2008 in American television
| List of years in American television: |
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| 2007–08 United States network television schedule |
| 2008–09 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television shows currently in production |
The following is a list of events affecting American television in 2008. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel launches.
Events
January
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| 27 | Discovery Times was renamed "Investigation Discovery".[1] In addition to the television network, an Investigation Discovery website was also launched. Contributors to the website include crime writers David Lohr, Corey Mitchell, and Gary C. King. |
February
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 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), and the most watched program in the network's history. 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. |
| Animal Planet "relaunched" itself as part of a new branding campaign that "sheds its soft and furry side for programming and an image with more bite."[2] As part of the relaunch, Animal Planet replaced its elephant and spinning globe logo for a starker text image that allows more flexibility in its usage.[3] | |
| 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. |
| In a two-hour television film Knight Rider returned to NBC with a new KITT being portrayed as a black 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang and voiced by actor Val Kilmer. | |
| 18 | Nickelodeon celebrates the revival of its hit show The Fairly OddParents with the television film 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. |
| 29 | CBS' soap opera Guiding Light unveils a new opening for the town of Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, while still filming in New York City, New York. |
March
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 7 | Press Your Luck's own Michael Hanes wins $1,127,062 on The Price is Right. |
| 10 | Fox Sports New York rebranded MSG Plus because Cablevision announced that it would be (branded in logos as "MSG+"), restructuring it as a spin-off of MSG Network.[4] |
| 12 | The USA TV website Hulu went live. |
| 20 | As part of that same rebranding effort, The History Channel dropped "The" and "Channel" from its name to become simply "History."[5] |
| 26 | CBS' soap opera The Young and the Restless celebrates its 35th Anniversary, a year after its sister soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful marks 20 years. |
| 27 | WNBC/New York City scraps the airing of Access Hollywood in favor of the Paid Advertistment by Lend America. Station GM Frank Comerford resigned in the wake of the controversy and the station management apologized a day after the incident.[6] 6 days after the incident, the station restored the "4 New York" branding for non-news programming and News 4 New York for news programing.[7] |
April
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | ABC's soap opera General Hospital celebrates its 45th Anniversary, two years after the April 2, 2006 50th Anniversary of CBS' As the World Turns. |
| 7 | Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks defeat John Calipari's Memphis Tigers (75–68) at the end of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and celebrate their victory.[8] |
| 28 | The WB Television Network, a former television channel launches again as an online website only. |
May
| 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 became the winner of American Idol: season seven. |
| 24 | After over thirteen years, Kids' WB ceases airing and became The CW4Kids. (That same day, Kids' WB! launched as an online website.) |
| Superstation WGN changed its name to WGN America (initially, the use of the new name was limited to on-air promotions, as the Superstation WGN channel IDs remained in place). The new WGN America name and logo went into full-time use on May 26, 2008. The new logo was also the first used by the superstation feed to not incorporate WGN-TV's on-air logo branding in some capacity (the "WGN" text was similar in resemblance, although the "G" was not formed into an ovular arrow as it is in WGN-TV's logo), and its design featured the eyes of a female, which was used alongside the new slogan "TV You Can't Ignore". |
June
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | A large fire damages portions of Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles, south of Burbank where NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives is flimed. |
| 4 | Facing increased competition in the home-oriented programming sector, Discovery Communications planned a 24-hour channel focused on eco-friendly living in an attempt to capitalize on a rising environmental movement.[9] Discovery Home was relaunched as the environmentally-themed Planet Green at 6:00 p.m. ET. |
| 19 | Big Ten Network and Comcast announced a carriage agreement deal. The channel was added to Comcast on August 15. |
| 28 | The first episode of Saturday Night Live was re-aired following the death of first host George Carlin, who died six days earlier on June 22. |
July
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 7 | The Jewelry Channel, a U.S. 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. |
| 15 | ABC's soap opera One Life to Live (created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates its 40th anniversary, two years before another ABC soap opera All My Children (also created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates 40 years in 2010. |
| 21 | MGM Television and Weigel Broadcasting announce the launching of a new broadcast network designed for digital subchannels in the United States called This TV. |
August
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bowing to concerns by the Fox network over its Mexican-based operations, XETV, its affiliate in San Diego licensed to Tijuana, Mexico, swaps affiliations with CW affiliate KSWB-TV. |
| 7 | The Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market gets its first-ever NBC affiliate, WMBF-TV. |
| 8 | After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Wheeling-Steubenville and Clarksburg-Fairmont TV markets get their first full-time ABC affiliates, as CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia adds an ABC affiliate on its DT3 subchannel and sister station & NBC affiliate WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia does the same on its DT2 subchannel. 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.[10] |
| 31 | 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. |
| After 10 years on the air, PBS pulls Teletubbies off the PBS Kids block and remains off the air until 2015. |
September
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Music: High Definition (MHD) is renamed Palladia. |
| PBS Kids re-brands its idents and promos, which are created by Primal Screen; Primal Screen had produced promotional elements for PBS Kids since 2000. | |
| 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 drops almost all syndicated programming except for Better and weekend niche programs in late night, 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 11 years run on the Cartoon Network, the action-adventure block, Toonami, has been canceled, effective 11 pm EST and later it returned in 2012. |
| 21 | 60th Primetime Emmy Awards broadcasts on ABC. |
| 29 | Programming block Ready Set Learn ends on TLC. Discovery Kids would re-branded as The Hub two years later. |
October
| 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. |
| 20 | CBS announces it has signed an affiliation deal with ABC affiliate WENY-TV in Elmira, New York, giving the Elmira-Corning market its first locally based CBS affiliate. The affiliation takes effect on cable February 17, 2009 (when WENY-TV requests a flash-cut from analog to digital broadcasting), and over-the-air on WENY-DT2 at the end of May (when WENY-TV performs its flash-cut). |
| 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. |
November
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cookie Jar Toons/This is for Kids debuts. |
| 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.[11] |
| 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.[12][13] |
| 20 | The CW announces that it has terminated its Sunday Night deal with Media Rights Capital. |
| 29 | To settle a court dispute between itself and rival NBC affiliate WLIO, Metro Video Productions, owners of three low-power stations in Lima, Ohio (Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WOHL-CA, CBS affiliate WLMO-LP, and ABC affiliate WLQP-LP), sells all three stations to West Central Ohio Broadcasting, a division of Block Communications (parent company of WLIO). The dispute stems from Fox's plans in late 2007 to leave WOHL-CA and enter into talks to join a digital subchannel of full-power WLIO, despite WOHL-CA outrating WLIO in primetime. The sale is finalized on February 5, 2009. |
December
| 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 Comcast's cable channels The Style Network, E! Entertainment Television and G4 launch. Golf Channel and Versus also break apart from their combined HD network to full simulcasts of their regular schedule on separate HD networks. |
| The Tribune Company, owners of WGN-TV/Chicago and KTLA/Los Angeles, among other properties, files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. | |
| 27 | After over eighteen 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. |
| 29 | After four years, Adult Swim changed from 11:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. |
| 31 | Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks announce they are no longer carrying Viacom channels unless they come to an agreement with Viacom. They come to an agreement at the last minute. |
| NBC Weather Plus is shut down. |
Programs
Debuts
Changes of network affiliation
Returning this year
| Show | Previous network | Last aired | New network | Returning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paradise Hotel | Fox | 2003 | MyNetworkTV | February 4 |
| The Fairly OddParents | Nickelodeon | 2006 | Same | February 18 |
| Futurama | Fox | 2003 | Comedy Central | March 23 |
| The Bachelorette | ABC | 2005 | Same | May 19 |
| The Mole | 2004 | June 2 |
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies
| Date of airing | Title | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| January 25 | Minutemen | Disney Channel |
| March 16 | The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream | ABC Family |
| April 20 | Princess | |
| June 8 | The Circuit | |
| June 20 | Camp Rock | Disney Channel |
| July 13 | Picture This | ABC Family |
| August 22 | The Cheetah Girls: One World | Disney Channel |
| September 6 | Samurai Girl | ABC Family |
| September 12 | Gym Teacher: The Movie | Nickelodeon |
| October 18 | Living Proof | Lifetime |
| October 24 | High School Musical 3: Senior Year | Disney Channel |
Miniseries
| Premiere | Title | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| March 16 | John Adams | HBO |
| May 26 | The Andromeda Strain | A&E |
| July 13 | Generation Kill | HBO |
| November 16 | Rugrats Pre-School Daze | Nickelodeon |
Births
| Date | Name | Notability |
|---|---|---|
| September 17 | Mia Talerico | Actress (Good Luck Charlie) |
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Bob LeMond | 94 | Radio and TV announcer (Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver) |
| January 17 | 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 (Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show) |
| January 24 | Jahna Steele | 49 | Transgender entertainer (was "outed" on A Current Affair in 1992, guest-starred on NYPD Blue) |
| 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 6 | John McWethy | 60 | ABC News correspondent from 1979 to 2006 |
| February 10 | Ron Leavitt | 60 | Writer and producer (Happy Days, Married... with Children) |
| Roy Scheider | 75 | Actor (Capt. Bridger on seaQuest) | |
| Steve Gerber | 60 | Illustrator/animator (Thundarr The Barbarian) | |
| February 12 | David Groh | 68 | Actor (Joe Gerard on Rhoda) |
| February 14 | Perry Lopez | 78 | Character actor (Star Trek) |
| February 18 | Grits Gresham | 85 | Outdoor sportscaster (The American Sportsman) |
| February 27 | Myron Cope | 79 | Sportscaster at WTAE/Pittsburgh and color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers broadcasts |
| William F. Buckley, Jr. | 82 | Host and commentator (Firing Line) | |
| March 16 | Ivan Dixon | 76 | Actor, producer and director (Hogan's Heroes) |
| April 5 | Charlton Heston | 84 | Actor (The Colbys) |
| April 8 | Stanley Kamel | 65 | Actor (Monk) |
| May 1 | Hager Twins | 66 | One-half of Hager Twins and a regular on Hee Haw |
| May 2 | Beverlee McKinsey | 72 | Soap opera actress (Another World, Texas, Guiding Light) |
| May 11 | 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 | Director (Bonanza) |
| May 24 | Dick Martin | 86 | Comedian and director (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) |
| May 25 | Mitch Mullany | 39 | Actor (Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher) |
| May 26 | Earle Hagen | 88 | Music composer (The Andy Griffith Show) |
| Sydney Pollack | 73 | Producer, director and actor (The Fugitive, Will & Grace, The Sopranos) | |
| May 29 | Harvey Korman | 81 | Actor and 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 | 86 | Sportscaster and journalist for ABC, CBS and NBC Sports |
| Neil MacNeil | 85 | Journalist (Washington Week in Review) | |
| June 12 | Charlie Jones | 77 | Sportscaster for NBC and ABC Sports; play-by-play TV announcer for AFL and NFL games |
| June 13 | Tim Russert | 58 | Journalist for NBC News and host of Meet the Press from 1991 to 2008 |
| June 15 | Tony Schwartz | 84 | Sound archivist, ad executive and creator of Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 "Daisy" political ad |
| June 17 | Cyd Charisse | 86 | Actress, dancer (The Love Boat, Frasier, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law) |
| June 21 | Kermit Love | 91 | Puppeteer, costume designer, actor (Sesame Street) |
| June 22 | Dody Goodman | 93 | Actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) |
| George Carlin | 71 | Actor, writer, comedian (The George Carlin Show, Shining Time Station) | |
| 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 | Politician and journalist for WRAL-TV, Raleigh, North Carolina |
| July 12 | Tony Snow | 53 | Commentator (Fox News Sunday) and White House Press Secretary |
| July 17 | Larry Haines | 89 | Actor (Search for Tomorrow) |
| July 21 | K-Swift | 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 6 | John K. Cooley | 80 | Journalist and author (ABC News) |
| August 7 | Bernie Brillstein | 77 | Producer and agent (Buffalo Bill, ALF, The Larry Sanders Show, NewsRadio) |
| August 9 | Bernie Mac | 50 | Actor and comedian (The Bernie Mac Show) |
| August 10 | Isaac Hayes | 65 | Singer, songwriter and voiceover artist (South Park) |
| August 12 | Bill Stulla | 97 | "Engineer Bill" – children's show host ("Cartoon Express" on KHJ-TV/Los Angeles from 1954 to 1966) |
| August 19 | Julius Carry | 56 | Actor (Doctor, Doctor, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.) |
| August 31 | Ike Pappas | 75 | News reporter (CBS News) |
| September 1 | Don LaFontaine | 68 | Voice-over announcer (Entertainment Tonight) |
| 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 |
| October 5 | 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 (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 11 | 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 12 | Van Johnson | 92 | Actor and singer (Batman, Here's Lucy, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957 television film)) |
| December 13 | Maddie Blaustein | 48 | Voice actress (Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dinosaur King) |
| December 18 | Majel Barrett | 76 | Actress (Star Trek: The Original Series) |
| December 25 | Eartha Kitt | 81 | Actress, dancer and singer (Batman, The Emperor's New School) |
References
- ↑ "Discovery Investigates". Long Island Newsday. January 26, 2008. Archived from the original on January 29, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
Tomorrow, the Discovery Times digital channel morphs into Investigation Discovery. (ID, get it?) Premiere night features "Deadly Women" (tomorrow at 8 p.m.), about female killers, and a related episode of "48 Hours: Hard Evidence" (tomorrow at 9 p.m., all on ID). Read the new channel's case file at http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report
- ↑ Brune, Adrian (January 16, 2008). "Animal Planet presents new face to the world". PR Week. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
- ↑ Becker, Anne (January 14, 2008). "Animal Planet Changes Its Stripes". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
- ↑ Neil Best (February 26, 2008). "FSNY to be renamed MSG Plus". Newsday. Cablevision Systems Corporation. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
- ↑ International Herald Tribune Television's The History Channel Drops 'The' and 'Channel' from Its Name, Keeps History March 20, 2008
- ↑ "Ch.4 lends itself out for 'Loan newscast'". NY Daily News. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ↑ "WNBC Does the Time Warp Again". Gothamist. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ↑ "After 20-year drought, Kansas rallies to beat Memphis for NCAA title". ESPN.com. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ↑ NY Times
- ↑ ESPNU Counts Five Distributors as Launch Nears
- ↑ Todd Spangler. "Multichannel News November 5, 2008 CNN goes holographic". Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ↑ WFUM-TV report to FCC
- ↑ Michigan Television Homepage Archived October 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
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