1995 in American Television - Events

Events

Date Event
January 1 The History Channel is launched.
January 2 WBZ-TV Channel 4 switches from NBC to CBS as a CBS owned-and-operated station in Boston. later, Sunbeam's WHDH Channel 7 carried most of the NBC programming. In Baltimore, CBS switched affiliations to WJZ-TV Channel 13 After 46 years as a ABC affiliation when it moved to WMAR Channel 2. NBC returned to WBAL-TV Channel 11 after 13 years it was a CBS affiliation.
January 5 All My Children celebrates 25th Anniversary and airs a primetime special.
January 11 The WB Television Network is launched.
Former SNL cast member, Ellen Cleghorne airs her television show, Cleghorne! on The WB (with other African American family sitcoms: The Wayans Bros., The Parent 'Hood, the show only airs for one entire season, it also stars Past Saturday Night Live cast member, Garrett Morris, who would be starring with Jamie Foxx on The Jamie Foxx Show which airs a year later.
January 16 The United Paramount Network (UPN) is launched, with a 2-hour premiere of Star Trek: Voyager.
January 16 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys debutes starring Kevin Sorbo as "Hercules" and Michael Hurst as "Iolaus".
January 24 The O. J. Simpson trial begins live broadcasts on American daytime television; as a result, many of the network soap operas are partially pre-empted, more or less, for nine months. The trial also causes the ratings of all soaps to steadily decline.
January 27 The Golf Channel, a TV channel dedicated to the sport of golf, is launched in the United States.
February 1 ESPN Classic (formerly known as Classic Sports Network) is launched in the United States.
February 2 Seinfeld airs it's clip show for the 100th episode.
March 13 KSTW swapped into CBS affiliation for the second time while KIRO-TV carried the UPN affiliation.
March 31 Americans watch as a crime scene was taking place, as rising pop star Selena was murdered on this day and the special coverage drew over 32 million viewers on CBS as a result of more than 93% of the USA watched, hear, and surface the internet for anything to do with Selena. The special Selena Vivé for the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, drew over 42 million viewers and went down in history as the most watched Spanish-language television program of all time.
April 12 Drew Barrymore appears on the Late Show with David Letterman. In honor of Letterman's birthday, guest Barrymore dances on his desk and flashes him on-air.
April 18 Rox becomes first television show distributed via internet.
May 12 As the World Turns airs its milestone 10,000th episode.
May 24 ABC announces that an episode of the soap opera All My Children will be pulled from airing due to the recent Oklahoma City bombing; in the story, villainess Janet Green (Robin Mattson) was supposed to blow up the church in which her ex Trevor Dillon (James Kiberd) was to marry her rival Laurel Banning (Felicity LaFortune).
July 1 After being purchased by New World Communications from Argyle Television, three additional stations become part of the 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment, KDFW (channel 4) in Dallas-Ft. Worth, KTBC (channel 7) in Austin, Texas and KTVI (channel 2) in St. Louis all defect their respective longtime CBS and ABC affiliations and become Fox affiliates. As a result, independent station KTVT (channel 11) in Dallas takes the CBS affiliation, as do former Fox affiliates KBVO (channel 42) in Austin, which changed its calls to KEYE, and KDNL (channel 30) in St. Louis. Former independent WBMA-LP (channel 58) receives the ABC affiliation in Birmingham, and converts CBS affiliates WCFT-TV (channel 33) and WJSU (channel 40) as its satellite stations relaying ABC network programming.
Outdoor Life Network is launched in United States.
July 24 WFMZ-TV launches their very first daytime Berks Edition at 5:30pm and the First Nighttime Newscast at 10:30pm, covering the entire Berks County and all across the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey.
July 31 The Walt Disney Company announces that it will purchase ABC and ESPN; the deal is finalized in January 1996.
August 21 As part of the sale of four television stations to SF Broadcasting (a joint venture of Savoy Communications and Fox Broadcasting) as a result of the Fox affiliate switches of 1994, longtime NBC affiliate WLUK-TV in Green Bay becomes the first of four "Big three" affiliates that SF purchased from Burnham Broadcasting to switch its affiliation to Fox. Its then-sister stations WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama, WVUE in New Orleans and KHON-TV in Honolulu switched their affiliations to Fox on January 1, 1996.
August 22 Larry Hagman, former star of Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie, undergoes a liver transplant.
September 4 Xena: Warrior Princess debutes starring Lucy Lawless as "Xena" and Renee O'Connor as "Gabrielle".
September 5 Alan Kalter becomes the second announcer of the Late Show with David Letterman replacing Bill Wendell.
September 9 Kids WB debuts it's Saturday morning lineup, including the exceptions of Animaniacs is moving from Fox Kids.
September 10 A major compensation deal between NBC and CBS following the Westinghouse-Group W/CBS deal as a result of the Fox affiliate switches of 1994 goes into effect: KCNC-TV and KYW-TV become CBS-affiliated stations (and quickly after that CBS-owned stations), KUSA-TV and WCAU become NBC affiliates (and WCAU an NBC-owned station), and CBS's WCIX (channel 6) and NBC's WTVJ (channel 4) in Miami swap channel positions, with WCIX becoming WFOR-TV as a result of the change. KMGH-TV switches to ABC in Denver as well.
The 47th Primetime Emmy Awards are handed out by Fox.
September 11 UPN Kids is being launched on some stations, due to the formal launch of two new shows, Space Strikers and Teknoman.
September 11 Sailor Moon premieres in the United States for the first time.
September 17 Part 2 of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" airs the season 7 premiere of The Simpsons on Fox. This was after an America's Most Wanted special, Springfield's Most Wanted.
November 8 Stone Cates dies of AIDS on General Hospital shortly after his lover, Robin Scorpio, confesses that he infected her with HIV.
November 13 The ABC 30-minute soap opera Loving (1983–1995) transforms into The City, which is canceled in March 1997.
November 18 Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, and Darrell Hammond, join Saturday Night Live.
November 20 One Life to Live airs its 7,000th episode and showcases a new opening sequence.
Television programs ROX and Computer Chronicles are broadcast via the Internet—these are the first Internet broadcasts in the history of television.
December 1 ABC affiliate WHBQ-TV (channel 13) in Memphis, Tennessee drops its ABC affiliation after 45 years to affiliate with Fox, after being purchased by Fox Television Stations Group from ComCorp. Former Fox station WPTY (channel 24) assumes the ABC affiliation.
December 11 The Today Show becomes the highest-rated morning news program in the United States where it would remain until April 9, 2012.
December 29 CNNfn, a financial news network from CNN, is launched.
Robert MacNeil steps in for the final time on The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour.

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