# 1965 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1965.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| January 1 | Comedian Soupy Sales, who hosted the "Lunch With Soupy Sales" children's program on New York City's WNEW-TV, encourages his young viewers to send him money ("those funny little green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. presidents") from their parents' pants and pocketbooks and send them to him, and in return he would "send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" Days later, when he actually got response, he declared that he was joking and that cash contributions would be donated to charity. WNEW suspended Sales for two weeks over the incident. |
| January 2 | The TVS Television Network begins broadcasting weekly coverage of men's basketball games of the NCAA's Southeastern Conference as part of a live regional syndication package for the first time throughout much of the Southeastern United States, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The TVS broadcasts of SEC Basketball would last until after the 1983 SEC Tournament, when Sports Productions, Incorporated took over the broadcasts in January 1984. The SEC basketball package would continue to be broadcast through Lorimar Television, Jefferson Pilot Sports, Lincoln Financial Media, and Raycom Sports until after the 2009 SEC Tournament semifinals. |
| February 22 | A new, videotaped production of the 1957 special, Cinderella, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, airs on CBS with young Lesley Ann Warren (in the title role) starring alongside Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and Celeste Holm. |
| June 4 | The launch of the Gemini 4 space mission is broadcast in color by NBC. All three networks would carry the launch of Gemini 5 in color that August, followed by all subsequent manned space launches. |
| September 10 | CBS airs the first-ever National Geographic television special. The special focused on a 1963 U.S. expedition to Mount Everest. |
| September 12 | NBC becomes the main broadcast partner for the American Football League, with most games being broadcast in color. AFL games were previously broadcast on ABC for the league's first five seasons. |
| September 13 | Today on NBC becomes the first morning news program to telecast in color. |
| October 4 | Pope Paul VI's visit to New York receives saturation television coverage on all three American networks. The Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium is broadcast in color. |
| November 15 | The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC becomes the first network evening newscast to be broadcast in color on a nightly basis. |
| November 25 | The CBS Thanksgiving Day telecast of an NFL game between the Baltimore Colts and the Detroit Lions is the first color telecast of a regular season game. |
| December 9 | The Peanuts special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is broadcast for the first time ever on CBS. The network would air the special on an annual basis until ABC picked up the rights in 2002. |
| December 21 | CBS airs the New York City Ballet's televised production of The Nutcracker. |

### Other notable events in 1965

* The New York City market's WOR-TV launches a cable television feed of the station's programming to be distributed nationwide, known as the WOR-TV EMI Service.

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January 12 | Hullabaloo | NBC |
| January 24 | Branded | NBC |
| March 29 | I'll Bet | NBC |
| June 28 | Where the Action Is | ABC |
| September 9 | The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show | NBC |
| September 11 | Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt | Broadcast syndication |
| September 12 | Secret Squirrel | NBC |
| September 13 | The Legend of Jesse James | ABC |
| September 13 | A Man Called Shenandoah | ABC |
| September 13 | Run for Your Life | NBC |
| September 14 | F Troop | ABC |
| September 14 | My Mother the Car | NBC |
| September 14 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | NBC |
| September 15 | The Big Valley | ABC |
| September 15 | Gidget | ABC |
| September 15 | Green Acres | CBS |
| September 15 | I Spy | NBC |
| September 16 | Laredo | NBC |
| September 16 | The Long, Hot Summer | ABC |
| September 16 | Mona McCluskey | NBC |
| September 17 | Camp Runamuck | NBC |
| September 17 | Hank | NBC |
| September 17 | Hogan's Heroes | CBS |
| September 17 | Honey West | ABC |
| September 17 | Mister Roberts | NBC |
| September 17 | The Smothers Brothers Show | CBS |
| September 17 | Tammy | ABC |
| September 18 | Get Smart | NBC |
| September 18 | I Dream of Jeannie | NBC |
| September 18 | The Loner | CBS |
| September 18 | The Trials of O'Brien | CBS |
| September 19 | The F.B.I. | ABC |
| September 19 | The Wackiest Ship in the Army | NBC |
| September 25 | The Beatles | ABC |
| October | The New 3 Stooges | Broadcast syndication |
| October 2 | Atom Ant | NBC |
| October 2 | The Hillbilly Bears | NBC |
| October 2 | Precious Pupp | NBC |
| October 2 | Squiddly Diddly | NBC |
| October 2 | Winsome Witch | NBC |
| October 9 | Milton the Monster | ABC |
| November 8 | Days of Our Lives | NBC |
| December 20 | Commander Tom Show | WKBW-TV |
| December 20 | The Dating Game | ABC |

### Changes of network affiliation

| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
| My Three Sons | ABC | CBS |
| Hazel | NBC | CBS |

### Ending this year

| Date | Show | Network | Debut | Notes |
| January 4 | 90 Bristol Court | NBC | October 5, 1964 | |
| January 4 | Harris Against the World | NBC | October 5, 1964 | |
| January 4 | Tom, Dick and Mary | NBC | October 5, 1964 | |
| January 16 | The Outer Limits | ABC | September 16, 1963 | |
| January 17 | The Bill Dana Show | NBC | September 22, 1963 | |
| March 11 | Jonny Quest | ABC | September 18, 1964 | |
| March 14 | The Porky Pig Show | ABC | September 20, 1964 | Repeats continued on ABC through 1967 |
| March 30 | The Joey Bishop Show | CBS | September 20, 1961 (on NBC) | |
| April 10 | Kentucky Jones | NBC | September 19, 1964 | |
| April 19 | Karen | NBC | October 5, 1964 | |
| April 21 | The Cara Williams Show | CBS | September 23, 1964 | |
| April 27 | Mr. Novak | NBC | September 24, 1963 | |
| May 2 | Wagon Train | ABC | September 18, 1957 (on NBC) | |
| May 11 | The Nurses | CBS | September 27, 1962 | |
| May 22 | The Jack Benny Program | CBS | October 28, 1950 | |
| July 1 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | NBC | October 10, 1963 | |
| September 3 | The Price Is Right | ABC | November 26, 1956 | Returned in 1972 on CBS as The New Price Is Right |
| September 6 | Summer Playhouse | CBS | July 4, 1964 | |
| September 24 | I'll Bet | NBC | March 29, 1965 | |
| November 9 | ABC's Nightlife | ABC | November 9, 1964 | |
| December 25 | The Magilla Gorilla Show | ABC | 1964 | Network and syndicated reruns continued through 1967 |

### Television films, specials and miniseries

| Title | Network | Date(s) of airing | Notes/Ref. |
| A Charlie Brown Christmas | CBS | December 9 | Reruns of this special became a holiday tradition in subsequent years until 2021. |

## Networks and services
### Network launches

| Network | Type | Launch date | Source/Notes |
| Idaho Public Television | Regional educational television network | September 6 | |
| TVS Television Network | Ad-hoc syndicated television network | Unknown date | Syndicator of college basketball broadcasts from several conferences, including the SEC. Pacific 8, Big 8, and a few others. |
| WOR-TV EMI Service | Regional superstation feed of WOR-TV/Secaucus, New Jersey | Unknown date | Microwave relay of the WOR-TV signal from the studio to cable providers located in markets immediately surrounding the New York City metropolitan area, reaching as far west as Buffalo, New York, and as far south as Delaware, as well as throughout New England. |

## Television stations
### Sign-ons

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| February 7 | Cleveland, Ohio | WVIZ | 25 | NET | |
| February 12 | Austin, Texas | KHFI-TV | 42 | Independent | Now on channel 36 |
| March 1 | State College, Pennsylvania | WPSX-TV | 3 | NET | |
| March 15 | Orlando, Florida | WMFE-TV | 24 | NET | |
| March 21 | Los Angeles, California | KPOL-TV | 22 | Independent (English language) | |
| May 4 | Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota | KTCI | 17 | NET | |
| May 6 | Linden, New Jersey/New York City, New York | WNJU-TV | 47 | Independent | |
| May 16 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WIBF-TV | 29 | Independent | |
| June 12 | Wausau, Wisconsin | WAOW | 9 | ABC | |
| July 18 | St. Petersburg-Tampa, Florida | WLCY-TV | 10 | Independent | |
| August 27 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WTVI | 42 | NET | |
| September | Chicago, Illinois | WXXW | 20 | Instructional independent | |
| September 1 | Burlington, New Jersey (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | WKBS-TV | 48 | Independent | |
| September 1 | Terre Haute, Indiana | WTWO | 2 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| September 6 | Lexington, Nebraska | KLNE-TV | 3 | NET | Part of Nebraska ETV |
| September 7 | Allentown, Pennsylvania | WLVT | 39 | NET | |
| September 12 | Rockford, Illinois | WCEE-TV | 23 | CBS | |
| September 15 | Calais, Maine | WMED-TV | 13 | NET | Part of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network |
| September 17 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPHL-TV | 17 | Independent | |
| September 20 | Chicago, Illinois | WXXW | 20 | NET | |
| October 1 | Superior, Nebraska | KSNB-TV | 4 | ABC | |
| October 15 | Bangor, Maine | WVII-TV | 7 | ABC | |
| October 17 | Birmingham, Alabama | WBMG | 42 | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | |
| October 19 | Omaha, Nebraska | KYNE-TV | 17 | NET | Part of Nebraska ETV |
| October 21 | Topeka, Kansas | KTWU | 13 | NET | |
| October 27 | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | WCFT-TV | 33 | Independent | |
| November 10 | Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands | WSVI-TV | 8 | ABC | |
| November 14 | San Diego, California | KAAR | 39 | Independent | |
| November 15 | Huntsville, Alabama | WHIQ | 25 | NET | Part of the Alabama Public Television network |
| November 15 | Salt Lake City, Utah | KBYU-TV | 11 | NET | |
| December 20 | Syracuse, New York | WCNY-TV | 24 | NET | |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| June 12 | Wausau, Wisconsin | WSAW-TV | 7 | CBS (primary) ABC and NBC (secondary) | CBS (primary) NBC (secondary) | ABC programming dropped upon the sign-on of WAOW. |
| September 1 | St. Petersburg-Tampa, Florida | WLCY-TV | 10 | Independent | ABC | |
| September 1 | St. Petersburg-Tampa, Florida | WSUN-TV | 38 | ABC | Independent | |
| September 12 | Rockford, Illinois | WREX-TV | 13 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | ABC (exclusive) | |
| Unknown date | Dayton, Ohio | WONE-TV | 22 | Independent | ABC | |
| Unknown date | Jonesboro, Arkansas | KAIT | 8 | Independent | ABC | |

### Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
| August 11 | Elk City, Oklahoma | KSWB | 8 | CBS | August 7, 1961 | |
| November 1 | Salina, Kansas | KSLN-TV | 34 | ABC | January 2, 1962 | |