# 1963 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1963.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| May 15 | NBC carries the first transmission from "Faith 7", a U.S. manned space capsule. It was broadcast on tape delay due to poor picture quality. |
| September 2 | The CBS Evening News becomes the first half-hour weeknight news broadcast in American network television when the show was lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes. NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, follows suit one week later. |
| October 1 | ABC News begins to rely on its own camera crews, after depending on outside sources for news film. |
| November 22 | Regular programming of all three major U.S. networks start pre-emptions following the news of John F. Kennedy's assassination. The most notable preserved recording of the wall-to-wall news coverage of the assassination was that of CBS, when CBS News interrupts that day's episode of As the World Turns. Through the facilities of the Relay 1 satellite, the news bulletins about the assassination, as well as the funeral procession later that week, were the first television broadcasts across the Pacific Ocean. |
| December 7 | Instant replay, the brainchild of CBS Sports director Tony Verna makes its debut during CBS's live broadcast of the Army–Navy Game. Following a series of improvements, instant replay goes on to become a vital part of televised sports coverage around the world. It is often credited as a primary factor in the rise of televised American football. |

### Other television events in 1963

* The Federal Communications Commission approves authorization of television remote controls to be included with each manufactured television set.
* For the first time, most Americans say that they get more of their news from television than newspapers.

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January 1 | Fractured Flickers | Syndication |
| January 6 | Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom | NBC |
| January 7 | The Dakotas | ABC |
| April 1 | The Doctors | NBC |
| April 1 | General Hospital | ABC |
| April 1 | You Don't Say! | NBC |
| April | Hootenanny | ABC |
| July 22 | Vacation Playhouse | CBS |
| September 14 | The Lieutenant | NBC |
| September 15 | Arrest and Trial | ABC |
| September 15 | Grindl | NBC |
| September 16 | Breaking Point | ABC |
| September 16 | The Outer Limits | ABC |
| September 17 | The Fugitive | ABC |
| September 17 | The Greatest Show on Earth | ABC |
| September 18 | Channing | ABC |
| September 18 | The Patty Duke Show | ABC |
| September 19 | The Jimmy Dean Show | ABC |
| September 19 | Temple Houston | NBC |
| September 20 | Burke's Law | ABC |
| September 20 | The Farmer's Daughter | ABC |
| September 21 | The Funny Company | Syndication |
| September 21 | The Jerry Lewis Show | ABC |
| September 22 | The Bill Dana Show | NBC |
| September 23 | East Side West Side | CBS |
| September 24 | Mr. Novak | NBC |
| September 24 | Petticoat Junction | CBS |
| September 24 | The Richard Boone Show | NBC |
| September 25 | The Danny Kaye Show | CBS |
| September 25 | Glynis | CBS |
| September 27 | The Great Adventure | CBS |
| September 28 | The New Phil Silvers Show | CBS |
| September 28 | Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales | CBS |
| September 29 | The Judy Garland Show | CBS |
| September 29 | My Favorite Martian | CBS |
| September 29 | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | ABC |
| September 30 | Hollywood and the Stars | NBC |
| October 2 | Espionage | NBC |
| October 4 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | NBC |
| October 5 | The New Casper Cartoon Show | ABC |
| October 10 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | NBC |
| November 10 | That Was the Week That Was | NBC |
| December 30 | Let's Make a Deal | NBC |
| December 30 | Mack & Myer for Hire | Syndication |

### Ending this year

| Date | Show | Network | Debut | Notes |
| January 25 | Don't Call Me Charlie! | NBC | September 21, 1962 | |
| January 28 | It's a Man's World | NBC | September 17, 1962 | |
| February 4 | Saints and Sinners | NBC | September 17, 1962 | |
| March 18 | The New Loretta Young Show | CBS | September 24, 1962 | |
| March 23 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | ABC | September 29, 1962 | |
| March 25 | The Jetsons | ABC | September 23, 1962 | Returned in 1985. |
| March 30 | Sam Benedict | NBC | September 15, 1962 | |
| March 30 | The Gallant Men | ABC | October 5, 1962 | |
| April 2 | Hawaiian Eye | ABC | October 1959 | |
| April 8 | The Rifleman | ABC | September 30, 1958 | |
| April 14 | Car 54, Where Are You? | NBC | September 1961 | |
| April 20 | Have Gun – Will Travel | CBS | September 14, 1957 | |
| April 24 | Going My Way | ABC | October 3, 1962 | |
| April 25 | Alcoa Premiere | ABC | October 10, 1961 | |
| April 25 | Wide Country | NBC | September 20, 1962 | |
| April 30 | The Dick Powell Show | NBC | September 26, 1961 | |
| May 5 | Ensign O'Toole | CBS | September 23, 1962 | |
| May 11 | I'm Dickens, He's Fenster | ABC | September 28, 1962 | |
| May 12 | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | NBC | October 5, 1956 | |
| May 13 | The Dakotas | ABC | January 7, 1963 | |
| May 14 | Empire | NBC | September 25, 1962 | |
| May 17 | Our Man Higgins | ABC | October 3, 1962 | |
| May 20 | Stoney Burke | ABC | October 1, 1962 | |
| May 21 | Laramie | NBC | September 15, 1959 | |
| May 21 | The Untouchables | ABC | October 15, 1959 | |
| May 21 | The Voice of Firestone | NBC | September 1949 | |
| May 21 | The Lloyd Bridges Show | CBS | September 11, 1962 | |
| May 26 | GE True | CBS | September 30, 1962 | |
| May 29 | Naked City | ABC | September 30, 1958 | |
| June 5 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | NBC CBS | June 6, 1950 |
| June 5 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | CBS | September 29, 1959 |
| June 16 | McKeever and the Colonel | NBC | September 23, 1962 | |
| June 20 | Leave It to Beaver | ABC | October 4, 1957 | Returned in 1983. |
| June 23 | The Real McCoys | CBS | October 3, 1957 | |
| July 7 | Dennis the Menace | CBS | October 4, 1959 | |
| August 26 | Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har | Syndication | September 3, 1962 | |
| August 26 | Touché Turtle and Dum Dum | Syndication | September 3, 1962 | |
| August 30 | Wally Gator | Syndication | September 3, 1962 | |
| September 1 | Ripcord | Syndication | June 3, 1961 | |
| September 19 | Fair Exchange | CBS | September 21, 1962 | |
| September 28 | The Shari Lewis Show | NBC | October 1, 1960 | Returned in 1968. |
| December 18 | Glynis | CBS | September 25, 1963 | |
| December 27 | Who Do You Trust? | ABC | September 30, 1957 | |

## Television stations
### Sign-ons

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 1 | New Bedford, Massachusetts (Providence, Rhode Island) | WTEV | 6 | ABC | |
| January 29 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WMVS | 10 | NET | |
| January 31 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPCA-TV | 17 | Independent | Second incarnation |
| March 5 | Washington, D.C. | WOOK-TV | 14 | Independent | |
| March 18 | Columbus, Ohio | WGSF | 28 | NET | |
| July 15 | Jonesboro, Arkansas | KAIT | 8 | Independent | |
| September 7 | New Bern/Greenville/Washington, North Carolina | WNBE-TV | 12 | ABC | |
| September 15 | Durango, Colorado | KREZ-TV | 6 | CBS | Satellite of KGGM-TV (now KRQE) in Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| September 17 | Savannah, Georgia | WVAN-TV | 9 | NET | Part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting television network |
| September 23 | Orono/Bangor, Maine | WMEB-TV | 12 | NET | Part of Maine Public Broadcasting Network |
| September 29 | Greenville, South Carolina | WNTV | 29 | NET | Part of South Carolina ETV |
| October 14 | High Point, North Carolina (Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC) | WGHP | 8 | ABC | |
| November 2 | Yuma, Arizona | KBLU-TV | 13 | CBS | |
| November 4 | Durango, Colorado | KJFL-TV | 6 | Independent | |
| November 28 | Huntsville, Alabama | WHNT | 19 | CBS | |
| December 28 | Sterling, Colorado | KTVS | 3 | CBS | Satellite of KFBC (now KGWN-TV) of Cheyenne, Wyoming |
| Unknown date | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WUHY-TV | 35 | Educational independent | |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| August 1 | Davenport, Iowa (Moline-Rock Island, IL/Bettendorf, Iowa) | WOC-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) | |

### Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
| April 17 | Hot Springs, Arkansas | KFOY-TV | 9 | NBC | February 1, 1961 | |
| May 16 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WUTV | 36 | ABC (primary) NBC/CBS (secondary) | September 5, 1961 | |
| June | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPCA-TV | 17 | Independent | July 10, 1960 (first incarnation) January 31, 1963 (second incarnation) | Financial distress; returned in 1965 as WPHL-TV |
| June 10 | Ann Arbor, Michigan | WJMY | 20 | Independent | October 7, 1962 | |
| July 15 | Flagstaff, Arizona | KVLS | 13 | Independent | December 18, 1961 | |