Editing 1996 in American television (section)

== Notable events ==
=== January ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
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!20
|[[Fox Sports (United States)|Fox]] introduces its [[FoxTrax]] "glowing puck" during its telecast of the [[46th National Hockey League All-Star Game]].
|-
!28
|[[Chris Isaak]] and [[Brooke Shields]] make guest appearances on a post-[[Super Bowl XXX|Super Bowl]] [[The One After the Superbowl|episode]] of ''[[Friends]]'' on [[NBC]].
|}

=== February ===
{| class="wikitable"
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! Date || Event
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!8–9
|Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen win a combined total of $146,529 cash prizes from two episodes (including the $10,000 wedge played with the Double Play token and two [[Ford Mustang]]s), making the couple the biggest winner in the history of ''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]''; They remain the biggest winners for a team, and will hold the record until Michelle Lowenstein wins $1,026,080 on October 14, 2008.
|-
!17
|[[Fred Rogers]] makes a [[List_of_Dr._Quinn,_Medicine_Woman_episodes#Season_4_(1995–96)|guest appearance]] on the [[CBS]] [[Western (genre)|Western]] drama ''[[Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman]]''. This is notably, the only time that Rogers portrayed a fictional character on television.
|-
!28
|[[Paxson Communications]] completes their $40 million purchase of ABC affiliate [[WAKC-TV]] in [[Akron, Ohio]], from [[ValueVision]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 1, 1996 |title=Briefs: ValueVision International Inc. |page=D3 |work=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66028314/briefs-valuevision-international-inc/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121205135/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66028314/briefs-valuevision-international-inc/ |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Hours after the sale closed, Paxon president Dean Goodman arrives at WAKC-TV's studios and tells the staff, "news ceases at this moment", firing the entire news department and all station management.<ref name="WAKC News Ceases">{{Cite news |last1=Heldenfels |first1=R.D. |last2=Hoffman |first2=Steve |last3=Quinn |first3=Jim |last4=Hoiles |first4=Robert |date=February 29, 1996 |title=WAKC Kills News: New owner pulls plug, fires at least 15, decision on resuming show is months away, ABC affiliation under review |page=A1 |newspaper=Akron Beacon Journal |location=Akron, Ohio |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=1082885C71926A79&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB6BE34D921BEDF |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 3, 2022 |via=NewsBank}}</ref> This makes Akron (a part of the larger [[Cleveland]]–Akron–[[Canton, Ohio|Canton]] [[Media market|television market]]) the largest city in the United States without a commercial television newscast.<ref name="ABJ TV News Editorial">{{Cite news |date=March 30, 2001 |title=Our opinion: And now, the news (Editorial) |page=A14 |newspaper=Akron Beacon Journal |location=Akron, Ohio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66228983/our-opinion-and-now-the-news/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121205153/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66228983/our-opinion-and-now-the-news/ |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
|-
!29
|ABC affiliate [[KBAK-TV]] and CBS affiliate [[KERO-TV]] swap affiliations in [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]].
|}

=== March ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!1
|More than 1 billion households worldwide now own television sets.
|-
!4
|[[DISH Network]], a Direct Broadcast Satellite service, begins as a service of [[EchoStar]].
|-
!8
|''[[The Joy of Painting]]'' host [[Bob Ross]] makes his final television appearance as a guest in the [[Television pilot|pilot episode]] of the [[Children's television series|children's series]] ''The Adventures of Elmer & Friends''. Premiering over a year after his death, the episode includes a final message of thanks from Ross to his fans and viewers and a musical tribute.<ref>[https://youtube.com/video/f5smjWpMInQ The Adventures of Elmer & Friends, Episode 1, with Bob Ross: A Magical Musical]</ref>
|-
!31
|[[WrestleMania XII]] from the [[Honda Center|Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim]] in [[Anaheim, California]] is broadcast on [[pay-per-view]]. In the main event, [[Shawn Michaels]] defeats [[Bret Hart]] in a 60-minute [[Iron Man match]] to win the [[WWF Championship]] for the first time.
|}

=== April ===
{| class="wikitable"
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! Date || Event
|-
!6
|The [[1996 Major League Soccer season|first ever]] [[Major League Soccer]] game is broadcast live on [[ESPN Major League Soccer|ESPN]]. The [[1996 San Jose Clash season|San Jose Clash]] hosted [[1996 D.C. United season|D.C. United]] at [[Spartan Stadium (San Jose)|Spartan Stadium]] with San Jose winning on a goal by [[Eric Wynalda]].
|-
!28
|''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', a spin-off series from ''[[What a Cartoon!]]'', premieres on [[Cartoon Network]]. The show is considered to be the network's first [[Cartoon Cartoons|Cartoon Cartoon]] (although this brand name did not exist yet until July 1997).
|}

=== May ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!14
|[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] airs a [[television film]] that serves as the [[Doctor Who (film)|first attempt]] to revive ''[[Doctor Who]]'' following its suspension in 1989. It was intended as a backdoor pilot for a new American-produced ''Doctor Who'' TV series. It introduced [[Paul McGann]] as the [[Eighth Doctor]] in his only televised appearance as the character until "[[The Night of the Doctor]]" in 2013. Although a ratings success in the [[United Kingdom]], the film did not fare well on American television and no series was commissioned. The series was later relaunched on the [[BBC One|BBC]] in 2005. 
|-
!16
|More than 12 million Americans watch the [[List of Murder, She Wrote episodes|final episode]] of ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' on [[CBS]], "Death By Demographics". Through its 12-year run, the series had become the longest-running American murder mystery drama.
|-
!18
|''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' airs its [[List_of_Mystery_Science_Theater_3000_episodes#Season_7_(1995–96)|final episode]] on [[Comedy Central]]. The final film to be featured is 1978's ''[[Laserblast]]''. The series will eventually move to [[SyFy|The Sci-Fi Channel]], where it would run for three more seasons.
|}

=== June ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!1
|[[Major League Baseball]] broadcasts debut on [[Major League Baseball on Fox|Fox]].
|-
! rowspan="2" |3
|[[Zenith Electronics Corporation|Zenith]] introduces the first [[High-definition television|HDTV]]-compatible front projection TV in the U.S.
|-
|CBS affiliate [[WCPO-TV]] and ABC affiliate [[WKRC-TV]], both in [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]], switch network affiliations.
|-
!19
|CBS affiliate [[WRAL-TV]] in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]] is awarded the first [[experiment]]al [[high-definition television]] license in the United States.
|-
!23
|At the [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]]'s [[pay-per-view]] event [[King of the Ring (1996)|King of the Ring]], wrestler [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] wins the King of the Ring tournament by defeating [[Jake Roberts]]. After the match, Austin makes a certain victory speech in what would famously become as the "Austin 3:16" catchphrase.
|-
!30
|New York [[PBS]] member station [[WPXN-TV|WNYC-TV]], owned by the city of New York, signs off for the final time; sold to a joint venture between [[Dow Jones & Company|Dow Jones & Co.]] and [[ITT Inc.|ITT Corp.]], it relaunches as commercial sports-oriented [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]] WBIS-TV (while operating as a [[non-commercial educational station]], WNYC-TV had been licensed with a commercial classification).
|}

=== July ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
! rowspan="2" |6
|When it becomes evident that [[Anna Stuart]] will be next to die in a serial killer storyline on the [[NBC]] soap opera ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'', many fans start letter-writing campaigns to save the actress; the NBC studios in New York City also report a great number of switchboard telephone calls regarding Stuart's imminent demise. Executive producer [[Jill Farren Phelps]] decides that actress [[Alice Barrett]] will be killed off the show instead.
|-
|[[New World Pictures#New World Communications|New World Communications]] sells NBC affiliates [[KNSD|KNSD-TV]] in [[San Diego|San Diego, California]], and [[WVTM-TV]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], their lone remaining stations that didn't switch to Fox, to NBC's [[NBC Owned Television Stations|owned-and-operated division]].
|-
!7
|At the [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]] produced [[pay-per-view]] [[List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events|event]] [[Bash at the Beach (1996)|Bash at the Beach]], [[Hulk Hogan]] [[Glossary of professional wrestling terms#T|turns]] [[Heel (professional wrestling)|heel]] for the first time in 15 years and announces the formation of the [[New World Order (professional wrestling)|New World Order]] with [[Kevin Nash]] and [[Scott Hall]].
|-
!17
|[[News Corporation]] (the owners of [[20th Century Studios|20th Century Fox]] and the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX Television Network]]) announced that it would acquire [[New World Pictures|New World]] in an all-stock transaction worth $2.48 billion. The purchase by News Corporation was finalized in early 1997, folding New World's ten Fox affiliates into the former's [[Fox Television Stations]] subsidiary and making [[1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment|all twelve stations affected by the 1994 agreement]] owned-and-operated stations of the network.
|}

=== August ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!19
|[[List of former NBC television affiliates|NBC affiliate]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[WCIV]], and ABC affiliate [[WCBD-TV]] swap network affiliations.
|}

=== September ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
! rowspan="2" |7
|[[Paula Zahn]] is named a Saturday anchor of ''[[CBS Evening News]]''.
|-
|[[Fox Kids]] airs for the final time on [[St. Louis]] affiliate [[KNLC]], which is dropped due to KNLC owner Larry Rice's decision on putting ministry messages instead of ads. KTVI picks up the program block the following Monday.
|-
! rowspan="2" |8
|The [[48th Primetime Emmy Awards]] are presented on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. 
|-
|[[WBRC|WBRC-TV]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], becomes a [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]-owned station, a year after Fox had acquired it and [[WGHP-TV]] in [[High Point, North Carolina]]. This ended WBRC-TV's 47 year affiliation with ABC; in turn, ABC links up with low-power station [[WBMA-LD|WBMA-LP]] (supplemented with two full-power satellites, [[WSES|WCFT-TV]] in [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama|Tuscaloosa]] and [[WGWW|WJSU-TV]] in [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]]). Former Fox affiliate [[WTTO-TV]] becomes an independent before affiliating with [[The WB]] the next year, while former WTTO-TV satellite [[WPXH-TV|WNAL]] in [[Gadsden, Alabama|Gadsden]] switches to [[CBS]].
|-
!15
| [[USA Network]] ends its [[USA Cartoon Express]] block, expanding its newer [[USA Action Extreme Team]] block to weekdays.
|-
!16
|''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' introduced a gameplay round called ''Jackpot'' which contestants can win an accumulated pot based on the value spun throughout the round. The round would remain intact until 2013.
|-
!17
|The [[O. J. Simpson]] civil trial begins.
|-
!30
|A revival of the game show ''[[Shop 'til You Drop]]'' premieres on the [[The Family Channel (American TV network, founded 1990)|Family Channel]] along with a new game show called ''[[Shopping Spree (game show)|Shopping Spree]]''. Both shows would last on the channel until August 14th 1998, the final day of the Family Channel branding. ''Shop'' would get revived in 2000 on PAX.
|}

=== October ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!2
|Seven newscasters were dismissed by [[WCBS-TV]] (channel 2) in New York.
|-
!6
|President [[Bill Clinton]] and Senator [[Bob Dole]] participate in the first [[1996 United States presidential debates|1996 presidential debate]] with [[Jim Lehrer]] of [[PBS]] moderating.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=1996-10-06 |title=Dole Concludes Debate Preparation by Asking Bush for Advice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/us/dole-concludes-debate-preparation-by-asking-bush-for-advice.html |access-date=2024-06-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
! 7
|Nickelodeon adds an extra half-hour of programming, branded as "More Nickelodeon", on weekdays at 8:00pm Eastern/7:00pm Central. The "More Nickelodeon" block included new episodes of ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack]]'' plus new series ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', ''[[KaBlam!]]'', and ''[[The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss]]''. For the next two weeks, viewers were encouraged to "Spot the Dot" using game pieces found at [[Blockbuster Video]] stores and in ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' magazine for a chance to win a [[Nintendo 64]].
|-
!9
|Vice President [[Al Gore]] and former HUD Secretary [[Jack Kemp]] participate in the 1996 [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidential]] debate at [[Mahaffey Theater]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Jerry |date=1996-10-09 |title=Gore and Kemp Practice Jabs for Tonight's Encounter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/09/us/gore-and-kemp-practice-jabs-for-tonight-s-encounter.html |access-date=2024-06-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan="2" |10
|[[Turner Broadcasting System]] merged into [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]].
|-
|[[Greg Kinnear]] hosts his final episode of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Later (talk show)|Later]]''. The show would then revolve a set of rotating guest hosts for the next three years. 
|-
!16
|Clinton and Dole participate in the final presidential debate at the [[University of San Diego]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=1996-10-16 |title=Dole Accuses Clinton of Devaluing Presidency |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/16/us/dole-accuses-clinton-of-devaluing-presidency.html |access-date=2024-06-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
!20–26
|[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] broadcasts its first ever [[1996 World Series|World Series]]. The [[1996 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] won their 23rd title (and first since 1978) against the [[1996 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] in only six games.
|-
!30
|[[WBKP]] in [[Calumet, Michigan]] signs on the air, giving the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Upper Peninsula]] both its first full-time [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate ([[WLUC-TV]] had dropped its primary ABC affiliation the previous year in favor of its secondary [[NBC]] affiliation) and full-time affiliates of the "[[Big Three television networks|Big Three]]" networks.
|}

=== November ===
{| class="wikitable" 
|- 
! Date || Event
|-
!1
|Seven regional sports networks operated by [[Prime Sports|Prime Network]] relaunched as [[Fox Sports Networks|Fox Sports Net]].
|-
!rowspan="2"|4
|In tribute to the 30th anniversary of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', an [[Trials and Tribble-ations|episode]] of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' features Captain [[Benjamin Sisko]] and the crew travel back in time to prevent the assassination of Captain [[James T. Kirk]] of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS ''Enterprise'']] by a [[Klingon]] using a booby-trapped [[tribble]]. Its sister series ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' produced a similar episode, "[[Flashback (Star Trek: Voyager)|Flashback]]".
|-
|The infamous "[[Pillman's got a gun]]" angle with [[Brian Pillman]] and his [[The Hollywood Blonds#Steve Austin and Brian Pillman|former tag-team partner]] [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] airs on [[USA Network]]'s ''[[Monday Night RAW]]''.
|-
!23
|[[Bob Hope]]'s final [[Bob Hope television specials|television special]], ''Bob Hope... Laughing with the Presidents'', airs on [[NBC]].
|}

=== December ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date || Event
|-
!1
|The long-running [[25 Days of Christmas]] event begins on [[Television networks preceding ABC Family|The Family Channel]].
|-
!8
|[[Paramount Television (original)|Paramount Television]] and [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] purchased a 50% stake in [[UPN]] from [[Chris-Craft Industries|Chris-Craft]] and [[BHC Communications|United Television]] for approximately $160 million. It made UPN a joint partnership between Chris-Craft and Viacom (and later a Viacom property as a whole) at this point.
|-
!15
|Five years after its series finale, a movie version of ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'', entitled ''[[Dallas: J.R. Returns]]'', is broadcast by [[CBS]].
|-
!17
|6 years after dropping the title, [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]] resumes using the term ''Superstation''.
|-
!31
|ABC affiliate WAKC-TV in Akron, Ohio, disaffiliates from the network after 53 years and drops all remaining entertainment programming to carry [[Ion Media|Paxson Communications]]' inTV infomercial network. The station's studios had previously relocated from Akron to the Cleveland suburb of [[Warrensville Heights, Ohio|Warrensville Heights]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feran |first=Tom |date=November 14, 1996 |title=Channel 23 will cancel affiliation with ABC-TV |page=11B |newspaper=The Plain Dealer |location=Cleveland, Ohio |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=1082885C71926A79&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0F808D7D50AF1129 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204071924/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news%2F0F808D7D50AF1129&f=basic |archive-date=February 4, 2022 |via=NewsBank}}</ref><ref name="Akr19961114pD4">{{Cite news |last=Heldenfels |first=R.D. |date=November 14, 1996 |title=WAKC to change format, drop ABC shows: Infomercials, religious programs likely to replace network lineup at end of year. Florida firm's decision surprises Channel 23 manager, pleases Cleveland station |page=D4 |newspaper=Akron Beacon Journal |location=Akron, Ohio |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=1082885C71926A79&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB6BF5306AFF346 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204071919/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news%2F0EB6BF5306AFF346&f=basic |archive-date=February 4, 2022 |via=NewsBank}}</ref>
|}