1979 in American television
This is a list of American television-related events of 1979.
Events
Date
Event
January 3
The USA Network is founded.
January 10
The Music for UNICEF Concert is televised from New York City on NBC .
February 11
In the U.S., 43 million viewers watch Elvis , an ABC movie starring Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley , despite being the first Elvis biopic film ever made.
February 18
The Daytona 500 is broadcast live from start to finish , in its entirety for the very first time by CBS . It was won by Richard Petty .
February 20
Melody Thomas makes her first appearance as Nikki Reed on The Young and the Restless .
March 5
KSTP-TV in Saint Paul, Minnesota ends its 31-year relationship as the Twin Cities ' NBC affiliate and joins ABC in what is called the network's biggest coup yet. NBC, meanwhile, aligns with Metromedia -owned independent station WTCN-TV , while former ABC affiliate KMSP-TV , having failed to procure an NBC affiliation, becomes independent itself.[ 1] [ 2]
March 6
On NBC , Another World becomes the only soap opera to air regularly scheduled 90-minute telecasts (it would go back to 60-minute episodes in 1980). Meanwhile, on ABC , Family Feud increases its goal to 300 points.
March 19
C-SPAN , an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched.
April 1
Nickelodeon is founded .
April 8
On CBS , the final episode of All in the Family is seen by 40.2 million American viewers (it will relaunch the following season as Archie Bunker's Place ).
April 20
The 1,439th and final CBS episode of Match Game 79 airs – however, the show didn't air on April 5, causing the Friday episode from that week to air on April 9. The last 9 aired episodes were culled together from 3 separate taping sessions, leaving 6 unaired until Game Show Network aired them for the first time. Match Game continues for 3 more years in syndicated daytime (sans the omnipresent 2-year designation in the title).
April 22
Friendly Fire , an ABC movie starring Carol Burnett as a mother who wants to know how her son died in Vietnam, airs.
April 23
The Price Is Right , on CBS , moves to 11:00 A.M. EST, the time slot that it holds to this day.
May 16
Kate Jackson makes her final appearance as Sabrina Duncan on Charlie's Angels .
May 17
The Season 5 finale of Barney Miller features the cast stepping out of character to pay tribute to the late Jack Soo , who played detective Nick Yemana. Soo, who died of cancer on January 11, 1979, made his final appearance in the series in the season's ninth episode , "The Vandal".
May 26
Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi 's make their final appearances on NBC 's Saturday Night Live as cast members .
June 1
In Indianapolis , Indiana , NBC affiliate WRTV swaps affiliations with ABC affiliate WTHR , citing a stronger affiliation (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks).[ 3]
July 10
KSD-TV, NBC affiliate in St. Louis , changes its call sign to KSDK-TV .
September 7
ESPN , an all-sports channel, launches and becomes the first cable TV channel to be launched as a 24-hour channel.
September 9
KNXV-TV goes on the air for the first time as Phoenix 's first UHF station , airing with ONTV . It was soon stripped off ONTV in 1983, eventually going first with Fox in 1986, then to ABC via an affiliation agreement with Scripps Howard in 1995.
September 12
On the two-hour season four premiere of Charlie's Angels on ABC , Shelley Hack is introduced as new angel Tiffany Welles, replacing Sabrina Duncan played by Kate Jackson .
September 19
On the two-hour Eight Is Enough season premiere on ABC , both David and Susan Bradford married their respective loves in a double ceremony.
October 6
KTAB-TV in Abilene, Texas begins broadcasting as a CBS affiliate, taking that affiliation from KTXS-TV . KTXS-TV then elevates its secondary ABC affiliation to full-time status, making Abilene one of the last markets in the country to receive full service from the three major networks.
November 4
Jaws is broadcast on television for the first time on ABC .
November 25
Pat Summerall calls his first NFL telecast (Minnesota Vikings –Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) with John Madden .
December 1
The Movie Channel , an American premium cable channel, begins broadcasting movies 24/7. The first movie to air was Roman Holiday.
Programs
Debuting this year
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies and miniseries
Networks and services
Launches
Conversions and rebrandings
Closures
There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.
Television stations
Sign-ons
Date
City of License /Market
Station
Channel
Affiliation
Notes/Ref.
January 3
Boston, Massachusetts
WQTV
68
Independent
January 12
Matamoros, Tamaulipas , Mexico (Brownsville /McAllen, Texas , United States )
XHRIO-TV
2
English-language independent
March
North Platte, Nebraska
K57CZ
57
CBS
LPTV translator of KOLN /Lincoln, Nebraska ; now KNPL-LD channel 10, a semi-satellite of KOLN
March 1
Owensboro, Kentucky
WKOH
31
PBS
Part of Kentucky Educational Television as a repeater of WKLE /Lexington
April 15
Greensburg /Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
WPCB-TV
40
Religious independent
April 28
Red Deer /Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
WGCB
49
Independent
May 3
Austin, Texas
KLRU
18
PBS
Originally a satellite of KLRN /San Antonio, Texas
June 1
Springfield, Illinois
WBHW
55
Independent
June 12
Charlottesville, Virginia
W64AO
64
ABC
Low-powered translator of WHSV-TV /Harrisonburg, Virginia
June 18
Bismarck, North Dakota
KBME-TV
3
PBS
Part of Prairie Public Television
August
El Paso, Texas
KCIK-TV
14
Religious independent
August 10
Denver, Colorado
KDVR
31
Independent
September 2
Flagstaff /Phoenix, Arizona
KTVW
33
SIN
September 9
Phoenix, Arizona
KNXV-TV
15
Independent
September 24
Greensboro, North Carolina
WGNN-TV
45
Independent
Norfolk, Virginia
WTVZ-TV
33
Independent
October 6
Abilene, Texas
KTAB-TV
32
CBS
October 22
Grand Junction, Colorado
KJCT
8
ABC
October 24
Tampa, Florida
WCLF
22
CTN
October 28
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
KGMC
34
Independent
December 22
Warrensburg /Sedalia, Missouri (Columbia /Jefferson City )
KMOS-TV
6
PBS
Returned to the air after being taken off the air in 1978 as a CBS affiliate
Unknown date
Hartford, Connecticut
W61AH
51
SIN
Translator of WXTV /New York City
Miami, Florida
W56AZ
56
PBS
Translator of WPBT-TV
Network affiliation changes
Births
Date
Name
Notability
January 2
Erica Hubbard
Actress (The Replacements , Lincoln Heights )
January 3
Lyriq Bent
Actor
January 4
Cindy Vela
Actress
Jeannie Mai
Host
January 6
Cristela Alonzo
Actress
January 8
Sarah Polley
Actress (Ramona , Road to Avonlea )
Windell Middlebrooks
Actor (died 2015)
January 9
Joshua Harto
Actor (That's So Raven )
January 13
Jill Wagner
Actress
January 14
James Scott
British actor (All My Children , Days of Our Lives )
January 16
Aaliyah
Singer (died 2001 )
January 24
Ricardo Medina Jr.
Actor (Power Rangers Wild Force )
Tatyana Ali
Actress (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air )
January 25
Christine Lakin
Actress (Step by Step )
January 26
Sara Rue
Actress (Less than Perfect )
January 28
Angelique Cabral
Actress
January 29
Jedediah Bila
Host
Jeremy Coon
Editor
January 30
Michelle Langstone
New Zealand actress (Power Rangers S.P.D. )
February 1
Rachelle Lefevre
Canadian actress (Under the Dome )
February 2
Mayer Hawthorne
Singer
February 3
Costa Ronin
Actor
February 4
Tabitha Brown
Actress
Jodi Shilling
Actress
February 7
Cerina Vincent
Actress (Stuck in the Middle )
February 8
Josh Keaton
Voice actor (Bratz , The Spectacular Spider-Man , Green Lantern: The Animated Series , DC Super Hero Girls , Voltron: Legendary Defender , Justice League Action , Ben 10 )
February 11
Brandy Norwood
Singer and actress (Moesha , The Game )
February 12
Jesse Spencer
Australian actor (House , Chicago Fire )
February 13
Mena Suvari
Actress
February 15
Steven Boyer
Actor
February 17
Conrad Ricamora
Actor (How to Get Away with Murder ) and singer
Bear McCreary
Composer
February 18
Tyrone D. Burton
Actor (The Parent 'Hood )
February 20
Bianca Lawson
Actress (Pretty Little Liars )
February 21
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Actress (Party of Five , Ghost Whisperer ) and singer
Jordan Peele
Actor and comedian (Mad TV , Key & Peele )
Tituss Burgess
Actor
February 23
Maryke Hendrikse
Voice actress (Johnny Test )
S. E. Cupp
American television host
February 25
Jennifer Ferrin
Actress
February 26
Corinne Bailey Rae
Singer
Shalim Ortiz
Singer
February 27
Spero Dedes
Sportcaster
February 28
Chris Hayes
Anchor
March 5
Riki Lindhome
Voice actress (Monsters vs. Aliens )
March 7
Stephanie Anne Mills
Canadian actress (My Dad the Rock Star , Total Drama , Sidekick )
March 9
Oscar Isaac
Actor
March 10
Danny Pudi
Actor (Community , DuckTales )
March 10
Edi Gathegi
Actor
March 12
Rhys Coiro
Actor
March 15
Pollyanna McIntosh
Actress
March 17
Stephen Kramer Glickman
Canadian actor (Big Time Rush )
Stormy Daniels
Actress
Coco Austin
Actress
March 18
Danneel Ackles
Actress (One Life to Live , One Tree Hill )
Adam Levine
Singer
March 19
Joe Hursley
Actor
March 20
Daniel Cormier
Martial artist and commentator (UFC )
March 21
Melissa Gorga
American television personality
March 24
Lake Bell
Actress (How to Make it in America , Boston Legal )
March 25
Lee Pace
Actor (Pushing Daisies )
March 26
Heidi Zeigler
Actress (Rags to Riches , Just the Ten of Us )
March 30
Jose Pablo Cantillo
Actor
Pete Holmes
Actor
March 31
Sasha Dobson
Singer
April 1
Matt Silverstein
Writer
April 2
Lindy Booth
Canadian actress
Jesse Carmichael
American musician
April 4
Heath Ledger
Australian actor (Sweat ) (died 2008 )
Natasha Lyonne
Actress
April 6
Clay Travis
Host
April 7
Adam Gubman
Composer
April 9
Keshia Knight Pulliam
Actress (The Cosby Show )
April 11
Josh Server
Actor (All That )
April 12
Claire Danes
Actress (Homeland )
Jennifer Morrison
Actress (House , Once Upon a Time )
April 15
Luke Evans
Actor
Karen David
Actress
April 16
Tom Segura
Actor
April 18
Kourtney Kardashian
Actress (Keeping Up with the Kardashians )
Reena Ninan
American television journalist
Ayman Mohyeldin
American television journalist
April 19
Kate Hudson
Actress
April 21
James McAvoy
Actor
April 23
Jaime King
Actress (Hart of Dixie )
April 26
Ally Musika
Writer
May 3
Emily V. Gordon
Writer
May 4
Lance Bass
Actor
May 5
Vincent Kartheiser
Actor (Mad Men )
May 6
Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
Football player
May 9
Rosario Dawson
Actor (Gemini Division )
Andrew W.K.
Actor
May 11
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Actress
May 13
Mickey Madden
Singer
May 16
Jessica Morris
Actress (One Life to Live )
May 19
Kyle Carrozza
Voice actor (Mighty Magiswords )
May 20
Craig Melvin
American broadcast journalist
May 22
Maggie Q
Actress (Nikita , Stalker ) and model
May 24
Tracy McGrady
NBA basketball player
May 25
Corbin Allred
Actor (Teen Angel )
May 26
Elisabeth Harnois
Actress (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation )
Ashley Massaro
TV host (died 2019 )
May 28
Jesse Bradford
Actor
Kal Parekh
Actor
May 30
Jenny Mollen
Actress
June 2
Morena Baccarin
Actress (Homeland )
James Ransone
Actor
June 5
Pete Wentz
American musician (Fall Out Boy )
June 7
Anna Torv
Actress (Fringe )
June 11
Preslaysa Edwards
Actress (The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo )
June 12
Earl Watson
NBA basketball player
June 14
Osvaldo Benavides
Actor
June 17
Young Maylay
Rapper
June 21
Chris Pratt
Actor (Everwood , Parks and Recreation )
June 22
Paul Campbell
Actor
Jai Rodriguez
Actor
June 23
Linzie Janis
American television journalist
June 24
Mindy Kaling
Actress (The Office , The Mindy Project )
June 25
Busy Philipps
Actress (Dawson's Creek , Freaks and Geeks , Cougar Town )
June 26
Julia Benson
Canadian actress (Stargate Universe )
Ryan Tedder
Singer
June 27
Cazwell
Rapper
June 28
Felicia Day
Actress (The Guild )
June 30
Rick Gonzalez
Actor (Reaper , Arrow )
Christopher Jacot
Actor
Lynn Smith
American journalist
July 2
Tom Llamas
American journalist
July 3
Elizabeth Hendrickson
Actress (All My Children )
July 4
Kevin Thoms
Actor
July 6
Kevin Hart
Actor
Moshe Kasher
Actor
July 11
Jax Taylor
Actor
July 12
Brooke Baldwin
American journalist
Omid Abtahi
American actor
July 14
Scott Porter
Actor (Hart of Dixie )
July 15
Philipp Karner
Actor
Laura Benanti
Actress
July 16
Jayma Mays
Actress (Heroes , Ugly Betty , Glee , The League , The Millers , Trial & Error )
July 17
Mike Vogel
Actor (Under the Dome )
July 18
Jason Weaver
Actor (Smart Guy ) and singer
July 22
Parvesh Cheena
Actor
July 23
Michelle Williams
Actress
July 24
Rose Byrne
Actress
July 25
Juan Pablo Di Pace
Actor
July 26
Mageina Tovah
Actress
Tamyra Gray
Singer and Actress (American Idol , Boston Public )
Juliet Rylance
Actress
July 31
B. J. Novak
Actor (Ryan Howard on The Office )
August 1
Jason Momoa
Actor (Stargate Atlantis , Game of Thrones )
August 3
Danso Gordon
Canadian actor (In a Heartbeat , South of Nowhere )
Evangeline Lilly
Canadian actress (Lost )
Sarah Haskins
Comedian
August 7
Eric Johnson
Canadian actor (Smallville , Rookie Blue )
August 10
JoAnna Garcia
Actress (Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Freaks and Geeks , Reba , Privileged , Better with You , The Astronaut Wives Club )
August 11
Drew Nelson
Canadian actor (Girlstuff/Boystuff , Total Drama )
Rob Kerkovich
Actor (NCIS: New Orleans )
August 12
Peter Browngardt
Voice actor (Secret Mountain Fort Awesome , Uncle Grandpa )
Keith Powell
Actor
August 15
Jennifer Finnigan
Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful , Close to Home , Better with You , Tyrant )
August 22
Peter Shukoff
Comedian
Steve Kornacki
Host
Brandon Adams
Actor
August 23
Clare Grant
Actress
August 26
Erik Valdez
Actor (General Hospital , Graceland , Superman & Lois )
August 27
Aaron Paul
Actor
August 28
Shane Van Dyke
Actor
August 30
Marin Ireland
Actress
August 31
Yara Martinez
Actor
September 1
Camille Chen
Actress
September 2
Jonathan Kite
Actor
September 4
Max Greenfield
Actor (New Girl )
September 5
Stacey Dales
Broadcaster
September 7
Andrew Catalon
Broadcaster
September 8
Pink
Singer
September 9
Nikki DeLoach
Actress (Awkward )
September 11
Cameron Richardson
Actress
Ariana Richards
Actress
September 12
Jay McGraw
Writer
September 15
Dave Annable
Actor (Brothers & Sisters , 666 Park Avenue , Red Band Society , Heartbeat )
Amy Davidson
Actress (8 Simple Rules )
September 16
Flo Rida
Rapper
September 18
Alison Lohman
Actress (Pasadena )
Amna Nawaz
Journalist (PBS NewsHour )
September 20
Chris Tardio
Actor
September 22
Michael Graziadei
Actor
September 24
Erin Chambers
Actress (General Hospital )
Justin Bruening
Actor (All My Children )
Ross Mathews
TV host
September 25
Rashad Evans
American retired mixed martial artist
September 26
Nick Weidenfeld
Producer
September 27
Alicyn Packard
Voice actress (The Mr. Men Show . The Tom And Jerry Show )
September 28
Bam Margera
Professional skateboarder and stunt performer (Jackass , Viva La Bam )
Anndi McAfee
Voice actress (Hey Arnold! , Recess , Lloyd in Space )
Mara Schiavocampo
American journalist
September 30
Mike Damus
Actor (Teen Angel , Brutally Normal , Men, Women & Dogs , Trust Me )
October 2
Brianna Brown
Actress (General Hospital , Devious Maids )
October 3
Claudia Bassols
Actress
Matt Davis
Comedian
John Morrison
Actor
Josh Klinghoffer
Musician
October 4
Rachael Leigh Cook
Actress (Perception )
Caitriona Balfe
Irish actress (Outlander )
October 7
Aaron Ashmore
Canadian actors and brothers
Shawn Ashmore
October 8
Kristanna Loken
Actress and model (Painkiller Jane )
October 9
Brandon Routh
Actor (Arrow , Legends of Tomorrow )
Alex Greenwald
Actor
Chris O'Dowd
Actor
October 10
Mýa
Actress
October 14
Stacy Keibler
Actress
October 15
Jaci Velasquez
Actress
October 17
Deanna Russo
Actress
October 18
Ne-Yo
Singer and actor
October 19
Angela Sun
American journalist
October 20
John Krasinski
Actor (Jim Halpert on The Office )
October 22
Tony Denman
Actor
Nina Parker
American television journalist
October 25
Sarah Thompson
Actress (Angel , 7th Heaven )
October 26
Jonathan Chase
Actor
October 29
Andrew-Lee Potts
Actor
October 31
Erica Cerra
Actress
November 2
Erika Flores
Actress (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman )
November 5
Leonardo Nam
Actor
November 6
Lamar Odom
NBA basketball player
Adam LaRoche
Baseball player
Brad Stuart
Hockey player
November 7
Jon Peter Lewis
Singer (American Idol , The Voice )
November 8
Dania Ramirez
Dominican-American actress (Entourage , Heroes , Devious Maids , Once Upon a Time )
November 9
Darren Trumeter
Actor
November 12
Cote de Pablo
Chilean-American actress (NCIS )
November 13
Henry Wolfe
Actor, singer and son of Meryl Streep and Don Gummer
Metta World Peace
NBA basketball player
November 14
Olga Kurylenko
Actress
November 17
Azita Ghanizada
American actress
November 18
Nate Parker
American actor
November 19
Barry Jenkins
American screenwriter
Michelle Vieth
American actress
November 20
Jacob Pitts
American actor
November 22
Josh Cooke
American actor
November 23
Jonathan Sadowski
Actor ($#*! My Dad Says , Young & Hungry )
Kelly Brook
Model and actress (Smallville )
November 25
Jerry Ferrara
American actor
Joel Kinnaman
Actor
November 28
Daniel Henney
American actor
Brian Nolan
American actor
Chamillionaire
American rapper
November 29
The Game
American rapper
Simon Amstell
Presenter
November 30
Diego Klattenhoff
Canadian actor (Homeland , The Blacklist )
December 2
Melissa Archer
Actress (One Life to Live )
December 3
Tiffany Haddish
Actress (The Carmichael Show )
Rainbow Sun Francks
Actor
December 5
Nick Stahl
Actor
December 7
Eric Bauza
Canadian voice actor (Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island , El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera , The Fairly OddParents , The Looney Tunes Show , Ben 10: Omniverse , Xiaolin Chronicles , Uncle Grandpa , Breadwinners , New Looney Tunes , Atomic Puppet , Mighty Magiswords , Ben 10 , Unikitty , Muppet Babies , Legend of the Three Caballeros , Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles )
Jennifer Carpenter
Actress
Sara Bareilles
Actress
December 8
Nick Thune
Actor
Ingrid Michaelson
Actress
December 11
Rider Strong
Actor (Boy Meets World , Kim Possible , Girl Meets World , Star vs. the Forces of Evil )
December 13
Kimee Balmilero
Actress
December 15
Adam Brody
Actor (The O.C. )
December 16
Brodie Lee
Pro wrestler (WWE , AEW ) (died 2020)
Trevor Immelman
Golfer
December 17
Jaimee Foxworth
Actress (Family Matters )
Lil Rel Howery
Actor
December 18
Emily Swallow
Actress
December 19
Tara Summers
English actress (Boston Legal )
December 21
Rutina Wesley
Actress (True Blood )
December 23
Holly Madison
Model
December 26
Chris Daughtry
Singer (American Idol )
December 28
Bree Williamson
Actress (One Life to Live )
André Holland
Actor
Bree Williamson
Actress
December 29
Ariel Schrag
Writer
Diego Luna
Actor
December 30
Catherine Taber
Voice actress (Star Wars: The Clone Wars , The Loud House )
December 31
Elaine Cassidy
Actress
Deaths
See also
References
External links