1946–47 United States network television schedule

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  • Late night: 1944–45
  • 1945–46
  • 1946–47
  • 1947–48
  • 1948–49

The 1946–47 United States network television schedule was nominally from September of 1946 to the March of 1947, but scheduling ideas were still being worked out and did not follow modern standards.

This was the first "network television season" in the United States, and only NBC and DuMont operated networks, as CBS only operated one television station, WCBS, and had yet to send out its programs to cities other than New York City. Additionally, several other companies—including Mutual, Paramount, and ABC—had plans to enter the medium over the next few years. Although experimental broadcasting had begun in the 1930s and television stations had been commercially licensed beginning in 1941, it was not until 1946 that coaxial cable connections allowed stations to share the same program schedules. Even then, only a few cities on the East Coast were connected.

Notable series on the schedule included the first network TV soap opera, Faraway Hill; the poorly-received but ambitious variety series, Hour Glass; the first network-televised game show, Cash and Carry (prior game shows had been single-station only); and the anthology series Kraft Television Theatre.

Few broadcasts made during this season exist in any archive, but segments of Campus Hoopla dating from 1947 exist in the Hubert Chain Collection of the earliest kinescopes still in existence, as preserved in the Library of Congress (Moving Image Collection). Audio recordings of live TV broadcasts of this show are also on file at the Library of Congress from the 1946–47 period, as recorded from WNBT-TV in New York (NBC's original flagship station in New York City, today's WNBC-TV).

New series and those that made their network debuts during the season are highlighted in bold. Series ending are highlighted in italics.

Legend[]

  •   Light blue indicates local programming.
  •   Light green indicates sporting events.
  •   Light purple indicates movies.

Fall schedule[]

Sunday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Local programming
NBC Fall Local programming (8:00) Face to Face
(8:15) Geographically Speaking 		Broadway Previews/NBC Television Theatre Local programming
Winter (8:00) Face to Face
(8:15) Bristol-Myers Tele-Varieties
Summer

* Beginning in December 1946 on WNBT-TV, and then on January 5, 1947, on the NBC Network, Bristol-Myers Tele-Varieties, hosted by Jinx Falkenburg and Tex McCrary, aired Sundays from 8:15 to 8:30pm ET.

Monday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Local programming Boxing from Jamaica Arena
NBC Local programming (7:30) Local programming
(7:50) The Esso Newsreel 		(8:00)Voice of Firestone Televues
(8:10) Short Film Subjects 		Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena (open-ended)

Tuesday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Fall Local programming Play the Game Selected Film Shorts Serving Through Science Local programming
August Small Fry Club Highway to the Stars Western movie Local programming
NBC Local programming

Wednesday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Local programming Magic Carpet (travelogue) Local programming Faraway Hill Boxing from Jamaica Arena
NBC Fall Local Programming
May Local Programming Kraft Television Theatre (From May 7) (8:30) In the Kelvinator Kitchen (From May 21)/(8:45) Local Programming Local Programming

Thursday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Fall Local programming Vera Massey Show (Through January)/Melody Bar Ranch (From January) Film Shorts Cash and Carry Local programming
Summer Local programming King Cole's Birthday Party
NBC Local programming (7:30) In Town Today
(7:50) The Esso Newsreel 		Hour Glass Famous Fights (Boxing film highlights) Local programming

Note: On DuMont, King Cole's Birthday Party was also known simply as Birthday Party. It debuted on Dumont′s New York City station, WABD on May 15, 1947. By early 1948 it was carried on the entire network, but the date it switched from a New York-only to a complete network broadcast is unclear.

Friday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Local programming Western movie Wrestling from Jamaica Arena
NBC Local programming (8:00) Television Quarterback (To December 20) Campus Hoopla (From December 27)
(8:15) You Are an Artist

(8:25) Let's Rhumba

(8:30) I Love to Eat
(8:45) The World in Your Home 		Boxing from Madison Square Garden (open-ended)

Saturday[]

Network 7:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10:00 p.m. 10:30 p.m.
DMN Local Programming
NBC Local Programming

By network[]

Some of the series below are not shown on the schedule as the day and time these aired are not currently known.

Du Mont[]

NBC[]

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References[]

  • Bergmann, Ted; Skutch, Ira (2002). The DuMont Television Network: What Happened? Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-4270-X.
  • Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earl (1979). The complete directory to prime-time network TV shows 1946–present. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-28248-5.
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