1954 in television

The year 1954 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.

Events

• January 1 - NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in NTSC color on 21 stations.
• January 3 - RAI launched in Italy.
• January 10 - CBMT opens in Montreal, making that city the first in Canada to have 2 stations operating. The new station operates in English, leaving CBFT to continue entirely in French. Thus begins Canada's "two nations" approach to TV.
• January 11 - The first weather forecast with an in-vision presenter is televised in the UK.
• March 28 - WKAQ-TV became the first television station in Puerto Rico.
• April - The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts the Army-McCarthy hearings live and in their entirety.
• June 5 - The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.
• June 13 - First television broadcast begins in Colombia.
• July 5 - First actual news bulletin, News and Newsreel, aired on BBC Television, replacing Television Newsreel.
• September 11 - The Miss America Beauty Contest airs for the first time on national television in the United States. 27 million viewers watched as Lee Ann Meriwether won the crown. Meriwether would later become a television actress, co-starring in Barnaby Jones in the 1970s.
• November 3 - Disney's Alice in Wonderland airs on ABC.
• December 12 - BBC Television screens its famous, and controversial, adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• Television Act 1954 authorises setting up the infrastructure for British commercial television.
• The British Academy Television Awards, the most prestigious awards in the British television industry, are first awarded.

Debuts

• January 4 - The Brighter Day (1954–1962) premieres.
• January - Annie Oakley (1954–1957) premieres.
• April 2 - The Grove Family, generally considered the first British TV soap opera, debuts on BBC Television (1954–1957).
• September 12 - Lassie premieres on CBS (1954-1973)
• September 27- The Tonight Show begins airing on the NBC network (1954–present).
• October 15 - The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin premieres on ABC (1954-1958)
• October 21 - The CBS anthology series, Climax! (1954–1958) airs an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel, Casino Royale, starring Barry Nelson as an Americanized version of spy James Bond. This is the first dramatic adaptation of a Bond novel.
• October 27 - The Walt Disney anthology series debuts as Disneyland (1954–present; aired as Disneyland 1954–1958).
• December 21 - Zoo Quest begins on BBC Television (1954–1964).
• Face the Nation premieres on CBS (1954–present).
• The Secret Storm (1954–1974) premieres.
• The National premieres as The National News on CBC (1954–present).
• The RCAVictor CT-100 goes on the market as the first color TV to be sold to the public. Other manufacturers follow suit. Sales are dismal. NBC is the only network to offer color programming.

Television shows

listed by starting year

• Muffin the Mule (1946–1955).
• Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960).
• Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957).
• Howdy Doody (1947–1960).
• Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958).
• Meet the Press (1947–present).
• Candid Camera (1948–present).
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971).
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995).
• The Goldbergs (1949–1955).
• The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963).
• Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955)).
• Cisco Kid (1950–1956).
• The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958).
• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988).
• What's My Line (1950–1967).
• Your Hit Parade (1950–1959).
• Dragnet (1951–1959).
• I Love Lucy (1951–1957).
• Love of Life (1951–1980).
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986).
• The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957).
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
• American Bandstand (1952–1989).
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966).
• Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)
• Death Valley Days (1952–1975)
• The Guiding Light (1952–present)
• Hockey Night in Canada (1952–present)
• Life is Worth Living (1952–1957).
• Life with Elizabeth (1952-1955)
• My Little Margie (1952–1955).
• This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961).
• The Today Show (1952–present).
• Buick-Berle Show (1953–1954); the show was renamed The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967) this year.
• General Motors Theatre (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983).
• Lassie (TV series) started broadcasting in September

Ending this year

• July 2 - Television Newsreel (UK) is last shown on the BBC Television Service, to be superseded the following Monday by the new BBC News bulletins. (1948–1954).
• Juvenile Jury (1947–1954).
• Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954).
• Your Show of Shows (1950–1954).
• Flash Gordon (1953–1954).
• October 10- Author Meets the Critics (1947–1954).

Births

• January 4 - Jessica Browne, American actress
• January 5 - Pamela Sue Martin, actress.
• January 12 - Howard Stern, radio & TV host.
• January 19 - Katey Sagal, actress on Married... with Children.
• January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, actress and talk-show host
• February 2 - Christie Brinkley, model & actress
• February 15 - Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama.
• February 17 - Rene Russo, actress.
• March 1 - Ron Howard, actor, director..
• April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor.
• April 29 - Jerry Seinfeld, actor and comedian.
• June 15 - James Belushi, actor.
• September 8 - Anne Diamond, television presenter.
• October 9 - Scott Bakula, American television actor.
• October 14 - Tanya Roberts, American actress.
• December 28 - Denzel Washington, actor.