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1980 in American television
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The year 1980 involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in the United States.
Events
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | ||
| January 15 | ||
| January 25 | ||
| February 1 | ||
| February 3 | ||
| February 4 | ||
| February 8 | ||
| February 11 | ||
| February 14 | ||
| February 22 | ||
| February 24 | ||
| March 3 | ||
| March 5 | ||
| March 16 | ||
| March 21 | ||
| March 24 | ||
| March 24 | ||
| March 31 | ||
| April 1 | ||
| April 5 | ||
| April 7 | ||
| April 9 | ||
| April 11 | ||
| April 19 | ||
| April 20 | ||
| April 25 | ||
| April 29 | ||
| May 1 | ||
| May 6 | ||
| The NBC television network announces that it will not telecast the 1980 Summer Olympics from Moscow. Edgar H. Griffiths, Chairman of NBC's parent company, RCA says at a meeting of RCA stockholders, "NBC will not be televising the Olympics because the U.S. team will not be participating, because this is not in accord with the policy of the president of the United States." NBC had spent US$70,000,000 for rights to and preparation for the broadcast. Even after insurance pays for most of the loss, the company still loses $22,000,000. | ||
| May 10 | ||
| May 11 | ||
| May 16 | ||
| May 22 | ||
| May 24 | ||
| CBS broadcasts Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders. The Saturday afternoon game is the first full American network telecast of an NHL game since Game 5 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals aired on NBC, and the last NHL game on American network television until NBC televises the 1990 All-Star Game. | ||
| June 1 | ||
| June 9 | ||
| June 20 | ||
| Vanna White makes her first appearance on a game show via The Price Is Right on CBS, in which she was among the first four contestants. She did not make it onstage, but the clip of her running to Contestants' Row was rebroadcast as part of The Price Is Right 25th Anniversary Special in August 1996 and also was featured on the special broadcast Game Show Moments Gone Bananas. | ||
| June 23 | ||
| June 30 | ||
| July 12 | ||
| July 21 | ||
| July 22 | ||
| August 1 | ||
| The 24/7 cable movie network Cinemax launches. | ||
| August 28 | ||
| September 1 | ||
| September 7 | ||
| September 15–19 | ||
| September 20 | ||
| September 21 | ||
| The first 1980 United States presidential debate was held, including the first (and only until 1992) independent candidate to participate, John B. Anderson. | ||
| September 25 | ||
| September 28 | ||
| October 4 | ||
| October 20 | ||
| October 26 | ||
| October 28 | ||
| November 2 | ||
| November 11 | ||
| November 15 | ||
| November 18 | ||
| The start of Season 6 of the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley sees the titular characters relocating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Burbank, California after losing their brewery jobs. | ||
| Suzanne Somers makes her final "full" appearance in an episode of the ABC sitcom Three's Company. Her remaining seven appearances would be cameos in the episode's closing tag in which Chrissy would call from her parents' home in Fresno to speak with Jack or Janet, who would sometimes fill Chrissy in on what happened in the episode. | ||
| November 19 | ||
| Nancy McKeon makes her debut as Jo Polniaczek in the Season 2 premiere of the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life on NBC. | ||
| November 20 | ||
| November 21 | ||
| November 22 | ||
| WPDE-TV in Florence, South Carolina signs on, giving the Pee Dee market its first full-time ABC affiliate. | ||
| November 27 | ||
| November 30 | ||
| December 1 | ||
| December 8 | ||
| December 11 | ||
| December 20 | ||
| December 24 | ||
| December 30 |
Programs
Debuting this year
| Date | Show | Network |
|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Skag | NBC |
| January 14 | 3-2-1 Contact | PBS |
| Chain Reaction | NBC | |
| January 22 | Goodtime Girls | ABC |
| January 27 | Galactica 1980 | ABC |
| February 5 | Mystery! | PBS |
| March 1 | Pink Lady | NBC |
| March 3 | That's Incredible! | ABC |
| March 4 | The Big Show | NBC |
| March 5 | Beyond Westworld | CBS |
| March 11 | United States | NBC |
| March 15 | Sanford | |
| March 22 | Me and Maxx | |
| The Tim Conway Show | CBS | |
| March 24 | Flo | |
| The Stockard Channing Show | ||
| April 10 | Top Rank Boxing | ESPN |
| April 11 | Fridays | ABC |
| May 5 | America's Top 10 | Syndication |
| June 1 | Moneyline | WTBS/CNN |
| TBS Evening News | ||
| June 26 | Nobody's Perfect | ABC |
| August 4 | Texas | NBC |
| August 9 | That's My Line | CBS |
| August 21 | Games People Play | NBC |
| September 6 | Livewire | Nickelodeon |
| The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show | CBS | |
| September 13 | The Lone Ranger | ABC |
| Solid Gold | Syndication | |
| September 28 | Cosmos | PBS |
| October 4 | Heathcliff | ABC |
| Thundarr the Barbarian | ||
| October 27 | Blockbusters | NBC |
| Gambit | ||
| Ladies' Man | CBS | |
| October 30 | It's a Living | ABC |
| October 31 | I'm a Big Girl Now | |
| November 8 | Richie Rich | |
| Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo | ||
| November 11 | Too Close for Comfort | |
| November 12 | Enos | CBS |
| November 18 | Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters | NBC |
| November 27 | Bosom Buddies | ABC |
| November 29 | Breaking Away | |
| December 6 | Freebie and the Bean | CBS |
| Secrets of Midland Heights | ||
| December 10 | Number 96 | |
| December 11 | Magnum, P.I. |
Ending this year
| Date | Show | Debut |
|---|---|---|
| January 3 | Spider-Woman | 1979 |
| January 5 | A New Kind of Family | |
| Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo | ||
| January 10 | The Rockford Files | 1974 |
| February 1 | Love of Life | 1951 |
| February 29 | Make Me Laugh (returned in 1997) | 1958 |
| March 26 | The Ultraman | 1979 |
| April 5 | Hawaii Five-O | 1968 |
| April 30 | Hello, Larry | 1979 |
| June 20 | Chain Reaction (returned in 1986) | 1980 |
| High Rollers (returned in 1987) | 1974 | |
| June 25 | Family | 1976 |
| June 27 | Pyramid (returned in 1981) | 1973 |
| August 28 | Nobody's Perfect | 1980 |
| September 4 | Barnaby Jones | 1973 |
| October 23 | Angie | 1979 |
| Armchair Thriller | 1978 | |
| Dinah! | 1974 | |
| Magpie | 1968 |
Made-for-TV movies and miniseries
| Premiere date | Title | Network |
|---|---|---|
| April 15-16 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | CBS |
| May 11 | The Return of the King | ABC |
| May 19 | The Scarlett O'Hara War | NBC |
| September 15 | Shogun (miniseries) | |
| October 31 | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow |
Networks and services
Launches
| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNN | Cable television | June 1, 1980 | ||
| Cinemax | Cable television | August 1 | ||
| ACSN - The Learning Channel | Cable television | October | ||
| Bravo | Cable and satellite | December 8 | ||
| Kraft Golden Showcase Network | Cable and satellite | Unknown |
Conversions and rebrandings
| Old network | New network | Type | Conversion date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Square Garden Sports Network | USA Network | Cable television | April 9 |
Closures
There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.
Television stations
Station launches
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 25 | Minot, North Dakota | KSRE | 6 | PBS | Part of Prairie Public Television |
| January 27 | Rochester, New York | WUHF | 31 | Independent | |
| January 28 | Cincinnati, Ohio | WBTI-TV | 64 | Independent | |
| February 14 | Owensboro, Kentucky | WKOH | 31 | PBS | Part of Kentucky Educational Television as a repeater of WKLE/Lexington |
| February 22 | Denver, Colorado | KBDI-TV | 12 | PBS | |
| February 29 | Lafayette, Louisiana | KADN | 15 | Independent (primary) | |
| CBS (secondary, per program) | |||||
| March 20 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WCGV-TV | 24 | Independent | |
| April 11 | Salisbury, Maryland | WMDT | 47 | ABC (primary) | |
| NBC (secondary) | |||||
| May 4 | Willow Grove/Reading, Pennsylvania | WTVE | 51 | Independent | |
| June 1 | Bemidji, Minnesota | KAWE | 9 | PBS | Part of Lakeland Public Television |
| July 28 | Dickinson, North Dakota | KQCD-TV | 7 | NBC (primary) | |
| ABC (secondary) | Semi-satellite of KFYR-TV/Bismarck | ||||
| August 1 | Jacksonville, Florida | WXAO-TV | 47 | Independent | |
| August 12 | Casper, Wyoming | KCWY-TV | 14 | CBS | |
| August 23 | Flint, Michigan | WFUM | 28 | PBS | |
| September 8 | Spartanburg, South Carolina | ||||
| (Florence/Greenville, South Carolina) | WRET-TV | 49 | PBS | Part of South Carolina ETV | |
| September 22 | Eau Claire/La Crosse, Wisconsin | WXOW | 19 | ABC | |
| September 29 | Washington, D.C. | WHUT | 32 | PBS | |
| October 6 | Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas | KTXA-TV | 21 | Independent | |
| October 15 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KAUT-TV | 43 | Independent | |
| October 26 | Tulsa, Oklahoma | KOKI-TV | 23 | Independent | |
| November 7 | Greenville/Greenwood, Mississippi | WXVT | 15 | CBS | |
| November 16 | Mountain View, Arkansas | KEMV | 6 | PBS | Part of the Arkansas Educational Television Network |
| November 22 | Florence, South Carolina | WPDE-TV | 15 | ABC | |
| November 26 | Hardin/Billings, Montana | KOUS-TV | 4 | NBC | |
| December 24 | Valdosta/Albany, Georgia | WVGA | 44 | ABC | |
| December 30 | Green Bay, Wisconsin | WGBA-TV | 26 | Independent |
Network affiliation changes
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Dayton, Ohio | WDTN | 2 | NBC | ABC | |
| WKEF | 22 | ABC | NBC | |||
| March 31 | Jacksonville, Florida | WJKS | 17 | ABC | NBC | |
| WTLV | 12 | NBC | ABC | |||
| September 1 | Atlanta, Georgia | WSB-TV | 2 | NBC | ABC | |
| WXIA-TV | 11 | ABC | NBC |
Births
| Date | Name | Notability | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 4 | ||||
| June Diane Raphael | ||||
| Erin Cahill | ||||
| D'Arcy Carden | ||||
| January 7 | ||||
| January 10 | ||||
| January 16 | ||||
| January 17 | ||||
| Maksim Chmerkovskiy | ||||
| January 18 | ||||
| Estelle | ||||
| January 19 | ||||
| January 20 | ||||
| January 22 | ||||
| January 28 | ||||
| January 30 | ||||
| January 31 | ||||
| April Lee Hernández | ||||
| Clarissa Ward | ||||
| February 8 | ||||
| February 9 | ||||
| February 11 | ||||
| February 12 | ||||
| Christina Ricci | ||||
| February 17 | ||||
| February 21 | ||||
| February 25 | ||||
| Christy Knowings | ||||
| February 27 | ||||
| February 29 | ||||
| Taylor Twellman | ||||
| Patrick Côté | ||||
| March 2 | ||||
| March 3 | ||||
| March 7 | ||||
| March 9 | ||||
| March 12 | ||||
| March 17 | ||||
| March 20 | ||||
| March 21 | ||||
| March 22 | ||||
| Joshua Johnson | ||||
| March 25 | ||||
| March 26 | ||||
| March 29 | ||||
| March 31 | ||||
| Ari Melber | ||||
| April 1 | ||||
| Randy Orton | ||||
| April 2 | ||||
| April 4 | ||||
| April 7 | ||||
| April 8 | ||||
| Bill English | ||||
| April 9 | ||||
| April 10 | ||||
| Kasey Kahne | ||||
| April 13 | ||||
| April 14 | ||||
| April 15 | ||||
| April 17 | ||||
| Alaina Huffman | ||||
| April 21 | ||||
| Tony Romo | ||||
| April 23 | ||||
| April 24 | ||||
| Reagan Gomez-Preston | ||||
| April 25 | ||||
| April 26 | ||||
| Channing Tatum | ||||
| Darris Love | ||||
| April 29 | ||||
| April 30 | ||||
| May 2 | ||||
| May 3 | ||||
| May 17 | ||||
| May 19 | ||||
| May 23 | ||||
| May 27 | ||||
| May 30 | ||||
| Jenna Lee | ||||
| May 31 | ||||
| June 1 | ||||
| June 6 | ||||
| June 10 | ||||
| June 15 | ||||
| Cara Zavaleta | ||||
| June 18 | ||||
| Lindsay Shookus | ||||
| Kevin Bishop | ||||
| June 19 | ||||
| Teddy Dunn | ||||
| Neil Brown Jr. | ||||
| June 20 | ||||
| June 23 | ||||
| Heath Freeman | ||||
| Matias Varela | ||||
| Blair Herter | ||||
| June 24 | ||||
| June 25 | ||||
| June 26 | ||||
| June 27 | ||||
| July 1 | ||||
| Alex Blagg | ||||
| July 3 | ||||
| July 4 | ||||
| July 5 | ||||
| July 10 | ||||
| Jessica Simpson | ||||
| Jeremy Ray Valdez | ||||
| July 12 | ||||
| July 18 | ||||
| July 19 | ||||
| Josh Fadem | ||||
| Mark Webber | ||||
| July 20 | ||||
| July 21 | ||||
| July 27 | ||||
| Dolph Ziggler | ||||
| July 29 | ||||
| July 30 | ||||
| August 3 | ||||
| August 6 | ||||
| August 8 | ||||
| August 9 | ||||
| Stephen Schneider | ||||
| August 10 | ||||
| August 11 | ||||
| August 12 | ||||
| Dominique Swain | ||||
| August 13 | ||||
| August 18 | ||||
| August 19 | ||||
| Adam Campbell | ||||
| August 21 | ||||
| John Brotherton | ||||
| August 24 | ||||
| August 26 | ||||
| Jim Beanz | ||||
| August 28 | ||||
| September 8 | ||||
| September 6 | ||||
| Tehmina Sunny | ||||
| September 7 | ||||
| September 9 | ||||
| September 13 | ||||
| September 17 | ||||
| September 21 | ||||
| Aleksa Palladino | ||||
| Brianna Keilar | ||||
| September 23 | ||||
| September 25 | ||||
| T.I. | ||||
| September 28 | ||||
| September 29 | ||||
| Chrissy Metz | ||||
| Darragh Ennis | ||||
| Nick Viall | ||||
| September 30 | ||||
| October 1 | ||||
| October 4 | ||||
| October 6 | ||||
| Andrew Keoghan | ||||
| October 8 | ||||
| The Miz | ||||
| October 13 | ||||
| October 15 | ||||
| October 16 | ||||
| October 17 | ||||
| Nicholas Britell | ||||
| Justin Shenkarow | ||||
| October 18 | ||||
| Natasha Rothwell | ||||
| October 19 | ||||
| October 20 | ||||
| October 21 | ||||
| October 23 | ||||
| October 24 | ||||
| October 29 | ||||
| Ben Foster | ||||
| October 30 | ||||
| October 31 | ||||
| Eddie Kaye Thomas | ||||
| November 2 | ||||
| November 4 | ||||
| November 5 | ||||
| November 9 | ||||
| November 12 | ||||
| Gustaf Skarsgård | ||||
| Christopher Cantwell | ||||
| November 13 | ||||
| November 17 | ||||
| November 18 | ||||
| November 20 | ||||
| November 25 | ||||
| November 26 | ||||
| November 29 | ||||
| Janina Gavankar | ||||
| December 1 | ||||
| December 3 | ||||
| Jenna Dewan Tatum | ||||
| December 4 | ||||
| December 5 | ||||
| Jessica Paré | ||||
| December 8 | ||||
| December 9 | ||||
| December 10 | ||||
| Alberto Zeni | ||||
| December 18 | ||||
| December 19 | ||||
| Jake Gyllenhaal | ||||
| December 22 | ||||
| December 23 | ||||
| December 24 | ||||
| December 27 | ||||
| December 28 | ||||
| December 30 | ||||
| Jazmyn Simon |
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | class="unsortable" | Notability | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 29 | |||||||
| February 13 | |||||||
| February 27 | |||||||
| March 5 | |||||||
| April 29 | |||||||
| June 12 | |||||||
| June 23 | |||||||
| July 31 | |||||||
| August 14 | |||||||
| September 3 | |||||||
| September 12 | |||||||
| November 7 | |||||||
| December 8 |
References
References
- "NBC Names New Programming Chief", ''Atlanta Constitution'', January 16, 1980, p7-B
- "What's 'Incredible' is this: ABC copycats took so long", by Sherry Stern, ''Arizona Daily Star'' (Tucson), March 3, 1980, p6C
- "That's not incredible, that's stupid", ''The Home News'' (New Brunswick, NJ), March 10, 1980, p12
- "Series bites dust in three weeks", ''Akron (O.) Beacon Journal'', March 30, 1980, p27
- "CBS gaining ground on ABC in ratings", ''Austin (TX) American-Statesman'', March 30, 1980, p29
- "'Lou Grant', 'MASH', Emmy Nominees", August 8, 1980, pVI-16
- Gannon, Jack. 1981. ''Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America'', Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 384–387 ([http://saveourdeafschools.org/Deaf_Heritage_by_Jack_Gannon_pages_384-387.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-04-24 ))
- "Channel Rescan Needed January 8th for Antenna Users". [[WCGV-TV.
- (December 19, 1979). "TV's big switch". [[The Florida Times-Union]].
- (March 7, 1988). "Big TV swap moved up to Easter Day". The Florida Times-Union.
- "'Yuk-Yuk News' (on Ch.7, folks) no joke in Milton"], ''Boston Globe'', April 2, 1980, p1
- "Fired for April Fooling", AP report in ''Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent'', April 3, 1980, p1
- (December 23, 1979). "Shore Will Soon Have 2 Television Stations". [[The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland).
- (March 30, 1980). "WMDT-TV: New Salisbury Station Will Soon Be On The Air". [[The Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland).
- "Watson Gives Advice, Then Takes Penalty— He Is Assessed Two Strokes but Wins Anyway", ''Los Angeles Times'', April 21, 1980, III-1
- [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-29-tm-544-story.html "Bart Simpson's Real Father: Recalling the Fear and Absurdity of Childhood, Matt Groening Has Created a Cartoon Sitcom More Human Than Most Live-Action Shows", by Joe Morgenstern, ''Los Angeles Times'', April 30, 1980]
- "NBC won't televise Olympics", ''Tucson (AZ) Citizen'', May 6, 1980, p1
- (May 10, 1980). "Lawsuit Threatened Showing of 'Return of the King'". [[Los Angeles Times]].
- "Phil Donahue and 'that girl' tie the knot", ''Oregon Statesman'' (Salem OR), May 23, 1980, p88
- Paul D. Staudohar. (1989). "The Sports Industry and Collective Bargaining". ILR Press.
- Francis Rosa. (May 18, 1980). "Goring Finds His Paradise". Boston Globe.
- Jerry Kirshenbaum. (June 16, 1980). "Scorecard". Time Inc..
- (March 29, 1989). "Around the NHL". [[The Washington Post]].
- Rachel Shuster. (March 29, 1989). "'American Sportsman' makes strong comeback". Gannett Company.
- (May 5, 1980). "Still another news group". [[Broadcasting & Cable.
- (January 9, 1987). "INN to feature a new approach". [[Chicago Tribune]].
- {{Cite episode. The Price Is Right (American game show)]]. (June 20, 1980)
- "Vanna White on The Price Is Right (1980)".
- "The Price Is Right's 25th Anniversary Special (08/23/1996)".
- "Name the Play: TV Makes Arm-Chair Quarterbacks Into Coaches", ''Miami Herald'', July 11, 1980, pF-1
- "5,000 coaches— Armchair quarterbacks call 'em through computer in Columbus", by Sheldon Oeker, ''Akron (O.) Beacon Journal'', July 14, 1980, pA-1
- "Decision by FCC Could Increase Cable TV Shows", ''Los Angeles Times'', July 23, 1980, p1
- "Ex-TV Actor Saved By Bulletproof Vest", ''The New York Times'', September 20, 1980, p. 45
- (October 8, 1980). "Striking musicians picketed seven major studios again Wednesday as...".
- "CPD: September 21, 1980 Debate Transcript".
- (September 26, 1980). "Actors and Producers Reach Tentative Pact". The New York Times.
- Bodig, Chris. (July 27, 2018). "HALL OF FAMER BOB COSTAS' GREATEST GAME CALLS".
- "SEARCHABLE NETWORK TV BROADCASTS".
- (October 27, 1980). "Ch. 45 Changes Format". [[News & Record.
- (September 4, 1980). "Channel 45 To Seek More Viewers Under New Owners". [[News & Record.
- (November 15, 1980). "=S. C. broadcasters welcome new baby". [[Columbia Record.
- (September 20, 1979). "'I Do! I Do!' Act II comes full circle". [[The Sun News.
- (September 8, 1980). "FYI today". The Columbia Record.
- "ABC joins cable market with new art programs", by Kay Gardella, in ''Daily News'' (New York), December 3, 1980, p37
- "Cable Industry Plans Performing Arts Show", by Dan Lewis, ''Albuquerque (NM) Journal'', November 28, 1980, pH-22
- "'Scrooges' At Network Have Yet To Drop Axes On New Fall Shows", by Richard Zoglin, ''Atlanta Constitution'', December 11, 1980, p25-B
- (December 26, 1980). "City's First Network TV Station Starts Programs". [[The Valdosta Daily Times]].
- (July 2, 1979). "Valdosta's First TV Station Will Affiliate With ABC". The Valdosta Daily Times.
- (February 14, 1980). "KET's Channel 31 will go on air today". Messenger-Inquirer.
- [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/162455623/ "Passings"]. ''The Los Angeles Times''. June 30, 1980. p. 18.
- [https://www.newspapers.com/image/606299962/?clipping_id=162456223 "Obituaries: Babette Kiebert"]. ''Monrovia News-Post''. June 26, 1980. p. 22.
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