1949 in television

The year 1949 in television involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television-related events during 1949.

Events

January 3: Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
January 11: A two-hour special on all American networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable.
January 20: The second inauguration of President Truman becomes the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast on television.
January 21: Your Show Time becomes the first filmed dramatic series on American network television.
January 31: The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcast on television from Los Angeles.
April 9: The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours. The first published appearance of the word "telethon" was in the prior day's newspapers.
May 30: WRTV-DT signs on as WFBM-TV in Indianapolis, the first television station in the state of Indiana. Its first aired program was the documentary The Crucible of Speed, about the early history of the Indianapolis 500, followed by the inaugural live television coverage of the event.
August 25: RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
December 17: The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the English Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive BBC Television.
December 29: KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency television station to operate a daily schedule.
First television broadcasts begin in Cuba.
For the first time, the Sears & Roebuck catalog includes televisions.

Debuts

Programs

January 16: ABC Television Players, a dramatic anthology, debuts on ABC.
January 17: The Goldbergs, a situation comedy, debuts on CBS.
March 1: Ripley's Believe It or Not debuts on NBC
April 24: Action Autographs debuts on ABC.
May 5: Series Stop the Music debuts on American Broadcasting Company for a five-year run over seven years.
June 24: "Hopalong Cassidy" becomes the first American television Western series
June 27: Captain Video and His Video Rangers, apparently the first science fiction series televised, debuts.
July 15: This Is Show Business, panel discussion program, premieres on CBS.
September 28: Photocrime, detective program, premieres on ABC.
September 29: Come Dancing, a ballroom dancing competition, is first broadcast by the BBC.Martin Kane, Private Eye premieres on NBC, becoming the first detective series televised.The Voice of Firestone premieres.Bozo the Clown premieres.The Lone Ranger premieres on ABC.

Stations

January 1: KPRC-TV Signs on the air. They are the Second TV station in Texas, and the First in Houston. That same day, KTTV signs on in Los Angeles.
March 21: WTVJ signs on the air becoming the first television station in the state of Florida.
May 29: WVTM-TV signs on the air as the first TV station in Alabama
May 30: WRTV signs on the air as the first TV station in Indiana
June 6: KFOR-TV signs on the air as the first TV station in Oklahoma
July 1 WBRC begins operations from Birmingham AL, just 1 month after WVTM started operations.
August 29: WOWT signs on the air for the first time, becoming the first television station in Nebraska, and one of the first in the Midwest.

Births

January 7 – Steven Williams, American actor,
January 8 – Anne Schedeen, American actress,
January 13 – Brandon Tartikoff, American executive
January 16 – Caroline Munro, English actress and model
January 17 – Andy Kaufman, American actor and comedian
January 24 – John Belushi, American actor and comedian,
February 2 – Brent Spiner, American actor,
February 3 – Brenda Dickson, American actress,
February 8 – Brooke Adams, American actress
February 9 – Judith Light, American actress,
February 14 – István Vágó, Hungarian television host and political activist
February 18 – Jess Walton, American actress,
February 25 – Ric Flair, American pro wrestler
February 26 – Tim Brant, American sportscaster
February 28 – Ilene Graff, American actress and singer,
March 2 – Gates McFadden, American actress and choreographer,
March 16
*Erik Estrada, American actor,
*Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer,
March 17 – Patrick Duffy, American actor,
March 26
*Vicki Lawrence, American actress and comedian,
*Ernest Lee Thomas, American actor,
April 14 – John Shea, American actor
April 17 – Michael J. Stull, American songwriter
April 19 – Forrest Sawyer, American broadcast journalist
April 20 – Veronica Cartwright, English-born actress
April 23 – Joyce DeWitt, American actress,
April 28 – Paul Guilfoyle, American actor,
May 1 – Douglas Barr, actor,
May 9
*Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter
*Beverly Penberthy, actress
May 26
*Jeremy Corbyn, British politician
*Philip Michael Thomas, actor,
June 3 – John Rothman, actor
June 11 – Sherman Howard, actor,
June 12 – Roger Aaron Brown, actor,
June 15 – Jim Varney, actor and comedian
June 16
*Geoff Pierson, actor,
*Arnold Diaz, American television consumer watchdog journalist
June 20 – Lionel Richie, singer
June 22
*Lindsay Wagner, actress,
*Rand Morrison, producer
June 25
*Kene Holliday, actor,
*Phyllis George, actress,
July 3 – Jan Smithers, actress,
July 8 – Carmel Cryan, actor
July 9 – Nigel Lythgoe, British TV director and producer
July 10 – Mark Shera, actor,
July 11 – Jay Johnson, ventriloquist, actor,
July 16 – Cyndy Garvey, American television personality
July 24 – Michael Richards, actor,
July 27 – Maureen McGovern, actress
August 14 – Bob Backlund, American wrestler
August 21
*Loretta Devine, actress and singer,
*Josephine Abady, American stage director
August 23
*Rick Springfield, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
*Shelley Long, actress,
August 24
*Joe Regalbuto, actor,
*Patricia Shevlin, producer
August 25 – John Savage, actor,
September 10
*Bill O'Reilly, television journalist, host,
*Tony Evans, television pastor
September 16 – Ed Begley, Jr., actor,
September 20 – Anthony Denison, actor
September 23
*Floella Benjamin, Trinidad-born British actress, children's TV presenter,
*Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter
September 25 – Anson Williams, actor and director,
September 28 – Vernee Watson-Johnson, actress
September 30 – Ann Risley, actress and comedian,
October 3 – Norm Abram, master carpenter,
October 4 – Armand Assante, actor
October 8 – Sigourney Weaver, actress
October 9 – Shera Danese, actress,
October 10 – Jessica Harper, actress
October 14 – Katy Manning, English actress
October 15 – Tanya Roberts, actress,
October 21
*LaTanya Richardson Jackson, actress
*Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician
October 28
*Caitlyn Jenner, American Olympic athlete and reality TV personality
*Sandra Sade, Israeli actress
November 1 – Belita Moreno, actress,
November 3 – Mike Evans, actor,
November 4 – Berlinda Tolbert, actress,
November 5 – Armin Shimerman, actor,
November 11 – Denise Gordy, actress
November 17 – John Boehner, politician
November 19 – Ahmad Rashad, Sportscaster and former NFL football player
November 23 – Jerry verDorn, soap opera actor
November 24 – Damon Evans, actor,
November 28 – Paul Shaffer, singer
November 29
*Jerry Lawler, WWE commentator and pro wrestler
*Garry Shandling, actor and comedian,
December 2 – Ron Raines, American actor,
December 3 – Heather Menzies, Canadian actress,
December 4 – Pamela Stephenson, New Zealand actress and comedian
December 5 – Lanny Wadkins, `American golfer
December 12 – Moses Lim, Singaporean actor
December 15 – Don Johnson, American actor,
December 19 – Rita Taggart, American actress
December 21 – Michael Horse, American actor,
December 25 - Sissy Spacek, American actress and singer

Television debuts

Andy Devine – Lum and Abner
Brian Donlevy – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
Melvyn Douglas – The Philco Television Playhouse
Glenda Farrell – Studio One
Miriam Hopkins – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
Marcia Mae Jones – Your Show Time
John Merton – The Lone Ranger
Lee Tracy – ''The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre''