1968 in Television - Events

Events

• January 20 – Houston defeats UCLA 71-69 at the Houston Astrodome in what is billed as "The Game of the Century". Syndicated by TVS, it is the first prime-time national broadcast of men's college basketball and helps pave the way for the sport's March Madness.
• January 27 – The Lennon Sisters make their final appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show.
• April 4 – James Brown appears on national television in an attempt to calm feelings of anger in the United States following the assassination of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
• April 2 – British singer Petula Clark appears on a US television special on NBC with Harry Belafonte as a guest. An innocent, affectionate gesture between the two during a song (Clark touched Belafonte on the arm) prompts concern from the show's sponsor (Chrysler Corporation) due to the difference in their races, but the scene is aired intact at Clark's insistence. The special airs to high ratings and marks the first time two different races share friendly bodily contact on American television.
• April 6 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It's the first ESC to be televised in colour.
• May 2 – The Israel Broadcasting Authority commences television broadcasts.
• May 4 – Mary Hopkin performs on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks. Hopkin catches the attention of model Twiggy, who recommends her to Beatle Paul McCartney. McCartney soon signs Hopkin to Apple Records.
• May 20 – Harlech (which became HTV in 1970) starts its dual service for Wales and the West Country, replacing the interim ITSWW, which had replaced TWW.
• October 14 – First live television broadcast from a spacecraft in orbit, during the Apollo 7 mission. There were six broadcasts during the eleven-day mission.
• October 21 – 25 – Joan Crawford makes a guest appearance for five episodes on the soap opera The Secret Storm, filling in for her ailing daughter, Christina. However, Joan slurs her lines and is obviously intoxicated during the tapings.
• November 17 – NBC breaks away from a pro football game to air a TV movie adaptation of Heidi, sparking furious protest.
• November 22 – William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols share the first interracial kiss on US television in the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren".
• December 3 – Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special airs on NBC, followed by a Brigitte Bardot special.
• December 24 – Apollo 8 broadcasts to the Earth, relaying a report that there is a Santa Claus and reading a passage from the Book of Genesis.

Also in 1968

• Rosemary Prinz, one of the first big soap opera stars, leaves As the World Turns in a less-than-amicable departure.
• Nearly 200 million households now own television sets, 78 million of which are in the US.
• The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow expand to 30 minutes.
• The last round screen color TV sets are produced by all American manufacturers.