# 1955 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1955.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| March 5 | Elvis Presley makes his first television performance on Louisiana Hayride, a program shown locally on KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana. |
| March 15 | Andy Griffith stars in his television debut in the play No Time for Sergeants, broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company in The United States Steel Hour series. |
| April 1 | The DuMont Television Network drastically decreases its programming; just eight series to keep the network operating, in anticipation of its eventual shutdown sixteen months later. |
| May 9 | Harpo Marx makes a memorable appearance on I Love Lucy. |
| May 9 | Jim Henson's puppet show Sam and Friends first airs on NBC O&O station WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. |
| June 7 | The quiz show craze begins with the premiere of The 64,000 Dollar Question. The series spawns many imitations, including Twenty-One the next year. |
| September 28 | World Series baseball is broadcast in color for the first time in the U.S., with WITN-TV in Washington, North Carolina signing on the air with the first game of the 1955 World Series as their first telecast. |

## Networks and services
### Launches

| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
| CatholicTV | Cable television | January 1 | | |

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January 2 | The Bob Cummings Show (also known as Love That Bob) | NBC |
| January 3 | Hollywood Today | NBC |
| January 5 | Norby | NBC |
| January 17 | TV Reader's Digest | ABC |
| January 19 | The Millionaire | CBS |
| January 22 | Ozark Jubilee | ABC |
| February 3 | Star Tonight | ABC |
| February 27 | Key to the Ages | DuMont |
| April | Paul Dixon Show | WLWT |
| April 9 | Science Fiction Theater | Syndication |
| May 3 | Have a Heart | Dumont |
| May 9 | Sam and Friends | WRC-TV |
| June 3 | It's Alec Templeton Time | Dumont |
| June 25 | The Soldiers | NBC |
| June 28 | Talent Varieties | ABC |
| July 2 | The Lawrence Welk Show | ABC |
| July 20 | Frankie Laine Time | CBS |
| September 6 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | ABC |
| September 10 | Gunsmoke | CBS |
| September 10 | It's Always Jan | CBS |
| September 12 | Medical Horizons | ABC |
| September 13 | Kings Row | ABC |
| September 14 | Hollywood Preview | DuMont |
| September 14 | MGM Parade | ABC |
| September 20 | Cheyenne | ABC |
| September 20 | Joe and Mabel | CBS |
| September 26 | Jungle Jim | Syndication |
| September 27 | Casablanca | ABC |
| September 28 | Brave Eagle | CBS |
| September 29 | Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | CBS |
| October 1 | The Honeymooners | CBS |
| October 2 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | CBS |
| October 3 | Captain Kangaroo | CBS |
| October 3 | Mickey Mouse Club | ABC |
| October 7 | Crossroads | ABC |
| October 20 | Wanted | CBS |
| October 31 | Matinee Theatre | NBC |

### Changing network affiliation

| Program | Moving from | Moving to |
| Life Is Worth Living | DuMont | ABC |

### Ending this year

| Date | Program | Network | First aired | Status | Notes/References |
| January 1 | China Smith | First-run Syndication | June 1, 1952 | Ended | |
| January 3 | The Ilona Massey Show | DuMont | November 1, 1954 | Ended | |
| January 9 | Opera Cameos | DuMont | November 8, 1953 | Ended | |
| January 27 | So You Want to Lead a Band | ABC | August 5, 1954 | Ended | |
| February 11 | The Stranger | DuMont | June 25, 1954 | Ended | |
| February 17 | One Minute Please | DuMont | July 6, 1954 | Ended | |
| February 26 | Space Patrol | ABC | March 9, 1950 | Ended | |
| March | Wrestling from Marigold | DuMont | September 17, 1949 | Ended | |
| March 6 | The Johns Hopkins Science Review | DuMont | March 9, 1948 (on CBS) | Ended | |
| March 11 | The Jack Carson Show | NBC | October 22, 1954 | Ended | |
| March 11 | Stories of the Century | Syndication | 1954 | Canceled | |
| March 23 | I Married Joan | NBC | October 15, 1952 | Canceled | |
| April 1 | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | DuMont | June 27, 1949 | Ended | |
| April 1 | DuMont Evening News | DuMont | September 1954 | Ended | |
| April 2 | The Vampira Show | ABC | April 30, 1954 | Ended | |
| April 6 | Concert Tonight | DuMont | December 30, 1953 | Ended | |
| April 6 | Norby | NBC | January 5, 1955 | Canceled | |
| April 7 | The Ernie Kovacs Show | DuMont | December 30, 1952 (on NBC) | |
| April 8 | Dear Phoebe | NBC | September 1954 | Canceled | |
| April 13 | The Stu Erwin Show | ABC | October 21, 1950 | |
| April 22 | Where's Raymond? | ABC | October 1953 | Canceled | |
| May 3 | Twenty Questions | DuMont | November 2, 1949 | |
| May 4 | The Best of Broadway | CBS | September 15, 1954 | |
| May 22 | Key to the Ages | DuMont | February 27, 1955 | |
| May 31 | Danger | CBS | September 26, 1950 | Ended | |
| June 12 | Mister Peepers | NBC | July 3, 1952 | Ended | |
| June 14 | The Elgin Hour | ABC | June 14, 1955 | |
| June 14 | Have a Heart | DuMont | May 3, 1955 | | |
| June 16 | Willy | CBS | September 1954 | Canceled | |
| June 18 | Foreign Intrigue | Syndication | October 18, 1951 | Ended | |
| June 23 | The Public Defender | First-run syndication | 1954 | Ended |
| June 25 | The Imogene Coca Show | | 1954 | Canceled | |
| June 25 | Tom Corbett, Space Cadet | DuMont | October 2, 1950 (on CBS) | Ended | |
| June 26 | The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | ABC | 1953 | Canceled | |
| June 30 | The Jane Froman Show | CBS | October 18, 1952 | Ended |
| July | All About Baby | DuMont | 1953 | Ended | |
| July 1 | Concerning Miss Marlowe | NBC | July 5, 1954 | Ended | |
| July 1 | Hawkins Falls | NBC | June 17, 1950 | Ended | |
| July 1 | Treasury Men in Action | NBC | September 11, 1950 (on ABC) | Ended | |
| July 15 | Flash Gordon | DuMont/Syndication | October 15, 1954 | Canceled | |
| July 26 | Who Said That? | NBC | December 9, 1948 | Ended | |
| August 24 | My Little Margie | NBC | June 16, 1952 (on CBS) | Canceled | |
| August 26 | It's Alec Templeton Time | DuMont | June 3, 1955 | Ended | |
| September 1 | Life with Elizabeth | Syndication | October 7, 1953 | Canceled | |
| September 3 | The Soldiers | NBC | June 25, 1955 | Ended | |
| September 10 | The Donald O'Connor Show | NBC | October 9, 1954 | Ended |
| September 17 | Musical Chairs | NBC | July 9, 1955 | Canceled | |
| September 24 | The Man Behind the Badge | CBS | October 11, 1953 | Ended | |
| September 29 | The Halls of Ivy | CBS | October 19, 1954 | Ended | |
| September | Frankie Laine Time | CBS | July 20, 1955 | Canceled | Returned for a short run in Summer 1956 |
| October 2 | The Philco Television Playhouse | NBC | October 3, 1948 | Ended | |
| October 7 | The Name's the Same | ABC | December 5, 1951 | Ended |
| October 17 | Sherlock Holmes | ABC | October 18, 1954 | Ended |
| November 1 | Talent Varieties | ABC | June 28, 1955 | Ended | |
| November 22 | The Adventures of Kit Carson | Syndication | August 11, 1951 | Ended | |
| December 25 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | NBC | September 10, 1950 | Ended |
| Unknown | The Jo Stafford Show | CBS | 1954 | Canceled | |
| Unknown | That's My Boy | CBS | 1954 | Canceled |
| Unknown | Time for Beany | Paramount Television Network | February 28, 1949 | Ended | |
| Unknown | The Red Buttons Show | CBS | October 14, 1952 | Ended | |
| Unknown | NFL on DuMont | DuMont | 1951 | Ended | |
| Unknown | Waterfront | Syndication | August 21, 1954 | Ended | |

## Television stations
### Station launches

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 1 | West Palm Beach, Florida | WEAT-TV | 12 | ABC | |
| January 5 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | KEYD-TV | 9 | DuMont | |
| January 7 | Mt. Cheaha/Birmingham, Alabama | WCIQ | 7 | NET Alabama Educational Television | |
| January 8 | Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham) | WUNC-TV | 4 | NET/UNC-TV | |
| January 23 | Las Vegas, Nevada | KLRJ-TV | 2 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| February 3 | Fairbanks, Alaska | KTVF | 11 | CBS | |
| February 12 | Dothan, Alabama | WTVY | 4 | CBS | |
| February 13 | Jefferson City/Columbia, Missouri | KRCG | 13 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| February 14 | St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida | WXFL | 8 | NBC | |
| February 28 | Phoenix, Arizona | KTVK | 3 | ABC | |
| March 1 | Fairbanks, Alaska | KFAR-TV | 2 | NBC | |
| March 6 | Jackson, Tennessee | WBBJ-TV | 7 | CBS | |
| March 8 | Portland, Oregon | KLOR | 12 | ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary) | |
| March 14 | Duluth, Minnesota | KDAL-TV | 3 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| March 15 | Lexington, Kentucky | WLEX-TV | 18 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont/CBS (secondary) | |
| March 20 | Sacramento, California | KBET-TV | 10 | CBS | |
| March 25 | Lewiston, Maine | WLAM-TV | 17 | DuMont | |
| March 27 | Providence, Rhode Island | WPRO-TV | 12 | CBS | |
| April 1 | Tampa, Florida | WTVT | 13 | CBS | |
| April 3 | Waco, Texas | KWTV-TV | 10 | Independent | |
| April 14 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | WBRZ-TV | 2 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| April 24 | Beaumont, Texas | KFDM-TV | 6 | CBS | |
| April 24 | Wailuku, Hawaii | KMAU-TV | 9 | | |
| April 28 | Birmingham, Alabama (Tuscaloosa) | WBIQ | 10 | NET/Alabama Educational Television | |
| April 31 | Lufkin, Texas | KTRE | 9 | NBC (as a satellite of KPRC-TV/Houston, Texas) | |
| May 2 | Boston, Massachusetts | WGBH-TV | 2 | NET | |
| May 15 | Hilo, Hawaii | KPUA-TV | 9 | | |
| May 30 | Twin Falls, Idaho | KLIX-TV | 11 | CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary) | |
| June 1 | Rapid City, South Dakota | KOTA-TV | 23 | CBS (primary) NBC/ABC (secondary) | |
| June 3 | Lafayette, Louisiana | KLFY | 10 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| June 8 | Hattiesburg, Mississippi | WDAM-TV | 7 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| June 10 | San Antonio, Texas | KCOR-TV | 41 | Spanish independent | |
| July 15 | South Bend, Indiana | WNDU | 16 | NBC | |
| July 31 | Beckley/Bluefield, West Virginia | WHIS-TV | 6 | NBC | |
| July 31 | Des Moines, Iowa | KRNT-TV | 8 | CBS | |
| August 7 | Scottsbluff, Nebraska | KSTF | 10 | ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) | |
| August 12 | Miami, Florida | WTHS-TV | 2 | NET | |
| August 29 | Fayetteville/Raleigh, North Carolina | WFLB-TV | 18 | ABC (primary) NBC/CBS (secondary) | |
| September 1 | Wichita, Kansas | KARD-TV | 3 | Independent | |
| September 3 | Sacramento, California | KCRA | 3 | NBC | |
| September 3 | Shreveport, Louisiana (Texarkana, TX-AR) | KTBS-TV | 3 | NBC | |
| September 5 | Mobile, Alabama | WKRG-TV | 5 | CBS | |
| September 6 | Chicago, Illinois | WTTW | 11 | NET | |
| September 11 | Dallas, Texas | KFJZ-TV | 11 | Independent | |
| September 12 | San Jose/San Francisco, California | KNTV | 11 | Independent | |
| September 15 | Thomasville, Georgia/Tallahassee, Florida | WCTV | 6 | NBC | |
| September 24 | Florence/Aberdeen, South Dakota | KDLO-TV | 3 | NBC | Satellite of KELO-TV of Sioux Falls |
| September 28 | Washington/Greenville, North Carolina | WITN-TV | 7 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| October 2 | Huntington, West Virginia | WOWK-TV | 13 | ABC | |
| October 3 | Detroit, Michigan | WTVS | 56 | NET | |
| October 3 | Roanoke, Virginia | WDBJ-TV | 7 | CBS | |
| October 8 | Yuma, Arizona | KIVA | 11 | |
| October 12 | Mayaguez/Aguadilla, Puerto Rico | WORA-TV | 5 | Independent | |
| November 19 | Bismarck, North Dakota | KBMB-TV | 12 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| November 21 | Kirksville, Missouri/Ottumwa, Iowa | KTVO | 3 | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | |
| November 27 | Little Rock, Arkansas | KTHV | 11 | CBS | |
| December 3 | El Dorado, Arkansas (Monroe, Louisiana) | KRBB-TV | 10 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| December 4 | Wailuku, Hawaii | KMVI-TV | 4 | ABC | Satellite of KULA-TV (now KITV) in Honolulu |
| December 7 | Lewiston, Idaho | KLEW-TV | 3 | CBS (primary) ABC/NBC (secondary) | |
| December 11 | Fargo, North Dakota | KNOX-TV | 10 | ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) | |
| Unknown date | San Jose/San Francisco, California | KNTV | 11 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Sterling, Colorado | KDZA-TV | 3 | DuMont | |
| Unknown date | Urbana, Illinois | WILL-TV | 12 | NET | |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation |
| February 27 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WXIX-TV | 19 | ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary) | CBS |
| March | Wilmington, Delaware | WVUE | 12 | NBC | Independent |
| September | Waco, Texas | KWTX-TV | 10 | Independent | ABC |
| Unknown date | Little Rock, Arkansas | KATV | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | ABC (exclusive) |
| Unknown date | Minneapolis, Minnesota | KEYD-TV | 5 | DuMont | Independent |
| Unknown date | Mobile, Alabama | WEAR-TV | 3 | CBS | ABC |
| Unknown date | Shreveport, Louisiana | KSLA | 12 | CBS (primary) ABC and DuMont (secondary) | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) |

## Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | First air date | Notes/Ref. |
| February 2 | Monterey, California | KMBY-TV | 8 | ABC/CBS/NBC/DuMont | August 17, 1953 | Shared time with KSBW-TV |
| February 4 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KMPT | 19 | Independent | November 22, 1953 | |
| February 12 | Charleston, West Virginia | WKNA-TV | 49 | ABC (primary) DuMont (secondary) | September 17, 1953 | |
| February 26 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WCAN-TV | 25 | CBS | September 6, 1953 | |
| February 28 | Fairmont, West Virginia | WJPB-TV | 35 | ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) | March 17, 1954 | |
| March 15 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WAYS-TV | 36 | ABC (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) | |
| April 1 | Asbury Park, New Jersey | WRTV | 58 | Independent | December 14, 1953 | Not to be confused with today's WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana |
| April 3 | St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota | WMIN-TV | 11 | ABC/DuMont | September 1, 1953 | Shared time with KARE (now WTCN-TV) |
| April 15 | Des Moines, Iowa | KGTV | 17 | Independent | November 14, 1953 | |
| April 30 | Stockton, California | KTVU | 36 | NBC | December 15, 1953 | Not to be confused with the present-day KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area. |
| May 31 | Atlanta, Georgia | WQXI-TV | 36 | Independent | October 13, 1954 | |
| June 30 | Reading, Pennsylvania | WEEU-TV | 33 | NBC | April 9, 1953 | |
| July 1 | Newport News/Norfolk, Virginia | WACH-TV | 33 | Independent | October 8, 1953 | |
| July 15 | Providence, Rhode Island | WNET | 16 | ABC (primary) DuMont (Secondary) | March 23, 1954 | |
| August 1 | Jackson, Mississippi | WSLI | 12 | ABC | March 27, 1954 | This station's operations merged with those of CBS affiliate WJTV to allow that station to move from UHF channel 25 to VHF channel 12. |
| December 15 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KTVQ | 25 | ABC | November 1, 1953 | |
| December 18 | Pensacola, Florida | WPFA-TV | 15 | DuMont | October 16, 1953 | |