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The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2003. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
ABC affiliate WBKP in Calumet, Michigan greatly improves its coverage area in the Upper Peninsula when it signs-on satellite station WBUP in Ishpeming.
4
Nick Jr. celebrates its 15th anniversary.
19
The WB series Charmed broadcasts its 100th episode.
20
KMAY-LP (now KAGS-LD) in Bryan, Texas signs-on as a satellite of Temple-based NBC affiliate KCEN-TV.
26
The 37th edition of the Super Bowl is broadcast on ABC, making the last ever Super Bowl to be scheduled on January. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers win their first championship, defeating the Oakland Raiders by score of 48–21. John Madden, who provided color commentary alongside Al Michaels, becomes the first person to announce Super Bowls on different networks in consecutive years, having called Super Bowl XXXVI on Fox.
February[]
Date
Event
5
The Price Is Right broadcasts its first Million Dollar Spectacular on CBS.
8
A new version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, tittled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series), airs on the Fox Box
16
The 300th episode of the series The Simpsons is broadcast on Fox the same night as the Married... with Children reunion special.
21
Late Show host David Letterman begins a few weeks' leave from the CBS talk show due to a bout of shingles (during this time, guest hosts will include Bruce Willis, Regis Philbin, Will Ferrell and Elvis Costello).
24
CBS Evening News anchor Dan RatherinterviewsSaddam Hussein on national television, shortly before the Iraq invasion began.
The miniseries Giant Robot Week is broadcast by Cartoon Network, which includes 2 edited episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is the first attempt to broadcast the series by network TV.
26
On CBS, The Young and the Restless celebrates its 30th anniversary.
27
Fred Rogers, host of the television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood dies of stomach cancer at the age of 74.
March[]
Date
Event
21
Farscape's series finale, "Bad Timing", airs on Sci Fi.
27
C-SPAN airs a press conference being held in the White House in which PresidentGeorge W. Bush and British Prime MinisterTony Blair spoke about the 2003 Invasion of Iraq which had begun roughly one week prior. The event was one of the most-watched C-SPAN broadcasts of the year according to Nielsen ratings and was simultaneously broadcast on CNN and Fox News. A similar broadcast in April of the following year was similarly widely viewed.[1]
On ABC, General Hospital celebrates its 40th anniversary.
1
WRBU was disaffiliated from the Home Shopping Network to become a UPN station.
5
Everyday Italian debuts on Food Network hosted by Giada De Laurentiis. The show, which De Laurentiis focuses for her viewers on traditional Italian cuisine with an American flair, would result in becoming one of Food Network's most popular daytime cooking shows.
7
Dragon Ball Z broadcasts its final episode on Cartoon Network. The series was first broadcast by Toonami on August 31, 1998. The series will return in 2005 with the first 65 episodes re-dubbed and uncut.
All Grown Up!, a spin-off of Rugrats, premieres on Nickelodeon. The series premiere becomes the highest-rated premiere in Nickelodeon history and held that record until 2010.
18
Disney Channel celebrates its 20th anniversary.
22
Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel) kisses Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) on the ABC soap opera All My Children; this is the first lesbian kiss on American daytime television.
May[]
Date
Event
8
Nancy Christy becomes the first woman to win $1,000,000 on the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
On a special episode of Primetime entitled Major Fraud (which originally aired as an episode of Tonight on ITV on April 21), segments of an unaired 2001 episode of the British version of Millionaire featuring Charles Ingram were broadcast. The program featured additional interviews with witnesses of the criminal trial that happened after Ingram was stripped of the £1,000,000 prize; Ingram had been found guilty of deception at Southwark Crown Court on April 7.
16
The 30th Daytime Emmy Awards are given, in a ceremony telecast by ABC.
Cartoon Cartoons Fridays airs its final episode on Cartoon Network. The following Friday, "Summer Fridays" takes its place.
19
ABC broadcasts a four-hour 50th anniversary special.
U.S./Canadian cable network Much USA is rebranded as Fuse.
On Fox, Ruben Studdard becomes the winner of American Idol – season two. His debut single "Flying Without Wings" reaches number two in the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2003.
June[]
Date
Event
13
Liz Cho co-anchors her last World News Now newscast on ABC before heading to the network's flagship station WABC-TV in New York City. She is replaced by Andrea Stassou.
July[]
Date
Event
14
David Muir is named the new co-anchor of ABC's World News Now, replacing Derek McGinty, who left for WUSA in Washington, D.C..
August[]
Date
Event
11
The National Network is rebranded as Spike TV.
September[]
Date
Event
1
In Casper, Wyoming, Pax TV affiliate KCWY switches its affiliation to NBC, taking that affiliation from KTWO-TV which will join ABC in March 2004. In the interim, KTWO-TV becomes an independent station with select programming from Pax.
10
UPN's series Enterprise begins a season-long story sequence – the first time a full season of a Star Trek series has been devoted to one storyline. (Three episodes into the new season, the series title is changed to Star Trek: Enterprise.)
11
John Ritter dies from an undiagnosed aortic dissection at the age of 54 hours after falling ill on the set of his sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
Wheel of Fortune incorporates "Prize Puzzle" in one of the first three rounds and awards a trip to the contestant who solve the themed puzzle for this round. The initial incarnation occurs weekly during the first two seasons of appearance, but has changed to a daily format beginning on Season 23 and has used since.
15
Family Feud reinstates the 300-point goal, and introduces a Sudden Death round. Both are still in use as of 2021.
21
The CBS comedy Everybody Loves Raymond wins its first Outstanding Comedy award and the NBC drama The West Wing wins its fourth straight Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series at the 55th Primetime Emmy Awards. The ceremonies are telecast by Fox.
23
The first ever episode of NCIS airs on CBS.
October[]
Date
Event
1
James Marsters joins the cast of Angel on The WB, carrying his Buffy the Vampire Slayer character of Spike over from the former series.
4
Kenan Thompson makes his first appearance as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Thompson would eventually become the longest serving cast member in SNL history.
6
Nicktoons TV is relaunched as Nicktoons.
Young Sir is named the new host of BET's The Center, replacing Amerie, who left the show to continue working on her music.
20
Rod Roddy makes his final appearance as announcer of The Price Is Right on CBS. Roddy would pass away from colon cancer exactly a week later, on October 27.
25
The Game 6 of the World Series airs on Fox. The Florida Marlins win their second world championship over the New York Yankees, making one of the biggest upsets in baseball history.
November[]
Date
Event
2
CBS at 75, the special celebrating the network's 75th anniversary, is broadcast by CBS.
4
NFL Network launches.
10
The 4,000th episode of Wheel of Fortune (since the 1982 pairing of host and hostess Pat Sajak and Vanna White) is broadcast in syndication, featuring a clip show of past Wheel moments memorable. The milestone 4,000th episode in syndication would air on January 23, 2004.
During a National Football League game between the New England Patriots at New York Jets, former Jets quarterback Joe Namath in a sideline interview with ESPN's Suzy Kolber twice stated that he wanted to kiss her, and "couldn't care less about the team strugg-a-ling." Namath later apologized and blamed the incident on his obvious intoxication. Soon after, Namath entered an outpatient alcoholism treatment program. Namath chronicled the episode, including his battle with alcoholism in his book, Namath (ISBN0-67003-329-4).