1961 in television

See also:

Events

• July 1 - The soap opera The Brighter Day airs its first episode after moving taping locations from New York City to Los Angeles. As a result, key character Babby Dennis and her love interest are mysteriously written out of the show; the actors who played them did not want to move.
• September - NBC begins its long-running Saturday Night at the Movies series with an airing of the 1953 Marilyn Monroe picture How to Marry a Millionaire.
• November 4 - RAI's second television channel (now called Rai Due) first airs to 52% of the available households in Italy.
• December 31 - RTÉ starts television broadcasts, bringing television to Ireland for the first time.
• John F. Kennedy holds the first live televised Presidential press conference.
• Danger Man (UK) (1960-1961, 1964-1966) is cancelled due to lack of interest from American broadcasters. The series would be revived and revamped in 1964.