1956 in television

The year 1956 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1956.

List of years in television (table)
In radio
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959

Events

  • January 25–February 5 – The 1956 Winter Olympics in Italy are the first to be broadcast to an international audience. The Soviet Union uses its technological influence to broadcast the Cortina Winter Games to a western audience from a communist point of view.
  • January 28 – Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on CBS in the United States on the program Stage Show, the first of six appearances on the series.
  • February 14 – Television broadcasting begins in Azerbaijan, at this time the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • February 17 – The English Midlands becomes the first part of the United Kingdom outside London to receive Independent Television (ITV), when the Associated Television Network (as ATV Midlands) begins broadcasting their weekday franchise. The weekend franchise, Associated British Corporation (ABC), begins operation a day later.
  • February – U.M. & M. TV Corporation acquires the pre-October 1950 Paramount Pictures cartoons and theatrical shorts, except for the Popeye and Superman cartoons.
  • April 2 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS as the first half-hour American soap operas. Previously, all soap operas have been just fifteen minutes in length.
  • April 3 – Elvis Presley appears on The Milton Berle Show in the United States.
  • April – WNBQ (modern-day WMAQ-TV) in Chicago becomes the first TV station to broadcast all its local programming in color.
  • April 14 – Ampex company demonstrates a videotape recorder at the 1956 NARTB (now National Association of Broadcasters) convention in Chicago, Illinois, using the first practical and commercially successful videotape format known as 2" Quadruplex. The three networks place orders for the recorders.
  • April – United States Senator Estes Kefauver holds congressional hearings on the rising rates of juvenile crime and publishes an article in Reader's Digest named "Let's Get Rid of Tele-Violence."
  • May 3 – Granada Television begins broadcasting, extending ITV's coverage to Northern England. Associated British Corporation's weekend franchise begins operation two days later.
  • May 6 – Elvis Presley again appears on The Milton Berle Show.
  • May 25 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland. It is primarily a radio program at this stage, as few Europeans can afford TV sets.
  • June 5 – Elvis Presley performs "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
  • July 1 – Elvis Presley appears on The Steve Allen Show.
  • July - HSV 7 Melbourne, Australia began test transmissions.
  • August 6 – Final telecast of the DuMont Television Network. The United States will not have a fourth major network until the launch of the Fox network in 1986.
  • September – NBC introduces a still version of its peacock color logo.
  • September 4 – Television broadcasting begins in Sweden.
  • September 9 – Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States for the first time.
  • September 15 – Gabriel J. Fontana wins a record US$64,000 from the Super Bonus Stunt on Beat the Clock.
  • September 16 – TCN-9 Sydney becomes the first Australian television station to begin regular transmission.
  • October 1 – Ernie Kovacs becomes the host for NBC's The Tonight Show in the United States on Mondays and Tuesdays.
  • October 8 – New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen throws the first (and to date only) perfect game in World Series history. Mel Allen (representing the Yankees) and Vin Scully (representing the Brooklyn Dodgers) call the game for NBC.
  • October 28 - La 1, a channel for Television Espanola (TVE), first regular service start in Madrid, Spain.[1]
  • October 29
    • First use of videotape in network television programming; CBS uses its Ampex VTR to record the evening news, anchored by Douglas Edwards. The tape is then fed to West Coast stations three hours later.
    • Chet Huntley and David Brinkley take over anchor duties of the NBC evening newscast in the United States, which is renamed The Huntley-Brinkley Report.
  • November 3 – The 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz is shown on television for the first time in the United States, by CBS (the viewing audience is estimated at 45 million people).
  • November 4 - HSV 7 officially inaugurates on the air in Melbourne, Australia, soon after the Australia Commonwealth Government started issuing television licences.
  • November 5 – The Australian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first television broadcast from its Sydney studios. It is inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
  • November 19 – The Australian Broadcasting Corporation begins broadcast in Melbourne. Along with its Sydney counterpart, they air the 1956 Summer Olympics.
  • November – The first use of videotape for a network television entertainment program. Jonathan Winters uses videotape and superimposing techniques to be able to play two characters in the same skit for his NBC television show.
  • December 31 – Game series host Bob Barker makes his national television debut in the United States on the program Truth or Consequences.
  • Television broadcasting begins in Uruguay.
  • Black-and-white portable TV sets are first marketed.

Programs/programmes

Debuts

Ending this year

DateShowDebut
January 12 Wanted 1955
February 27 The Tony Martin Show 1954
March 5 Medical Horizons 1955
March 19 Jungle Jim
March 25 Justice 1954
April 28 It's Always Jan 1955
June 3 It's a Great Life 1954
June 14 Stop the Music
June 23 The Jimmy Durante Show
September 11 This Is Show Business 1956
September 22 The Honeymooners 1955
Unknown Cisco Kid 1950
Super Circus 1949

Births

DateNameNotability
January 3 Mel Gibson Actor
January 6 Holly Fulger Actress (Anything but Love, Ellen)
January 7 David Caruso Actor (NYPD Blue, CSI: Miami)
January 9 Imelda Staunton English actress
Kimberly Beck Actress (Peyton Place)
January 13 Janet Hubert Actress (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
January 20 Bill Maher Comedian, talk-show host (Real Time with Bill Maher)
January 21 Geena Davis Actress (Buffalo Bill, The Geena Davis Show, Commander in Chief)
January 23 Natalie West Actress (Roseanne)
January 27 Susanne Blakeslee Actress (Wanda on The Fairly OddParents)
February 6 Jon Walmsley British-American actor (The Waltons)
February 11 Catherine Hickland Actress (One Life to Live)
Deena Freeman Actress (Too Close for Comfort)
February 12 Arsenio Hall Actor, comedian, talk-show host (The Arsenio Hall Show)
February 17 Richard Karn Actor (Home Improvement), game show host
February 19 Kathleen Beller Actress (Dynasty)
February 25 Jean Bruce Scott Actress (Airwolf)
March 1 Tim Daly Actor (Wings, Private Practice, Madam Secretary)
March 7 Bryan Cranston Actor (Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad)
March 11 Rob Paulsen Voice actor (Yakko Warner and Pinky on Animaniacs)
March 13 Dana Delany Actress (China Beach, Body of Proof)
April 3 Ray Combs Game show host (Family Feud) (d. 1996)
April 12 Andy García Actor
April 18 Melody Thomas Scott Actress (The Young and the Restless)
John James Actor (The Colbys)
April 29 Susan Pratt Actress (General Hospital, Guiding Light, All My Children)
May 1 Byron Stewart Actor (The White Shadow, St. Elsewhere)
May 17 Bob Saget Actor, host (Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos)
May 20 Dean Butler Actor (Little House on the Prairie)
May 23 Ken Michelman Actor (The White Shadow)
June 1 Tom Irwin Actor (My So-Called Life, Devious Maids)
June 4 Keith David Actor (Gargoyles, Greenleaf)
June 18 Brian Benben Actor (Dream On, Private Practice)
June 22 Tim Russ Actor (Star Trek: Voyager)
June 24 Joe Penny English-born actor (Riptide, Jake and the Fatman)
June 30 David Alan Grier Actor, comedian (In Living Color)
July 1 Alan Ruck Actor (Spin City, The Exorcist)
July 6 Casey Sander Actor (Grace Under Fire)
July 9 Tom Hanks Actor (Bosom Buddies)
July 11 Sela Ward Actress (Sisters, Once and Again, CSI: NY)
July 12 Mel Harris Actress (thirtysomething)
July 30 Delta Burke Actress (Designing Women)
July 31 Michael Biehn Actor
August 5 Maureen McCormick Actress (Marcia on The Brady Bunch)
August 6 Stepfanie Kramer Actress (Hunter)
August 10 Peter Robbins Voice actor (original voice of Charlie Brown in the Peanuts specials)
August 19 Adam Arkin Actor (Chicago Hope)
August 21 Kim Cattrall Actress (Sex and the City)
August 23 Skipp Sudduth Actor (Third Watch)
August 26 Brett Cullen Actor (The Chisholms, The Simple Life, Legacy)
August 28 Russell Curry Soap opera actor
September 20 Gary Cole Actor (Midnight Caller, Veep)
Debbi Morgan Actress (All My Children, The Young and the Restless)
September 26 Linda Hamilton Actress (Beauty and the Beast)
October 2 Charlie Adler Voice actor (Tiny Toon Adventures, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Cow and Chicken)
October 8 Stephanie Zimbalist Actress (Remington Steele)
October 28 Lauren Holly Actress (Picket Fences, NCIS)
November 10 Sinbad Comedian, actor (A Different World)
November 13 Rex Linn Actor (CSI: Miami)
November 22 Richard Kind Actor (Mad About You, Spin City)
November 24 Ruben Santiago-Hudson Actor (Castle)
November 27 William Fichtner Actor (Prison Break)
December 2 Steven Bauer Actor (Breaking Bad, Ray Donovan)
December 24 Stephanie Hodge Actress (Unhappily Ever After)
December 30 Patricia Kalember Actress (Sisters)
Sheryl Lee Ralph Actress (Moesha, Instant Mom)

Deaths

DateNameAgeNotability
March 17 Fred Allen 61 Comedian (hosted Judge for Yourself, 1953-1954)
April 26 Edward Arnold 66 Actor (hosted Strange Stories, 1956)
August 16 Bela Lugosi 73 Actor (Suspense, episode of October 11, 1949)

References

  1. es:La 1#Inauguración de Televisión Española (Spanish language) Retrieved January 13, 2017.
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