Wikipedia: 1956 in television

1956 in television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

See also: 1955 in television, other events of 1956, 1957 in television and the list of 'years in television'.

Events

January 28 - Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show
April 3 - Elvis Presley appears on the Milton Berle show
May 6 - Elvis Presley appears on the Milton Berle show
July 1 - Elvis Presley appears on the Steve Allen show
April - WNBQ Chicago becomes the first TV station to broadcast all its local programming in color.
April Ampex demonstrates a videotape recorder at the NAB Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The three networks place orders for the recorders.
August 8 - Final telecast of the DuMont network
September 9 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
October 1 - Ernie Kovacs becomes the host for NBC's Tonight Show on Mondays and Tuesdays.
October 29 - First use of videotape in network television programming; CBS uses its Ampex VTR to record the evening news, anchored by Douglas Edwards. The tape is then fed to West Coast stations three hours later
October 29 - Chet Huntley and David Brinkley take over anchor duties of the NBC evening newscast, which is renamed The Huntley-Brinkley Report
November - The first use of videotape on a network television entertainment program; Jonathan Winters, uses videotape and superimposing techniques to be able to play two characters in the same skit for his NBC television show
November 3 - The Wizard of Oz is shown on television for the first time (the viewing audience was estimated at 45 million people).
Television broadcasting begins in Australia
Television broadcasting begins in Uruguay
Black-and-white portable TV sets hit the market

Debuts

April 2 - As the World Turns (1956-present)
April 2 - The Edge of Night (1956-1984)

Popular Television Shows

The Gale Storm Show, Oh! Susanna (1956-1960), starring Gale Storm and Zazu Pitts
Jungle Jim (1956-1957), starring Johnny Weissmuller
The Price is Right game show premieres
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971)
Gunsmoke (1955-1975)
The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney and Audrey Meadows (1955-1956)
Lawrence Welk Show (1955-1982)
The Tonight Show (1954-present)
Disneyland (1954-1983)

Births

January 7 - David Caruso, actor

Deaths

December 7 - Huntley Gordon, pioneer Hollywood actor