1979 in television

See also:

Events

• February 3 - Dead Man's Curve, a made-for-TV-movie about surf-rock singers Jan & Dean, airs on US television.
• February 11 - In the US, 43 million viewers watch "Elvis!" on ABC, a made for TV movie starring Kurt Russell as Elvis.
• March 5 - Another World becomes the first (and, to date, the only) soap opera to air regularly-scheduled ninety-minute telecasts. This does not last more than a year, however.
• August 10 - In the UK, the whole of the ITV network except in the Channel Islands, is affected by a technicians' strike for eleven weeks.
• September 7 - ESPN begins broadcasting sports 24/7 and was the first cable channel to be launched.
• September 19 - On the two-hour TV-movie season premiere event on Eight is Enough, both David and Susan Bradford married their respective loves in a double ceremony. The premiere grabbed a 40 share across the two hours.
• October 24 - On ITV's first night back on air after the strike, Quatermass, the fourth and final serial featuring the heroic Professor Bernard Quatermass, begins its run on the network.
• October 25 - The long-running soap opera Love of Life is taken off the air for emergency retooling, due to falling ratings.
• Over 300 million households worldwide now own television sets.
• General Hospital tops the yearly daytime television ratings for the first time.
• CFMT, Toronto's first multicultural channel, launches.
• Un Pecado del Amor premieres in Guatemala.
• First color television broadcasts in Greece.
• BBC2 unveils the first computer-generated television presentation symbol in the world.