# 1970 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1970.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| January 1 | WXTV becomes a full time Spanish-language station based in Paterson, New Jersey, which it remains into the 21st century. In this case, it becomes an affiliate of SIN, the network's first affiliate east of the Mississippi River. |
| January 19 | CBS launches Operation 100, a plan to beat NBC’s ratings in the last 100 days of the 1969-70 television season. This plan was accompanied with the slogan, “The man can’t bust our network.” |
| March 7 | The “eclipse of the century,” which occurred on the East Coast of the United States, is covered by the news departments of all three American networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). |
| March 16 | The FCC closes the “Miami channel 10” case as the station becomes WPLG. |
| July 31 | Chet Huntley anchors his final newscast with David Brinkley and retires, bringing down the curtain on a 14-year career at NBC News and, thus, as chief anchor of The Huntley-Brinkley Report. The next Monday, August 3, the program is renamed NBC Nightly News, its current title as of 2022. |
| August 2 | NBC expands full-service newscasts to seven nights a week with NBC Sunday News; it replaces The Frank McGee Report. |
| September 5 | The Banana Splits Adventure Hour airs on NBC for the last time, airing the same Christmas Special, which was previously shown on December 13, the previous year. Freeform aired it again on New Year's Eve in 2016. |
| October 5 | The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) goes on the air for the first time as the replacement for its predecessor National Educational Television (NET). Most NET member stations joined PBS upon the latter's sign-on. |

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January 5 | All My Children | ABC |
| January 30 | The Tim Conway Show | CBS |
| February 17 | McCloud | NBC |
| March 30 | A World Apart | ABC |
| March 30 | The Best of Everything | ABC |
| March 30 | Somerset | NBC |
| September 12 | Josie and the Pussycats | CBS |
| September 17 | The Flip Wilson Show | NBC |
| September 17 | Nancy | NBC |
| September 19 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | CBS |
| September 20 | The Tim Conway Comedy Hour | CBS |
| September 21 | NFL Monday Night Football | ABC |
| September 24 | Barefoot in the Park | ABC |
| September 24 | The Odd Couple | ABC |
| September 25 | The Partridge Family | ABC |

### Ending this year

| Date | Program | Network | First aired | Status | Notes/References |
| January 3 | Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines | CBS | 1969 | Ended |
| January 17 | The Perils of Penelope Pitstop | CBS | 1969 | Ended |
| January 23 | The Good Guys | CBS | 1968 | Ended |
| February 7 | The Hollywood Palace | ABC | 1964 | Ended |
| February 10 | CBS Playhouse | CBS | 1967 | Ended |
| March 13 | The Ghost & Mrs. Muir | ABC | 1968 (on NBC) | Ended |
| April 3 | The Flying Nun | ABC | 1967 | Ended |
| April 3 | Here Come the Brides | ABC | 1968 | Canceled |
| April 4 | Petticoat Junction | CBS | 1963 | Ended |
| April 16 | Dragnet | NBC | January 12, 1967 | Ended | |
| April 24 | Death Valley Days | Syndication | 1952 | Ended |
| May 7 | Daniel Boone | NBC | 1964 | Ended |
| May 15 | Get Smart | NBC | 1965 | Ended |
| May 26 | I Dream of Jeannie | NBC | 1965 | Ended |
| June 12 | The Tim Conway Show | CBS | 1970 | Ended |
| June 14 | Spider-Man | ABC | 1967 | Ended |
| June 19 | The Tim Conway Show | CBS | 1970 | Ended |
| July 31 | The Huntley–Brinkley Report | NBC | 1956 | Ended |
| September 5 | The Banana Splits | CBS | 1970 | Ended |
| September 5 | The New Adventures of Superman | CBS | 1966 | Ended |
| September 27 | The Original Amateur Hour | CBS | 1970 | Ended |
| October 31 | Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! | CBS | 1969 | Canceled | Returned in 1978 as The Scooby-Doo Show on ABC |
| December 13 | The Tim Conway Comedy Hour | CBS | 1970 | Ended |
| December 17 | Barefoot in the Park | ABC | 1970 | Ended |
| December 19 | H.R. Pufnstuf | NBC | 1969 | Canceled | The show remained on the NBC Saturday morning schedule in reruns until August 1972. |

## Networks and services
### Network launches

| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
| PBS | Over-the-air public television | October 5 | PBS was launched to replace the National Educational Television service. Most NET member stations signed up to become PBS member stations upon the network's launch. | |

### Network closures

| End date | Network | Type | First air date | Notes/references |
| October 5 | National Educational Television | Over-the-air public television | May 16, 1954 | |

## Television stations
### Sign-ons

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 1 | Hagerstown, Maryland | WHAG-TV | 25 | NBC | Now an independent station |
| January 1 | Marlborough, New Hampshire (Boston, Massachusetts) | WSMW-TV | 27 | Independent | |
| January 5 | Wichita, Kansas | KPTS | 8 | NET | Became a PBS member station on October 5. |
| February 1 | Jackson, Mississippi | WMAA-TV | 29 | NET | Flagship of Mississippi ETV; became a PBS member station on October 5. |
| February 8 | Iowa City/Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KIIN | 12 | NET | Part of Iowa Public Television; became a PBS member station on October 5. |
| February 15 | College Station/Bryan, Texas | KAMU | 12 | NET | Became a PBS member station on October 5. |
| February 24 | Bend, Oregon | KVDO-TV | 3 | Independent | |
| February 28 | Utica, New York | WUTR | 20 | ABC | |
| March 4 | Chattanooga, Tennessee | WTCI | 45 | NET | Became a PBS member on October 5. |
| March 5 | Evansville, Indiana | WNIN | 9 | NET | Became a PBS member on October 5. |
| March 7 | La Crosse, Wisconsin | WXOW | 19 | ABC | |
| April 5 | Chicago, Illinois | WSNS-TV | 44 | Independent | |
| May | Salina, Kansas | K06LZ | 6 | NBC | Originally a low-power translator of KSNW/Wichita |
| May 2 | Flagstaff, Arizona | KOAI-TV | 2 | NBC | |
| May 12 | Butte, Montana | KTVM | 6 | NBC | |
| June 1 | Dubuque, Iowa | KDUB-TV | 40 | ABC | |
| July 18 | Savannah, Georgia | WJCL-TV | 22 | ABC | |
| August 1 | Pierre, South Dakota | KTSD-TV | 10 | NET | Part of South Dakota Public Broadcasting; became a PBS member station on October 5. |
| August 7 | Dothan, Alabama | WDHN-TV | 18 | ABC | |
| August 10 | Kansas City, Missouri | KBMA-TV | 41 | Independent | now an NBC affiliate |
| August 31 | Louisville, Kentucky | WKMJ-TV | 68 | NET | Satellite of WKLE/Lexington, Kentucky as part of the Kentucky Educational Television network; became a PBS member on October 5. |
| September 13 | Demopolis, Alabama | WIIQ | 41 | NET | Part of the Alabama Public Television network; became a PBS member three weeks later. |
| September 21 | Yakima, Washington | KAPP | 35 | ABC | |
| October 3 | Jackson, Mississippi | WAPT | 16 | ABC | |
| October 4 | Indianapolis, Indiana | WFYI | 20 | NET | Became a PBS member station the day after its inaugural sign-on. |
| October 29 | Columbus, Georgia (Auburn, Alabama) | WYEA-TV | 38 | NBC | |
| October 29 | Kennewick, Washington | KVEW | 42 | ABC | Semi-satellite of KAPP/Yakima |
| October 30 | Hagåtña, Guam (Agana) | KGTF | 12 | PBS | |
| November 1 | Grandview/Bluefield/Beckley, West Virginia | WSWP | 9 | PBS | Part of the West Virginia Public Broadcasting television network |
| November 23 | Belton, Texas | KNCT | 46 | PBS | |
| December 21 | Buffalo, New York | WUTV | 29 | Independent | Now a Fox network affiliate. |
| Unknown date | Missoula, Montana | KPAX-TV | 8 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| Unknown date | New York City | W53AA | 53 | CBS | Low-powered translator of WCBS-TV; now Azteca America affiliate WKOB-LD on channel 42 |
| Unknown date | Port Jervis, New York | W64AA | 64 | Independent | Low-powered translator of WNEW; now Estrella TV affiliate WASA-LD on channel 24 |
| Unknown date | New York City | W73AP | 73 | Independent | Low-powered translator of WPIX; now First Nations Experience affiliate WNDT-CD on channel 14 |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 1 | Paterson, New Jersey (New York City, New York) | WXTV | 41 | Bilingual independent | Spanish International Network |
| February 1 | El Centro, California (Yuma, Arizona) | KECY-TV | 9 | ABC | CBS | Change occurred due to the shutdown of previous NBC affiliate KIVA. |
| February 1 | Yuma, Arizona | KBLU-TV | 13 | CBS | NBC | Change occurred due to the shutdown of previous NBC affiliate KIVA. |
| May 31 | Birmingham, Alabama | WAPI-TV | 13 | NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) | |
| May 31 | Anniston, Alabama | WHMA | 40 | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | CBS (exclusive) | |
| May 31 | Birmingham, Alabama | WBMG | 42 | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | CBS (exclusive) | |
| May 31 | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | WCFT-TV | 33 | Independent | CBS | |
| September 13 | Rapid City, South Dakota | KOTA-TV | 23 | CBS | ABC and NBC (joint primary) | |
| September 13 | Rapid City, South Dakota | KRSD-TV | 3 | NBC | CBS | |
| October 3 | Jackson, Mississippi | WLBT | 3 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Anchorage, Alaska | KHAR-TV | 13 | Independent | NBC | |
| Unknown date | Anchorage, Alaska | KTVA | 11 | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | CBS (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Kalispell, Montana | KCFW | 9 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| Unknown date | Missoula, Montana | KECI-TV | 13 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| Unknown date | Miles City-Billings, Montana | KYUS-TV | 3 | Independent | NBC | |
| Unknown date | Pasco, Washington | KEPR | 19 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | CBS (exclusive) | Semi-satellite of KIMA/Yakima |
| Unknown date | Richland, Washington | KNDU | 25 | ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) | Semi-satellite of KNDO/Yakima |
| Unknown date | Yakima, Washington | KIMA | 29 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | CBS (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Yakima, Washington | KNDO | 23 | ABC (primary) NBC (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Hazard, Kentucky | WKYH-TV | 57 | Independent | NBC | |

### Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
| January 31 | Yuma, Arizona | KIVA | 11 | NBC | October 8, 1953 | |
| February 6 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | WSMS-TV | 51 | Independent | December 6, 1968 | Returned to air February 14, 1972, as WKID |
| February 23 | St. Petersburg, Florida | WSUN-TV | 38 | Independent | May 5, 1953 | |
| March 18 | Nacogdoches, Texas | KAEC-TV | 19 | CBS | July 30, 1969 | |
| June | Manchester, New Hampshire | WXPO-TV | 50 | Independent | November 6, 1969 | |
| July 26 | Greensboro, North Carolina | WUBC | 48 | Independent | November 6, 1967 | |
| September 1 | Richardson, Texas | KRET-TV | 23 | Educational independent | February 29, 1960 | |