1996 in television

For the American network television schedule, please see 1996-97 American network television schedule.

Events

• January 28 - Chris Isaak and Brooke Shields make guest appearances on the television show Friends.
• February 7 - Dragon Ball GT premieres as being the third of its Dragon Ball series aired on Fuji TV, almost after 10 years.
• May 14 - Doctor Who, an American television movie continuation of the famous British series of the same name, airs on the Fox Network in the Tuesday Night Movie slot. This television movie is regarded as being a part of the same story as the original series and is an unsuccessful pilot for a new, American co-produced series. A new weekly series was launched and debuted in the UK in 2005. Ironically, Jon Pertwee, one of the stars of the original series, dies only a couple of days after the telefilm's US premiere.
• July - When it becomes evident that Anna Stuart will be next to die in a serial killer storyline on Another World, many fans start letter-writing campaigns to save the actress; the NBC studios in New York City also report a high number of switchboard calls regarding Stuart's imminent demise. Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps decides that actress Alice Barrett will be killed off the show instead.
• October 7 - News Corporation gets into the cable news fray with the launch of Fox News Channel.
• December 29 - Time On Our Hands, the final episode of a Christmas trilogy of the popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses, airs on BBC One. Publicised as the last ever episode, it draws a massive 24.3 million viewers, reportedly the largest ever audience for a sitcom in the UK. In the event, however, the show returns for three subsequent specials, one shown each Christmas from 2001.
• The O. J. Simpson civil trial begins.
• Zenith introduces the first HDTV-compatible front projection TV in the U.S. Broadcasters, TV & PC manufacturers set industry standards for digital HDTV.
• Over a billion households worldwide now own television sets.