Question: Rudolf and Frosty's Christmas in July contained the character Frost the Snowman. In what year did the character Frost the Snowman first appear on television?

Context articles: List of Waterloo Road characters (series 4)
Frosty the Snowman (film)
Frosty the Snowman
Frosty Returns
Frost at Christmas
Jack Frost (1998 film)
Snowman (comics)
Snow (EP)
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

The following is a list of characters who first appear in the fourth series of the BBC school drama "Waterloo Road", in order of first appearance.
 The fourth series consists of twenty episodes, first broadcast from 17 January to 20 May 2009.
 The main cast remains mostly unchanged from series 3, augmented by Rob Cleaver in the first ten episodes and returning character Kim Campbell from episode eleven.
 The Kelly family, consisting of mother Rose and her children Marley, Earl, Sambuca and Denzil, all first appear in episode 1.
 Head Girl Flick Mellor and her father Ralph, head of the board of governors and local police chief, also debut in episode 1, as does head of extended services, and sister to head teacher Rachel Mason, Melissa Ryan.
 Melissa's son Phillip and security guard Dave Miller first appear in episode two, and pupil Lauren Fletcher (later Lauren Andrews) makes her first appearance in episode six.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 animated Christmas television special based on the song "Frosty the Snowman".
 The program, which first aired on December 7, 1969 on CBS (where it still airs to this day), was produced for television by Rankin/Bass Productions and featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator (Durante's final performance in a film) and Jackie Vernon as the title character.
"Frosty the Snowman" (or "Frosty the Snow Man") is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950.
 It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the new song to Autry, who recorded "Frosty" in search of another seasonal hit.
 Like "Rudolph", "Frosty" was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special by Rankin/Bass Productions (formerly known as Videocraft International), "Frosty the Snowman".
 The ancillary rights to the Frosty the Snowman character are owned by Warner Bros., but due to the prominence of the TV special, merchandising of the character is generally licensed in tandem with that special's current owners, DreamWorks Classics.
Frosty Returns is an animated Christmas television special starring Jonathan Winters as the narrator and John Goodman as the voice of Frosty the Snowman.
 The special was directed by Bill Melendez and Evert Brown and features music by Mark Mothersbaugh.
 It first aired in 1992 on CBS.
Frost at Christmas (1984) is the first of the series of novels written by R. D. Wingfield, the creator of the character Detective Inspector Jack Frost, who is more famously known in the television series "A Touch of Frost", where the character is played by Sir David Jason.
 This novel was adapted into the TV episode 'Care and Protection', which was also the first in the series.
Jack Frost is a 1998 American Christmas fantasy comedy drama film, starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston.
 Keaton stars as the title character, a man who dies in a car accident and comes back to life as a snowman.
 Three of Frank Zappa's four children, Dweezil Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Moon Unit Zappa, appear in the film.
The Snowman is a fictional supervillain in Batman comics.
 The Snowman first appeared in "Batman" #337 (July 1981), and was created by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas.
Snow is a 1993 EP by Cocteau Twins, released in December 1993 on Fontana Records.
 It contains cover versions of the Christmas standards "Frosty the Snowman" and "Winter Wonderland".
 It is out of print, though its tracks appear on the compilation "Lullabies to Violaine".
Frosty's Winter Wonderland is a 1976 animated Christmas television special and a sequel to the 1969 special "Frosty the Snowman", produced by Rankin/Bass Productions.
 It returns writer Romeo Muller and actor Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator.
 The special premiered on ABC on December 2, 1976.
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (commonly known by its on-screen title as Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July, or simply Rudolph and Frosty) is an American crossover Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass, featuring characters from the company's holiday specials including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman".
 It was filmed in Japan through "Animagic", a stop-motion animation process in the style of "Rudolph".
 The film premiered in the US on November 25, 1979 on the ABC network.