A day for NBC game shows that could be described as anything but uneventful. In the morning, Dennis James' version of Name That Tune and the Bob Stewart/Bill Cullen series Winning Streak end their run. In the afternoon, the biggest prize in American daytime television game shows at the time is won on Jackpot, in which two contestants split a cash prize of $38,750. Finally, the original Jeopardy! also ends its run after 2,753 episodes. It would return in nationwide syndication in 1984.
January 6
Another eventful day for NBC's daytime schedule. The morning sees the premiere episode of Wheel of Fortune, with Chuck Woolery as host and Susan Stafford as the assistant, while in the afternoon Blank Check, the Art James/Jack Barry game show debuts. Finally, Another World becomes the first American soap opera to become an hour-long program.
January 11
On CBS's All in the Family, the Bunkers say goodbye to their neighbors as The Jeffersons "move on up" to their own separate sitcom.
Fred Silverman becomes the head of ABC Entertainment. Silverman's programming choices will prove fruitful for ABC, resulting in its late-decade ratings dominance (and initiating an era of what was disparagingly called "T&A" or "Jiggle television").
September 8
The CBS game show The Price is Right is expanded to the length of one hour, with six games and two Showcase Showdowns as a week-long experiment. The format, which marked the debut of "The Big Wheel", is made permanent two months later.
The first television station in the U.S. to be owned and operated by African Americans signs on in Detroit, Michigan as WGPR-TV channel 62, which is present-day CBSO&OWWJ-TV.
September 30
HBO broadcasts the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier title fight from the Philippines. Known as the "Thrilla in Manila", the live feed was sent via satellite to the U.S.
NBC is forced to join Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in progress at the conclusion of an NFL football game between the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, which ended in overtime. This was done to avoid a repeat of the "Heidi Game" incident of 1968, in which the network interrupted coverage of an AFL game between the Raiders and the New York Jets to show the movie Heidi, a decision that infuriated football fans and haunted network executives.
December 1
CBS makes its first soap opera expansion when the top-rated As The World Turns airs its first hour-long episode.
Other notable events[]
In November, Sony Corporation introduces the Betamax video recorder in the United States, which comes in a teakwood console alongside a 19 inches (480 mm) color television set. It sold for $2,495.
NBC retires the Laramie Peacock logo, which was used at the start of every color program on the network. The network later retires the NBC snake logo, used for promos and network identifications, in December.
Programs[]
^[e] signifies that this show has a related event in the Events section above.
The Louisiana Educational Television Authority, established in 1971, approved the proposal to build and sign on the stations that would make up the network, starting with Baton Rouge-based WLPB-TV, the network's flagship.
^Schwartz, David; Ryan, Steve; Wostbrock, Fred (1999). The Encyclopedia of TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Facts on File. pp. 178–179. ISBN0-8160-3846-5.