2008 in television edit
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2008 in television edit
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| List of years in television (table) |
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| … 1998 . 1999 . 2000 . 2001 . 2002 . 2003 . 2004 … 2005 2006 2007 -2008- 2009 2010 2011 … 2012 . 2013 . 2014 . 2015 . 2016 . 2017 . 2018 … In radio: 2005 2006 2007 -2008- 2009 2010 2011 In film: 2005 2006 2007 -2008- 2009 2010 2011 In theatre: 2005 2006 2007 -2008- 2009 2010 2011 |
| Related time period or subjects |
| … 2005 . 2006 . 2007 - 2008 - 2009 . 2010 . 2011 … … 1970s . 1980s . 1990s -2000s- 2010s . 2020s . 2030s |
| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Science +... |
The year 2008 in television involved some significant plans. Below is a list of television-related events in 2008.
Contents |
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1 | CourtTV turns into TruTV |
| January 2 | An interim agreement between Worldwide Pants Incorporated and the Writers Guild of America allows The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return with their full writing staffs, in spite of the ongoing WGA strike. By contrast, NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Last Call with Carson Daly and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, which are all produced by their respective networks, went back on the air without writers (except for Jay Leno, who writes his own material). |
| January 7 | Due to the writers strike, plans to hold the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony were scrapped. A press conference which announced the winners was substituted for the program. |
| January 23 | Konnie Huq presents her last episode of Blue Peter after over ten years, having become the longest-running female presenter and third longest-running overall in the shows' 50 year history. |
| January 31 | A unique episode of the UK soap opera EastEnders is broadcast, consisting of just one character (Dot Branning) with a single monologue in the form of a taped message to her husband. This 'one-hander' is a first in UK soap history. |
| February 2 | VH1 Uno is discontinued by MTV Networks to expand distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses and onto regular cable systems. |
| February 3 | Fox's telecast of Super Bowl XLII surpasses Super Bowl XXX as the most watched Super Bowl game on television (up to this point). It also becomes the second most watched television program trailing the 1983 M*A*S*H series finale and the highest rated telecast in Nielsen ratings since Super Bowl XXXIV. |
| February 8 | The CW Television Network and the WWE announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown would leave the CW prime time schedule at the end of the 2007-2008 season. The news stepped in after negotiations between the CW and WWE failed to reach a deal to keep the show on the CW lineup. Three weeks later on February 26, MyNetwork TV announced that they would pick up the program and would add it to its lineup in September. |
| February 9 | Both the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a tentative deal resolving the strike. Members vote three days later to end the strike. |
| February 12 | The BBC Three "Blobs" are played out for the last time in the early hours of the morning. A new set of idents debuted the same day, this is the channels first ever rebrand since launching in early 2003. |
| February 17 | The conversion of NTSC analog channels to DT channels using the ATSC system begins in the United States, with TV stations making last minute filings and their intentions about when they will start their switchover ahead of the February 17, 2009 mandatory date. Also, the US government starts mailing out (USD)$40.00 coupons/rebates to consumers to use in buying DTV converters before the switchover. |
| February 18 | Nickelodeon celebrates the revival of its hit show The Fairly OddParents with the TV movie Fairly OddBaby. This has been the first new episode since 2006. |
| February 19 | BBC One drama Hotel Babylon returns for its third series. |
| February 24 | ABC's telecast of the 80th Academy Awards draws record low ratings in the history of the ceremony's telecast surpassing the ratings from the ceremony that took place in 2003. 31.76 million on average watched the show over its entire run with a Nielsen rating of 18.66 households watching. |
| March 26 | CBS soap The Young and the Restless celebrates its 35th Anniversary. |
| April 1 | ABC soap General Hospital celebrates its 45th Anniversary. |
| April 3 | Kate Ritchie's final episode of Home and Away is broadcast in Australia on Channel 7. She has played the role of Sally Fletcher for 20 years and 3 months, making her role the record for a woman in Australian Television. She has played the role since she was 8 years of age. The only remaining member of the cast now who has been in the show since its start in 1988, is Ray Meagher who plays Alf Stewart |
| April 5 | Doctor Who returns on BBC One. David Tennant returns as the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays Donna Noble, as the Doctor's companion. |
| April 20 | The 2008 BAFTA Television Awards are held at the London Palladium. Winners included Dame Eileen Atkins (Best Television Actress), Bruce Forsyth (Academy Fellowship), Harry Hill (Best Entertainment Performance), James Corden (Best Comedy Performance) and the BBC Three Sitcom Gavin & Stacey |
| May 11 | Former model Parvati Shallow was announced the winner of Survivor: Micronesia. It was also announced that the next season will be filmed in high definition. |
| May 16 | The Wilmington, North Carolina television market is selected by the FCC to be the first television market in the United States to sign off their analog channels for ATSC early, starting September 8. |
| May 17 | After over thirteen years, Kids' WB! ceases airing and becomes The CW4Kids. |
| May 21 | David Cook is selected as the winner of seventh season of American Idol. |
| May 29 | Channel 4 broadcasts a rare live advertisement on British television. The 3 minute Honda advert is shown during the commercial break of the program Come Dine With Me. |
| June 1 | A large fire damages portions of Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles. |
| June 7 | The Euro 2008 opens in Basel (Switzerland). About 200 broadcasting companies from all over the world showed it live. |
| June 17 | Comedian Joan Rivers is asked to leave the ITV1 afternoon talk show Loose Women after swearing live on air. She was removed during the commercial break, and said that she didn't realise the show was going out live and thought her comments would be bleeped. |
| June 17 | The third season premiere of NBC's America's Got Talent. |
| June 19 | Big Ten Network and Comcast announced a carriage agreement deal. The channel was added to Comcast on August 15. |
| June 28 | In Doctor Who episode The Stolen Earth, many previous characters return characters from Doctor Who spinoffs (Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper from Torchwood and Luke Smith from The Sarah Jane Adventures. Harriet Jones returned for the last time. Also including Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, present companion Donna Noble and Rose Tyler. Sarah Jane Smith returned as well plus Mickey Smith. The Daleks returned as well as old enemy Davros who last appeared in 1988. |
| July 7 | The Jewelry Channel, a US home shopping service that was shown mostly on DirecTV and Dish Network, launches a going out-of-business sale for its remaining items that was shown on the channel that would last until December 1. From December 1 onwards, TJC is now doing business as "The Liquidation Channel". |
| April 1 | ABC soap One Life to Live celebrates its 40th Anniversary. |
| July 28 | MGM Television and Weigel Broadcasting announces the launching of a new DT2 subchannel in the United States called This TV. |
| August 1 | Fox affiliate XETV/Tijuana and CW affiliate KSWB-TV/San Diego switched network affiliations: KSWB to FOX, XETV to The CW. |
| August 7 | The Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market get their own NBC affiliate WMBF-TV. |
| August 8 | After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia (covering the Wheeling-Stubenville TV market) and sister station WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia (A NBC affiliate covering the Clarksburg-Fairmont TV market) adds ABC to their DT2 subchannels. Both stations had been ABC secondary affiliates in the past. |
| Late August | Big Ten Network reached carriage deal agreements with Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Brighthouse Networks, Mediacom and Cox Communications, ending the "cable carriage controversies" that the network had in its first year of existence. The network is now on all major cable TV systems in The Big Ten Region. |
| August 28 | ESPNU launched its HD version to only 5 American cable television or satellite carriers. 1 |
| September 1 | Music: High Definition (MHD) is renamed Palladia. |
| September 5 | Stand Up to Cancer, an event designed to raise cancer awareness, airs on ABC, CBS, NBC and E! in the United States, and on CTV, Citytv and Global in Canada. |
| September 8 | The Wilmington, North Carolina television market officially becomes the first TV market in the United States to have all of its stations broadcast exclusively in digital, using the ATSC system. |
| September 15 | WTMJ-TV/Milwaukee, Wisconsin drops all of its syndicated shows, featuring a lineup that consists of local news (including a four hour afternoon news block from 3 to 7PM, a first in the United States Central Time Zone) and NBC programming. |
| September 20 | After an 11 year run on the Cartoon Network, the action-adventure block, Toonami, has been cancelled, effective 11 PM EST. |
| September 21 | 60th Primetime Emmy Awards |
| October 8 | NBC announces that NBC Weather Plus would sign off at the end of the year |
| October 16 | Longest-running children's television program, Blue Peter celebrates its 50th birthday |
| October 17 | United States Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-Minnesota 6th) makes headlines when she asks for an investigation into whether of members of the United States Congress are anti-American during a live interview on Hardball with Chris Matthews. |
| October 29 | Barack Obama airs a 30-minute infomercial that airs on CBS, NBC, Fox, BET, Univision, MSNBC and TV One. The infomercial is seen by 33.6 million viewers. |
| November 4 | CNN becomes the first channel in the history to use hologram technology on television, during the 2008 United States Presidential Election. CNN's Jessica Yellin became the first person ever to be transmitted via hologram, followed by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. 2 |
| November 19 | Flint, Michigan PBS affiliate WFUM-TV (a.k.a. Michigan Television) permanently turned off its analog signal and is now broadcasting exclusively in digital, 9 months before the federally mandated analog shut off date of June 12, 2009, becoming the first station in its market, as well as the first PBS station in Michigan, to broadcast in digital only. 3 4 |
| November 20 | The CW announces that it has terminated its Sunday Night deal with Media Rights Capital |
| November 23 | The world's longest running science fiction series Doctor Who celebrates its 45th anniversary. |
| December 1 | WBQC-CA/Cincinnati, Ohio asks the FCC permission to change its callsign to WKRP in honor of the television series that was set in the city. |
| December 4 | For the first time ever, a live music special is used to announce the nominees for the 51st Grammy Awards. |
| December 8 | HD versions of American cable channels The Style Network, E! Entertainment Television and G4 were scheduled to launch, but did not launch, leaving many people with unanswered questions. Golf Channel and Versus are identified as their own separate HD versions instead (as 12/8/08, they no longer share HD channel space, they now broadcast 2 separate HD programs at the same time). 5 |
| December 8 | The Tribune Company, owners of WGN-TV/Chicago and KTLA/Los Angeles, among other properties, files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. |
| December 25 | A new episode of the popular animated series Wallace and Gromit, titled A Matter of Loaf and Death, airs on BBC One. Watched by 16.15 million, it is the highest rated UK TV programme of the year and the most watched show on any channel at Christmas for five years. |
| December 27 | FOX's children's programming block, 4Kids TV, has ceased airing, and FOX no longer airs Saturday morning cartoons after being a Saturday morning staple since 1990. 6 |
,
* = Was supposed to aIr its seventh season on January 13, but because of the WGA strike, it was postponed to January 11, 2009.
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Bob LeMond | 94 | US radio and TV announcer (Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver) |
| January 16 | Allan Melvin | 84 | US actor (Magilla Gorilla, The Brady Bunch, All in the Family) |
| January 18 | Lois Nettleton | 80 | US actress (In the Heat of the Night) |
| January 19 | Suzanne Pleshette | 70 | US actress (The Bob Newhart Show) |
| January 22 | Heath Ledger | 28 | Australian actor (Roar) |
| January 25 | Jahna Steele | 49 | Transgendered entertainer (Was "outed" on A Current Affair in 1992 and made a guest starring role on NYPD Blue in 1995) |
| January 30 | Jeremy Beadle | 59 | British presenter (Beadle's About, You've Been Framed) |
| February 1 | Shell Kepler | 49 | American actress and presenter (General Hospital, HSN host) |
| February 2 | Barry Morse | 89 | British-born Canadian actor (The Fugitive, Space: 1999) |
| February 4 | Augusta Dabney | 89 | American actress (Another World, A World Apart, Loving) |
| February 7 | John McWethy | 61 | US news reporter/journalist (ABC News correspondent from 1979 to 2006; Was inside the Pentagon when it was struck by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 during the September 11, 2001 attacks) |
| February 10 | Ron Leavitt | 60 | US TV writer and producer (Happy Days, Married with Children) |
| February 10 | Roy Scheider | 75 | US actor (seaQuest) |
| February 12 | David Groh | 68 | US actor (Rhoda) |
| February 14 | Bill Currie | 85 | TV sportscaster/commentator for KDKA-TV/Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1981 |
| February 16 | Steve Gerber | 60 | US illustrator/animator (Thundarr The Barbarian) |
| February 16 | Perry Lopez | 78 | US character actor (Star Trek) |
| February 19 | Claude "Grits" Gresham | 85 | US TV outdoor sportscaster (The American Sportsman) |
| February 19 | Lydia Shum | 62 | Chinese TV/Film character actress/comedienne and presenter (Living with Lydia) |
| February 27 | William F. Buckley, Jr. | 82 | US TV host and commentator (Firing Line) |
| February 27 | Myron Cope | 79 | TV Sportscaster at WTAE/Pittsburgh and color commentator for the Pittsburgh Steelers broadcasts |
| February 28 | Dick Fletcher | 66 | Weathercaster/meteorologist at WTSP/St. Petersburg-Tampa, Florida |
| March 8 | Carol Barnes | 63 | British newscaster (ITN) |
| March 16 | Ivan Dixon | 76 | US TV/Film actor, producer and director (Hogan's Heroes) |
| March 20 | Brian Wilde | 80 | British actor (Last of the Summer Wine) |
| April 5 | Charlton Heston | 84 | US actor (The Colbys) |
| April 8 | Stanley Kamel | 65 | US TV/Film actor (Monk) |
| unknown, circa April 13 | Mark Speight | 42 | British presenter (SMart, Scratchy & Co) |
| May 1 | Jim Hager | 66 | One half of the Hager Twins and a regular on Hee Haw |
| May 3 | Beverlee McKinsey | 67 | US soap opera actress (Another World, Texas, Guiding Light) |
| May 10 | Jessica Jacobs | 17 | Australian child actress (The Saddle Club) |
| May 11 | Richard Towne "Dick" Sutcliffe | 90 | American Christian children's' TV producer/animator (Davey and Goliath) |
| May 15 | Alexander Courage | 88 | American composer (Star Trek theme song) |
| May 16 | David Mitton | 69 | British TV animator/producer (Thomas the Tank Engine) |
| May 18 | Joseph Pevney | 96 | American TV actor (Bonanza) |
| May 22 | Hana Maria Pravda | 92 | Czech TV actress (Survivors) |
| May 24 | Dick Martin | 86 | American comedian and director (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) |
| May 25 | Earle Hagen | 88 | US TV music composer/musician (The Andy Griffith Show) |
| May 25 | Mitch Mullany | 39 | US actor (Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher) |
| May 27 | Sydney Pollack | 73 | US Film producer/director and actor (The Fugitive, Will & Grace, The Sopranos and host of The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies) |
| May 29 | Harvey Korman | 81 | US actor/comedian (The Carol Burnett Show, The Flintstones) |
| June 2 | Mel Ferrer | 90 | US TV/Film actor, producer and director (Falcon Crest, Return of the Saint) |
| June 7 | Jim McKay | 87 | US TV sportscaster, journalist, narrator, and commentator for ABC, CBS and NBC Sports |
| June 13 | Tim Russert | 58 | US TV journalist for NBC News and host of Meet the Press from 1991 to 2008 |
| June 13 | Charlie Jones | 77 | US TV sportscaster for NBC and ABC Sports; Play-by-play TV announcer for AFL and NFL games |
| June 14 | Neil MacNeil | 85 | US TV journalist (Washington Week in Review) |
| June 16 | Tony Schwartz | 85 | US TV Sound archivist/ad executive and creator of Barry Goldwater's 1964 "Daisy" political ad |
| June 17 | Cyd Charisse | 86 | US TV/Film actress, singer and dancer (The Love Boat, Frasier, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law) |
| June 21 | Kermit Love | 91 | US puppeteer, costume designer, and TV actor (Sesame Street) |
| June 22 | George Carlin | 71 | US TV/Film actor, writer, director and comedian (The George Carlin Show, Shining Time Station) |
| June 22 | Dody Goodman | 93 | US TV/Film actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) |
| June 29 | Don S. Davis | 65 | US actor (Stargate SG-1, Twin Peaks) |
| July 3 | Larry Harmon | 83 | US entertainer (Bozo the Clown) |
| July 3 | Clive Hornby | 63 | British actor (Emmerdale) |
| July 4 | Jesse Helms | 86 | US congressman, senator and former television anchor/reporter/commentator for WRAL-TV/Raleigh, North Carolina |
| July 12 | Tony Snow | 53 | US commentator (Fox News Sunday) and former White House Press Secretary. |
| July 14 | Bryan Cowgill | 81 | British executive. |
| July 17 | Larry Haines | 89 | US actor (Search for Tomorrow) |
| July 21 | Khia "K-Swift" Edgerton | 29 | US club radio DJ, Hip-Hop producer and remixer (The Wire, BET's Rap City) |
| July 22 | Estelle Getty | 84 | US TV/Film actress (The Golden Girls) |
| August 7 | Bernie Brillstein | 77 | US producer and agent (Buffalo Bill, ALF, The Larry Sanders Show, NewsRadio) |
| August 8 | Ragan Henry | 74 | First African-American to own a network-affiliated TV station in the United States (WHEC/Rochester, New York) and radio station group owner |
| August 8 | John K. Cooley | 81 | US TV/radio journalist and author (ABC News) |
| August 9 | Bernie Mac | 50 | US TV/film actor and comedian (The Bernie Mac Show) |
| August 10 | John Esmonde | 71 | British scriptwriter (The Good Life) |
| August 10 | Isaac Hayes | 65 | US singer/songwriter and voiceover artist (South Park) |
| August 15 | "Engineer Bill" Stulla | 97 | US Children's TV show host ("Cartoon Express" on KHJ-TV/Los Angeles, California from 1954 to 1966) |
| August 19 | Julius Carry | 56 | American actor (Doctor, Doctor, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.) |
| August 29 | Geoffrey Perkins | 55 | British comedy producer |
| September 1 | Michael Pate | 88 | Australian actor/writer (Matlock Police) |
| September 1 | Don LaFontaine | 68 | American TV, film, and radio voiceover announcer (Entertainment Tonight) |
| September 2 | Ike Pappas | 75 | US TV/Radio news reporter (CBS News) |
| September 2 | "Captain" Mike Ambrose | 69 | Weatherman at KGTV/San Diego, California |
| September 3 | Jerry Reed | 71 | US TV/Film actor and singer (The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Concrete Cowboys, Hee Haw) |
| September 3 | Bill Meléndez | 91 | Mexican-born US TV/Film director and animator (Peanuts TV specials and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show) |
| September 12 | George Putnam | 94 | American TV and radio personality |
| September 18 | Peter Kastner | 64 | Canadian TV/film/stage actor (The Ugliest Girl in Town) |
| September 28 | John Harden Norris | 88 | Former owner of WGCB-TV/Red Lion, Pennsylvania, whose former AM sister station was the center of a dispute over the Fairness Doctrine, one that he eventually lost, in 1964. |
| October 8 | Eileen Herlie | 90 | Scottish-American film/stage/television actress (Hamlet, All My Children) |
| October 9 | Lloyd Thaxton | 81 | American TV/Radio host and producer (The Lloyd Thaxton Show, Fight Back! With David Horowitz) |
| October 11 | Neal Hefti | 85 | American TV and film theme music composer (Batman, The Odd Couple (Both the film and the TV series)) |
| October 11 | Mark Shivas | 70 | British TV producer (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Casanova, Talking Heads) |
| October 15 | Jack Narz | 85 | American TV game show host (Beat the Clock, Concentration) |
| October 25 | Anne Pressly | 26 | American TV anchorwoman and special assignment reporter for KATV/Little Rock, Arkansas |
| November 4 | Michael Crichton | 66 | American author, screenwriter, and television writer (ER) |
| November 7 | Herb Score | 75 | American baseball player and TV/Radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Indians |
| November 16 | Reg Varney | 92 | British actor (On the Buses) |
| December 1 | Paul Benedict | 70 | American TV/film/stage character actor, writer and director (The Jeffersons, Sesame Street) |
| December 5 | Beverly Garland | 82 | American TV/film actress, singer and businesswoman (My Three Sons, Scarecrow and Mrs. King) |
| December 5 | Nina Foch | 84 | Dutch-American TV/film/stage actress and dramatic arts teacher (Playhouse 90) |
| December 7 | Marky Cielo | 20 | Filipino actor, dancer, and reality talent competition winner of Igorot descent (Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan) |
| December 8 | Robert Prosky | 77 | American TV/film actor (Hill Street Blues) |
| December 11 | Maddie Blaustein | 48 | American voice actress (Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dinosaur King) |
| December 12 | Van Johnson | 92 | American TV/Film actor and singer (Batman, Here's Lucy, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957 TV movie)) |
| December 18 | Majel Barrett | 76 | American actress (Star Trek: The Original Series) |
| December 25 | Eartha Kitt | 81 | American TV/Film actress, dancer and singer (Batman) |
| Years in television: 2008 |
|---|
| Australia | Canada | United Kingdom |