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The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2004. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
The Apprentice, a reality show franchise produced by Mark Burnett involving a test of skill to be 'hired' into a company, which was hosted by businessman Donald Trump (who would later become the nation's President in 2016), premieres its first episode.
19
British children's television series Boohbah (made by Ragdoll Productions who also made Teletubbies) begins its first ever television premiere in the US on PBS KIDS.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire aired a spin-off of Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire which offered its biggest cash prize in a game show history of $10,000,000. Only one contestant, Robert Essig, won at least $1,000,000 during the run, and no contestants won the top prize of $10,000,000.
February[]
Date
Event
1
On CBS, the infamous Super Bowl XXXVIIIhalftime show controversy occurred during a performance "Rock Your Body" by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake over indecency, causing the incident to go viral and the rise of a term, "wardrobe malfunction"; in the wake of the incident, the Federal Communications Commission strengthens its rules concerning certain types of indecency, while Jackson was temporarily blacklisted from Viacom (a CBS parent company) and along with other music websites, as well as revoking her invitation in the forthcoming Grammy Awards ceremony.
11
The True Hollywood Storiessketch featuring Rick James and Charlie Murphy first airs on Chappelle's Show.
14
Jetix was introduced on Toon Disney and ABC Family, making it the first trade-name to be introduced as an anime-based block.
22
Sex and the City broadcasts its last episode on HBO, "An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux."
March[]
Date
Event
Source
1
On CBS, The Price Is Right broadcasts its 6,000th episode.
PBS launched the HD network for the purpose of offering high definition and widescreen content 24 hours per day, seven days per week onto most PBS stations.
Rich Fields debuts as the new announcer for The Price is Right, a role he would hold on to until the end of Season 38.
8
Tiffany, host of BET.com Countdown, and Young Sir, host of The Center, switch places to each other's BET shows.
In Casper, Wyoming, independent station/Pax TV affiliate KTWO-TV (having lost NBC to KCWY in September of last year) finally becomes an ABC affiliate after ABC's outgoing affiliate KFNB reaches an agreement with KTWO-TV ending its affiliation three months earlier than scheduled. KFNB then becomes a Fox affiliate, while sister station K26ES (now KWYF-LD) elevates its secondary UPN affiliation to full-time status.
15
Game Show Network began fraying out the rebranding known as GSN.
18
The 57th episode of The Powerpuff Girls "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey" airs in Canada on YTV as the episode was banned in the United States due to religious controversy.
April[]
Date
Event
1
Nickelodeon celebrates its 25th anniversary.
5
The Australian soap Neighbours returns to American television for the first time since 1991, on Oxygen.
12
KLSB-TV in Nacogdoches, Texas, a satellite station of NBC affiliate KETK-TV, separates from its parent station to become a CBS affiliate, returning CBS to the Tyler-Longview market for the first time since KLMG-TV became Fox affiliate KFXK-TV in April 1991. The next day, the Federal Communications Commission approves KLSB-TV's call letter change to the current KYTX.
16
C-SPAN aired a press conference being held in the White House Rose Garden in which President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke about the war in Iraq and other issues. The event was far more watched than almost any other C-SPAN broadcast of the year, getting "shockingly high" Nielsen ratings. A similar broadcast on March 27 of the previous year was similarly widely viewed.[3]
May[]
Date
Event
6
Friends ends its run after 10 years, broadcasting the last episode, "The Last One", on NBC. A spinoff, Joey, debuts on NBC the following season.
9
In CBS, season two contestant Amber Brkish proposed to season four contestant Rob Mariano before naming the former the "Sole Survivor" in the inaugural All-Stars season. Four days later, season seven contestant Rupert Boneham was also awarded the $1 million prize after voted for the most popular contestant in the America's Tribal Council special aired four days later.
11
NBC Universal is founded by General Electric and Vivendi Universal.
13
Frasier broadcasts its last episode on NBC, "Goodnight, Seattle".
15
Jimmy Fallon makes his last appearance as a cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live, for its season finale.
26
Fantasia Barrino wins the third season of Fox's American Idol. This series also marked the first time it topped viewerships in the television ratings of this season.
28
TechTV merges with G4 to form G4techTV, one of the most controversial mergers of television history as less than a year later, the merged network becomes G4 once again.
June[]
Date
Event
2
Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah, begins a long run as Jeopardy! champion.
7
ABC broadcasts its finalNHL game, which turned out to be the last one before the lockout that canceled the league's 2004–05 season.
10
TBS reintroduces its Very Funny campaign.
14
Cartoon Network reveals its new logo and establishes new branding with a "CN city".
18
Rodney Dangerfield (who appeared more than seventy times as a guest on The Tonight Show) makes his final appearance as a talk show guest on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
July[]
Date
Event
22
Documentary miniseries The Staircase is premiered in an abbreviated version as a special two-hour presentation of ABC's Primetime Thursday.[4]
August[]
Date
Event
9
David Muir resigns as co-anchor of World News Now on ABC and is replaced by Ron Corning.
13
The animated comedy series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends premieres on Cartoon Network starring Grey DeLisle as the voice of Frankie Foster, Keith Ferguson as the voice of Bloo and others
15
In Charlottesville, Virginia, NBC affiliate WVIR-TV, long the only commercial station in its market, receives competition for the first time ever when WCAV signs-on as a CBS affiliate. Shortly thereafter, WCAV adds WVAW-LP as an ABC affiliate.
27
Craig Kilborn ends his five-year run as host of The Late Late Show.
28
PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch ended.
Nickelodeon's successful Saturday night block, SNICK, is discontinued after 12 years. It would then be revamped as a Saturday night edition of TEENick for the 2004-2005 television season and onward until the TEENick name was dropped in February 2009.
30
ABC affiliate WDTN in Dayton, Ohio swaps affiliations with NBC affiliate WKEF, reversing a swap that took place in 1980.
September[]
Date
Event
4
A series premiere promo for Atomic Betty on Cartoon Network (which occurred September 17) airs on Kids WB during the split screen credits of Pokémon (in this case: A Poké-Block Party)
5
Thomas & Friends comes to PBS KIDS as a stand-alone program with Michael Brandon taking over as the narrator.
12
Kids' WB gave up on WCIU, and forced to move to Chicago's WGN. Mostly due to the series premiere promo for Atomic Betty incident
Drew Daniel is the winner of the American version of Big Brother 5 on CBS. Runner-Up Michael "Cowboy" Ellis wins $50,000.
22
The pilot episode of Lost airs on ABC.
24
Kathleen Herles announces her retirement as voice of Dora on Dora the Explorer in November 2007 and during the season 4 premiere episode "Dora's Fairytale Adventure".
28
Longtime veteran Marcy Walker makes her final appearance on the ABC soap opera All My Children after two decades of being affiliated with the program.
30
Shining Time Station airs in Canada for the very last time on SCN in Saskatchewan.
October[]
Date
Event
2
Amy Poehler succeeds Jimmy Fallon as Tina Fey's co-anchor of NBC's Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update skit, making the first Weekend Update female duos.
Nickelodeon and its affiliated channels begin debuting special educational programming, Worldwide Day of Play, after the Let's Just Play campaign.
11
PBS Kids debuts a programming block targeted at children aged 6–10 entitled PBS Kids Go!, with new shows Maya & Miguel and an Arthur spinoff, Postcards from Buster, debuting on this day with Cyberchase and Arthur moving to PBS Kids Go! from PBS Kids.
20
Game 7 of the ALCS is broadcast on Fox. The Boston Red Sox becomes the first team in major league history to come back from a 0–3 deficit against the New York Yankees.
27
The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918 over the St. Louis Cardinals, ending the so-called Curse of the Bambino.
29
The fifth and final aired episode of Dr. Vegas aired on CBS. This marked the last time that Amy Adams appeared as a regular cast member on a television series, before returning many years later with Sharp Objects.
November[]
Date
Event
1
The Young and the Restless broadcasts its 8,000th episode on CBS.
7
Dallas airs a third TV movie, Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork, on CBS.
9
Tiffany resigns as host of BET's The Center and is replaced by Julissa.
10
Sesame Street celebrates its 35th anniversary.
15
Young Sir resigns as host of BET.com Countdown and is replaced by recording artist Ray J.
19
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi premieres on Cartoon Network with Janice Kawaye starring as Ami Onuki and Grey DeLisle, previously voicing Frankie Foster in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends as Yumi Yoshimura.
23
Longtime CBS News anchor and manager editor Dan Rather announces he will step down in March.
30
After seventy-four consecutive wins, Ken Jennings finally loses on Jeopardy!, to competitor Nancy Zerg. Jennings' final cash winnings total is $2,522,700 making him the richest winner of American television history.
December[]
Date
Event
2
Tom Brokaw resigns as anchorman of NBC Nightly News and is replaced by Brian Williams.
15
CNN's financial news channel, CNNfn, is ended.
16
All My Children broadcasts its 9,000th episode.
29
Rogers Media buys remaining 20% ownership of Rogers Sportsnet from Fox.
General Electric, owner of NBC, purchases Universal Studios from Vivendi, leaving all six U.S. broadcast networks part of a company which also owns a movie studio.
For the first time in its history, Nielsen Media Research, the official American television ratings service, began counting original shows on pay televisionpremium channels in its prime-time ratings.[5] At the time, most of these were broadcast by competitors HBO and Showtime, but Starz has since begun producing original shows.
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