2002 in television

Events

• February 3 - airs on PBS stations reaching 85% of the U.S. after Super Bowl XXXVI; reportedly the best coverage yet achieved by a former public access television program.
• February 11 - Two new BBC childrens channels, CBeebies (aimed at children under 6) and CBBC (aimed at children aged 6-13) launch.
• March 2 - BBC Knowledge in the UK ceases transmission, the first BBC channel to permanently close.
• March 2 - BBC Four launches in the UK, replacing BBC Knowledge. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two.
• April 17 - General Hospital airs its milestone 10,000th episode.
• May - One Life to Live airs a full week of episodes broadcast live from the ABC New York studios.
• September 5 - The flagship couple on soap opera The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott), marry for the third time.
• October 30 - Warren Zevon is featured on the Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for the entire hour. Zevon performs several songs and talks in length about being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
• October - Longtime castmember Hunter Tylo's character, Dr. Taylor Hamilton Forrester, is killed off the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, which is seen worldwide.
• December - Talk show host David Letterman, Paul Shaffer and a stage hand from the Late Show with David Letterman, Biff Henderson, spend Christmas in Afghanistan with the United States and international military forces stationed in the country.
• December 15 - Animation for The Simpsons changes from cel animation to digital ink and paint.
• NBC introduces Discovery Kids.
• Fox News Channel overtakes CNN as the #1 cable TV news service in the US.
• Fox Kids, then owned by ABC Family, leaves Fox and is replaced by the Fox Box (now known as 4Kids TV).
• Alter and Tempo, the Greek speaking channels switches much of family/children's programming.
• ', Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E., and Ultraman Tiga debut on Fox Box.