2009 in American television

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

The following is a list of events affecting American television in 2009. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel launches.

Events

January

Date	Event
1	After 51 years as an NBC affiliate, KBTV/Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas joined the Fox network. The NBC affiliation moves over to the DT sub-channel of ABC affiliate KBMT and Orbit airs a series premiere titled Homecoming.
	Major League Baseball launches MLB Network, becoming the last of the four major American sports leagues to launch its own channel.
3	Fox replaces the 4Kids TV block, with two hours from 8–10 am going to the affiliates, and 10 am–noon EST becoming Weekend Marketplace (infomercials).
9	Nickelodeon kicks off a year-long celebration of SpongeBob SquarePants tenth anniversary.
15	Hawaii became the first state in the United States to have all of its television stations switch to digital television.
	William Petersen appears for the last time as a regular cast member on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Supervisor Gil Grissom.
19	The Powerpuff Girls return to Cartoon Network for their tenth anniversary special.
26	Disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich goes on a media blitz appearing on The Today Show, The View, and Larry King Live while his impeachment trial continues in his homestate. Blagojevich is later ousted from office on January 29.

February

Date	Event
1	Super Bowl XLIII, which saw the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals 27–23 and give the Steelers their history-making sixth Super Bowl win ever for the franchise, was televised live on NBC in the U.S. International coverage of the Super Bowl was also served by Sky Sports and BBC One (UK), CTV Television Network (Canada), TV Azteca (Mexico), ESPN Australia, Foxtel, and Austar (Australia), Das Erste (Germany), TV6 (Sweden), TV3 (Denmark), Sport TV (Portugal), CCTV-5 (China), and SBS (South Korea).
2	Programming blocks Nick Jr. and TEENick discontinued on Nickelodeon.
10	My Network TV announced that they will switch from a network to a syndication programming service.
11	President Obama signed the DTV Delay Act into law, officially moving the DTV transition in the United States cutoff date to June 12, 2009.
12	Charter Communications files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection
	Toon Disney's Big Movie Show & Jetix ends.
13	After over 10 years. Toon Disney is shut down and rebrands itself as Disney XD.
15	The Simpsons was broadcast in HD for the first time, with the episode "Take My Life, Please" (season 20). To celebrate this event, in the new opening, Bart writes "HDTV is worth every cent" on the chalkboard for this episode.
17	368 U.S. TV stations permanently shut off their analog signals on the original February 17 date of the DTV transition in the United States and began broadcasting exclusively in digital. 53 stations qualify for nightlight service status, meaning they must use their analog signals only for DTV transition public service announcements and severe weather alerts. All others must wait until June 12 to go all digital (see DTV Delay Act for further details).
20	After 16 years on the air, the last episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien aired on NBC. Conan's favorite band The White Stripes was the final guest. Will Ferrell (impersonating former U.S. President George W. Bush) and former sidekick/O'Brien's Tonight Show announcer Andy Richter made surprise appearances, and pre-recorded clips of John Mayer and Abe Vigoda were shown. Late Night leaves Studio 6A at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York after 27 years.
22	The 81st Academy Awards presentation was televised live on ABC.

March

Date	Event
1	The traditional Nielsen ratings February sweeps are moved to March.
2	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon premiered on NBC. The Roots is the house band. Oscar winner Robert De Niro, Grammy winner Van Morrison, and singer / actor Justin Timberlake were Jimmy's first guests. Former host Conan O'Brien also made a cameo appearance. Late Night moves to Studio 6B (the former WNBC-TV news studio) at NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center.
9	NBC owned-and-operated station WNBC launches New York Nonstop, an entertainment/lifestyle channel.
16	Ion Television affiliates launch their HD channel.
17	The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather" broadcast on Sky1 in the United Kingdom. (It premiered in the U.S. on March 22.)
19	President Barack Obama appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, marking the first time a sitting President has appeared on a late night talk show.
23	American satellite television provider DirecTV paid $4 billion to extend its exclusive contract for the NFL Sunday Ticket package until 2014. After the 2014 season, DirecTV will have had exclusive U.S. rights for the package for 20 straight seasons, since the package's (and DirecTV's) inception in 1994.
31	Osbournes Reloaded premieres on the Fox network, but due to several affiliates refusing to air the show, it gets the axe in the summer.

April

Date	Event
2	The TV Guide Network announces that they will no longer carry local television listing grids on their channel. However, as of 2010, they are still displayed only on local cable providers.
	Emmy Award-winning medical drama ER airs its series finale on NBC after a one-hour retrospective.
7	The television special Charlie Brown's All-Stars returns to American television for the first time since 1982.
16	Sportscaster John Madden announces his retirement at age 73.
	Bob Barker returns to the set of his former game show of 35 years, The Price Is Right, to promote his new book, Priceless Memories.
20	The CW arrives in Guam with the on-air debut of KTKB-LP.
	The CW affiliate WLGA/Columbus, Georgia becomes an independent station. The CW affiliation moves to a subchannel for NBC affiliate WLTZ, known as CW Ga-Bama.
23	Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids is retired on Dish Network and replaced by a west coast feed of Cartoon Network.
27	ABC launches an HD subchannel network called Live Well HD Network. The channel initially airs on its O&Os before expanding it to other affiliates a year later.
28	CBS series NCIS features the characters of a spin-off called NCIS: Los Angeles. A second-part episode is continued next Tuesday.

May

Date	Event
1	Nickelodeon's The Fairly OddParents returned with part one ("The Big Beginning") of a three-day movie called Wishology.
5	The CW announces that it will turn over its Sunday night schedule back to its affiliates. Since then, The CW only broadcasts on the weekdays.
6	Noggin and The N split up on Dish Network.
16	MADtv's series finale aired with host Fred Willard, and included guest appearances by former cast members Alex Borstein, Mo Collins, Artie Lange, Will Sasso and Debra Wilson (it premiered in 1995).
20	The CW aired the series finale of The Game, which resulted in there being no scripted series (comedy or drama) on American network television with a predominantly African-American cast.
	Kris Allen was declared the winner of American Idol – season eight.
25	Cartoon Network, for the first time, broadcasts the three movies of the popular anime series Sailor Moon; Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Sailor Moon S: The Movie, and Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie, after seven years of not airing in the United States.

June

Date	Event
1	The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien premieres at 11:35 p.m. EDT on NBC, with Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam as the show's first guests. Tonight moves to Stage 1 at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California.
12	All remaining NTSC full-service television stations in the United States stop broadcasting analog television and start broadcasting digital television signals only (see DTV transition in the United States for further details).
29	American cable news channel MSNBC launches its high definition version, becoming the last of the Big 3 cable news channels to do so.
	The Michael Jackson-themed episode for American Idol (season 8) was re-aired due to his death on June 25.

July

Date	Event
7	A memorial service for Michael Jackson, who died on June 25, is broadcast live around the world, with an estimated audience of one billion.
	Sci Fi Channel renames itself "Syfy". Warehouse 13 is the first show on the network (with the new name), which premiered on this day.
12	Many few television stations shut off all of their analog nightlight stations. the NBC O&Os stations were turned off the analog nightlight stations after June 26 and fewer of the other nightlight stations were turned off by the rest of June to July.
13	New Vision Television files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
14	The 2009 MLB All-Star Game broadcasts. The ceremonial first pitch is thrown by President Barack Obama.
27	Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, announced that he is leaving the company.

August

Date	Event
4	After eight seasons, Paula Abdul confirmed to her fans on her Twitter page that she will no longer be a judge for American Idol.
5	Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both Asian-American journalists for Current TV, are released from prison in North Korea through negotiations between the government and Bill Clinton. Both women were sentenced to 12 years hard labor for accidentely crossing the border from China while doing a story in 2008.
8	Sonia Sotomayor's swearing in as United States Supreme Court Justice marks the first time that a televised event was shown live at the Supreme Court instead of the White House.
9	ABC airs Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for 11 episodes in primetime as an event to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the show.
13	ABC announced that All My Children will move its production from New York City to Los Angeles in 2010. This will mark the first time in its 40-year run (Its 40th anniversary will be in 2010) that the serial will switch studio production locations, and the first soap opera to do so since CBS' The Brighter Day in 1961.
18	Rainbow Media launches a new theme channel named Wedding Central on its parent system Cablevision.
	Honolulu, Hawaii television outlets KGMB (CBS), KHNL (NBC) and KFVE (My Network TV) combine their operations under a SSA deal made between Raycom Media and MCG. As part of the deal, Raycom takes over KGMB's programming and newscast and swap channels with MCG, who oversee KFVE and move the station to KGMB's channel
22	VH1 cancels the reality shows Megan Wants a Millionaire and I Love Money after Ryan Jenkins, a contestant on both shows, is charged with the murder of his ex-wife, swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, and is later found dead himself in Hope, British Columbia.
27	Lifetime Entertainment Services, the parent company of Lifetime Television, is acquired by A&E Television Networks.
30	After 26 years, PBS pulls Reading Rainbow off the PBS Kids schedule. The PBS series had been in reruns since 2006.
31	The Walt Disney Company acquires Marvel Entertainment
	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS begins broadcasting in high-definition, along with a brand new opening, and a change to the theme song.

September

Date	Event
1	DirecTV removed sports channel Versus due to an ongoing carriage dispute about subscriber fees.
	Freedom Communications, the parent company of WPEC/West Palm Beach, Florida and WTVC/Chattanooga, Tennessee, among others, files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
7	ESPN celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special 90 minute edition of SportsCenter.
9	Ellen DeGeneres is named successor to Paula Abdul as judge of American Idol.
10	John Stossel leaves ABC and his co-hosting duties at 20/20 to join Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel
12	KEWLopolis ends.
13	The NFL introduces Red Zone Channel, a special channel with extended highlights available during the regular season. AT&T U-Verse, Comcast, Dish Network, and Verizon FiOS are the first carriers to provide the new channel.
	The final two episodes of King of the Hill air on Fox. Four unaired episodes would later be shown in syndication and on Adult Swim.
	A tribute to Michael Jackson and Kanye West's interrupting Taylor Swift's speech were among the notable moments at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
14	Liberman Broadcasting launches a new Spanish-language TV network called Estrella TV.
	For the first time ever, NBC launches a prime-time weeknight talk/variety show with Jay Leno as host, titled The Jay Leno Show, which airs during the 10:00 p.m. Eastern/9:00 p.m. Central time slots but got canceled after one season.
16	For the first time ever on television, The Newlywed Game features a gay couple on their show. George Takei and his partner Brad Altman are the celebrity newlyweds that make history on the long-running game show.
18	Guiding Light, a CBS soap opera that began on radio in 1937 before moving to television in 1952, airs its final episode.
19	KEWLopolis is renamed Cookie Jar TV by the Cookie Jar Group.
20	Barack Obama makes history by appearing on five Sunday news/talk shows on the same day: CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's This Week, CNN's State of the Union with John King, NBC/MSNBC's Meet The Press and on Univision.
	Jimmy Mulville, head of the British production company Hat Trick Productions, announced plans to make a pilot for an American version of the long-running British satirical panel game Have I Got News for You.
	Mad Men wins Outstanding Drama Series and 30 Rock wins Outstanding Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and televised by CBS.
21	President Barack Obama appears on the Late Show with David Letterman, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president has been host David Letterman's guest.
22	ABC World News Now on the ABC television network becomes the first overnight newscast to broadcast in high definition.
25	The Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien suffers a concussion after hitting his head on the studio floor while taping a stunt with guest Teri Hatcher. Production on that day's episode is halted, and a rerun airs in its place. O'Brien returned to work the following Monday.
27	Season 21 of The Simpsons began broadcasting with the season premiere titled "Homer the Whopper." The season established it as the longest-running primetime entertainment program in history (replacing Gunsmoke).
	The Cleveland Show, a spin-off of Family Guy, premiered on Fox. The show was mentioned at the end of the season seven episode "Baby Not on Board". The pilot episode was Cleveland Brown's official departure from Family Guy.
28	Viacom rebrands Noggin as Nick Jr., and The N as TeenNick, using former Nickelodeon block names to rebrand those channels. All four networks (including the Nick@Nite block and Nicktoons) are rebranded with a new universal logo, replacing the iconic "orange splat" logo that had been in use since 1984. In addition, BET J is quietly rebranded as Centric.

October

Date	Event
1	David Letterman admits on his Late Show to having sexual relationships with female members of his staff. He also tells the audience that he wrote a fraudulent check for $2 million to a 48 Hours producer who planned to blackmail him on the matter.
5	ESPN's broadcast of Monday Night Football between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings becomes the most-watched cable television program in history, with 15 million homes tuning in to see Vikings quarterback Brett Favre face his former team for the first time. The Vikings won the game 30–23 and Favre became the first quarterback in NFL history to beat all 32 teams.
14	News Corporation announces that Fox Reality Channel will be replaced by Nat Geo Wild in March 2010.
21	Nickelodeon (Viacom) acquires global rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Mirage Studios for $60 million.
25	Steve Phillips is fired by ESPN after the baseball analyst admits to having an affair with Brooke Hundley, a 22-year-old production assistant at the sports network. Hundley, who was later given a court restraining order after trying to stalk Phillips, his soon-to-be-ex-wife and son, was also fired.
26	The newscasts of Honolulu television outlets KGMB and KHNL/KFVE are combined into one, becoming "Hawaii News Now." KGMB and KHNL will simulcast their early morning show "Sunrise", 5 pm and 10 pm newscast, with the exception of KGMB's 7 am portion of "Sunrise" and 6 pm newscast, KHNL's relocated 5:30 pm newscast and during the 7 am hour when they start airing NBC's Today Show, and during separate programming. KFVE's 6:30 pm and 9 pm newscasts remains intact. Also effective with this move is KGMB moving from DT channel 8 (PSIP RF channel 9) to DT 23 (PSIP 5) and vice versa for KFVE
29	Washington, D.C. station WJLA-TV, an affiliate of ABC, airs a local special "Touch of Life: The Guide to Breast Self Examination" featuring uncensored self breast exams. The special is also continued the next day.
30	For the first time in its 27-year history, The Weather Channel begins showing weekly weather related movies, including The Perfect Storm and Misery.
	Epix, a new premium channel, launches, with Verizon FiOS being its first carrier.

November

Date	Event
2	Nickelodeon launches in Canada as a Replacement to Discovery Kids Canada. The channel focuses on children's programing from the U.S.
5	Scripps Networks Interactive pays $1.1 billion for a 65% share of Travel Channel.
8	After ten years on the air. The Cartoon Cartoon Ed, Edd n Eddy airs a TV movie to wrap up its run.
10	First Lady Michelle Obama appears on the season premiere of Sesame Street, commemorating the PBS show's 40th anniversary.
11	CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, a mainstay at the channel since its start in 1980, announces he is leaving the network effective immediately.
19	Oprah Winfrey announces that she will end her long-running talk show in 2011, after its 25th season.
26	The NFL Network airs an expletive uttered by Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels during the team's Thanksgiving night football game with the New York Giants. Play-by-play announcer Bob Papa apologized for the network's gaffe later in the broadcast.

December

Date	Event
3	It is announced that NBC Universal will become a joint venture between General Electric and Comcast, with GE retaining a 49 percent stake in the company and buying current NBC partner Vivendi's share. Comcast, meanwhile, will take a 51 percent controlling interest. The deal is subject to government approval.
7	Comstar Media acquires semi-religious television and radio network FamilyNet.
8	CBS announced that they are canceling As the World Turns (the last of the Procter & Gamble soaps) after more than 50 years on the air. The series ended its run on September 17, 2010.
	The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer is rebranded as PBS NewsHour.
11	After 20 years, Diane Sawyer leaves ABC's Good Morning America to succeed Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC World News beginning December 21. Chief political correspondent George Stephanopoulos replaces Sawyer as "GMA" co-anchor.
15	The FCC considers an order that would close the "terrestrial loophole" which keeps fiber delivered channels such as Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and 4SD off of satellite TV systems.
18	Charles Gibson retires as anchor of ABC World News and Diane Sawyer has taken over as anchor on the following Monday.
23	E! rehires Joan Rivers to host their specials in 2010.
28	DirecTV launched a new satellite which, when fully installed, will give the provider the capacity of up to 80 more HD channels. It will become fully operational early in the 2nd quarter of 2010.
31	DirecTV and Rainbow Media reach a last minute carriage renewal agreement, keeping Rainbow's channels AMC, WE tv, IFC, Fuse TV, SundanceTV, MSG Network and MSG Plus on the satellite system.

Programs

Debuts

Date	Debut	Network	Source
January 3	Huntik: Secrets & Seekers	The CW4Kids
	Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight
	Orbit
January 8	Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call	Soapnet
January 9	Howie Do It	NBC
January 12	Hannity	Fox News Channel
January 18	State of the Union with John King	CNN
	United States of Tara	Showtime
January 19	The Electric Company	PBS Kids Go!
January 21	Lie to Me	Fox
January 23	Wolverine and the X-Men	Nicktoons
January 26	Olivia	Nickelodeon
	Trust Me	TNT
January 27	Toddlers & Tiaras	TLC
February 4	The Exterminators	A&E
February 8	The CollegeHumor Show	MTV
	Sonny with a Chance	Disney Channel
February 11	Important Things with Demetri Martin	Comedy Central
February 13	Dollhouse	Fox
	Aaron Stone	Disney XD
	Jimmy Two-Shoes
	Kid vs. Kat
March 2	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	NBC
March 7	Power Rangers RPM	ABC Kids
March 9	Castle	ABC
March 11	The Chopping Block	NBC
March 15	Kings
March 23	Table for 12	TLC
March 26	In the Motherhood	ABC
March 29	The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (US debut)	HBO
April 4	Special Agent Oso	Playhouse Disney
April 6	The Ed Show	MSNBC
	Surviving Suburbia	ABC
April 9	The Unusuals
	Parks and Recreation	NBC
	Southland
	Thursday Night Baseball	MLB Network
April 10	Harper's Island	CBS
April 15	The Cougar	TV Land
	PitchMen	Discovery Channel
April 16	WWE Superstars	WGN America
April 17	Stranger Among Bears	Animal Planet
April 18	The World's Strictest Parents
April 19	Cake Boss	TLC
	Sit Down, Shut Up	Fox
May 2	JONAS	Disney Channel
May 19	Glee	Fox
May 26	Mental
May 31	DJ & the Fro	MTV
June 1	The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien	NBC
June 4	The Listener
	Hollywood's Best Film Directors	ReelzChannel
	Royal Pains	USA Network
	Tosh.0	Comedy Central
June 9	The Wrong Door	IFC
June 10	Top Chef Masters	Bravo
June 11	Raising Sextuplets	WE tv
June 14	Hammertime	A&E
June 15	It's On with Alexa Chung	MTV
	Joe Buck Live	HBO
	Zeke and Luther	Disney XD
June 16	Hawthorne	TNT
	The Lazy Environmentalist	Sundance Channel
June 17	The Othersiders	Cartoon Network
	Survive This
June 19	Jeffery & Cole Casserole	Logo
June 20	BrainRush	Cartoon Network
	Destroy Build Destroy
June 21	Merlin	NBC
June 22	Make It or Break It	ABC Family
June 23	NYC Prep	Bravo
June 24	The Philanthropist	NBC
June 29	Dance Your Ass Off	Oxygen
July 1	Monsters Inside Me	Animal Planet
July 7	10 Things I Hate About You	ABC Family
	The Great American Road Trip	NBC
	Warehouse 13	Syfy
July 8	Time Team America	PBS
July 10	The Assistants	TeenNick
July 12	Drop Dead Diva	Lifetime
July 14	Miami Social	Bravo
July 15	Dark Blue	TNT
	Michael & Michael Have Issues	Comedy Central
July 16	Stoked	Cartoon Network
	Watch What Happens: Live	Bravo
July 17	Catch It Keep It	Science Channel
July 20	Dating in the Dark	ABC
	Three Sheets	Fine Living
	Wake Up with Al	The Weather Channel
July 21	The Colony	Discovery Channel
	Ruby & The Rockits	ABC Family
July 25	Being Human	BBC America
July 28	More to Love	Fox
July 31	Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey	History Channel
August 1	Face the Ace	NBC
August 2	Defying Gravity	ABC
	Megan Wants a Millionaire	VH1
August 4	Addicted to Beauty	Oxygen
August 5	Giuliana and Bill	Style Network
	How'd You Get So Rich?	TV Land
	Make My Day
August 9	Kourtney and Kim Take Miami	E!
	Shark Tank	ABC
August 15	Househusbands of Hollywood	Fox Reality Channel
August 17	Glenn Martin, DDS	Nick at Nite
August 18	Shaq Vs.	ABC
August 24	The Fresh Beat Band	Nickelodeon
August 25	Frankie & Neffe	BET
September 7	Dinosaur Train	PBS Kids
September 8	Melrose Place	CW
	Coolfuel	Planet Green
September 9	Planet Mechanics
September 10	The Vampire Diaries	CW
September 12	Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps	PBS Kids
	The Troop	Nickelodeon
September 14	The Dr. Oz Show	Syndication
	The Jay Leno Show	NBC
September 16	The Beautiful Life: TBL	CW
September 17	Archer	FX
	Community	NBC
September 18	Brothers	Fox
September 19	Busytown Mysteries	Cookie Jar TV
	Noonbory and the Super Seven
	Sabrina: The Animated Series
	RollBots	The CW4Kids
	Being Ian	Qubo
	Class of the Titans
	Spliced
September 20	Bored to Death	HBO
September 21	Amanpour	CNN
	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (syndicated version)	CMT
	Accidentally on Purpose	CBS
September 22	The Good Wife
	NCIS: Los Angeles
	The Forgotten	ABC
September 23	Cougar Town
	Eastwick
	Modern Family
September 24	FlashForward
	Mercy	NBC
September 27	The Cleveland Show	Fox
	Titan Maximum	Adult Swim
September 28	Trauma	NBC
September 29	The Joy Behar Show	HLN
September 30	Hank	ABC
	The Middle
October 2	Stargate Universe	Syfy
October 3	SuperFetch	Animal Planet
	Top 20 Countdown: Most Shocking	TruTV
October 4	Dallas Divas & Daughters	Bravo
	Three Rivers	CBS
October 5	Let's Make a Deal
	Jungle Junction	Playhouse Disney
	The Mo'Nique Show	BET
	Sherri	Lifetime
October 6	Ghost Lab	Discovery Channel
October 7	Secret Girlfriend	Comedy Central
October 9	I'm Alive	Animal Planet
October 10	Fight Camp 360: Inside The Super Six World Boxing Classic	Showtime
October 18	On the Case with Paula Zahn	Investigation Discovery
October 19	All Worked Up	truTV
October 21	The 100 Mile Challenge	Planet Green
	Living with Ed
	Nature, Inc.
	Lock N' Load	Showtime
October 22	The Jeff Dunham Show	Comedy Central
October 23	White Collar	USA Network
October 27	Monica: Still Standing	BET
October 28	Naruto: Shippuden	Disney XD
October 29	The League	FX
October 30	Pit Bulls & Parolees	Animal Planet
November 3	V	ABC
November 6	Fanboy & Chum Chum	Nickelodeon
November 7	The Wanda Sykes Show	Fox
November 9	Lopez Tonight	TBS
November 15	The Prisoner	AMC
November 27	I'm in the Band	Disney XD
November 28	Big Time Rush	Nickelodeon
December 3	BBQ Pitmasters	TLC
	Jersey Shore	MTV
December 6	Alice	SyFy
December 7	Men of a Certain Age	TNT
December 9	Campus PD	G4
December 12	American Ninja Warrior
December 13	The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty	A&E
December 14	The Sing-Off	NBC
December 19	CHRISJayify	Lifetime
December 29	One Big Happy Family	TLC

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to	Source
Glenn Beck	Headline News	Fox News Channel
Judge Jeanine Pirro	The CW Daytime	Syndication
Medium	NBC	CBS
Scrubs		ABC
The Singing Bee		CMT
Nanny 911	Fox
Power Rangers	Jetix	ABC Kids
Yin Yang Yo!		Disney XD
Cory in the House	Disney Channel
Even Stevens
Phil of the Future
The Spectacular Spider-Man	The CW4Kids
Naruto	Cartoon Network
Chaotic	4Kids TV and Jetix	Cartoon Network and The CW4Kids
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!	ABC	NBC
Project Runway	Bravo	Lifetime
The Wiggles	Playhouse Disney	PBS Kids Sprout
Three Sheets	MOJO HD	FLN
Imus in the Morning	RFD TV	Fox Business Network
The Tyra Banks Show	Syndication	The CW Daytime
Soul Train Music Awards	WGN America and Syndication	Centric
Living With Ed	HGTV	Planet Green
King of the Hill	FX Network	Adult Swim
Masters of Illusion	PAX Network	MyNetworkTV
Sabrina: The Animated Series	Disney's One Too	Cookie Jar TV

Returning this year

Show	Original network	Last aired	New network	Returned	Source
Nanny 911	Fox	2007	Country Music Television	January
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!	ABC	2003	NBC	June
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire		2002	Same	August
Let's Make a Deal	NBC	2003	CBS	October
Soul Train Music Awards	WGN America and Syndication	2008	Centric	November

Milestone episodes

Show	Network	Episode#	Episode title	Episode air date	Source
Power Rangers	ABC Kids	700th	"Danger and Destiny, Part 2"	December 26

Ending this year

Date	Show	Debut	Source
January 9	The Big Spin	1985
	Hannity & Colmes	1996
	Lipstick Jungle	2008
	Stargate Atlantis	2004
January 11	CNN Late Edition	1993
January 19	Momma's Boys	2008
January 24	Game Show in My Head	2009
	Tak and the Power of Juju	2007
January 25	The Drinky Crow Show
January 26	Superstars of Dance	2009
January 31	Crusoe	2008
February 2	Bromance
	Nick Jr.	1988
	TeenNick	2001
February 12	Jetix	2004
	Toon Disney	1998
	Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call	2009
February 20	13: Fear Is Real
	Late Night with Conan O'Brien	1993
February 24	Privileged	2008
February 28	Sushi Pack	2007
March 4	Knight Rider	2008
March 7	Gone Country
March 8	The L Word	2004
March 10	Homeland Security USA	2009
March 12	Kath & Kim	2008
March 15	Hole in the Wall (returned the next year)
	The CollegeHumor Show	2009
March 16	Kyle XY	2006
March 20	Battlestar Galactica	2004
March 22	Flight of the Conchords	2007
March 25	The Chopping Block	2009
	Life with Derek	2005
March 28	D. L. Hughley Breaks the News	2008
March 30	The Replacements	2006
March 31	Schoolhouse Rock!	1973
April 1	Life on Mars	2008
April 2	Eleventh Hour
	ER	1994
April 7	Trust Me	2009
April 8	Life	2007
April 10	Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles	2008
April 17	Xavier: Renegade Angel	2007
April 18	Yin Yang Yo!	2006
April 23	The Beast	2009
May 1	Howie Do It
May 2	My Life as a Teenage Robot	2003
May 3	Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends	2004
May 8	Everybody Hates Chris	2005
May 10	The Unit	2006
May 14	My Name Is Earl	2005
May 15	Prison Break
	The Game (moving to BET in early 2011)	2006
May 16	Talkshow with Spike Feresten
	MADtv	1995
May 18	Deal or No Deal	2005
	Wonder Pets!	2006
May 19	Without a Trace	2002
May 23	Mr. Meaty	2005
	Transformers Animated	2007
May 26	Reaper
May 29	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (returned in 2010)	1992
June 2	According to Jim	2001
June 6	Worst Week	2008
June 12	Best Week Ever	2004
	The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet	2007
June 13	The Naked Brothers Band
	Pushing Daisies
June 14	Million Dollar Password	2008
June 16	Cupid	2009
June 17	The Unusuals
June 19	Don't Forget the Lyrics!	2007
June 25	DJ & the Fro	2009
	In the Motherhood
June 28	Three Delivery	2008
June 30	Jail	2007
July 8	Reno 911!	2003
July 11	Harper's Island	2009
	Eli Stone	2008
July 19	Valentine
July 23	Samantha Who?	2007
July 25	Kings	2009
August 5	I Survived a Japanese Game Show	2008
August 7	The Goode Family	2009
	Surviving Suburbia
August 8	Dirty Sexy Money	2007
August 12	The Philanthropist	2009
August 14	Random! Cartoons	2008
August 16	Easy Money
August 19	Megan Wants a Millionaire	2009
August 24	Raising the Bar	2008
August 26	Michael & Michael Have Issues	2009
September 4	Judge David Young	2007
September 5	VeggieTales	2006
September 12	KEWLopolis	2007
September 15	The Cleaner	2008
September 18	Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (primetime version) (returned in 2015)	2007
	Guiding Light (CBS Daytime)	1952
September 22	Ruby & The Rockits	2009
September 23	The Beautiful Life
September 27	The N	2002
	Noggin	1999
October 19	The Mr. Men Show	2008
October 23	Defying Gravity	2009
November 4	Hank
November 8	Ed, Edd n Eddy	1999
November 11	Lou Dobbs Tonight (returned in 2011)	1980
November 18	The Spectacular Spider-Man	2008
November 21	Sit Down, Shut Up	2009
November 23	Jon & Kate Plus 8	2007
November 29	Wolverine and the X-Men	2009
December 4	Monk	2002
December 6	Naruto (returned in 2012)	2005
December 7	Rita Rocks	2008
	Alice	2009
December 8	Joe Buck Live
December 10	The Jeff Dunham Show
December 17	It's On with Alexa Chung
December 22	Little Einsteins	2005
December 24	Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight	2009
December 26	Power Rangers RPM

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Notability
January 3	Pat Hingle	84	Actor
January 6	Cheryl Holdridge	64	Actress (The Mickey Mouse Club)
January 8	Don Galloway	71	Actor (Sgt. Ed Brown on Ironside)
January 9	Hager Twins	67	Actor/singer (Hee Haw)
January 13	Patrick McGoohan	80	Actor (John Drake on Danger Man and Number 6 on The Prisoner)
January 14	Ricardo Montalbán	88	Actor (Mr. Rourke on Fantasy Island)
January 18	Bob May	69	Actor and stuntman (Lost in Space)
January 21	Veatrice Rice	59	television personality (The Jimmy Kimmel Show)
January 25	Kim Manners	58	TV producer-director (The X-Files, "Supernatural")
January 31	Clint Ritchie	70	Actor (One Life to Live)
February 6	James Whitmore	87	Actor and commercial spokesman (The Practice)
	Philip Carey	83	Actor and commercial spokesman (Laredo, One Life to Live)
February 7	Molly Bee	69	Actress and singer (Hometown Jamboree)
February 28	Paul Harvey	90	Radio and TV news commentator ("The Rest of the Story", Good Morning America)
March 13	Alan W. Livingston	91	Vice-president in charge of programming at NBC; created the character of Bozo the Clown
	Test	33	Professional wrestler known as Test in the WWF/E & The Punisher in TNA
March 15	Ron Silver	62	Actor, director, producer (The West Wing)
March 17	Morton Lachman	90	TV writer and producer (All in the Family, Gimme a Break!, Kate & Allie)
March 24	George Kell	86	Sportscaster (Detroit Tigers play-by-play announcer [1959–96])
March 27	Irving R. Levine	86	Journalist-correspondent for NBC News
March 28	Maurice Jarre	84	Composer (Cimarron Strip, Jesus of Nazareth, Shōgun, The Murder of Mary Phagan)
March 29	Andy Hallett	33	Actor (Angel, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never)
April 3	Thomas Braden	92	TV journalist and commentator (Crossfire), whose book Eight Is Enough was adapted into the series of the same name
April 8	Dan Miller	67	TV journalist (anchorman at WSMV/Nashville, Tennessee and KCBS-TV/Los Angeles, California; The Pat Sajak Show sidekick)
April 13	Harry Kalas	73	Philadelphia Phillies radio-TV play-by-play announcer since 1971, narrator of NFL Films and NFL on Westwood One play-by-play
April 15	Merle Harmon	82	TV-radio sportscaster, commercial spokesman, and businessman (play-by-play announcer for Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers; ABC and NBC Sports programs)
April 25	Bea Arthur	86	Actress (Maude on All in the Family and Maude, Dorothy on The Golden Girls)
May 1	Danny Gans	52	Comedian and musical impressionist (portrayed Dean Martin in 1992 miniseries Sinatra)
May 4	Dom DeLuise	75	Actor/comedian
May 13	Frank Aletter	83	Actor (Bringing Up Buddy, The Cara Williams Show, Nancy)
May 18	Wayne Allwine	62	Voice actor (Mickey Mouse)
May 21	Joan Alexander	94	Actress and game show panelist (The Name's the Same, The New Adventures of Superman)
May 26	Michael Ross	89	Comedy writer/producer (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Three's Company)
June 3	David Carradine	72	Actor (Kung Fu and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues)
June 8	Johnny Palermo	27	Actor (Everybody Hates Chris)
June 19	Ken Roberts	99	Voice-over announcer and actor (The Secret Storm, The Electric Company)
June 23	Ed McMahon	86	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson sidekick, Star Search host
June 25	Farrah Fawcett	62	Actress (Charlie's Angels)
	Michael Jackson	50	Entertainer and recording artist (also The Jackson 5)
June 27	Gale Storm	87	Actress and singer (My Little Margie, The Gale Storm Show)
June 28	Billy Mays	50	Commercial/infomercial pitchman (OxiClean, Orange Glo, ESPN360.com etc.)
	Fred Travalena	66	Impressionist, comedian, actor and game show host (Anything For Money)
July 1	Karl Malden	97	Actor (The Streets of San Francisco, The West Wing)
July 11	Mark Mandala	72	Television executive (President of ABC from 1986 to 1994)
July 17	Walter Cronkite	92	TV/radio journalist, reporter, author and narrator (CBS Evening News anchor [1962–81]) and Liberty's Kids
July 21	Taco Bell chihuahua	15	Advertiser for Taco Bell
August 6	John Hughes	59	Writer for At Ease
August 16	Ed Reimers	96	TV/radio voiceover announcer and actor (voice behind Allstate Insurance's "You're In Good Hands" commercials; Maverick, Star Trek)
August 18	Robert Novak	78	Journalist, writer and commentator (Crossfire)
August 19	Don Hewitt	86	Producer, creator of 60 Minutes
August 26	Dominick Dunne	83	Screenwriter, producer, news contributor/commentator (Adventures in Paradise, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles), more recently host of Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice
August 28	Adam Goldstein	36	Reality TV participant (Punk'd, The Simple Life)
September 4	Buddy Blattner	89	Sportscaster (most recently for the Atlanta Hawks)
September 8	Army Archerd	87	Variety columnist and TV personality (Entertainment Tonight, The Movie Show)
September 10	Frank Batten	82	Co-founder of The Weather Channel
September 11	Larry Gelbart	81	Producer, director and writer (creator of M*A*S*H and others)
September 12	George Eckstein	81	TV writer and producer (The Fugitive, Gunsmoke)
September 13	Arnold Laven	87	Producer (creator of The Rifleman)
September 14	Henry Gibson	73	Actor (Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In)
	Patrick Swayze	57	Actor (The Beast, North and South)
September 15	Fred Cusick	90	Sportscaster (Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer for 45 seasons)
September 16	Mary Travers	72	Singer, songwriter; member of Peter, Paul and Mary (The Jack Benny Program, What's My Line and Peter Paul & Mary TV concert specials)
September 21	Robert Ginty	60	Actor (The Paper Chase, Falcon Crest, Hawaiian Heat) and director
October 14	Lou Albano	76	Wrestler and actor (Mario on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)
October 17	Jay W. Johnson	66	Congressman (Wisconsin's 8th congressional district) and TV news anchor/reporter (Alumni of WFRV and WLUK/Green Bay, Wisconsin)
	Vic Mizzy	93	Songwriter (The Addams Family and Green Acres theme songs)
October 22	Soupy Sales	83	Children's TV personality, actor, and comedian (Lunch with Soupy Sales, What's My Line, Junior Almost Anything Goes)
November 3	Carl Ballantine	92	Actor (McHale's Navy, Night Court, Garfield & Friends), comedian, and magician
November 10	David Lloyd	75	Screenwriter (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Cheers, Frasier)
November 15	Dennis Cole	69	Actor (Felony Squad; Bracken's World; The Young and the Restless)
	Ken Ober	52	Actor, host (Remote Control), and producer (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
November 27	Bill Bresnan	75	Cable TV pioneer (founder of Bresnan Communications)
December 2	Aaron Schroeder	83	Songwriter (Scooby Doo, Where Are You! theme song)
December 4	Umaga	36	Samoan-American professional wrestler known as Umaga in the WWE
December 7	Mark Ritts	63	Actor (Beakman's World)
December 9	Gene Barry	90	Actor (Bat Masterson, Burke's Law, The Name of the Game, and L.A. 2017)
December 14	Conard Fowkes	76	Actor (Dark Shadows,As the World Turns,The Secret Storm,The Edge of Night)
December 15	Oral Roberts	91	Televangelist and educator
December 16	Roy E. Disney	79	TV station group owner/shareholder (Shamrock Holdings) and senior executive of The Walt Disney Company; nephew of Walt Disney
December 17	Alaina Reed Hall	63	Actress and singer (Sesame Street, 227)
December 18	Connie Hines	78	Actress (Mister Ed, Love, American Style)
December 20	Arnold Stang	91	Actor/voice actor (Texaco Star Theater, Top Cat)
	Brittany Murphy	32	Actress (Drexell's Class, King of the Hill)
December 22	Michael Currie	81	Actor (Dark Shadows)
December 24	George Michael	70	Sportscaster (The George Michael Sports Machine)
December 26	Percy Sutton	89	Owner of The Apollo Theater, the setting for Showtime at the Apollo
December 29	Dave Diles	78	Sportscaster, journalist and analyst (ABC's Wide World of Sports, The Prudential College Football Scoreboard Show)
December 30	Erik Gates	47	TV personality and science contributor (Mythbusters)