# 1948 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1948.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| March 4 | The C. E. Hooper Company releases the first-ever American television ratings. |
| April 3 | The NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Shaw, is first telecast. In this broadcast, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played in its entirety for the first time on television, and in concert. |
| April 18 | The American Broadcasting Company begins operations as a television network, with its New York City-based station WJZ-TV serving as network flagship. |
| May 3 | CBS Television News premieres as the first network nightly newscast, hosted by journalist Douglas Edwards. |
| June 21 | The 1948 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania becomes the first political convention to be telecast by the networks. |
| July 30 | The DuMont Television Network becomes the first network to televise professional wrestling in prime time. |
| November | Screen Gems was founded as the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Corporation. |
| November 25 | CBS broadcasts its earliest known national telecast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. |
| November 29 | CBS telecasts the first broadcast of a roller derby match. |
| Unknown date | Ziv Television Programs was created by Frederick Ziv as a subsidiary of the Ziv Company, in order to specialize in the production of original television programs for syndication |

### Other television events in 1948

* CBS begins television network programming.
* The number of homes in the United States with a television set reaches one million.

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January | Camera Headlines | DuMont |
| January | I.N.S. Telenews | DuMont |
| January 9 | Playroom | DuMont |
| January 18 | The Original Amateur Hour | DuMont |
| February 9 | Court of Current Issues | DuMont |
| March 4 | Stop Me If You've Heard This One | NBC |
| March 9 | The Johns Hopkins Science Review | CBS |
| April 4 | Author Meets the Critics | NBC |
| April 14 | Scoreboard | DuMont |
| April 15 | For Your Pleasure | NBC |
| April 15 | Hollywood Screen Test | ABC |
| May 21 | What's It Worth | CBS |
| June 1 | We the People | CBS |
| June 8 | Texaco Star Theater | NBC |
| June 20 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS |
| July 4 | Key to the Missing | DuMont |
| August 10 | Candid Camera | ABC |
| August 11 | Quizzing the News | ABC |
| August 11 | The Laytons | DuMont |
| August 12 | Club Seven | ABC |
| August 15 | CBS Television News | CBS |
| August 16 | Places Please | CBS |
| August 23 | Foodini the Great | CBS |
| August 27 | Teenage Book Club | ABC |
| September 6 | Champagne and Orchids | DuMont |
| September 21 | Operation Success | DuMont |
| September 26 | Actors Studio | ABC |
| September 26 | Stained Glass Windows | unknown |
| September 27 | The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre | NBC |
| October 3 | The Philco Television Playhouse | NBC |
| October 17 | The Ford Television Theatre | CBS |
| October 19 | Off the Record | DuMont |
| October 20 | The Growing Paynes | DuMont |
| October 22 | Break the Bank | ABC |
| October 29 | Tales of the Red Caboose | DuMont |
| November 1 | Okay, Mother | WABD |
| November 1 | Your Television Babysitter | Dumont |
| November 1 | TV Shopper | Dumont |
| November 1 | Amanda | Dumont |
| November 4 | The Adventures of Oky Doky | Dumont |
| November 4 | Fashions on Parade |
| November 7 | Newsweek Views the News | DuMont |
| November 7 | Studio One | CBS |
| November 20 | Celebrity Time | CBS |
| November 21 | Lamp Unto My Feet | CBS |
| December 6 | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts | CBS |
| December 17 | The Morey Amsterdam Show | CBS |
| Unknown date | The Alan Dale Show | Dumont |
| Unknown date | The Philco Television Playhouse | NBC |
| Unknown date | The Stan Shaw Show | Dumont |
| Unknown date | Your School Reporter | Dumont |
| Unknown date | Wrestling From Columbia Park Arena | Dumont |
| Unknown date | Wrestling From Jamaica Arena | Dumont |
| Unknown date | The Needle Shop | Dumont |

### Changes of network affiliation

| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
| Author Meets the Critics | NBC | ABC |
| Mary Kay and Johnny | DuMont | NBC |

### Ending this year

| Date | Show | Network | Debut |
| January | The Walter Compton News | DuMont | June 16, 1947 |
| May 9 | Playroom | DuMont | January 9, 1948 |
| June 30 | In the Kelvinator Kitchen | NBC | May 21, 1947 |
| October 29 | Teenage Book Club | ABC | August 27, 1948 |
| Unknown date | The World in Your Home | NBC | December 22, 1944 |

## Networks and services
### Network launches

| Network | Type | Launch date | Source |
| American Broadcasting Company | Over-the-air broadcast | April 18 | |
| CBS | Over-the-air broadcast | May | |

## Television stations
### Station launches

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| February 9 | Cincinnati, Ohio | WLWT | 5 | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary) | Successor to experimental station W8XCT. |
| March 11 | Baltimore, Maryland | WBAL-TV | 11 | NBC | |
| April 5 | Chicago, Illinois | WGN-TV | 9 | Independent (primary) CBS/DuMont (secondary) | |
| April 19 | Salt Lake City, Utah | KDYL-TV | 4 | NBC | |
| April 22 | Richmond, Virginia | WTVR-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) | |
| April 27 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | KSTP-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) DuMont (secondary) | |
| May 6 | Los Angeles, California | KTSL | 2 | DuMont | Now KCBS-TV, a CBS O&O station |
| May 14 | Buffalo, New York | WBEN-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) | Now a CBS affiliate since 1949 |
| May 15 | Newark, New Jersey (New York City, New York) | WATV | 13 | Independent | |
| May 23 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WCAU | 10 | CBS | |
| June 9 | Boston, Massachusetts | WBZ-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) | |
| June 15 | New Haven/Hartford, Connecticut | WTNH | 6 (now 8) | DuMont (primary) ABC (secondary) |
| June 15 | New York City | WPIX | 11 | Independent | |
| June 21 | Boston, Massachusetts | WNAC-TV | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC/DuMont (secondary) | Defunct May 22, 1982 |
| July 21 | Toledo, Ohio | WSPD-TV | 13 | NBC | |
| August 10 | New York City | WJZ-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| August 25 | Los Angeles, California | KFI-TV | 9 | Independent | |
| September 16 | Los Angeles, California | KECA-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| September 17 | Chicago, Illinois | WENR-TV | 7 | ABC ((O&O) | |
| September 17 | Los Angeles, California | KMTR-TV | 13 | Independent | |
| September 29 | Atlanta, Georgia | WSB-TV | 8 (now on 2) | NBC | |
| September 29 | Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas | WBAP-TV | 5 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| October 8 | Chicago, Illinois | WNBQ | 5 | NBC | |
| October 9 | Detroit, Michigan | WXYZ-TV | 7 | ABC (O&O) | |
| October 24 | Detroit, Michigan | WJBK | 2 | CBS (primary) DuMont (Secondary) | |
| October 31 | Cleveland, Ohio | WNBK | 3 | NBC | |
| November 1 | Baltimore, Maryland | WAAM | 13 | ABC | |
| November 24 | Louisville, Kentucky | WAVE-TV | 5 (now 3) | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/DuMont (secondary) | |
| November 25 | Seattle, Washington | KRSC-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) DuMont (secondary) | |
| November 29 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KOB-TV | 4 | NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary) | |
| December 1 | Syracuse, New York | WHEN-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont (secondary) | |
| December 11 | Memphis, Tennessee | WMCT | 4 (now 5) | NBC (primary) ABC/CBS/DuMont (secondary) | |
| December 18 | New Orleans, Louisiana | WDSU-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) DuMont/CBS/ABC (secondary) | |
| December 22 | San Francisco, California | KPIX-TV | 5 | CBS (primary) NBC/DuMont/Paramount (secondary) | |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| October | New Haven/Hartford, Connecticut | WNHC-TV | 6 (now 8) | DuMont | CBS | Retains DuMont affiliation on secondary basis until 1956 |