1960 in television


The year 1960 in television involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television-related events during 1960.

Events

  • February 10 – Jack Paar temporarily quits his television program in the United States because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three-minute news update. Parr walks out to the audience at the beginning of the show, announces that he is quitting, says "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and then walks off the stage. After network executives apologize personally, Parr resumes hosting the program a month later. His first show back starts with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted...".
  • February–September – In a first for US Audiences, CBS broadcasts the 1960 Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics, on an exclusive basis, for $60,000. From Squaw Valley, American viewers are treated to 31 hours of coverage, which includes a mix of alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and ski jumping. The Winter Olympic broadcast is hosted by Walter Cronkite while a young Jim McKay, who will go on to host ABC's Olympic coverage, does the Rome Games.
  • March 1 – Philippines's third television station DZTV-TV starts broadcasts at 6:30 pm under the Inter-Island Broadcasting Corporation through the tri-media conglomerate of RMN-IBC-Philippine Herald owned by Andrés Soriano, owner at this time of San Miguel Corporation.
  • March 2 – Lucille Ball files for divorce from Desi Arnaz, ending their 20-year marriage and the I Love Lucy franchise on CBS.
  • April 29 – RTSH started test transmissions at 6:00 pm, just only one day before an official launch.
  • June 1 – Auckland TV2, as predecessor for TVNZ 1, a first television station in New Zealand, officially starts regular broadcasting service in Auckland.
  • June 11 - CBS broadcasts the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race, possibly the first broadcast of any F1 race in the United States.
  • June 20 – Nan Winton becomes the first national female newsreader on BBC television in the United Kingdom.
  • June 29 – The BBC Television Centre is opened in London.
  • July 21 – ERTU Al Oula, a member of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, a first television broadcasting service, is launched in Egypt.
  • July 31 – Telecuraçao is launched as the Netherlands Antilles' first television station, and also of the Antilliaanse Television Company.
  • August 20 – NRK1, a first television station in Norway, an officially regular broadcasting service starts in Oslo.
  • September 19 – Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, arrives in New York City for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. The United States government asks television networks to minimize coverage of his visit.
  • September 24 – After thirteen seasons of entertaining American children, NBC children's show Howdy Doody ends with Clarabell the Clown saying the final two words of the show after being assumed to be mute.
  • September 25 – First Japanese colour television broadcast.
  • September 26 – The 1960 United States presidential debates, the first in history, take place as the two major candidates, Republican U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Democrat U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, face each other live in Chicago at the television studios of WBBM-TV. Carried live by all three networks, the debate begins at local time and lasts one hour. This first debate demonstrates the power of television in influencing voters: Kennedy appears tan and charismatic, while Nixon, due in part to poor makeup and a recent hospitalization, looks unkempt and tense, and this may impact on the outcome of the election. A special act of Congress has been passed in order to allow the American television and radio networks to broadcast the debate without having to provide equal time to other presidential candidates. In addition to being the first presidential debates to be televised, the debates also mark the first time "split screen" images are used by a network.
  • October 1 – Argentine television station, El Trece, a first officially regular broadcasting service, starts in Buenos Aires.
  • October 5 – KEYC-TV signs on today, just in time to broadcast the first game of the World Series tonight from NBC.
  • October 12 – Inejiro Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, is assassinated by Otoya Yamaguchi using a wakizashi during a political debate in Tokyo being taped by Japanese television broadcaster NHK.
  • November 4 – The University of Chile inaugurates its TV station over Channel 9 in Santiago, Chile. Its first broadcast marks the first live broadcast of a TV show in Chile.
  • December 9 – The first episode of soap opera Coronation Street, made by Granada Television in Manchester, England, is aired on ITV. Intended as a 13-week pilot and disfavoured by critics, it continues past its 10,000th episode in 2020 as Britain's longest running soap.
  • December 31 – Norma Zimmer officially becomes Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show. She would remain with the show until it ended in 1982.

Undated

Programs/programmes

Debuts

Television shows

1940s

1950s

Television debuts