1940 in television

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The year 1940 in television involved some significant events.

Below is a list of television-related events during 1940.

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Events

January – The FCC has public hearings concerning television.
January 12 - The first network telecast, a play entitled "Meet The Wife," is televised by NBC over W2XBS (NBC) and W2XB.
February 25 – The first ice hockey game is televised in the United States, the New York Rangers vs Montreal Canadiens, from Madison Square Garden on W2XBS-TV.
February 28 – The first basketball game is televised, from Madison Square Garden: Fordham University vs the University of Pittsburgh.
March 10 – The Metropolitan Opera broadcast for the first time from NBC studios at Rockefeller Center an abridged performance of the first act of Pagliacci, along with excerpts from four other operas.
March 15 – RCA reduces the price of television sets.
May 21 – Bell Telephone Laboratories transmits a 441-line video signal, with a bandwidth of 2.7 MHz, by coaxial cable from New York to Philadelphia and back.
June – W2XBS in New York (NBC) covers the Republican National Convention from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for 33 hours, during a five-day period. The signal is transmitted via coaxial cable.
August 1 – W2XBS goes out of commission from 1 August 1940 until the 27th of October 1940 while the transmitter is adjusted from 441-line picture to 525-line picture.
August 29 – Peter Carl Goldmark of CBS announces his invention of a color television system.
September 3 – CBS resumes its television transmissions with the first demonstration of high definition color TV, by W2XAB, transmitting from the Chrysler Building.
November 5 - First televised Presidential election coverage is carried by W2XBS (NBC) and W2XWV (DuMont).

Debuts

February 3 - Art for Your Sake, an art discussion program hosted by Dr. Bernard Myers, debuts on W2XBS (NBC) (1940).
February 21 - NBC News with Lowell Thomas, a simulcast of Lowell Thomas’ daily radio newscast, debuts on W2XBS (NBC) (1940).
March 27- The Esso Television Reporter debuts on W2XBS (NBC) (1940).
July 8 - Boxing from Jamaica Arena debuts on W2XBS (NBC) (1940-42).

Television shows

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Series

!Debut

!Ended

!Network

|Art for Your Sake

|February 3, 1940

|March 30, 1940

|NBC

|NBC News with Lowell Thomas

|February 21, 1940

|July 30, 1940

|NBC

|The Esso Television Reporter

|March 27, 1940

|May 31, 1940

|NBC

|Boxing from Jamaica Arena

|July 8, 1940

|May 18, 1942

|NBC

Programs ending during 1940

{| class="wikitable"

!Date

!Series

!Debut

|May 31

|The Esso Television Reporter

|March 27, 1940

|July 30

|NBC News with Lowell Thomas

|February 21, 1940

Births

January 5 – Michael O'Donoghue, writer (died 1994)
January 14 – Trevor Nunn, British theatre director
January 19 – Mike Reid, English actor and comedian (died 2007)
January 22 – John Hurt, English actor (died 2017)
January 27 – James Cromwell, actor
January 29 – Katharine Ross, actress
January 31 – Stuart Margolin, actor, The Rockford Files (died 2022)
February 2 – David Jason, English actor, Only Fools and Horses
February 3 – Jim Hartz, television personality (died 2022)
February 6
Tom Brokaw, American journalist
Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian
February 8 – Ted Koppel, journalist
February 10 – Kathryn Mullen, puppeteer
February 12 – Ralph Bates, English actor (died 1991)
February 17 – John Lewis, politician (died 2020)
February 20 – Smokey Robinson, singer
February 22
Don Cannon, American news anchor
Judy Cornwell, English actress
February 23 – Peter Fonda, actor (died 2019)
February 24 – James Sloyan, actor
February 27 – Howard Hesseman, actor, WKRP in Cincinnati, Head of the Class (died 2022)
February 29
Sonja Barend, talk show host
Margit Carstensen, actress (died 2023)
Yoshio Harada, actor (died 2011)
Harvey Jason, actor
Monte Kiffin, coach
March 7 – Daniel J. Travanti, actor, Hill Street Blues
March 10 – Chuck Norris, actor, Walker, Texas Ranger (died 2026)
March 15 – Phil Lesh, musician
March 26
James Caan, actor, Las Vegas (died 2022)
Nancy Pelosi, politician
March 28 – Tony Barber, host
April 2 – Penelope Keith, English actress, To The Manor Born
April 12
John Hagee, pastor
Herbie Hancock, jazz pianist
April 15 – Thea White, American voice actress (died 2021)
April 17 – Chuck Menville, American television animator and writer (died 1992)
April 25 – Al Pacino, actor
April 30 – Burt Young, actor (died 2023)
May 5 – Lance Henriksen, actor
May 6 – Rick Husky, producer
May 8
Emilio Delgado, actor (died 2022)
Ricky Nelson, actor (died 1985)
May 9 – James L. Brooks, producer
May 10 – Taurean Blacque, actor, Hill Street Blues (died 2022)
May 15
Roger Ailes, American television executive (died 2017)
Lainie Kazan, American actress
May 17 – Peter Gerety, actor
May 22
Michael Sarrazin, actor (died 2011)
Bernard Shaw, journalist (died 2022)
May 24 – Arvin Brown, American theatre and television director
June 1 – René Auberjonois, actor, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (died 2019)
June 2 – Maree Cheatham, actress (Search for Tomorrow, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives)
June 6 – Richard Paul, actor (died 1998)
June 11 – Daniel J. Sullivan, film director
June 14 – Jack Bannon, actor, Lou Grant (died 2017)
June 20 – John Mahoney, English-born actor, Frasier (died 2018)
June 21 – Mariette Hartley, actress
June 22 – Esther Rantzen, English consumer affairs presenter, That's Life!
June 26 – Mel White, author
July 3 – Michael Cole, actor, The Mod Squad
July 6 – Jeannie Seely, singer
July 7 – Ringo Starr, English rock drummer, The Beatles
July 13 – Patrick Stewart, English actor, Star Trek: The Next Generation
July 17
Tim Brooke-Taylor, English comedy performer, The Goodies (died 2020)
Verne Lundquist, American sportscaster
July 18 – James Brolin, actor, Marcus Welby, M.D.
July 22 – Alex Trebek, game show host, Jeopardy! (died 2020)
July 23 – Don Imus, American radio/television host, Imus in the Morning (died 2019)
July 24 – Dan Hedaya, American actor
July 31 – Roy Walker, television host
August 3 – Martin Sheen, actor, The West Wing
August 19
Jill St. John, actress
Lou Wagner, actor
August 22 – Judy Nugent, actress (died 2023)
August 23 – Richard Sanders, actor, WKRP in Cincinnati
August 26 – Don LaFontaine, voice actor (died 2008)
August 28
Ken Jenkins, actor, Scrubs
Bonnie Turner, producer
September 1 – Gary Bender, sportscaster
September 5 – Raquel Welch, actress (died 2023)
September 11 – Brian De Palma, screenwriter
September 12 – Linda Gray, actress, Dallas
September 21 – Bill Kurtis, news anchor
October 4 – Christopher Stone, actor (The Interns) (died 1995)
October 9 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter, The Beatles (killed 1980)
October 16 – Barry Corbin, American actor
October 19 – Michael Gambon, Irish-born British actor, The Singing Detective (died 2023)
October 28 – Susan Harris, writer
November 9 – Reynaldo Villalobos, director
November 13 – Daniel Pilon, Cuban-born actor, Dallas (died 2018)
November 15 – Sam Waterston, actor, Law & Order
November 20 – Tony Butala, singer
November 21 – Freddy Beras-Goico, TV host
November 22 – Terry Gilliam, actor
November 27 – Bruce Lee, actor (died 1973)
December 2 – Connie Booth, actress, Fawlty Towers
December 7 – Carole Simpson, broadcast journalist
December 11 – Donna Mills, actress, Knots Landing
December 12 – Dionne Warwick, singer
December 21
Arvi Lind, Finnish newsreader
Don Phillips, American casting director (died 2021)
December 30 – James Burrows, director

Events

Debuts

Television shows

Programs ending during 1940

Births

References