# 1964 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1964.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| January 29 | ABC begins broadcasting with the coverage of the 1964 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Innsbruck, Austria. |
| February 9-23 | The Beatles’ appearances on CBS’s The Ed Sullivan Show set new records in terms of television ratings. |
| April 30 | Television sets manufactured in the United States as of this date are required to receive UHF channels. |
| June 4 | Sylvania unveils a revolutionary color TV picture tube in which europium-bearing phosphor allows a much brighter display. |
| June 6 | The Rolling Stones make their American television debut on ABC, during the variety show The Hollywood Palace. |
| September 7 | As part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential campaign, the ”Daisy”advertisement is broadcast on network television. |
| October 10 | Through the facilities of geostationary communication satellite Syncom 3, NBC’s first stint as the official Olympic broadcaster begins with the network’s coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan. |
| October 18 | Jackie Mason seemingly gives the finger on The Ed Sullivan Show in his only appearance on that program as he was banned from the show afterwards. |
| October 25 | Ed Sullivan insists that he would never have The Rolling Stones on his show following their appearance on that program. Despite that, the Stones would make a further five appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. |
| October 27 | Ronald Reagan delivers a televised speech endorsing Barry Goldwater in the upcoming election. |
| December 6 | The stop-motion animated Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, premieres on NBC. It goes on to become a holiday tradition with annual reruns, especially after moving to CBS eight years later. |
| December 15 | Major League Baseball announces that it has signed a two-year contract with ABC worth $12.2 million. ABC is slated to televise 25 games on Saturday nights per year, with additional games on Independence Day and Labor Day. |

## Television programs
### Debuts

| Date | Debut | Network |
| January 4 | The Hollywood Palace | ABC |
| January 14 | The Magilla Gorilla Show | Syndication |
| March 30 | Jeopardy! | NBC |
| May 4 | Another World | NBC |
| July 4 | Summer Playhouse | CBS |
| September 14 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | ABC |
| September 15 | Peyton Place | ABC |
| September 16 | Shindig! | ABC |
| September 16 | The Peter Potamus Show | Syndication |
| September 17 | Bewitched | ABC |
| September 18 | Jonny Quest | ABC |
| September 18 | The Addams Family | ABC |
| September 19 | Flipper | NBC |
| September 19 | Kentucky Jones | NBC |
| September 22 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | NBC |
| September 23 | The Cara Williams Show | CBS |
| September 24 | Daniel Boone | NBC |
| September 24 | The Munsters | CBS |
| September 25 | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | CBS |
| September 25 | Nightmare Theatre | KIRO |
| September 26 | Gilligan's Island | CBS |
| October 3 | Underdog | NBC |
| October 5 | 90 Bristol Court | NBC |
| October 5 | Harris Against the World | NBC |
| October 5 | Karen | NBC |
| October 5 | Tom, Dick, and Mary | NBC |
| November 9 | The Les Crane Show | ABC |
| November 9 | The Porky Pig Show | ABC |

### Ending this year

| Date | Show | Network | Debut |
| January 1 | Fractured Flickers | Syndication | January 1, 1963 |
| February 7 | 77 Sunset Strip | ABC | October 10, 1958 |
| February 29 | The New Casper Cartoon Show | ABC | September 7, 1963 |
| March 15 | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | ABC | September 29, 1963 |
| March 29 | The Judy Garland Show | CBS | September 29, 1963 |
| April 2 | Temple Houston | NBC | September 19, 1963 |
| April 8 | Channing | ABC | September 18, 1963 |
| April 18 | The Lieutenant | NBC | September 14, 1963 |
| April 22 | The Eleventh Hour | NBC | October 3, 1962 |
| April 25 | The New Phil Silvers Show | CBS | September 28, 1963 |
| April 27 | The Danny Thomas Show | CBS | September 29, 1953 |
| April 27 | Breaking Point | ABC | September 16, 1963 |
| April 27 | East Side West Side | CBS | September 23, 1963 |
| April 28 | The Greatest Show on Earth | ABC | September 17, 1963 |
| May 1 | The Great Adventure | CBS | September 27, 1963 |
| May 3 | Grindl | NBC | September 15, 1963 |
| May 18 | Hollywood and the Stars | NBC | September 30, 1963 |
| June 19 | Mack & Myer for Hire | Syndication | 1963 |
| June 19 | The Twilight Zone | CBS | October 2, 1959 |
| June 26 | Your First Impression | NBC | January 2, 1962 |
| June 27 | The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends | NBC | November 19, 1959 |
| July 6 | The Steve Allen Show | Syndication | June 24, 1956 (on NBC) |
| August 30 | The DuPont Show of the Week | NBC | September 17, 1961 |
| September 2 | Espionage | NBC | October 2, 1963 |
| September 6 | Arrest and Trial | ABC | September 15, 1963 |
| September 12 | Hootenanny | ABC | April 6, 1963 |
| December 31 | Deputy Dawg | CBS | January 1, 1960 |
| Unknown date | Mack & Myer for Hire | Syndication | 1963 |

### Television films, specials and miniseries

| Title | Network | Date(s) of airing | Notes/Ref. |
| Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | NBC | December 6 | Reruns of the special becomes holiday tradition in subsequent years; moved to CBS in 1972. |

## Television stations
### Sign-ons

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January 1 | Walker, Minnesota | KNMT | 12 | CBS | Satellite of WCCO-TV/Minneapolis |
| January 19 | Charleston, South Carolina | WITV | 7 | NET | Part of the South Carolina ETV network |
| January 19 | Fargo, North Dakota | KFME | 13 | NET | Later became the flagship of the Prairie Public Television network. |
| February 1 | Montgomery, Alabama | WNCF | 32 | ABC | |
| February 6 | Chicago, Illinois | WCIU-TV | 23 | Independent | |
| February 10 | Bowling Green, Ohio | WBGU-TV | 27 | NET | |
| February 17 | Presque Isle, Maine | WMEM-TV | 10 | NET | Part of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network |
| March 16 | Santa Maria/Santa Barbara, California | KCOY-TV | 12 | NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) | |
| May 4 | Corpus Christi, Texas | KIII | 3 | ABC | |
| June | Dallas, Texas | KAEI-TV | 29 | Independent (stock quotes) | |
| August 10 | Columbus, Georgia | WJSP-TV | 28 | NET/GPB | |
| August 22 | Dayton, Ohio | WONE-TV | 22 | Independent | |
| September 1 | Duluth, Minnesota | WDSE | 8 | NET | |
| September 10 | Richmond, Virginia | WCVE-TV | 23 | NET | |
| September 28 | Los Angeles, California | KCET | 28 | NET | |
| October 1 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | WTSJ-TV | 32 | NBC | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-2 | 2 | NET | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-4 | 4 | CBS (primary) ABC (secondary) | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-5 | 5 | NBC | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-8 | 8 | unknown | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-10 | 10 | unknown | |
| October 5 | Pago Pago, American Samoa | KVZK-12 | 12 | unknown | |
| October 5 | Redding, California | KIXE-TV | 9 | NET | |
| October 12 | Boston, Massachusetts | WIHS-TV | 38 | Independent | |
| October 12 | Flint, Michigan | WUCX-TV | 19 | NET | |
| October 12 | San Mateo, California | KCSM-TV | 60 | NET | |
| October 19 | San Jose/San Francisco, California | KQEH | 54 | NET | |
| October 28 | Garden City, Kansas | KUPK-TV | 13 | ABC | Full-power satellite of KAKE/Wichita |
| October 30 | Wilmington, North Carolina | WWAY | 3 | ABC | |
| November 18 | Mobile, Alabama | WEIQ | 42 | NET | Part of the Alabama Public Television network |
| November 22 | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | WITF-TV | 33 | NET | |
| December 3 | Albion/Lincoln, Nebraska | KHQL-TV | 8 | ABC | Satellite of KHGI-TV/Kearney |
| December 6 | La Grande, Oregon | KTVR | 13 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | Signed on as a satellite of KTVB/Boise, Idaho |
| Unknown date | South Bend, Indiana | W39AA | 39 | NET | |

### Network affiliation changes

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation |
| March 1 | Portland, Oregon | KATU | 2 | Independent | ABC |
| March 1 | Portland, Oregon | KPTV | 12 | ABC | Independent |
| March 16 | San Luis Obispo, California | KVEC-TV | 6 | NBC (primary) ABC (secondary) | NBC (exclusive) |
| March 16 | Santa Barbara, California | KEYT-TV | 3 | NBC (primary) CBS (secondary) | ABC (primary) CBS (secondary) |

### Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
| March 2 | Durango, Colorado | KJFL-TV | 6 | Independent | November 4, 1963 | |
| July 1 | Monroe, Louisiana | KTSE | 13 | NET | March 9, 1957 | |