1960 in television

See also:

Events

• February 11 - Jack Paar walks off his TV show because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three minute news update. Parr walked out at the beginning of the show, announced that he was quitting, said "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and walked off the stage. After network executives personally apologized, Parr returned to the show a month later. His first show back started with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted..."
• June 29 - The BBC Television Centre is opened in London.
• Frank and Doris Hursley start their soap opera writing career, taking the jobs of joint head writers on Search for Tomorrow.
• American Presidential Candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live on television. The candidates behavior during the debate most likely altered the outcome of the election. In addition to being the first Presidential debates to be broadcast on television, the debates also marked the first time "split screen" images were used by a network.
• 90% of homes in the United States now own a television set, and over one hundred million television sets in use worldwide.
• First color television broadcasts in Japan.