1996 in American Television - Events

Events

Date Event
January 1 Speedvision, a cable channel devoted to motor sports, commences programming. The network will be rechristened Speed Channel in 2002.
January 20 Fox introduces its FoxTrax "glowing puck" during its telecast of the 46th National Hockey League All-Star Game.
January 28 Chris Isaak and Brooke Shields make guest appearances on a post-Super Bowl episode of Friends.
March 1 Over 1 billion households worldwide now own television sets.
March 4 DISH Network, a Direct Broadcast Satellite service, is launched in the United States by EchoStar.
April 29 TV Land, an offshoot of Nick at Nite devoted to round-the-clock airings of classic television shows, launches in the United States.
May 16 Over 12 million Americans tune in to watch the final episode of Murder, She Wrote on CBS, "Death By Demographics" then through its 12-year run, the series becomes the longest-running American Murder Mystery Drama.
May 19 Sundance Channel is launched.
June 1 Major League Baseball broadcasts air for the first time on Fox, where it remains to this day.
June 3 Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S.
June 19 WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC is awarded the first experimental high-definition television license in the United States.
June 30 After 33 years of Public broadcasting in New York, WNYC-TV, signs off for the final time.
July 6 When it becomes evident that Anna Stuart will be next to die in a serial killer storyline on Another World, many fans start letter-writing campaigns to save the actress; the NBC studios in New York City also report a high number of switchboard calls regarding Stuart's imminent demise. Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps decides that actress Alice Barrett will be killed off the show instead.
July 15 The talk-oriented cable network America's Talking ceases broadcasting and is replaced by MSNBC, an all-news joint venture between NBC (AT's owner) and Microsoft.
August 2 MTV's sister channel, M2 (now known as MTV2), is launched.
August 23 The Price is Right celebrates its 25th Anniversary Special and it was broadcast on CBS.
September 8 The 48th Primetime Emmy Awards are handed out by ABC.
September 13 The dubbed version of the Japanese series Dragonball Z premieres in the U.S.
September 15 The children's programming block USA Cartoon Express was shown for the last time by USA Network.
September 17 The O.J. Simpson civil trial begins.
October 1 Animal Planet (known as Discovery's Animal Planet), is launched.
Discovery Civilization is launched.
October 2 Seven newscasters were fired for WCBS-TV in New York following after the massacre of its 6pm newscast, most notably known as The 1996 Massacre.
October 4 Discovery Science is launched.
October 7 News Corporation gets into the cable news fray with the launch of Fox News Channel.
November 1 ESPNNEWS, a sports news channel from ESPN, debuts.
November 2 The original animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs its final episode, "Divide and Conquer".
November 11 Discovery Kids begins broadcasting.
December 1 The 25 Days of Christmas Special started on The Family Channel, starting one of the longest running Christmas Specials.
December 9 Broadcasters, TV & PC manufacturers set industry standards for digital HDTV.
December 12 Sports publisher Sports Illustrated and CNN debuted as a 24-hour sporting news channel CNN/SI.
December 15 Five years after its series finale, a one-off movie of Dallas, entitled Dallas: J.R. Returns, airs on CBS.
December 17 TBS returned to its Superstation name. After 6 years when it was no longer used.

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