2006 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2006. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
Events
January
| Date | Event |
| 1 |
NBC Universal ends the channel program Trio and in its place begins Sleuth, a 24-hour entertainment cable TV channel dedicated to the crime, mystery and suspense genres. |
| 2 |
After several years as part of The WB's weekday programming sequence, The WB ends its weekday afternoon Kids' WB animation sequence. Kids' WB was relegated to Saturday mornings, and the weekday block is replaced by Daytime WB. |
| 3 |
The original Viacom officially divides into two companies, with the CBS television network and Showtime Networks becoming part of CBS Corporation, and the MTV Networks group of channels (which includes MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central) and Black Entertainment Television becoming part of the new Viacom. Eventually, the greatest casualty of the division was that Paramount Television, which became part of CBS Corporation, would cease to exist after 38 years of television production, as it was merged into the CBS Productions, part of the CBS network. The studio had the name of CBS Paramount Television for three years, later becoming CBS Television Studios. |
| Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas begin anchoring duties for ABC News's World News Tonight, replacing Peter Jennings, who died of cancer during 2005. |
| 12 |
Dari Alexander (anchor of 2pm and 4pm portions of Fox News Live on weekends) and Rick Folbaum (anchor of Fox Report Weekend) are transferred from Fox News Channel to the Fox-owned-and-operated station WNYW/New York City. They are replaced by Jamie Colby and Trace Gallagher, respectively (Gallagher would make it official on February 4). Folbaum, however, would return to the network in 2009. |
| Second live episode of the program Will & Grace is broadcast by NBC on both the East and West coasts of the USA. |
| 24 |
CBS and Warner Bros. announce the initiation of The CW Television Network for the 2006–2007 season. This network is, in a sense, a merger of The WB and UPN and was designed to replace both of those networks.[1] |
| 28 |
The Directors Guild of America name Tony Croll and J. Rupert Thompson as best reality television directors for the programs Three Wishes and Fear Factor, respectively. Best director of a dramatic series is Michael Apted for Rome. Television comedy series director is Marc Buckland for My Name Is Earl. Directors Joseph Sargent (Warm Springs) and George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues) share best television movie awards. General Hospitals Owen Renfroe is named best daytime television serial director. |
February
March
| Date |
Event |
| 8 |
Bravo's premiere of one of its most popular shows to date, Top Chef. |
| 16 |
SportsNet New York is begun. It is home of the New York Mets and New York Jets. |
| 17 |
United States premiere of the new series of Doctor Who on Sci-Fi's Friday-night sequence. |
| 26 |
Last first-broadcast episodes to date of the long-running TV series Soul Train. Reruns of the previous season are broadcast until October, when "The Best of Soul Train" reruns from the 1970s and 1980s begin being broadcast instead of new episodes. |
April
May
June
July
August
September
| Date |
Event |
| 2 |
ESPN takes over production of ABC Sports broadcasts, rebranding them as ESPN on ABC. Both networks are owned by The Walt Disney Company. |
| 4 |
MTV en Español is relaunched as MTV Tres. |
| 5 |
Debut of the new News Corp-owned American broadcast network MyNetworkTV with the premiere of two prime-time telenovelas, Desire and Fashion House. |
| Katie Couric becomes the first female sole anchor of the CBS Evening News, replacing the temporary anchor Bob Schieffer. |
| 6 |
The longest-broadcast television drama program, Guiding Light, broadcasts its 15,000th televised episode. |
| 8 |
The former Kids' WB series, Pokémon, makes its Cartoon Network debut with new voice actors. |
| 9 |
Qubo debuts as a Saturday morning block on NBC as well as a Spanish-dubbed version on Telemundo and a Friday afternoon programming block on i: Independent Television. |
| 11 |
Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy! become the first game shows to be broadcast in High Definition. |
| John O'Hurley replaces Richard Karn as the host of Family Feud. |
| 12 |
Mike Malin is named the winner of Big Brother: All-Stars and wins the $500,000 prize. Runner-Up Erika Landin wins $50,000. |
| Fox officially shuts down Foxnet, a cable service for television markets that did not have a local Fox affiliate. |
| 13 |
Meredith Vieira begins co-hosting duties of the program The Today Show, replacing Katie Couric. |
| 16 |
Following the Viacom/CBS split, the Nick Jr. on CBS block is replaced by KOL Secret Slumber Party, a female-oriented Saturday morning block produced by DiC Entertainment. Rebrandings took place a year later when it became KEWLopolis, and with the merge to Cookie Jar Entertainment in the fall of 2009, Cookie Jar TV. |
| 18 |
The CW network debuts as the sixth broadcast network, merging with UPN (owned by CBS which split in the original Viacom, three days after UPN ceased operations) and The WB (owned by Warner Bros., a day after The WB ceased operations). |
| Vickyann Sadowski wins $147,517 worth of cash and prizes for her performance for The Price Is Right. This not only made Sadowski the biggest winner of the daytime show's history, it also surpassed Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson, making her the biggest one day winner in the history of American network daytime game shows in general. |
| 20 |
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is seriously injured after crashing a jet-powered car at 280 mph. |
| 25 |
Fox & Friends co-anchor E.D. Hill quits the show and is replaced by Gretchen Carlson. |
| Outdoor Life Network is relaunched as Versus. |
October
| Date |
Event |
| 19 |
NBC Universal announces a major restructuring in order to save US$750 million after several years of decreasing ratings. Among the changes is the announcement that NBC will no longer broadcast scripted dramas or comedies during the first hour of prime time, emphasizing instead less-expensive reality and game shows during those hours. Its news division is also trimmed. The announcement is made despite the early success of several new NBC series such as Heroes.[2] |
| 31 |
Bob Barker announces that he will be retiring from his hosting duties for The Price Is Right after 35 years in June 2007. |
November
Programs
Debuts (including scheduled)
Changes of network affiliation
The following shows will air new episodes on a different network than previous first-run episodes.
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
| January 12 |
Anne Meacham |
80 |
Actress (Louise on Another World) |
| January 14 |
Shelley Winters |
85 |
Actress (Nana Mary on Roseanne) |
| February 3 |
Al Lewis |
82 |
Actor (Grandpa on The Munsters, Leo Schnauser on Car 54, Where Are You?) |
| February 5 |
Franklin Cover |
77 |
Actor (Tom Willis on The Jeffersons) |
| Norma Candal |
78 |
Actress (Petunia in La criada malcriada) |
| February 24 |
Dennis Weaver |
81 |
Actor (Sam McCloud on McCloud, Chester Good on Gunsmoke) |
| Don Knotts |
81 |
Actor (Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, Ralph Furley on Three's Company) |
| February 25 |
Darren McGavin |
83 |
Actor (Hammer on Mike Hammer) |
| March 13 |
Peter Tomarken |
63 |
Game show host (Press Your Luck, Hit Man, Wipeout) |
| March 25 |
Buck Owens |
76 |
Musician, host of Hee Haw |
| March 27 |
Dan Curtis |
78 |
Creator of Dark Shadows |
| April 17 |
Henderson Forsythe |
88 |
Actor (As the World Turns) |
| April 30 |
Jay Bernstein |
68 |
Producer (Mike Hammer); also manager to Suzanne Somers and Farrah Fawcett |
| May 29 |
James Brolan |
42 |
CBS News sound technician, killed by a car bomb in Iraq |
| Paul Douglas |
48 |
CBS news cameraman, killed by a car bomb in Iraq |
| May 30 |
Robert Sterling |
88 |
Actor (George Kerby on Topper) |
| June 6 |
Billy Preston |
59 |
American musician |
| June 23 |
Aaron Spelling |
83 |
Producer (Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, more) |
| June 28 |
Lennie Weinrib |
71 |
Actor (The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan) |
| July 3 |
Benjamin Hendrickson |
55 |
Actor (As the World Turns) |
| July 19 |
Jack Warden |
85 |
Actor (Harry Fox on Crazy Like a Fox, George Halas in Brian's Song) |
| Tudi Wiggins |
70 |
Actress (Love of Life) |
| July 21 |
Mako Iwamatsu |
72 |
Voice (Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender) |
| August 11 |
Mike Douglas |
86 |
Talk show host (The Mike Douglas Show) |
| September 4 |
Steve Irwin |
44 |
Australian actor (The Crocodile Hunter) |
| October 20 |
Jane Wyatt |
96 |
Actress (Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best) |
| November 1 |
Bettye Ackerman |
82 |
Actress (Dr. Maggie Graham on Ben Casey) |
| November 9 |
Ed Bradley |
65 |
CBS News journalist (60 Minutes) |
| November 11 |
Belinda Emmett |
32 |
Actress (Rebecca Nash in Home and Away) |
| December 12 |
Peter Boyle |
71 |
Actor (Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond) |
| December 14 |
Mike Evans |
57 |
Actor (Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family, The Jeffersons) |
| December 18 |
Joseph Barbera |
95 |
Animator (The Flintstones and many others) |
| December 28 |
Jared Nathan |
21 |
Child actor (ZOOM) |
References