1971 in American television

Television related events in the USA during 1971

List of years in American television:

* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974

* * *

1970–71 United States network television schedule
1971–72 United States network television schedule
List of American television programs currently in production

This is a list of American television-related events in 1971.

## Events

[edit]

Date  | Event  | Ref.

|
|

January 1  | During the evening's broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC, cigarette advertisements were broadcast in the United States for the final time. This is due to the ban on cigarette advertisements passed into law a year earlier.  |
January 12  | CBS airs the first episode of All in the Family, with a disclaimer at the beginning of the program warning viewers about potentially offensive content. Within a year, it became television's most popular program, and started a trend toward realism in situation comedies.  |
February 7  | ABC affiliate WBKO (formerly WLTV) in Bowling Green, Kentucky activates its new transmission facility. This comes after operating with limited power in the aftermath of the WLTV transmitter sabotage by dynamite in September 1969.  | [1]
February 23  | The documentary, The Selling of the Pentagon is broadcast on CBS.  |
May  | CBS releases its schedule for the Fall 1971 season, canceling all four of the network's rural-oriented series, including Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry R.F.D., and Hee Haw, the latter of which continued to be in production for first-run syndication for an additional 21 years. This action was also known as the “rural purge”.  |
August 1-September 5  | CBS airs the acclaimed 6-hour BBC miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII, starring Keith Michell, in six separate installments, airing on six consecutive Sundays.  |
September 13  | U.S. network prime time programming shrinks as the original Prime Time Access Rule takes effect. NBC, unable to take advantage, immediately feels the pinch and fails to win any of the 1971–72 season's first thirteen weeks in terms of the Nielsen ratings.  |
November  | A 12-year streak in the ratings for the CBS soap opera As the World Turns' ends as that program lost the #1 slot for the first time since 1959.  |
December 23  | NBC airs the 1964 Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, for the final time (in this case, KUAM-TV in Guam), as CBS picked up the rights for that special beginning the following year. CBS still holds the rights to the holiday special to this day.  |

## Television programs

[edit]

### Debuts

[edit]

Date  | Debut  | Network

|
|

January 10  | Masterpiece Theatre | PBS
January 12  | All in the Family | CBS
August 1  | Comedy Playhouse | CBS
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
September 11  | The Funky Phantom | ABC
Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch | CBS
The Jackson 5ive | ABC
Lidsville
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | CBS
September 17  | McMillan & Wife | NBC
O'Hara, U.S. Treasury | CBS
September 18  | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | CBS
October 25  | The Electric Company | PBS

### Programs changing network affiliation

[edit]

Show  | Moved from  | Moved to

|
|

Hee Haw | CBS | Syndication
Lassie
Let's Make a Deal | ABC
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Road Runner Show | CBS

### Ending this year

[edit]

Date  | Show  | Network  | Debut

|
|
|

January 1  | Headmaster | CBS | 1970
January 7  | Nancy | NBC | 1970
February 24  | To Rome with Love | CBS  | 1969
March 4  | Family Affair | CBS  | 1966
March 19  | That Girl | ABC | 1966
March 23  | Julia | NBC  | 1968
The Beverly Hillbillies | CBS  | 1962
March 28  | Hogan's Heroes | CBS  | 1965
March 29  | Mayberry R.F.D. | CBS  | 1968
April 2  | Dark Shadows | ABC  | 1966
April 27  | Green Acres | CBS  | 1965
May 5  | The Johnny Cash Show | ABC  | 1969
June 6  | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS  | 1948
September 5  | The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (Returned in 2008 as The Banana Splits Reboot)  | NBC  | 1968
Comedy Playhouse | CBS  | 1971
October 22  | What's New | PBS | 1959 (on NET)

## Networks and services

[edit]

### Network launches

[edit]

Network  | Type  | Launch date  | Notes  | Source

|
|
|
|

New Jersey Network | Over-the-air state network | April 5  | The PBS affiliated state network serving New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and the New York City area.  |

## Television stations

[edit]

### Sign-ons

[edit]

Date  | City of License/Market | Station | Channel  | Affiliation  | Notes/Ref.

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|
|
|
|

January 25  | Indianapolis, Indiana | WHMB-TV | 40  | Religious independent |
February  | South Bend, Indiana | WNIT | 34  | PBS  |
February 3  | Pueblo, Colorado | KTSC | 8  | PBS  |
February 28  | Louisville, Kentucky | WDRB | 41  | Independent | Now a Fox network affiliate.
April 5  | Trenton, New Jersey | WNJT | 52  | PBS | Flagship of the New Jersey Network
April 7  | Gainesville, Florida | WCJB-TV | 20  | NBC  |
April 11  | Baltimore, Maryland | WBFF-TV | 45  | Independent | Now a Fox network affiliate.
May 31  | Paducah, Kentucky | WDXR-TV | 29  | Independent  | Became a satellite station of Kentucky Educational Television in 1978.
June 4  | Wilmington, North Carolina | WUNJ-TV | 39  | PBS/UNC-TV |
June 6  | Atlanta, Georgia | WHAE-TV | 46  | Independent | now a CBS affiliate
June 27  | Peoria, Illinois | WTVP | 47  | PBS  |
July 4  | Mississippi State/Starkville, Mississippi | WMAB-TV | 2  | PBS/MSETV |
July 7  | Pocatello/Idaho Falls, Idaho | KBGL-TV | 10  | PBS  | Part of Idaho Public Television
July 24  | Battle Creek, Michigan | WUHQ-TV | 41  | ABC  |
July 28  | Fort Smith, Arkansas | KFPW-TV | 40  | CBS  |
August 3  | Lebanon, New Hampshire | WRLH | 31  | NBC  | Returned to the air after an almost three-year hiatus
August 9  | Watertown, New York | WNPE-TV | 16  | PBS  |
August 15  | Houston, Texas | KVRL | 26  | Independent |
August 23  | Traverse City, Michigan | WGTU | 29  | ABC  |
September 5  | Norwood, New York | WNPI-TV | 18  | PBS  | Satellite of WNPE-TV/Watertown
September 12  | Austin, Texas | KVUE | 24  | ABC  |
September 26  | Springfield, Massachusetts | WGBY-TV | 57  | PBS  |
October 11  | Visalia/Fresno, California | KMPH-TV | 26  | Independent  |
October 16  | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | WRBT | 33  | ABC  |
October 23  | Sarasota, Florida | WXLT-TV | 40  | ABC  |
October 31  | Muncie, Indiana | WIPB | 49  | PBS  |
December  | Rochester, Minnesota | KAVT-TV | 15  | PBS  |
December 5  | Columbia, Missouri | KCBJ-TV | 17  | ABC  |
December 21  | Fairbanks, Alaska | KUAC-TV | 9  | PBS | [2]
December 31  | Boise, Idaho | KAID | 4  | PBS  | Part of Idaho Public Television
Unknown date  | Indianapolis, Indiana | WURD | 44  | Religious independent  |
Toledo, Ohio | ToledoVision5 | 5 (cable-only)  | Independent  |

### Network affiliation changes

[edit]

Date  | City of license/Market  | Station  | Channel  | Old affiliation  | New affiliation  | Notes/Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|

July 24  | Cadillac-Traverse City, Michigan | WWTV | 9  | CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)  | CBS (exclusive)  |
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | WWUP-TV | 10  |
October  | Anchorage, Alaska | KENI-TV | 2  | ABC  | NBC  |
KYUR | 13  | NBC  | ABC  |
December 5  | Columbia, Missouri  | KRCG | 13  | CBS (primary)
ABC (secondary)  | CBS (exclusive)  |
Warrensburg/Sedalia, Missouri | KMOS-TV | 6  | At the time of this change, KMOS (now a PBS member station) was a satellite of KRCG.

### Station closures

[edit]

Date  | City of license/Market  | Station  | Channel  | Affiliation  | Sign-on date  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

March 16  | Midland, Texas | KDCD-TV | 18  | Independent  | December 19, 1961 (first incarnation)
January 15, 1968 (second incarnation)  |
April 15  | San Francisco, California | KUDO | 38  | Independent  | December 28, 1968  | Returned to the air as KVOF-TV on October 4, 1974.
September 15  | Jacksonville, Illinois | WJJY-TV | 14  | ABC | August 18, 1969  |
Unknown date  | Muncie, Indiana | WLBC-TV | 49  | NBC (primary)
ABC (secondary)  | June 14, 1953  | Returned to the air October 31 as PBS member station WIPB

## Births

[edit]

Main article: 1971 in television § Births

## Deaths

[edit]

Main article: 1971 in television § Deaths

## See also

[edit]

* 1971 in television
* 1971 in film
* 1971 in the United States
* List of American films of 1971

## References

[edit]

1. ^ ”WBKO Begins Transmissions from New Tower”. The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. February 7, 1971. Archived from the original April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022. - via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ YouTube: Inaugural sign-on of KUAC on Dec. 22, 1971

## External links

[edit]

* List of 1971 American television series at IMDb

This television-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2022)

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