video Rangers, apparently the first science fiction series televised, debuts.
• July 15 – This Is Show Business, panel discussion program, premieres on CBS (1949–54; 1956).
• September 29 – Come Dancing, a ballroom dancing competition, is first broadcast by the BBC (1949–95).
• Martin Kane, Private Eye premieres on NBC, becoming the first detective series televised (1949–54).
• The Voice of Firestone premieres (1949–63).
• Bozo the Clown premieres (1949–present).
• The Lone Ranger premieres (1949–57).

Television shows

Programs ending during 1949

Changes of Network Affiliation

Births