2019 in American television

The following is a list of events affecting American television in 2019. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; and information about controversies and carriage disputes.

Notable events

January

Date	Event	Source
2	Tribune Media removes their broadcast stations, subchannels, and cable network WGN America from Spectrum systems in a number of markets due to the lack of a new retransmission consent agreement with the nation's second largest cable provider. A short one-day extension had been made to 5 p.m. ET is allow Spectrum viewers to watch New Year's Day event content on Tribune stations, averting a midnight deadline on December 31, but the stations are pulled at that point among an impasse between Tribune and Spectrum parent Charter Communications. The dispute is settled on January 11 in the early morning hours, on undisclosed terms.
	Four months after Julie Chen departs The Talk (in the wake of husband Les Moonves losing his chairmanship at the network), frequent fill-in and Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba officially joins the host panel of CBS' daytime talk show.
	NBC Sports Chicago announces it has reached agreements with Wirtz Corporation and Jerry Reinsdorf to become the exclusive broadcaster for Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox games beginning this year. The deal marks the departure of all three teams from WGN-TV, with the Cubs expected to follow, albeit through the creation of their own network.
3	National Geographic Channel puts the current season of StarTalk on hiatus while the network investigates sexual harassment claims against host Neil deGrasse Tyson. On February 15, it was announced that Cosmos: Possible Worlds would be delayed from its original March premiere due to the ongoing investigation.
6	NBC televises a late Sunday afternoon NFL Wild Card playoff for the first time (Fox instead broadcast the Seahawks/Cowboys game the previous evening), where the Philadelphia Eagles escape Soldier Field in Chicago with a 16–15 victory after a game-ending field goal miss by Bears kicker Cody Parkey. The game serves as a sizable lead-in to the Golden Globes, which starts on time. Parkey appeared on the network's Today five days later to talk about his miss, a move that rankled the Bears front office as well as local sportswriters and fans, resulting in his March 13 release from the team.
	The 76th Golden Globe Awards airs on NBC, hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg. It is the first telecast in an eight-year deal to keep the ceremony on the network. In addition, Oh became the first Asian performer to make history as a host and a winner for her role in Killing Eve. Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody won as Musical or Comedy and drama respectively. The Kominsky Method and The Americans win top honors as best television comedy and drama. Afterwards, E! issued an apology to The Good Place star Jameela Jamil during their live red carpet telecast of the Golden Globes, in which they accidentally typed in Kamilah Al-Jamil instead of the actress' real name. Kamilah (played by Rebecca Hazlewood) is the sister of Jameela's character Tahani Al-Jamil, who that character is famously envious of for being one-upped, and Jamil later tweets that it 'is legit the funniest thing I have ever seen' and that it was 'a joyous mistake'.
7	NBC affiliate WHEC-TV/Rochester, New York announces the firing of chief meteorologist Jeremy Kappell, three days after a weathercam network check-in of area cameras during a weather segment saw him appear to refer to the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park with the racial epithet "coon" during a glance at the park's weathercam. Kappell asserts that he was speaking too fast and stumbled over his words, which he cited occurred with other media personalities in the past including ESPN's Mike Greenberg. However, Rochester mayor Lovely Warren, an African-American, called for Kappell's firing because it was "wrong, hurtful and infuriating." The station apologized for not stepping in to address the matter immediately. He has since campaigned online through petitions to apply public pressure to competing CBS affiliate WROC-TV to accept him for an open meteorologist position as of early June 2019.
8	After nearly two years in office, President Donald Trump gave his first prime time address, to talk about the partial federal government shutdown, specifically its key issue, proposed funding for the Mexico–United States barrier. The networks also aired a response from Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer following the address, in which they explained their opposition to Trump's proposal to fund the border wall and to reopen the departments affected by the shutdown. The shutdown ended on January 25 with a short-term deal to re-open to the government that does not include funding for the border wall.
10	Tribune Media's Fox affiliate KCPQ Tacoma-Seattle fires a news editor after reviewing a video footage of President Donald Trump's presidential address on immigration that the station aired on its 10 p.m. newscast that appears to be altered, which showed a more orange-toned Trump with his tongue protruding after making a statement, making him more saturated and the tongue doctored. In a statement from news director Erica Hill (unrelated to the CNN anchor): "This does not meet our editorial standards, and we regret if it is seen as portraying the president in a negative light."
	Netflix announced that its upcoming series OBX would begin production in South Carolina instead of shooting in North Carolina due to the latter state's House Bill 2, otherwise known as "the bathroom bill," which requires transgender people use the public restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. Although North Carolina repealed a section of the law in 2017, it didn't completely overturn it due to a clause that forbids municipalities from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances for any group not included in North Carolina state law until 2020.
	In an emotion-filled final broadcast, Mark Rosen bids farewell to WCCO-TV/Minneapolis, retiring after a nearly 50-year tenure as sports reporter/anchor for the CBS O&O.
11	Fox announces they do not intend to bid on the Fox Sports Networks that federal regulators have said The Walt Disney Company must divest after Disney completes its acquisition of many of the 21st Century Fox assets. The move paves the way for other companies to go after some or all of the 22 regional services.
	Megyn Kelly officially exits NBC News, receiving the full amount due in her $69 million contract and being free to join any other employer. The announcement comes four days after Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer, Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones were named permanent co-hosts of Today Third Hour, which replaced Kelly's Megyn Kelly Today following its October 2018 cancellation in the wake of Kelly's controversial blackface comments.
13	The 24th Critics' Choice Awards are broadcast on The CW. Taye Diggs serves as emcee of the ceremonies, which combines accolades in both film and television, and is highlighted by ties in two categories, best film actress (Glenn Close for The Wife and Lady Gaga for A Star Is Born) and best actress in a TV film or limited series (Amy Adams for Sharp Objects and Patricia Arquette for Escape at Dannemora).
14	Executive producers Alec Sulkin and Rich Appel, along with creator Seth MacFarlane, confirm Family Guy would no longer write jokes against the LGBT community due to societal changes which have seen the jokes become frowned upon over time. The decision was confirmed in a fourth wall break in the January 13 episode entitled "Trump Guy" in which Peter Griffin (voiced by MacFarlane) tells President Trump that Family Guy would be trying to "phase out" gay jokes.
16	Brittany Noble, a former news anchor at CBS affiliate WJTV/Jackson, Mississippi, files a complaint against the station and its owner Nexstar Media Group with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over workplace discrimination. Noble, who is African-American and a recent mother, cites racial harassment and issues involving management refusing to allow her to wear her hair naturally and her attire, along with improper accommodations which did not allow her to properly pump breast milk. She was dismissed without explanation from the station in May 2018 during time off she took after her grandfather's death, and not told she was terminated until months later.
	Sinclair Broadcast Group launches Stirr, a free over-the-top content platform. The platform mostly carries Sinclair's owned-and-operated digital subchannel networks and customized feeds from their local broadcast stations.
17	Bob Costas officially exits NBC Sports, ending a tenure with the company that spanned over 38 years. Costas noted that his interest in the sports properties NBC held at the time had waned (he had retired from NFL coverage after the 2016 season), and that his favorite sport, baseball, was not among them, as it hadn't since 2000. He has indicated that he would like to continue on television, suggesting a talk show in the vein of his previous shows On the Record and Later. Costas continues his work for MLB Network.
	Former CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves states he will challenge his firing and denial of his $120 million golden parachute payout from the network in arbitration, and continues to deny the sexual harassment allegations which resulted in his firing the previous fall.
	Netflix offers an apology to Julie Morin, the mayor of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada, over the use of footage that was featured in the 2018 horror film Bird Box, which had used news footage of the community's 2013 rail disaster, which resulted in the destruction of the town's centre and the death of 47 people. Netflix licensed the footage of the disaster from the stock image vendor Pond 5, who then issued a statement that the footage "was taken out of context," and wanted to "sincerely apologize." Pond 5 footage of the crash was also used in Netflix's Travelers (which was removed). Netflix then stated that they had no plans to remove the footage from Bird Box despite further complaint by Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy on the subject, but changed their minds on March 14 and agreed to remove the scene from future airings on the streaming service.
	General Motors temporally pulled their Chevrolet "Real People, Not Actors" ad campaign after Toyota, Honda, and Ford each challenged the series' claims as misleading. The complaints were brought to light by the consumer advocacy organization Consumer World, which claimed GM's data is made up from late model vehicles (2014–2015) rather than new vehicle stock, some of which are models now out of production. The Ipsos survey was regarded by the other three manufacturers and Consumer World as outdated. Chevrolet resumed the campaign in July for its mid size Blazer crossover SUV that was launched in January.
18	Wendy Williams extends her hiatus from her eponymous daytime talk show dating back to the holidays due to medical complications from Graves' disease and a shoulder injury, her second such break within a year. The show would feature guest hosts from January 28 on, until Williams is declared medically fit to return; she would return March 4.
	Singer R. Kelly's longtime record label, RCA Records, officially drops him from their label, in the aftermath and fallout of Lifetime's docu-series Surviving R. Kelly which had already resulted in music retailers, artists, and radio stations pulling his music, refusing to put further promotional effort into its sale or addition to playlists, and stopping the sale of catalog collaborations and duets with Kelly.
21	After a five-year battle court battle over copyrighted material and fair use pertaining to news gathering and sharing, Fox News Channel and TVEyes, a media monitoring service which mainly archives the video of television news services for the purposes of permanent text transcription of closed captioning text, reached a settlement, in which TVEyes agreed to a permanent injunction and will no longer be permitted to carry copyrighted content from Fox News Channel and the broadcast Fox network's Fox News Sunday.
	Fox News Channel immediately issues an apology and blames a "technical error" for a graphic that ran during Fox & Friends earlier in the morning that reported the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was very much alive at the time of the incident and recently had surgery to treat cancerous nodules, of which she had since recovered. Steve Doocy told viewers "At the beginning of (Ainsley Earhardt's) interview with the process, a technical error in the control room triggered a graphic of Ruth Bader Ginsberg with a date on it.... That was a mistake. That was an accident." Earhardt also apologized, calling it a "big mistake".
22	With Tom Hanks as the sole guest and a surprise cameo by Milo Ventimiglia, TBS' Conan returns from a three-month hiatus with a retooled format that's a departure from host Conan O'Brien's previous late-night work: a shorter program length (from 60 to 30 minutes), which is more comedy-intensive, and without a house band or host's desk, and a more casual-style wardrobe. Longtime sidekick Andy Richter also returns.
23	Viacom announces its intent to buy free Internet television provider Pluto TV for $340 million.
27	Rent: Live airs on Fox to a mixed-to-negative critical reception, with the caveat that portions of the adaptation of the Tony-winning musical used pre-taped dress rehearsal footage mixed with live presentation due to Brennin Hunt, who plays Roger, injuring his foot during the last-minute rehearsals. The prerecorded dress rehearsal was carried for the majority of the show, with only the final fifteen minutes of the program, which consisted of the end of the show and an encore performance of "Seasons of Love" featuring the original Broadway cast, broadcast live. The special posted a 1.4 rating among adults 18–49 and 3.42 million viewers, ranking the lowest among NBC and Fox's musical specials throughout the 2010s, though the adult content of Rent meant it could not meet ratings parity with the higher rated family-friendly productions. The lack of understudies was also criticized by reviewers and social media, citing Hunt's accident.
28	CNN's live Town Hall broadcast, which featured Democratic California Senator Kamala Harris, who on January 21, announced her campaign to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election and moderated by host Jake Tapper, drew 1.95 million viewers in the 10 o'clock hour, making it the largest for a single-candidate town hall in CNN history.
29	Empire actor Jussie Smollett is said to be the victim of an attack by two unknown individuals in the Streeterville section of Chicago during the early morning hours. Chicago police say the suspects yelled racial and homophobic slurs at Smollett, who is African-American and gay, then punched him and poured a chemical substance on him. One of the attackers also put a rope around Smollett's neck. The incident was initially investigated as a hate crime. However, law enforcement suspected that Smollett paid the pair, later identified as brothers, to carry out the attack on him. While Smollett has denied any wrongdoing, he was charged on February 20 with filing a false report, which in Illinois is a Class 4 felony. Police claim Smollett staged the attack because he was "dissatisfied with his salary." Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct on March 8. Smollett was later cleared of all charges on March 26.
31	Nexstar Media Group announces that three stations owned by Dreamcatcher Broadcasting (ABC affiliate WNEP-TV/Scranton–Wilkes-Barre and the combined duopoly of CBS affiliate WTKR and CW affiliate WGNT/Norfolk), which are operated by Tribune Media (which Nexstar is acquiring) under a shared services agreement, would be divested in order to comply with FCC regulations. Nexstar already owns NBC affiliate WAVY-TV and Fox affiliate WVBT in the Norfolk market and maintains a grandfathered SSA between Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate WBRE-TV and CBS affiliate WYOU (owned by Mission Broadcasting) in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre market.

February

Date	Event	Source
3	The New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 13–3 in Super Bowl LIII from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, in a game generally criticized for slow and dull gameplay. The game aired on CBS in English, and ESPN Deportes in Spanish (with said ESPN Deportes audio simulcast on CBS's SAP channel). The halftime show featured Maroon 5 with guests Travis Scott and Big Boi. The performance included a brief animated sequence featuring the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants, including Rodger Bumpass in his role as Squidward Tentacles, based on and including footage from the 2001 episode "Band Geeks". This was an intended tribute to the show's creator Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in November from ALS. The sequence was a result of a petition that garnered over 1.1 million signatures. The ratings, however, were the lowest since Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, with a 44.9 rating, down 5 percent from the Super Bowl LII telecast in 2018.
4	Just a year after it was announced as its next Broadway adaptation, NBC announced that it is canceling the scheduled May 27 performance of Hair Live! to fully focus on general audience broad-audience live musicals. This is the third time in recent years that NBC has postponed or scrapped a live production, as scheduling conflicts have resulted in Jennifer Lopez putting plans to bring Bye Bye Birdie Live! to television on hold, likewise with a planned adaptation of A Few Good Men Live.
5	The Daily Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers all broadcast live episodes following President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon shot his opening monologue and first guest segment, with Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie live as well.
6	The Simpsons was renewed for its thirty-first and thirty-second seasons, bringing the series to 713 episodes, making it the first American primetime scripted series to surpass 700 episodes.
8	United Communications announces that the company will sell its three television stations – primary CBS/subchannel-only Fox affiliate KEYC-TV in Mankato, Minnesota, and the Watertown, New York duopoly of CBS affiliate WWNY-TV and Fox affiliate WNYF-CD (as well as the latter's repeater, WWNY-CD) – to Gray Television for $45 million. In advance of the purchase, Gray will assume control of the stations under a local marketing agreement to take effect March 1. The sale marks the end of United Communications, Howard Brown's holding company for his print and television assets; Brown had died in 2011, and his heirs sold off the print assets beginning in 2016.
10	The 61st Grammy Awards, hosted by Alicia Keys, air on CBS, once again from the Staples Center in Los Angeles after originating from New York City the previous year. Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves (who won four Grammys) wins Album of the Year while "This is America" by Childish Gambino wins Song and Record of the Year.
	In an interview with ESPN's Outside the Lines, longtime NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas said he was dropped from the network's coverage of Super Bowl LII after remarks he made a few months earlier at a University of Maryland symposium that the sport of football "destroys people's brains." Costas was told by executives at NBC that the comments "crossed the line." Additionally, NBC forbade Costas from sharing an essay he had written regarding the 2015 film Concussion because it was in the process of bidding for the rights to the NFL's Thursday Night Football package at the time. Costas officially departed NBC after 40 years in January.
11	Following an investigation into a growing amount of sexual harassment allegations which had already seen him removed from Rooster Teeth's online series RWBY and a number of upcoming anime convention appearances, dubbing company Funimation severs ties with voice actor Vic Mignogna, removing him from all current roles.
	Corday Productions files a breach of contract and fraud lawsuit against Sony Pictures Television – in the Los Angeles County Superior Court involving Days of Our Lives, for which Sony co-produces the series with Corday and NBC, along with handling international distribution. The suit seeks more than $20 million in restitution on allegations by Corday that include, among other claims, that SPT forced it to absorb budget deficits for producing the NBC soap opera, had declined to offer Days to certain foreign territories including Great Britain and France (even as Corday's share of distribution revenues decreased by over 50% in recent years) and failed to pay millions of dollars in profits, in an effort to "eliminate competition" with CBS's The Young and the Restless, a series Corday holds a 1% stake in, but is majority-owned by SPT and has maintained the #1 ratings position among American soaps for years. Representatives for Sony described the claims made in the suit – which was filed over a month after NBC renewed Days for a fifty-fifth season – as "meritless."
	During a rally for Donald Trump in El Paso, Texas, a supporter of the President's entered the section reserved for news media and attacked Ron Skeans, a photojournalist for the BBC. According to the broadcaster, "Skeans was violently pushed and shoved by a member of the crowd." However, he was not hurt and security removed the man. After calls from journalism advocates to condemn the incident, the White House asked for civility among future attendees of a Trump event.
15	Apollo Global Management officially acquires Cox Media Group's 14 television stations, along with its entire Dayton cluster that consists of CBS affiliate WHIO-TV, radio sisters WHIO-AM& FM, WHKO, and WZLR/W266BG, and newspapers Springfield News-Sun and Dayton Daily News, the latter cluster retaining its legacy in the market due to Cox's origins that began in 1889 with the purchase of the Daily News by founder James M. Cox. The deal, estimated to be around $3 billion, will also include some joint venture agreements with Cox's radio, newspaper, and other media properties owned by the Atlanta-based company. This will be Apollo's second television group acquisition, as it has purchased Okemos, Michigan-based Northwest Broadcasting, which owns 21 stations in ten markets and plans to combine them with the Cox assets once the deal is approved by the FCC. The Cox family will continue to have a minority stake in the television properties.
	Federal authorities arrested United States Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson in Silver Spring, Maryland on gun and drug charges, as well as planning to use the weapons he was stockpiling to assassinate individuals associated with the Democratic Party, activists, and broadcast journalists that he felt had a bias or liberal agenda in order to support his white supremacy beliefs. Prosecutors noted that prior to his arrest Hasson kept a hit list that featured reporters and hosts from CNN and MSNBC on his computer and using research on his targets through way of search engines over the course of two years, believing that killing them would inspire a race war and by advocating "biological attacks followed by attack on food supply" in his manifestos. Among the intended targets Hasson planned to kill on his list that he labeled as "Traitors" included Joe Scarborough, Chris Hayes, Don Lemon and Ari Melber.
17	For the first time ever, the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour enters reruns as Buzzr, whose parent company Fremantle co-owns the show's archive with MGM Television, adds the show to its schedule. The series had never been seen on television since its first run was canceled in 1984 due to a number of reasons, including cross-ownership complications, the fact that the series archive has not yet been digitized or restored to 21st-century broadcast standards, and the alleged displeasure of co-host Gene Rayburn, who died in 1999, with the series.
21	Actress, director, and producer Mindy Kaling signed a massive six-year, mid-eight-figure overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, ending a relationship she had with Universal Television since her tenure as a regular and writer on The Office in 2005. The news comes days after Universal signed Nahnatchka Khan to a rich four-year overall deal that saw the Fresh Off the Boat creator leave her longtime home at 20th Century Fox TV.
24	The 91st Academy Awards aired on ABC with no host for the first time since the 1989 ceremony. Kevin Hart, who was scheduled to host this event, backed out due to his previous comments regarding the LGBTQ community who found them homophobic, of which he apologized amid the backlash against him. The event saw Netflix with 15 nominations, the most ever for a studio owned by a streaming service. Ten of those nominations were for Roma, resulting in three awards, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón. Green Book won three awards, including Best Picture, and Bohemian Rhapsody won four awards, the most for the ceremony, including Rami Malek for Academy Award for Best Actor. Black Panther also received three awards. All categories were broadcast, following the Academy reversing a decision to move the presentation of four categories, Best Cinematography, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Film Editing, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, to commercial breaks. A similar attempt to shorten the show, by cutting down the number of Best Original Song nominee performances, was reversed on January 31. The event, which clocked in at 3 hours and 19 minutes, 35 minutes shorter than the 2018 telecast, did not feature any montages or comedic bits, posted a 21.6 rating/36 share in metered-market households, up about 14 percent over the 2018 broadcast, with 30 million viewers, even though it would be the second-smallest audience on record since the 2008 telecast, which had 32 million viewers tuning in.
	A news crew from San Francisco's KPIX-TV is robbed of their equipment, and their security guard is shot in the leg at the Oakland Public Library while covering a teachers' strike against the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, California. Two suspects were arrested soon after.
25	To celebrate its fifth anniversary, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon pays homage to the format of The Larry Sanders Show, airing dramatic behind the scenes moments with guests Tina Fey, Robert Irwin, and the band Florida Georgia Line, and during cameos by Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, who all secretly express animosity at Fallon (and vice versa) during the show's taping. The episode ended with a cameo from the show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels.
	Tribune Media's CW affiliate KDAF-TV/Dallas–Ft. Worth forms a partnership with Urban One's Rhythmic Top 40 KBFB to launch a pop/lifestyle culture-centric morning show simulcast called The Beat on 33, hosted by the DJs from KBFB's Veda Loca in The Morning program (Veda Loca and co-hosts J-Cruz, Jazzi Black and DJ Kayotik).
26	The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the approved 2018 merger between AT&T and Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) to stand after the court ruled that the Trump Administration's Justice Department had failed to prove that the transaction valued between $85 and $105 billion that would give the nation's largest telecom control over CNN, TBS and TNT amounted to enhanced leverage that would harm the marketplace, a decision that resulted in the merger to go forward. The administration, and notably President Donald Trump, had been against the merger since November 2017, noted by Trump's vocal distaste of CNN and his pledges on the campaign trail to not allow this type of media power consolidation, of which the media industry in general have pointed out that the move was immediately seen through a political perspective, with many suspecting undue interference. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers cited "The government's objections that the district court misunderstood and misapplied economic principles and clearly erred in rejecting the quantitative model are unpersuasive" as a reason for her ruling.
27	In a 66-page ruling that was kept private until now, a $179 million award was handed down by arbitrator Peter Lichtman against 21st Century Fox over a 2015 dispute involving the 2005–2017 crime drama series Bones, in which executive producer Barry Josephson, stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, and Kathy Reichs (a forensic anthropologist who authored the Temperance Brennan novels that formed the basis for the series), filed lawsuits in California state court claiming they had been defrauded by Fox of their rightful profit participation. Lichtman concluded that president Peter Rice, Fox TV CEO Dana Walden, and Fox TV chairman Gary Newman "appear to have given false testimony in an attempt to conceal their wrongful acts." According to the ruling, Fox has taken a "cavalier attitude toward its wrongdoing" and exhibited a "company-wide culture and an accepted climate that enveloped an aversion for the truth" by lying, cheating and committing fraud at the expense of the show's stars and Josephson, who was told by Fox it was their most profitable series, taking in nearly half a billion dollars in its first seven seasons, while it hid the fact that Bones was calculated to be a money loser, which meant there would be no profit sharing (a practice known as Hollywood accounting). Officials at Fox say they will appeal the ruling.
	Musician T-Pain, in costume as "Monster", beat fellow singers Gladys Knight (as "Bee") and Donny Osmond (as "Peacock") to win the first season of The Masked Singer.
28	HBO CEO Richard Plepler, a 28-year veteran of the company, resigns. Turner Broadcasting System President David Levy, a 33-year veteran, did the same the next day. Both came after AT&T's buyout of Time Warner was approved by a federal court two days earlier.

March

Date	Event	Source
4	Gray Television announced that it will acquire NBC affiliate WVIR-TV/Charlottesville, Virginia from Waterman Broadcasting. Concurrently, Gray will also sell its Charlottesville triopoly of CBS affiliate WCAV, ABC affiliate WVAW-LD and Fox affiliate WAHU-CD to the Lockwood Broadcast Group. Following the closure of the sale, Gray will not maintain any continuing relationship with WCAV/WVAW under any form of outsourcing agreements, joint retransmission negotiations or news production arrangements, nor will Gray and Lockwood will maintain any options or financial guarantees involving the duopoly or other television stations owned by the two groups. The sale will leave NBC affiliate WBBH-TV and ABC-affiliated LMA partner WZVN-TV (owned by Montclair Communications) as Waterman's only remaining television properties.
	The Turner Broadcasting System begins dissolution as WarnerMedia reorganizes its assets. HBO, TBS, TNT and truTV will come under the jurisdiction of WarnerMedia Entertainment, led by former NBC and Showtime executive Robert Greenblatt. WarnerMedia News & Sports will oversee CNN, HLN, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report and AT&T SportsNet and be headed by CNN president Jeff Zucker. Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang and Turner Classic Movies will be moved to the jurisdiction of Warner Bros.'s "Global Kids & Young Adults" business unit. Long-term plans are for the company to end the use of founder Ted Turner's name in the upcoming months.
5	In the wake of HBO's airing of the controversial documentary Leaving Neverland, a fallout involving the criticism of the special occurs, concerning the credibility of the victims featured in the documentary, of whom were later interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in a follow up special After Neverland that aired March 4 and simulcast with OWN, and a $100 million lawsuit filed by Jackson's estate on February 21, claiming that the four-hour program violates a contractual non-disparagement clause to carry a 1992 concert from Bucharest as part of Jackson's HIStory World Tour. The documentary pulled in an average of about 1.11 million viewers overall for the two nights it aired, making it the third most-watched documentary in HBO's history. Two days later, 20th Century Fox Television, following a decision of the show's producers due to their concerns about the claims made in Leaving Neverland, pulls The Simpsons episode "Stark Raving Dad" – which featured Jackson (who was credited under the pseudonym John Jay Smith) as mental patient Leon Kompowski – from circulation in television reruns and most streaming platforms carrying the program's episode library.
6	In a fiery interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning, singer R. Kelly vehemently denies that he sexually abused women, allegations for which he faces criminal charges. King was commended on social media for remaining stoic while Kelly at one point got up out of his chair and began to scream and pound his chest. "It wouldn't have done any good if we both got hysterical," King told co-host Norah O'Donnell. Most of the 80-minute-long interview would subsequently be aired in full in a prime time special on March 8.
	The Democratic National Committee announces it will not allow Fox News to host any of its 2020 presidential primary debates, saying the "network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates". The move comes on the heels of a New Yorker article (featured in the magazine's March 11 issue) that detailed the close ties between Fox News and the Trump administration, which illustrated Fox News' scuttling of a story by now-former columnist/on-air contributor Diana Falzone about Trump's alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels in order to protect Trump during his candidacy and the dual influence of Fox News pundits and Trump on their respective rhetoric and the administration's policies. The decision sparks a debate, with many liberals and progressives supporting the move citing concerns about potential bias creeping into Fox News' debate coverage due to the network's conservative slant and Republicans and some moderate Democrats contending the move would be counterproductive to the Democratic Party's efforts to defeat Trump in the 2020 election.
	Just one day after Jeopardy! completed airing its first All-Star Games event (won by the team of Brad Rutter, Larissa Kelly and Dave Madden) to commemorate its 35th anniversary, host Alex Trebek announces across the show's social media platforms that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in order to announce the news on his own terms. Acknowledging that his long-term prognosis is extremely poor, Trebek says he intends on honoring his recently signed contract to host the series until the end of the 2021–22 season for as long as he is able.
8	Showtime has announced that it is cancelling SMILF after its final airing March 31 and its distributor ABC Signature Studios suspended a two-year deal with series creator and star Frankie Shaw after lawmakers in Massachusetts — where the Boston-set series at least partially shoots — wrote a letter urging the show's tax incentives to be suspended pending the outcome of ABC Studios' investigation into the series. In addition, local legislators and activists called on the state's Attorney General Office to launch a separate and independent investigation into the matter. The fallout came to light after The Hollywood Reporter did a story in December 2018 involving allegations of abusive behavior and violations of industry rules that resulted in one performer leaving the series amid claims her contract was breached due to two mishandled sex scenes, and numerous employees contacting Disney's anonymous tip line about an array of issues and complaints that attracted the attention of major talent guilds, including allegations of separating writers by race. Shaw, who is being accused of these claims, is vehemently denying any wrongdoing made on the set of SMILF.
	The New York Yankees buy back a majority stake in their regional sports network, YES Network, from Fox Sports Regional Networks. The buyback is part of Fox Sports Regional Networks' divestiture in the wake of the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney; along with the Yankees, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Amazon and The Blackstone Group will be among the Yankees' minority partners in YES when the purchase closes in July.
11	Fox News Channel issues an apology to its viewers, this time for comments made against U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D–MN-5) by host Jeanine Pirro during her March 10 broadcast, in which Pirro attacked the Somali-American politician by saying that she is "Sharia-compliant" and has practiced "Sharia-adherence behavior" by wearing a hijab, and went further to add "Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which is antithetical to the U.S. Constitution?" The remarks was also condemned by Hufsa Kamal, who also happens to serve as associate producer for Bret Baier's news show, reminding Pirro that "You have Muslims working at the same network you do, including myself. K thx." Fox issued a statement saying "We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro's comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar... They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly." Omar also accepted Fox News' apology through a tweet: "Thank you... No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth." Pirro, who has yet to make an apology, later stated that she would offer an invitation to have Omar on the show. On March 12, three advertisers, NerdWallet, Letgo, and Novo Nordisk, announced that they'll no longer air ads on Justice with Judge Jeanine due to her rhetoric opinions, which comes at the same time her colleague Tucker Carlson is also facing backlash over anti-Semitic, racial, and homophobic comments he made over the last decade on the Bubba the Love Sponge Show (which variously aired over broadcast radio and Sirius XM Satellite Radio) that were unearthed and placed online by Media Matters for America, which Carlson has defended and doubled down upon and the watchdog organization says they plan to keep monitoring their actions. Fox News cancelled the March 16 broadcast and five days later (on March 21) announced that a March 23 episode of Pirro's show will not air because of the controversy. Pirro's social accounts also goes silent as reports confirmed that the host was placed on suspension until March 30. President Donald Trump posted a series of Twitter feeds supporting Pirro during her suspension.
12	CBS Corporation announces its has acquired Lionsgate's 50% interest in Pop. CBS – which will operate the network as part of its CBS Cable Networks unit – acquired a 50% stake in the network (then known as the TV Guide Network, and in the process of phasing out the scrolling grid that it had been using since it launched as a program listings service in 1981) from Lionsgate for an investment of $100 million. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed by either company.
13	CBS Sports announces it will trade the rights for Super Bowl LVI in 2022 to NBC in exchange for Super Bowl LV. The move is made to prevent a conflict between the National Football League championship and the 2022 Winter Olympics, which NBC holds the rights to and is scheduled to begin broadcasting two days prior. Furthermore, it allows CBS to position the game alongside its coverage of the NCAA Men's Final Four in 2021.
14	The 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards aired on Fox. This is the first ceremony to be broadcast by the network, having most recently been broadcast by WarnerMedia-owned networks TNT, TBS, and truTV.
	Matt Shepard, Kirk Gibson, and Jack Morris become Fox Sports Detroit's new full-time Detroit Tigers announcers. They are succeeding long-time announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen, whose contracts weren't renewed due to an alleged physical altercation after a game last season, which caused then-backup announcers Shepard and Gibson to take their places for its final weeks.
	Crown Media cuts ties with actress Lori Loughlin, who starred in the Hallmark Channel drama series When Calls the Heart and the Garage Sale Mystery film series for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, following her indictment and arrest stemming from her involvement in a bribery scandal centering on college admissions that also snared fellow actress Felicity Huffman (whose husband, actor William H. Macy, was also named as an unindicted co-conspirator). Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli are accused of paying "bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters [Olivia Jade and Bella Giannulli] designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC," according to the 200-page indictment. Hallmark also decided to pull all episodes (including those that were scheduled to air) of When Calls the Heart, with the show's producers confirming on March 18 that her character, Abigail Stanton, would be written out, likewise with the Garage Sale Mystery films, including one that was about to begin production before her arrest. Netflix also fired Loughlin from her recurring role as her former Full House character Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson in Fuller House, on which she appeared in 13 episodes over four seasons.
15	The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that was approved by the United States Congress in 2018, called the Reimbursement Expansion Act, which will go towards reimbursing FM stations as well as low-power and translator television stations that were "forced to incur costs to permanently relocate, temporarily or permanently modify their facilities, or purchase or modify auxiliary facilities" due to the ongoing television repack. The rules apply to all FM signals that were licensed and operating on April 13, 2017 that shared a tower with a repacked television station, of which will be eligible for reimbursement, estimated at $150 million, including costs for relocating, modifications of facilities or to build auxiliary facilities while a television station was rebuilding their facilities. A statutory deadline have been put in place to implement the rules, ending March 23.
18	The 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament bracket, intended to be announced during a special program on ESPN at 7 p.m. EDT, is inadvertently revealed in full within side-screen on-screen graphics four hours earlier by sister network ESPNU, during a rerun of the Bracketology analysis program from ESPN the evening before. As a result, some schools cancelled public celebrations for teams expecting to be placed in the tourney and their fans, or had to change those celebrations, along with some schools trying to keep the early news from their athletes in order to not ruin their celebrations. ESPN issued an apology for the error.
19–20	The Walt Disney Company's purchase of 21st Century Fox consummates. This is the second spin-off of assets from the former News Corporation in five years; the company spun off its print assets in 2014. What is now Fox Corporation now only holds the Fox Broadcasting Company, its owned-and-operated station group, MyNetworkTV, and its news and national sports bureaus.
20	Nexstar Media Group and Tribune Media announce that the former will sell 19 television stations to Tegna Inc. and the E. W. Scripps Company in separate deals worth $1.32 billion, in a move to reduce Nexstar's national ownership reach under the federally-imposed 39% cap and alleviate ownership conflicts with existing Nexstar properties. Tegna will acquire eleven stations (Tribune-operated WTIC–WCCT/Hartford, WPMT/Harrisburg, WNEP-TV/Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, WQAD-TV/Quad Cities and KFSM-TV/Fort Smith–Fayetteville and Nexstar-operated WATN–WLMT/Memphis, WOI–KCWI/Des Moines and WZDX/Huntsville) for $740 million and Scripps will purchase eight stations (Tribune-operated WPIX/New York City, WSFL-TV/Miami-Fort Lauderdale, KSTU/Salt Lake City, WTKR–WGNT/Norfolk, WXMI/Grand Rapids and WTVR-TV/Richmond, and Nexstar-owned KASW/Phoenix) for $580 million. Scripps gave Nexstar an option to buy back WPIX (which was likely divested as the station operates its digital signal on VHF, which, as the New York market accounts for 6.44% of U.S. television households, would put Nexstar over the national cap as it does not cannot be counted for 50% of its total reach under the "UHF discount") between March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021. Due to the sale of WPIX, following closure of the Nexstar–Tribune merger, KTLA/Los Angeles will become Nexstar's largest station by market size.
26	Univision Communications and Dish Network settle a major carriage dispute that began in June 2018, as well as all pending litigation between the two companies, immediately restoring Univision, UniMás, Univision Deportes Network, Galavisión, Tlnovelas and FOROtv to the Dish, DishLatino, and Sling lineup.

April

Date	Event	Source
2	Publisher Little, Brown and Company released The Legends of Greemulax, the teen fantasy novel written by Ellie Kemper's titular character in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The book was actually written by Sarah Mlynowski. The release coincided with April being Child Abuse Prevention month, as NBCUniversal is making a donation from the proceeds in support of Prevent Child Abuse America.
	Vin Di Bona Productions, the producers of America's Funniest Home Videos, placed Vice President of business development and strategy Philip Shafran on administrative leave in the wake of a March 19 lawsuit filed against the company by three unidentified women, who claimed that they were being racially and sexually harassed during their tenure in 2018, as well as their dismissal in October of that year, and, according to one of the women, discovered the following November that the company had moved her from a salaried employee status to that of an hourly employee in July, all of which pointed to actions directed by Shafran. The women are hoping to seek a jury trial, which is pending in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
3	Marshall Broadcasting Group files a lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group in the New York Supreme Court, accusing it of sabotaging the value of Fox affiliates KPEJ/Odessa–Midland, KMSS-TV/Shreveport and KLJB/Davenport for future direct acquisition under a waiver of duopoly rules (which allow groups to seek approval for duopolies involving two of a given market's four highest-rated stations), being undermined in favor of Nexstar under the terms of Marshall's financing deal with that group (which Nexstar is alleged to have threatened to withdraw), being given an $16-million overevaluation of the collective worth of the stations, and withholding retransmission fees. (Prior to the 2014 deal with Nexstar, which was designed to appeal to FCC efforts to encourage broadcast ownership by minorities and address conflict-related divestitures through Nexstar's acquisitions of Communications Corporation of America and Grant Broadcasting, Marshall owner Pluria Marshall Jr. [who is African American] had struggled to obtain financing for station purchases – including a rebuffed 2008 offer to buy stations from eventual Nexstar acquiree Media General – dating to the late 1980s.) Nexstar issued a statement calling the allegations "spurious and without merit.”
4	News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) announces its intent to acquire ABC affiliate KQTV/St. Joseph, Missouri from Heartland Media for $13.65 million. The deal would result in News-Press & Gazette maintaining a monopoly on broadcasting and print media in St. Joseph (where the company is headquartered) as it already owns the namesake St. Joseph News-Press newspaper, the NPG-founded trio of KCJO-LD (CBS), KNPG-LD (NBC) and KNPN-LD (Fox), and local news rebroadcast channel News-Press NOW. While it would be a quadropoly in structure, the purchase may not violate FCC broadcast ownership rules as KQTV is a full-power station while NPG's three existing stations are all low-powered. (FCC local ownership rules restrict a single broadcasting company from owning more than two of the four highest-rated television stations in the same market, but applies the rule exclusively to full-power stations due to their broader signal reach.) However, it could be subject to antitrust issues under DOJ review, due to the concentration of St. Joseph's print and broadcast media outlets under one entity in exceedance of its measure of market concentration constituting a tight oligopoly under the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.
5	Kathie Lee Gifford leaves Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda after 11 years to focus on other projects. Jenna Bush Hager will assume the co-host role of the hour thereafter.
8	Nexstar Media Group announces its intent to sell the Indianapolis duopoly of WISH-TV (The CW) and WNDY-TV (MyNetworkTV) to Circle City Broadcasting I Inc. (owned by DuJuan McCoy, who already owns CBS/Fox affiliate WEVV-TV/Evansville through his existing company Bayou City Broadcasting) for $42.5 million. The sale of the two stations – which Nexstar acquired as part of its 2016 acquisition of Media General – hinges on obtaining a waiver from FCC rules that prohibit common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations within a media market to acquire the duopoly of WXIN (Fox) and WTTV and satellite WTTK (CBS) as part of its merger with Tribune Media.
	By this date, ATSC 3.0 test broadcasts had begun in Phoenix, Arizona; Dallas, Texas; and Lansing, Michigan. There had been plans to use Phoenix as the "test pad" for all-ATSC 3.0 broadcasting in 2018; since no consumer ATSC 3.0 receivers have yet been publicly released, these plans have been postponed indefinitely.
9	Sara Gilbert announces she will step down as co-host and moderator of The Talk at the end of its ninth season. Gilbert – who has been part of the CBS talk show's panel since she created it in 2010 – cited difficulty balancing her day-to-day role on the show with her acting opportunities (including her role as Darlene Conner on the Roseanne spin-off The Conners, which ABC renewed for a second season two weeks prior) and her desire to produce other projects for her decision to leave the show, in order to lighten her workload so she can spend additional time with wife Linda Perry and their three children. Gilbert did not disclose whether she will retain her role as executive producer of the show.
	Professional gambler James Holzhauer establishes one of the most dominant runs in the history of the game show Jeopardy! with the game show's first-ever six-figure single-day winnings totals. Holzhauer won $110,914 during the April 9 episode, then surpassed that with a $131,127 win on April 17; combined with three other single-day totals over $80,000, Holzhauer now holds the top five single-day totals in Jeopardy! history, pushing the previous record of $77,000 (set by Roger Craig in 2010) to sixth place. By April 23, Holzhauer had become only the third millionaire in the show's history, following Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Holzhauer achieved his totals largely through aggressive but successful wagers on Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy! clues. Holzhauer was narrowly defeated on June 3, concluding a victory streak of 33 games with an earning total of $2,464,216, and falling short of the current record set by Ken Jennings in 2004.
11	PBS member station WGBY-TV Springfield–Holyoke, Massachusetts (a semi-satellite of Boston's WGBH-TV and licensed to parent organization, the WGBH Educational Foundation) and the six-station local network of New England Public Radio announce a merger between the two organizations, rebranding as New England Public Media. The newly-formed organization will take advantage of the two entities' strength to provide better news and arts coverage of Western Massachusetts, with WGBHEF investing $6 million over six years in the new venture. All owners of the various stations involved (including the WGBHEF for WGBY, and Amherst College, American International College, UMass and the New England Public Radio Foundation for NEPR's stations) will retain control of their individual licenses and facilities.
14	After nearly four decades of legal issues that prevented it from being offered in syndication with the exception of DVD releases, MeTV began airing the first five seasons (1967–72) of The Carol Burnett Show in its original format, marking the first time since its CBS broadcasts that it has aired on any television broadcast entity. MeTV currently airs Carol Burnett & Friends, which has aired in syndication and cable since 1977, featuring packaged sketches from seasons six through eleven (1972 to 1978).
18	The Weather Channel became the victim of an apparent malicious software attack on the network's infrastructure that temporarily suspended regular forecast programming that morning. The network's morning show, AMHQ (which was scheduled to start at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time) was substituted with episodes of the Canadian reality-documentary program Heavy Rescue: 401, before the former program was able to start an abbreviated edition 99 minutes later at 7:39 a.m. ET. In a statement apologizing to viewers for the disruption, the network issued a statement disclosing that federal law enforcement was investigating the issue.
	Late Night with Seth Meyers aired a special 90-minute episode to allow extended coverage of the release of the Mueller Report.
19	Journalist Natalie Morales announced that she will be retiring from Access and Access Live after three years.
22	CBS Sports acquires rights to the Women's National Basketball Association beginning in the 2019 season. Under the multi-year agreement, whose terms were not disclosed, 40 games will air live on the CBS Sports Network in primetime and on weekends during the league's regular season. ESPN will continue to carry select regular-season games and the playoffs.
25–27	ABC (via its ESPN on ABC division) joins sister networks ESPN, ESPN2, and NFL Network in airing the 2019 NFL Draft for the first time live and in its entirety, as a secondary broadcast hosted by ESPN's College GameDay personnel over the course of three days focused on the stories and players of the draft rather than ESPN's traditional data and team-focused broadcast. Singer Taylor Swift uses ABC's coverage to promote the midnight launch of "Me!", the first single off her upcoming untitled seventh album.

May

Date	Event	Source
1	Pluto TV introduces free versions of new parent company Viacom's cable networks Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., BET, Comedy Central and MTV, at the same time reviving the Spike brand as a Pluto TV exclusive.
	The 2019 Billboard Music Awards aired on NBC for the second straight year with Kelly Clarkson returning as host. Drake was the night's biggest winner with 12 awards, while Cardi B, who led with a record-setting 21 nominations (a first for this event) took home five BBMAs. Mariah Carey received this year's Icon award.
3	Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (through their joint venture, Diamond Holdings) buys Fox Sports Networks from The Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion. Disney was ordered by the U.S. Justice Department to sell FSN as part of its purchase of 21st Century Fox last year due to antitrust concerns over its ownership of ESPN Inc. The RSN group will join Sinclair's existing portfolio of sports properties, which include pending joint ventures for YES Network (in conjunction with the New York Yankees and Amazon) and upcoming Marquee Sports Network (in partnership with the Chicago Cubs) as well as interests in Stadium and Ring of Honor. It will also mark Entertainment Studios's second major cable network acquisition, following the company's 2017 purchase of The Weather Channel. The deal was completed on August 23, 2019.
5	CBS News announces anchor changes to its two flagship newscasts. Norah O'Donnell is named anchor of the CBS Evening News (succeeding Jeff Glor), and John Dickerson will become a correspondent for 60 Minutes (on which O'Donnell also serves as and will remain a correspondent). Succeeding them as co-anchors of CBS This Morning alongside original co-anchor Gayle King, effective May 20, will be existing co-anchor of its Saturday edition, Anthony Mason, and correspondent Tony Dokoupil. The news division also announces that the Evening News will move from its longtime home at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City to the network's Washington, D.C. bureau in the fall, which would make it the second nightly network newscast to originate from the Washington metropolitan area, after PBS NewsHour.
6	Tegna Inc. announces it will purchase the digital multicast assets of Cooper Media – Justice Network and Quest – for $77 million. The acquisition covers the 85% interest in the two networks that Tegna does not already own. The transaction was finalized the following month on June 18; Brian Weiss, president and general manager of Cooper Media, became a Tegna executive upon closure of the deal and will continue to handle the operations of Justice and Quest.
	Allen Media Broadcasting (owned by Byron Allen, founder/president/CEO of Entertainment Studios) announces its intent to purchase the Bayou City Broadcasting's four television stations – the Evansville, Indiana duopoly of CBS primary WEVV-TV and Fox affiliate WEEV-LD (which is simulcast on WEVV-DT2) and the Lafayette, Louisiana duopoly of KADN (Fox) and KLAF-LD (NBC) – from the latter group's owner, DuJuan McCoy, for $165 million. The purchase would mark Allen's entry into broadcast television ownership, and would likely provide financing for McCoy's pending purchase of WISH-TV and WNDY in Indianapoils (though his new company, Circle City Broadcasting) from Nexstar Media Group.
	WJZ-TV/Baltimore announces the termination of Mary Bubala after the anchor seemed to suggest during an interview with a Loyola University Maryland professor that African-American women were not fit to be the city's mayor. "Is this a signal that a different kind of leadership is needed to move Baltimore City forward," Bubala asked, referring to the resignation of two mayors, both black women. The CBS owned-and-operated station apologized via statement for the remarks made by Bubala, who had been employed by WJZ-TV for 25 years.
7	During NBC Sports Chicago's live broadcast of the Cubs game with the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field, a fan can be seen flashing an OK symbol behind Doug Glanville as the former player was delivering analysis. Believing that the gesture was intended to be racist (the Anti-Defamation League has noted it is used to declare white power), the Cubs said in a statement that the fan would not be allowed at Wrigley Field "indefinitely."
8	Billy Bush is named the new host of the syndicated infotainment newsmagazine Extra, premiering on September 9 with its new base of Fox Television Stations carrying the program in major markets after moving from NBC's owned stations. The series will expand its focus from entertainment news to pop culture, sports and politics, airing from a new broadcast center and newsroom at The Burbank Studios (by coincidence, where Billy Bush's former program for NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Access Hollywood, originated until 2015), while continuing to report from bureaus in L.A. and New York and establishing new outposts in Nashville and Las Vegas. The program will continue in syndication via Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. Bush, who is expected to succeed Mario Lopez (who himself was named the host of Access on July 17), is an Extra alumni, starting out as their correspondent before joining Access. It is his first hosting gig since Access fired him in 2016 over the controversial tape in which Donald Trump made misogynistic remarks toward women in 2005. A further change of the show's title to Extra Extra is stopped a week before the season premiere, when an entertainment industry expo trade publication titled ExtraExtra Show Daily steps in to protect their 22 year-old trademark on the title.
	The Trump administration for the first time will require pharmaceutical companies to include the price of prescription drugs in television advertisements if the cost exceeds $35 per month beginning this Summer. The new rules, put in place by the Department of Health and Human Services, and for which has been controversial despite bipartisan support, will affect all direct-to-consumer television advertisements for drugs covered by Medicare or Medicaid, and must include the list price, also known as the wholesale acquisition price (updated every quarter), along with disclaimers that provide a list of potential side effects and an added message, “if you have insurance that covers drugs, your cost may be different.” While the companies have agreed to the new rules, it could be challenged by the drug industry, which argues that revealing the list price will confuse consumers and could violate the companies’ First Amendment rights, while the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, concerned that D-T-C television advertising featuring the costs could be confusing for patients, have already set up a website that would link patients to financial assistance for drugs as well as to company websites that provide data on list prices, typical out-of-pocket costs and sources of financial assistance.
	At 35 years, 198 days, Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak breaks former The Price Is Right host Bob Barker's record for hosting a single game show. Two days later on the 10th, the series celebrates the airing of its 7,000th primetime episode in syndication.
9	Conan O'Brien settles a lawsuit filed by San Diego man Robert Alexander Kaseberg who claimed the late night host and his writers on Conan stole five jokes from his Twitter account in 2015. O'Brien also penned an essay in Variety explaining why the case was settled instead of going to trial.
13	The 22nd season premiere of Arthur shows schoolteacher Nigel Ratburn marrying his male partner, Patrick. While not specifically referred to as gay, it marks the first time the children's animated series has addressed the character's sexuality, with a PBS Kids spokesperson indicating the importance of having a diverse representation in their programming. However, the episode was not shown by two state-run PBS member networks, Alabama Public Television (APT) and the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN), citing issues with whether the episode's subject matter was appropriate for young children. APT substituted it with a rerun, marking the second time that it pulled an episode of a PBS Kids program with an LGBTQ storyline (the state-owned network replaced a 2005 episode of spin-off Postcards from Buster titled "Sugartime!," in which Arthur character Buster Baxter visits a friend who has two mothers, with another); an AETN spokesman stated that it had screened the episode before deciding not to air it. Regardless of those over-the-air pre-emptions, it still aired without restriction on the website and app of PBS Kids.
14	The Walt Disney Company and Comcast strike a deal, under which Disney will oversee operational control of the streaming video site Hulu effective immediately; a concurring "put/call" agreement would also allow either Comcast to require Disney to buy or, at fair market value, Disney to require Comcast to sell it the latter's 33% interest by January 2024. The deal establishes a minimum total valuation of Hulu at that time of $27.5 billion, which means Comcast could come away with more than $9 billion for its stake as long as it continues to invest in the service. The arrangement is expected to solve a series of minor conflicts between the two companies that saw them battling for a purchase of 20th Century Fox and related television assets (which Disney successfully won), as well as Comcast having agreed to help Disney buy out AT&T’s stake in the service after the latter acquired WarnerMedia. Disney plans to incorporate Hulu into its expanding digital/streaming portfolio with Disney+ that is scheduled to begin in November.
	Freeform announces that it has acquired rerun rights to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman for its 25 Days of Christmas block. This marks the first time the specials, which had aired every year on CBS since 1972 and 1969 respectively, will air on a cable network, and presumably ends their airings on CBS. In the case of Frosty, the move marks the end of the longest run for a Christmas special on the same U.S. network, 50 years.
16	Standard Media announces its intent to acquire ABC affiliates WLNE/Providence and KLKN/Lincoln, Nebraska from Citadel Communications for $83 million. Standard Media is indirectly related to the company (founded by investor and former Media General principal shareholder Soohyung Kim through his hedge fund Standard General) that attempted to acquire eleven stations that Sinclair Broadcast Group planned to spin off through its aborted acquisition of Tribune Media, although the company will be founded by Deb McDermott, who was tapped to run the original company. The sale will leave news-based independent WSNN-LD/Sarasota, Florida as Citadel's only remaining television property.
19	With 13.6 million viewers, the series finale of Game of Thrones becomes the most watched episode of any HBO show.
	Laine Hardy is declared the winner of the 17th season of American Idol, becoming the third returning contestant to win after having been cut from the Top 50 in season 16, joining Candice Glover in season 12 and Caleb Johnson in season 13, as well as the first Asian-American to win the competition.
	Steve Kroft retires from 60 Minutes after 30 seasons.
21	The Coca-Cola Company announces New Coke will be reintroduced for a limited time, in a campaign tied to the third season of Stranger Things, which takes place in 1985 when the controversial cola was released, but soon discontinued. 500,000 cans will be made available via vending machines in select cities and through mail orders.
22	After months of speculation as to whether she'll end her show after 2020, Ellen DeGeneres confirms that she has signed a new deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to continue hosting her talk show until 2022. DeGeneres made the news official on her program, telling her audience “I’m excited to announce that I’ll be doing my show for three more years,” then joked that “Mostly because I love doing it so much every day, but also because that takes me to the end of my car lease.”
	ABC airs Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, a live re-creation of the 1973 All in the Family episode "Henry's Farewell" and The Jeffersons pilot "A Friend in Need," originally aired in 1975. Produced by Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel, hosted by Kimmel, and starring Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker, Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker, Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson and Wanda Sykes as Louise Jefferson, the primetime special gives ABC its biggest Wednesday viewership since the Country Music Association Awards six months prior. ABC also announced plans to rebroadcast the performance and subsequent Nightline interview with Lear on May 25.
26	Speaking to Brian Stelter on CNN's Reliable Sources, Scott Pelley indicates he was removed from the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News in 2018 after sharing his concerns about a "hostile work environment" at CBS News with David Rhodes, then the president of the department. In turn, Rhodes allegedly warned Pelley he would be let go if he continued to press on the matter. Pelley then went to former CBS Corporation chairman Les Moonves before eventually being succeeded by Anthony Mason on the evening news. Rhodes denies that Pelley ever approached him regarding working conditions at CBS.
27	Jamie Simpson, a meteorologist at Dayton's WKEF-TV (ABC) and WRGT (Fox/MyNetworkTV), calls out viewers on-air complaining on social media about continuous severe weather coverage preempting that evening's episode of The Bachelorette on WKEF during the Sinclair-run virtual duopoly's severe weather coverage. The conditions culminated in three tornadoes – two EF3s and one EF4, respectively – hitting the northwestern suburbs of Dayton, claiming at least one life, injuring dozens, and damaging and destroying close to 600 homes and businesses. Simpson later apologized for taking his frustration out on viewers. The live coverage, which has gone viral, also received support from Bachelorette star Hannah Brown, thanking fans for the loyalty but urging them to be safe, saying “Naders are no joke…”
28	The FCC commences accepting applications for full-power, low-power and Class A television stations seeking to transmit over the ATSC 3.0 transmission standard. Stations currently maintaining channel sharing agreements are not currently able to apply to operate ATSC 3.0 signals, pending further revisions to FCC forms to accommodate those stations to file applications, but can operate 3.0 signals under a special temporary authority designation.

June

Date	Event	Source
1	DirecTV drops 17 stations in 14 markets owned by companies associated with Sinclair Broadcast Group (including Deerfield Media, Howard Stirk Holdings and several others) after failing to reach a retransmission agreement.
	After four years serving as their analyst for the New York Mets broadcasts, SNY fires Nelson Figueroa after coming to work on May 31, in what The New York Post quoted sources as stating was “a state not fit to work.” Figueroa, an alumnus of The Mets as a pitcher with the team and who is also employed by MLB Network, still wanted to appear on SNY’s evening program, Baseball Night in New York, but was not allowed to appear. Figueroa’s behavior became an issue with SNY, which resulted in being demoted this season from his previous post as a No. 1 studio analyst on the Mets pregame and postgame shows and was relegated to features on SNY’s ancillary programs.
5	Joe Crain – a weekday morning meteorologist and 15-year veteran at WICS/WICD (ABC) and WRSP/WCCU (Fox) – criticizes the "Code Red Alert Day" initiative by the Springfield/Champaign, Illinois virtual quadropoly's parent, Sinclair Broadcast Group, on-air, addressing viewer complaints that it is used overbroadly (even during low-end severe weather threats) that it unnecessarily alarms residents and harms local business revenue on the declared days. Crain was subsequently fired by Sinclair amid the critique, prompting an advertising boycott by several local businesses, an online petition urging the station to reinstate Crain and a complaint from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) stating that the "Code Red" system "overstat[es] the danger to our community." WICS/WICD later stated it would rebrand its severe weather alerts to the Sinclair-required "Weather Warn" moniker.
7	Gray Television announces its stations in 93 markets will resume playing The Star-Spangled Banner at the start of the broadcast day, a tradition that has faded on most American broadcast stations as many have stopped signing-off nightly to maintain full 24-hour schedules; they thus become the first station group to return it en masse across a station group. Gray's film uses patriotic imagery over the voice of nine year-old Reina Özbay, a young singer from South Florida.
7 –July 7	Fox Sports (in English, via FS1 and Fox) and Telemundo (in Spanish, via Telemundo and Universo, along with select simulcasts on NBCSN) respectively broadcast the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with a mainly late morning and afternoon schedule of games due to the tournament being played in France (six hours ahead of American Eastern Daylight Time). This is the first major soccer tournament to feature a team representing the United States since the 2015 tournament, as the country's men's team did not qualify for the previous year's World Cup in Russia (which was the first such instance since 1986).
9	The 73rd Tony Awards was broadcast on CBS with James Corden as the host. The telecast was watched by 5.4 million viewers, a 15% decline from the 2018 broadcast attributed partly to competition from Game 6 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, along with the show being among the last nationally-broadcast awards ceremony continuing to maintain a west coast tape delay (with some of Corden's segments having been uploaded to YouTube well before the show started there). Hadestown had the most wins among the nominated stage productions with eight awards (including Best Musical).
11	Dispatch Broadcast Group announces its withdrawal from broadcasting with the announcement it will sell all of its television and radio assets (including CBS affiliate WBNS-TV/Columbus and NBC affiliate WTHR/Indianapolis) to Tegna for $535 million. The deal, which is expected to close later that year, will allow Tegna to expand its presence in Ohio (where Tegna already owns WKYC/Cleveland and controls the Toledo duopoly of WTOL and WUPW, the latter two of which were acquired as part of Gray's acquisition of Raycom Media in 2018) and Indiana (which would result in Tegna's re-entry into that state since their sale of ABC affiliate WPTA/Fort Wayne to the now-defunct Pulitzer Broadcasting 36 years prior). The deal was consummated on August 8.
12	NBC's broadcast of Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, in which the St. Louis Blues defeat the Boston Bruins to win their first ever Stanley Cup and the city's first championship win since 2011, was watched by 8.72 million viewers, the largest audience for an NHL game in nearly 50 years.
13	More than 18.34 million viewers (a 13.2 household rating in metered markets) saw the Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors to win their first ever NBA Championship at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, becoming the first Canadian NBA franchise since the league's 1995 expansion into that country, and the first non-U.S. team in any of the major North American sports leagues since 1993 (when the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in a 4–2 game World Series run) to win a championship, and the first Big Four team to win a championship on their first attempt at the championship round since 2010 (when the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts in a 31–17 game). The audience measures throughout the six games – which averaged 14.3 million viewers for the series, down 19% year to year over the Warriors' 2018 series against the Cleveland Cavaliers – were affected due to Toronto not being a Nielsen-rated market, even though the ratings for the NBA Finals across Canada (airing on Sportsnet, Citytv, TSN, CTV/CTV 2, and French-language RDS) has been setting ratings records for NBA games in that country. It was also the least-watched Finals since 2007, when the San Antonio Spurs' 4-0 series sweep over the Cavaliers averaged 9.3 million viewers.
16	The 2019 Radio Disney Music Awards, renamed ARDYs: A Radio Disney Music Celebration, was broadcast on Disney Channel and DisneyNow with Sofia Carson as the host. It is the first telecast to be broadcast live on the platforms, after having aired on a delayed basis since Disney Channel began televising the event in 2014. BTS won the "Global Phenom Award", actress/singer Meg Donnelly won the "Next Big Thing NBT Award," and Avril Lavigne won the "Hero Award".
19	Five anchors employed with NY1 – Roma Torre, Jeanine Ramirez, Amanda Farinacci, Vivian Lee and Kristen Shaughnessy, who range in age from 40 to 61 – file an age and gender discrimination lawsuit against the New York City-based regional news channel and its parent company, Charter Communications, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that network executives hired by Charter following its 2016 purchase of former parent Time Warner Cable had reduced their airtime and anchoring duties in favor of younger female and male journalists, and had excluded them from promotional campaigns. The suit asks for an injunction for Charter to place the plaintiffs "in the positions they would have occupied" if not for "discriminatory and retaliatory treatment" and compensate them for "mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety." In a statement, Charter spokesperson Maureen Huff said that the company is taking the allegations seriously as it "thorough[ly] review[s]" the issue, but has "not found any merit to them." Two former NY1 reporters, Thalia Perez and Michelle Greenstein, filed a separate lawsuit on July 31, alleging that they were each denied opportunities and ultimately fired in late 2017 because they were over 40 and were either pregnant or returning from maternity leave.
	The Weather Channel reaches a multi-year carriage agreement with Verizon FiOS, ending a three-year dispute over retransmission fees – the first such disagreement that resulted in a television provider removing TWC from their lineup – that began in March 2015 and resulted in it subsequently being supplanted by AccuWeather Network (which will continue to be carried by FiOS). The deal with Entertainment Studios (which bought the channel from a consortium of NBCUniversal, The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital in March 2018) will see TWC return to the FiOS lineup on June 24 and be made available on the FiOS TV mobile app in the fall.
24	Gray Television announces plans to convert silent translator stations in two of the nation's smallest markets into NBC affiliates. In St. James, Minnesota, Gray plans to convert K07AAH-D, formerly a translator of CBS/Fox affiliate KEYC-TV, into KMNF-LD, returning NBC to the Mankato market for the first time since KEYC-TV switched to CBS in 1961. (Since no over-the-air CW affiliate exists in Mankato, KMNF-LD is also adding a LD2 subchannel affiliated with the network.) Meanwhile in Fort Kent, Maine, plans are to convert WWPI-LD, which used to be a translator of CBS/Fox/CW+ affiliate WAGM-TV, giving the Presque Isle market its first full-time NBC affiliate (WAGM-TV itself had been a primary NBC affiliate from 1957 to 1959, but shared that affiliation with ABC and CBS; WAGM-TV would drop NBC entirely in 2005). The move will leave Alpena as the only remaining market without a locally-based NBC affiliate. While no specific dates have been announced, the two stations are anticipated to sign-on before the end of the year.
26	Bob Ley, the last remaining on-air personality from the network's 1979 debut, retires from ESPN.
26–27	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah all air live episodes to cover the first two 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates.

July

Date	Event	Source
3	Netflix announced that effective immediately all new shows it commissions with TV Parental Guidelines ratings TV-14 or below, along with theatrical projects with an MPAA rating of PG-13 or below, will exclude smoking and e-cigarette use, except for "reasons of historical or factual accuracy," including new and future projects with higher ratings that will not depict smoking or e-cigarette use "unless it's essential to the creative vision of the artist or because it's character-defining (historically or culturally important)," and it will include labels and/or disclaimers on programs if the scenes/content featured smoking. The changes comes in the wake of a Truth Initiative report that came at the same time as Netflix's season 3 premiere of Stranger Things on July 4, in which Truth Initiative's analysis cited that its season 2 episodes had a 44% increase in smoking depictions from the freshman run, climbing from 182 in season 1 to 262 in the second season, and its season 1 had the highest incidence of tobacco depictions among the shows in Truth Initiative's inaugural study on the topic in 2018.
4	DirecTV removes 120 stations in 97 markets owned by Nexstar Media Group as part of a carriage dispute that lasts until August 29.
5	Univision Communications, owner of Univision and Univision Deportes Network, has contracted three investment banks, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Moelis & Company LLC and LionTree LLC, to perform a strategic review of its assets and whether to sell the privately owned company. The news comes after Haim Saban, Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners were seeking at least a partial exit through a public stock offering or to sell the company completely. The three investors acquired the Hispanic-focused multimedia entity in 2006 and have explored offers to sell since 2014, although it did turn down a $15 billion bid by John Malone in 2017.
	A series of earthquakes that were located near Ridgecrest, California (which started on July 4, registered at 6.4; on this day it registered between 6.9 and 7.1 following a series of aftershocks) cause disruptions throughout Southern California, as far north as Sacramento, and Southern Nevada. The event is immediately caught live on air during a Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres game at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on SportsNet LA and ends an NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas that was broadcast on ESPN due to a fear of the scoreboard at the Thomas and Mack Center falling onto the court (a second game on NBA TV in a venue with wall-mounted scoreboards continues on). It also disrupted Los Angeles independent KCAL-TV's 8:00 p.m. newscast, sending its anchors under their desk and causing equipment to dangle. The local stations in Southern California, Las Vegas, and west coast studios of cable news television networks interrupted programming for wall-to-wall coverage as news of serious reports of possible activity developed.
	Public Media Connect-owned PBS stations WCET/Cincinnati, WPTD/Dayton and WPTO/Oxford, Ohio are knocked off the air after a multiplexer in the master control power supply at WPTD/WPTO's downtown Dayton facility – which handles master control for all three stations – fails; the failure also affected its direct-to-fiber feed for cable and satellite providers. A new multiplexer (which selects input signals for output to the three stations and was not immediately available from their manufacturer) was installed by July 9, with programming resuming around 11:40 a.m. that morning, and forcing all three stations to reschedule more than a dozen PBS programs that were preempted by the outage for mid- and late-July.
7	The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final, which saw the United States defeat The Netherlands in a 2-0 victory to retain its back-to-back championship title (and their fourth overall since the inaugural 1991 event, in which they won the first trophy), became the most-watched in Women's World Cup history in the U.S. with 25.4 million viewers on all platforms. The broadcast drew more than 13.98 million viewers and a 10.0 household rating during its airing on Fox, 1.6 million viewers on Telemundo, the most ever for a Women's World Cup match on a Spanish-language network, and an average minute audience of 289,000, bringing the total to 14.27 million. The broadcast also placed third among all-time Women's World Cup games, behind the 2015 final and the final match of 1999 (18 million), while the cross-platform audience outperformed the 2011 final's 13.5 million viewers, and ranked sixth among all-time for any U.S. national team World Cup match, men or women.
10	The Federal Communications Commission substantially softens its requirements for educational children's programming (E/I), while backing off from the full repeal of the rules that the agency originally proposed the year before. Among the most prominent changes are that digital subchannel services will no longer be subject to the E/I requirements, and primary channels of television stations will only need to average three hours per week over the course of a year (156 hours per year) instead of at least three hours every week. Thirteen hours of programming per year can be offset onto the schedule of a digital subchannel, and an additional hour prior to the start of the school day (6:00 to 7:00 a.m. local time) will be opened up to count toward the E/I rules.
15	After eight years, four of those as an all-night service similar to sister network Nick at Nite and with the move of much of its content to a new dedicated channel on Pluto TV, TeenNick's overnight classic program block (currently known as NickRewind) is reduced to a five-hour rotation of early 90s Nicktoons as TeenNick sees its first new programming in several years in primetime. The new schedule is made up of library MTV series such as Teen Wolf and former YouTube Originals from AwesomenessTV (a recent Viacom acquisition), which is branded as an "AwesomenessTV on TeenNick" block of programming.
16	Dish Network drops seventeen stations owned by Meredith Corporation, covering twelve markets.
20	Following the expiration of an existing seven-year contract, AT&T removes 29 CBS owned-and-operated stations (including the company's CW, MyNetworkTV and independent stations) in 17 markets as well as the Smithsonian Channel and CBS Sports Network from DirecTV, DirecTV Now and AT&T U-verse amid a carriage dispute over retransmission fees as well as whether AT&T could sell CBS All Access as an optional streaming service, if CBS would be required to produce some programming in a higher 4K UHDTV format and if CBS content (including past episodes and complete seasons of series) would be available to all AT&T television subscribers. The blackout – which affected 6.5 million customers – ended after 20 days on August 8, after AT&T and CBS Corporation reached a new multi-year carriage agreement.
21	Discovery Networks signs a deal with the surviving original members of The Brady Bunch — Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen — for a series of Brady-related programs that will air across the company's platforms ahead of HGTV's September debut of A Very Brady Renovation. The cast will also appear in a variety of Discovery portfolio series, with Brady-inspired episodes of Fast N' Loud, Chopped, Worst Cooks in America, The Kitchen and The Pioneer Woman scheduled to air in August and a HGTV-Food partnership on a Christmas special planned for the end of 2019.
24	The Walt Disney Company has struck a settlement deal with Wind Dancer Production Group and writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter and David McFadzean, to put an end to a lawsuit seeking $40 million in damages that was filed in 2013 over allegations that they had been cheated out of syndication profits from the 1991-1999 sitcom Home Improvement that resulted in a consequential appellate ruling and was within weeks of going to trial. The creative team alleged that Disney had charged massive distribution fees as well as selling the repeats of the series into the New York market (where it aired on Fox O&O WNYW) for no money, undercutting the pot of net profits, upon which they asserted a 75 percent stake. Since its syndication run in 1995, Disney has generated $1.5 billion from the show alone. The plaintiffs also claimed that Disney applied 35 and 40 percent distribution fees when licensing the domestic basic cable rights of the series and questioned the royalties they were getting from subscription video-on-demand services including Hulu. Disney however contended that it was authorized to do so under the contracts. As part of the settlement, both parties have not commented on the condition of the agreement or terms.
26	Dish Network and Sling TV drop 21 of the Fox Sports Networks due to a carriage dispute. Because the sports networks are still in the process of being sold from The Walt Disney Company to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Disney management is taking a hands-off approach, having the Fox Sports Networks Group negotiate directly with Dish. Disney would prefer a temporary deal until the sale is finalized so Sinclair can cut a longer-term agreement with Dish.
29	PBS and PBS Kids enter a carriage agreement with YouTube TV, which will livestream select PBS member stations later in 2019.
30–31	The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah air special live episodes to cover the second pair of Democratic presidential debates.
31	The Walt Disney Company, CBS Corporation, NBCUniversal and Fox Corporation – the respective parent companies of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox – file a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Locast, an over-the-top streaming service that retransmits signals of network-affiliated stations from select large and small markets. The four media companies are seeking a judgement to shut down Locast, claiming that its unpaid retransmissions of television signals violate their copyrights and threatens their retransmission fee agreements with pay television providers, accusing it of acting on behalf of Dish Network and AT&T (owner of DirecTV and DirecTV Now). (AT&T had made a $500,000 donation to Locast shortly after its founding, and founder David Goodfriend has served as a lobbyist for Dish.) Locast has held that its not-for-profit business model legally allows it to stream network programs without compensation.
	Warner Bros. Television announces it has “part[ed] ways” with Extra co-host A. J. Calloway – who had been under suspension by the show's production company since the investigation was announced on February 9 – amid a broad investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct levied by two women in January in a report for The Daily Beast. (Calloway had previously been arrested in 2006 amid accusations of sexual assault by author/activist Sil Lai Abrams; those charges were later dropped.)

August

Date	Event	Source
1	At 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (17:00 UTC), phase four of the FCC's "repack," a reorganization of the broadcast spectrum stemming from the broadcast incentive auction, took place. At that point, over 80 television stations throughout the United States simultaneously changed frequencies to free up spectrum claimed by telecommunications providers for use by next-generation broadband networks.
4	Afton Williamson announces she will not return as training officer Talia Bishop in the ABC cop drama The Rookie, alleging bullying and racist comments made by hair department head Sallie Nicole Ciganovich throughout the production of the show's first season that she states had went unaddressed to the show's human resources office after being reported to creator/executive producer Alexi Hawley, and incidents of sexual harassment and assault by actor Demetrius Grosse (who recurred as Det. Kevin Wolfe in five episodes that season) during its Season 1 wrap party. ABC entertainment president Karey Burke said she learned of Williamson's allegations at the end of June, when Entertainment One – which co-produces the series with network sister company ABC Studios – opened an investigation into the matter. The network confirmed that Williamson will be replaced by a new character in the second season's fourth episode.
5	Alf Clausen, the longtime composer of The Simpsons from 1990 to 2017, files a wrongful termination lawsuit against Fox, Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox parent The Walt Disney Company in the Los Angeles County Superior Court over his dismissal from the long-running Fox animated series. The suit, which alleges that he was discriminated against because of his age and a perceived (and unidentified) disability, claims that told that show producer Richard Sakai had informed Clausen that he was being replaced because the series was "taking the music in a different direction," with Hans Zimmer-backed music production company Bleeding Fingers Music assuming composing duties, noting that the company's operators "[were] substantially younger in age [and] was not only paid less, but was not disabled."
13	National Amusements reaches an agreement to re-merge CBS Corporation and Viacom – which were split into separate companies in 2005, five years after the then-Sumner Redstone-controlled company purchased CBS's assets – in an all-stock deal worth $28 billion. The deal, which is expected for completion by the end of 2019 with the entity being renamed ViacomCBS, will bring CBS and Showtime back under common ownership with the respective basic cable properties of Viacom Media Networks and BET Networks (including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, CMT, Comedy Central, Paramount Network and BET). However, the companies' respective production entities, CBS Television Studios and Paramount Television, will continue as separate operations for some time after the merger is completed. Current Viacom CEO Bob Bakish will head the re-merged company, while acting CBS CEO Joseph Ianniello will be tasked with managing CBS's brands. Meanwhile, Christina Spade, CFO at CBS, would assume the same role at the new company.
19	The FCC reached a settlement deal with AMC, Discovery's Animal Planet, and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live over misuse of the Emergency Alert System tones. Together, the FCC is collecting over $600,000 from the offenders collectively in civil penalties, with all of them committing to a "strict" compliance regime as part of the consent decrees, according to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. The fines that were handed out resulted from an October 3, 2018 Kimmel broadcast which simulated the WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert) tone three times during a sketch (ABC also paid fines for its O&Os and affiliates as compensation in the settlement), AMC's The Walking Dead airing the EAS tone twice in February 2019 on eight separate occasions, and Animal Planet for including an actual WEA warning in its Lone Star Law series when a crew following Hurricane Harvey caught a tone while filming that aired eight times.
21	In a letter to the National Cable Television Cooperative, Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of NBC affiliate WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and operators of Fox affiliate WWCP-TV and ABC affiliate WATM-TV, announces that it is affiliating WJAC-TV's DT4 subchannel, currently affiliated with the Sinclair-owned TBD network, with The CW on September 16. This will give the Johnstown-Altoona-State College market its first full-time CW affiliate (WPCW in the Pittsburgh market, which was formerly licensed to Johnstown, has served the Johnstown market since the CW's 2006 launch).
22	Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who was controversial during her run with the Trump administration in the role, signs with Fox News Channel as a contributor to the network, along with the Fox Business Network and Fox Nation.
26	The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards was broadcast live on MTV and its sister networks, and for the first time it originated from New Jersey, taking place at Newark's Prudential Center. Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco served as the host.

September

Date	Event	Source
2	Nexstar Media Group becomes the second station group in 2019 to return The Star-Spangled Banner as a part of the start of the broadcast day on its current 171 stations in 100 markets, with expansion to Tribune Broadcasting stations likely upon a merger approval. Rather than a standard anthem recording from a non-profit organization played on all stations, Nexstar will partner with BMI and Belmont University’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business to feature a number of emerging singers and songwriters performing the anthem on a rotation.
4	Just nearly six months after she was suspended by Fox News Channel over controversial comments regarding congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Jeanine Pirro, appearing on the show of former Trump administrator official and current radio personality Sebastian Gorka (apparently on an open mic during commercial time which was broadcast on a web feed of the program), revealed that the network barred her from competing conservative-oriented networks and platforms, and is unable to promote her newest book through those venues, including Bill O'Reilly's podcast, programs on Newsmax TV, and Eric Bolling's weekly Sinclair Broadcast Group show, America This Week. In addition to competing networks and ex-Fox News personalities, Pirro is not allowed to participate in any political campaign events under her contract with Fox News Channel.
8	On the first Sunday of the NFL's 100th season, a power outage affecting a CBS Sports production truck stationed at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida for the Kansas City Chiefs-Jacksonville Jaguars regional broadcast forces the network to switch viewers, including those in Kansas City and Jacksonville, to other games. The initial explanation by NFL on CBS host James Brown was that the network was cutting away from the game, won by the Chiefs, for more competitive action (at the time of the outage the result was not in doubt, with Kansas City winning at the time 37-19, with the final score 40-26), but later revealed to be technical difficulties.

Future events

September

Date	Event	Source
22	The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast on Fox. This will be the fourth time in its history that had been without a host, following the telecasts in 2003 (when the awards show also aired on Fox), 1998 (on NBC), and 1975 (on CBS).

October

Date	Event	Source
31	Telecommunications provider 3 Rivers Communications, which serves portions of north-central Montana (including Great Falls), will discontinue cable television service to its 1,800 customers within the state after only 10 years, citing difficulty competing with streaming services and satellite providers due to its lack of video on demand offerings. The company – which will honor existing discounts and bundle pricing until the cessation of its television service – will continue to offer telephone and broadband internet services, as they have been providing for 65 years (telephone) and 20 years (internet) respectively, to 15,000 customers across Montana.

November

Date	Event	Source
10	The 45th People's Choice Awards will be broadcast on E!.
13	The 53rd Country Music Association Awards will be broadcast on ABC with Carrie Underwood returning as the host with special guest hosts Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton.
24	The 46th American Music Awards will be broadcast on ABC

Television shows

Programs debuting in 2019

Further information: List of 2019 American television debuts

Programs changing networks

Show	Moved from	Moved to	Source
Milo Murphy's Law	Disney XD	Disney Channel/Disney XD
Star vs. the Forces of Evil
Indianapolis 500	ABC	NBC
Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Fox
Lucifer		Netflix
Designated Survivor	ABC
Impact!	Pop	Pursuit Channel/Twitch
Drop the Mic	TBS	TNT
The Joker's Wild
iHeartRadio Music Awards	TBS/TNT/TruTV	Fox
WWE SmackDown	USA Network
Project Runway	Lifetime	Bravo
You		Netflix
Stellar Awards	TV One	BET
The Expanse	Syfy	Amazon Video
Inside the Actors Studio	Bravo	Ovation
Running Wild with Bear Grylls	NBC	National Geographic
Killing Eve	BBC America	BBC America/AMC
Final Space	TBS	TBS/Adult Swim
The Weekly	FX	FX/Hulu
Cake Boss	TLC	Discovery Family
Savage Builds	Discovery Channel	Discovery Channel/Science Channel
Masters of Disaster		Science Channel
Jeremy Wade's Dark Waters	Animal Planet	Discovery Channel
Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out	MTV	VH1
Man v. Food	Travel Channel	Cooking Channel
WWE NXT	WWE Network	WWE Network/USA Network
Always Late with Katie Nolan	ESPN+	ESPN2

Milestone episodes and anniversaries

Show	Network	Episode #	Episode title	Episode airdate	Source
The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	8,000th	"#8000"	January 4
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	NBC	1,000th	"Molly Shannon/Zachary Quinto/Robert Irwin"	January 23
Arrow	The CW	150th	"Emerald Archer"	February 4
Supernatural		300th	"Lebanon"	February 7
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	NBC	450th	"Facing Demons"	February 21
American Dad!	TBS	250th	"Persona Assistant"	February 25
Henry Danger	Nickelodeon	100th	"Secret Room"	March 2
Fresh Off the Boat	ABC		"Under the Taipei Sun"	April 5
Last Man Standing	Fox	150th	"Yass Queen"	April 19
Live PD	A&E	200th	"04.19.19"
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic	Discovery Family		"Sparkle's Seven"	April 20
Gotham	Fox	100th	"The Beginning" (series finale)	April 25
Busy Tonight	E!		"Josh Hopkins & Kevin Morby"	May 5
Wheel of Fortune	Syndication	7,000th	"Wheel 7000"	May 10
Last Call with Carson Daly	NBC	2,000th	"Last Call 2,000" (series finale)	May 25
Real Time with Bill Maher	HBO	500th	"Real Time with Bill Maher 500"	June 21
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen	Bravo	10th anniversary	10 Year Anniversary Show: Chrissy Teigen And Countess Performance	June 27
SpongeBob SquarePants	Nickelodeon	20th anniversary	"SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"	July 12
Elementary	CBS	150th	"On the Scent"	July 18
Jane the Virgin	The CW	100th	"Chapter One Hundred" (series finale)	July 31
Sesame Street	HBO/PBS	50th anniversary	TBA	November 10

Programs returning in 2019

The following shows will return with new episodes after being canceled or ended their run previously:

Show	Last aired	Type of Return	Previous channel	New/returning/same channel	Return date	Source
Young Justice (as Young Justice: Outsiders)	2013	New season	Cartoon Network	DC Universe	January 4
Brooklyn Nine-Nine	2018		Fox	NBC	January 10
True Detective	2015		HBO	same	January 13
Temptation Island	2003	Revival	Fox	USA Network	January 15
Desus & Mero (as Desus & Mero)	2018		Viceland	Showtime	February 21
The Twilight Zone	2003		UPN	CBS All Access	April 1
30 Minute Meals	2012		Food Network	same
Wife Swap	2015		ABC	Paramount Network	April 4
A Double Shot at Love (as Double Shot at Love With DJ Pauly D and Vinny)	2009		MTV	same	April 11
Lucifer	2018	New season	Fox	Netflix	May 8
Paradise Hotel	2008	Revival	MyNetworkTV	Fox	May 9
Executed with Deborah Norville	2017		Reelz	same	May 21
America Unearthed	2015		H2	Travel Channel	May 28
Designated Survivor	2018	New season	ABC	Netflix	June 7
Ripley's Believe It or Not!	2003	Revival	TBS	Travel Channel	June 9
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?	2015		Fox	Nickelodeon	June 10
Card Sharks	2002		First-run syndication	ABC	June 12
Press Your Luck	2003		Game Show Network
The Real World (as The Real World: Atlanta)	2017		MTV	Facebook Watch	June 13
All That	2005		Nickelodeon	same	June 15
The Hills (as The Hills: New Beginnings)	2010		MTV		June 24
Sunday Best	2015	Revival	BET		June 30
Man v. Food	2018	New season	Travel Channel	Cooking Channel	July 2
Scream	2016		MTV	VH1	July 8
Veronica Mars	2007	Revival	The CW	Hulu	July 19
Worst Bakers in America	2016		Food Network	same	July 22
Traveling the Stars: Action Bronson and Friends Watch Ancient Aliens			Viceland		August 5
Beverly Hills, 90210 (as BH90210)	2000		Fox		August 7
Psychic Kids	2010		A&E		August 21
Mountain Monsters	2017	New season	Destination America	Travel Channel
Ghost Hunters	2016	Revival	Syfy	A&E
Good Eats	2012		Cooking Channel	Food Network	August 25
Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall	2017		Investigation Discovery	same	September 8
Crank Yankers	2007		Comedy Central		September 25
Celebrity Ghost Stories	2014		Lifetime Movies	A&E	Fall
Top Gear America	2017	Reboot	BBC America	Motor Trend
Kids Say the Darndest Things	2000	Revival	CBS	ABC	October 6
E! True Hollywood Story	2012		E!	same
Inside the Actors Studio	2018	New season	Bravo	Ovation	October 13
Are You Afraid of the Dark?	2000	Revival	Nickelodeon	same	October 20
Ghostwriter	1995	Reboot	PBS	Apple TV+	November 1
Running Wild with Bear Grylls	2018	New season	NBC	National Geographic	November 5
Blue's Clues (as Blue's Clues & You!)	2004	Revival	Nickelodeon/Nick Jr.	same	November 11
Mad About You	1999		NBC	Spectrum Originals	November 20
Brain Games	2016		National Geographic	same	December 1
Clifford the Big Red Dog	2003	Reboot	PBS Kids	PBS Kids/Amazon Video	December 7
The Expanse	2018	New season	Syfy	Amazon Video	December 13
Cash Cab		Revival	Discovery Channel	Bravo	Late
The Daily Line	2010		Versus	NBC Sports Regional Networks	TBA
Eco-Challenge (as Eco-Challenge 2019)	2002		USA Network	Amazon Video
Celebrity Deathmatch	2007		MTV	same
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (as Cosmos: Possible Worlds)	2014	New season	Fox/National Geographic
Bubble Guppies	2016		Nickelodeon/Nick Jr.

Programs ending in 2019

End date	Show	Channel	First aired	Status	Source
January 1	A Series of Unfortunate Events	Netflix	2017	Ended
January 11	Friends from College			Canceled
January 13	Rel	Fox	2018
January 14	Happy Together	CBS
January 16	Wayne	YouTube Premium	2019
January 18	The Punisher	Netflix	2017
January 25	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt		2015	Ended
January 30	Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television	YouTube Premium	2017	Canceled
February 17	Counterpart	Starz
	Berlin Station	Epix	2016
February 24	Avengers Assemble	Disney XD	2013	Ended
February 26	Lethal Weapon	Fox	2016	Canceled
	The Gifted		2017
March 10	Crashing	HBO		Ended
March 11	The Passage	Fox	2019	Canceled
March 19	Teachers	TV Land	2016	Ended
March 20	Deadly Class	Syfy	2019	Canceled
	Step Up: High Water	YouTube Premium	2018
March 22	The OA	Netflix	2016
March 24	Hot Streets	Adult Swim	2018
March 28	Broad City	Comedy Central	2014	Ended
March 29	Santa Clarita Diet	Netflix	2017	Canceled
March 31	SMILF	Showtime
April 3	You're the Worst	FXX	2014	Ended
April 5	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	The CW	2015
April 8	Those Who Can't	truTV	2016	Canceled
April 9	The Tick	Amazon Video
	Splitting Up Together	ABC	2018
April 11	Fam	CBS	2019
April 12	Speechless	ABC	2016
April 13	Bizaardvark	Disney Channel		Ended
April 23	Being Mary Jane	BET	2013
April 25	Gotham	Fox	2014
April 26	Chambers	Netflix	2019	Canceled
April 29	Meet the Peetes	Hallmark Channel	2018
May 3	Tuca & Bertie	Netflix	2019
May 6	Into the Badlands	AMC	2015	Ended
	Shadowhunters	Freeform	2016
May 7	Pick'em	NFL Network		Canceled
	21st & Prime		2012
	Mic'd Up		2015
	Playbook		2017
	Power Rankings
May 8	Star	Fox	2016
May 10	Proven Innocent		2019
	The Cool Kids		2018
	Sneaky Pete	Amazon Video	2015
	Easy	Netflix	2016	Ended
May 12	Veep	HBO	2012
	Now Apocalypse	Starz	2019	Canceled
May 16	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	2007	Ended
	Busy Tonight	E!	2018	Canceled
	For the People	ABC
May 17	Mighty Magiswords	Cartoon Network	2016	Ended
	State of the Union	Sundance TV	2019
May 19	The Red Line	CBS
	Game of Thrones	HBO	2011
	Star vs. the Forces of Evil	Disney Channel / Disney XD	2015
May 20	The Enemy Within	NBC	2019	Canceled
	The Fix	ABC
May 21	The Kids Are Alright		2018
	The Village	NBC	2019
May 22	Whiskey Cavalier	ABC
May 24	She's Gotta Have It	Netflix	2017
May 25	Ransom	CBS
	Last Call with Carson Daly	NBC	2002	Ended
May 28	1969	ABC	2019
May 29	Happy!	Syfy	2017	Canceled
May 31	Buenos Días Familia	Estrella TV
	Primera Edición
	Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men	Showtime	2019	Ended
	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	First-run syndication	1999	Canceled
June 6	Paradise Hotel	Fox	2019
June 7	Designated Survivor	Netflix	2016
	Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas	HBO	2018
June 8	Game Shakers	Nickelodeon	2015	Ended
June 13	Abby's	NBC	2019	Canceled
June 14	Jessica Jones	Netflix	2015	Ended
June 22	Death at the Mansion: Rebecca Zahau	Oxygen	2019
June 26	Steve	First run syndication	2017	Canceled
June 27	Life in Pieces	CBS	2015
June 29	Murder and Justice: The Case of Martha Moxley	Oxygen	2019	Ended
	The Son	AMC	2017
July 21	Big Little Lies	HBO
July 22	The Code	CBS	2019	Canceled
July 26	Andi Mack	Disney Channel	2017	Ended
	Orange Is the New Black	Netflix	2013
July 31	Wahlburgers	A&E	2014
	Jane the Virgin	The CW
August 1	iZombie		2015
August 2	Swamp Thing	DC Universe	2019	Canceled
August 3	Million Dollar Mile	CBS
August 5	Divorce	HBO	2016	Ended
August 12	Legion	FX	2017
August 14	Krypton	Syfy	2018	Canceled
August 15	Elementary	CBS	2012	Ended
August 20	The Detour	TBS	2016	Canceled
August 22	Baskets	FX		Ended
August 25	Instinct	CBS	2018	Canceled
August 26	Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath	A&E	2016	Ended
August 29	I Ship It	CW Seed	2019	Canceled
September 6	Vice News Tonight	HBO	2016
	OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes	Cartoon Network	2017
	Niko and the Sword of Light	Amazon Video		Ended
September 13	Page Six TV	First run syndication		Canceled
September 20	Killjoys	Syfy	2015	Ending
September 27	Transparent	Amazon Video	2014
September 29	Preacher	AMC	2016
October 13	Ballers	HBO	2015
October 19	My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic	Discovery Family	2010
October 27	The Affair	Showtime	2014
October 28	The Deuce	HBO	2017
November 15	The Man in the High Castle	Amazon Video	2015
December	Double Dare	Nickelodeon	1986	Canceled
December 8	Silicon Valley	HBO	2014	Ending
Fall	Fuller House	Netflix	2016
	Suits	USA Network	2011
	Mr. Robot		2015
	Born This Way	A&E
TBA	Madam Secretary	CBS
	New Looney Tunes	Boomerang
	Doc McStuffins	Disney Junior	2012
	Vice	HBO	2013

Entering syndication in 2019

A list of programs (current or canceled) that have accumulated enough episodes (between 65 and 100) or seasons (three or more) to be eligible for off-network syndication and/or basic cable runs.

Show	Seasons	In Production	Notes	Source
Blindspot	4	Yes
Bob's Burgers	9		Moving from broadcast weekend-only distribution to daily strip
Chicago Med	4

Networks and services

Network launches

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes	Source
NewsNet	Over-the-air multicast/ OTT streaming	January 1	Owned by NewsNet LLC and based on the all-news formats of Cadillac, Michigan low-power station WMNN-LD and Norfolk, Nebraska-based News Channel Nebraska, of which the network's founders were involved in their development, NewsNet will maintain a traditional news wheel format (similar in structure to the 1982–2005 format of HLN, and the formats of defunct all-news networks such as All News Channel and Satellite News Channel), with updates throughout the broadcast day during breaking news events, while excluding political- and panel-based shows that fill the afternoon and nighttime lineups of most cable news channels. In addition to offering local advertising slots, NewsNet – which originated through an unsuccessful 2017 Kickstarter campaign under the working title, the Local News Network (LNN), before its founders opted to obtain investor backing to fund the venture – will offer prospective affiliates airtime for local news inserts, with a turnkey local news production service option available to stations without their own local news departments.
Cleo TV	Cable/satellite	January 19	Owned by Urban One and launching initially on Spectrum and Xfinity systems (for the latter, it is part of meeting the commitments made by Comcast to obtain approval of its 2011 merger with NBCUniversal to begin carrying ten independently-owned and operated networks, including eight owned and/or operated by minorities, by 2019), Cleo TV – derived from Egyptian ruler Cleopatra – will focus on lifestyle and entertainment programming aimed at women of color in the millennial and Gen X demographic. The network's content will focus on programming that "defies negative and cultural stereotypes of today's modern women," with a broad mix of short- and long-form programming (including travel, home design, relationship and financial advice and cooking programs, as well as talk shows, docu-series, sitcoms and movies). It will also serve as a de facto replacement for Fuse, which was removed on Xfinity systems at the start of the year due to channel drift concerns involving its schedule of low-interest sitcoms and films.
PBS Living	OTT streaming	March 14	Overseen by PBS Distribution and launching on Amazon's Prime Video Channels subscription service (which already carries two PBS-branded streaming channels, PBS Kids and PBS Masterpiece), PBS Living will feature a mix of lifestyle and how-to content distributed for public television by American Public Television and individual PBS member stations. The $2.99-per-month service, which will also offer an introductory seven-day free trial, will feature a mix of classic and recent programs from the cooking, home, culture and travel genres seen on PBS and the similarly formatted OTA multicast network Create (such as The French Chef, This Old House, Antiques Roadshow, No Passport Required and Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television), with new content being added each month.
Court TV	Over-the-air multicast/ OTT streaming	May 8	Announced on December 10, 2018, the E. W. Scripps Company's Katz Networks unit will "reboot" Court TV – utilizing, through Katz/Scripps's acquisition of intellectual property rights to the name, format and other assets from the Turner Broadcasting System, the format originally used by cable network TruTV from its July 1991 launch until December 2007 – as a digital multicast network focusing on live coverage and in-depth analysis of high-profile courtroom proceedings as well as true crime-focused shows from (the cable) Court TV's program library (including some to which soon-to-be sister network Escape has held syndication rights). The network will initially be available on stations owned by Scripps, Tribune Broadcasting (which will likely have its Court TV affiliation agreements inherited by Nexstar Media Group upon closure of its acquisition of Tribune, plus at least one other Nexstar station where Scripps already has a station), Entravision Communications, Citadel Communications and Univision Communications, with an initial reach of more than 50% of U.S. television households and concurrent cable carriage of 25% of U.S. cable homes.
NBC News Now	OTT streaming	May 29	Launched on May 29, NBC News Now is an advertiser-supported digital news channel available as a stream on the NBC News website and mobile app and on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV device, which will provide eight hours of rolling news programming each weekday from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m. ET as well as hourly updates on top news headlines and breaking news (referred to as "Briefly's").
ACC Network	Cable/satellite	August 22	The linear ACC Network was initially announced in 2016 by ESPN and the NCAA Division I's Atlantic Coast Conference. ESPN has purchased the rights to ACC football and basketball from the conference's long-time syndication partner Raycom Sports, which has broadcast ACC sporting events from December 1982 until after the 2019 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. The network will feature live game broadcasts and related coverage of the ACC and its member schools. This also makes the ACC the fifth Division I conference to have a dedicated television network after the Big Ten, Pac-12, and Southeastern Conference, along with the defunct Mountain West Conference network.
DABL	Over-the-air multicast	September 9	Founded by CBS Television Stations, which will carry the network on some of its CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV and independent station properties, DABL (pronounced "dabble") will offer lifestyle programming centering around cooking, home renovation and design, do-it-yourself projects, pet care and travel (including select library programs featuring lifestyle experts such as Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse). In addition to the CBS-owned charter stations, the network will initially launch primarily on subchannels of television stations owned by other yet-to-be-named groups encompassing around 70% of the country (including all of the top 10 markets and 23 of the top 25 markets).
BET+	Over-the-top streaming	September 19	The Viacom-owned network is joint venturing with Tyler Perry to launch a subscription streaming service that combines the prolific auteur's library of movies and TV shows with BET's programming vault, featuring a handful of original series and productions and a deep library offering that will be enhanced by other properties in Viacom's portfolio, totaling more than 1,000 hours of content, targeted toward an African American audience. The new service will carry all episodes of First Wives Club, a series originally intended for Paramount Network, at launch (it will have a traditional week-to-week rollout on the regular BET network).
Apple TV+	Over-the-top streaming	November 1	Apple Inc. will launch a streaming subscription service with original content available via its Apple TV digital media players. The service will be alternately available through the "Apple TV App" on the Roku and Amazon Fire TV platforms, along with apps allowing the use of Apple's AirPlay technology through several smart TV's.
Disney+	Over-the-top streaming	November 12	Similar to sister service ESPN+, Disney+ will be a streaming paid subscription service featuring original films and series based on new and existing properties, including Marvel and Star Wars content, with Disney CEO Robert Iger also making claims the vast majority of Disney's film library will be available through the service, including previously discontinued titles that were placed into the Disney Vault.

Network conversions and rebrandings

Old network name	New network name	Type	Conversion date	Notes	Source
Ion Life	Ion Plus	Over-the-air multicast/ cable–satellite	July 1	Completing a shift away from its original lifestyle programming format that took place on January 1 amid its transition to a must-carry primary channel slot in several Ion O&O markets, Ion Media rebrands its tertiary multicast network to Ion Plus – a name previously used by the company from 2008 to 2013 for a direct-to-cable secondary national feed of Ion Television that incorporated the former Ion Life's lifestyle programming during timeslots in which its parent network aired paid and religious programming – to highlight its refocusing towards archived original and acquired drama series from the Ion Television library.
Univision Deportes Network	Televisa Univision Deportes Network	Cable/satellite	July 20	Announced on May 8, 2019 and coinciding with the start of the 2019 Torneo Apertura soccer tournament, Univision Deportes Network will rebrand as TUDN (an abbreviation for "Televisa Univision Deportes Network," although the "TU" will be pronounced as the Spanish pronoun "tu" ["your"]) as part of a coordinated rebranding with Televisa Deportes Network in Mexico, along with a major simplification of their little-used six-word official names (in the United States, the network was previously officially known as "Univision Deportes Network-Televisa Deportes Network", with the TDN logo appended into Univision Deportes' logo). TUDN – which will also extend its branding to encompass sports telecasts on sister networks Univision, UniMás and Galavisión – will utilize sharing of sports programming, talent and production capabilities from the U.S. and Mexico through a collaboration with Univision programming partner Grupo Televisa.
evine	ShopHQ	Over-the-air and cable/satellite	August 21	evine, which has struggled as the nation's third largest shopping network due to Internet competition and pressure from Qurate Retail Group's newly-merged brands of QVC and HSN, announces a return to the ShopHQ brand it held from 2013 to 2015, after several changes to management, employee cuts, and a deep investment from the network's most prime vendor, Invicta Watch Group, mainly due to market research confusing the network with "E"-branded entertainment news providers such as E! and Entertainment Tonight. The rebranding comes as the company copes with a threat of a NASDAQ delisting due to continued struggles with its stock price. The company plans to launch two new networks (with their distribution channels and launch dates not announced); the Spanish-language LaVenta, and male-focused Bulldog. Officially, it is the oft-rebranded network's fifth rebranding, after launching as ValueVision in 1991, and rebranding as ShopNBC from 2000 until 2013, when NBCUniversal sold off their state in the network.

Network closures

Network	Type	End date	Notes	Source
StarPlus networks	Cable/satellite	January 4	Indian media giant Star India, controlled at the time by 21st Century Fox, makes the decision to withdraw their six linear networks (Star India Plus, Star India Gold, Star Vijay, Maa, Asianet and Movies OK) from American distribution to focus completely on the distribution of their streaming service Hotstar in North America (it had already withdrawn its programming from ATN in Canada in the fall of 2017 to focus on Hotstar), which overall offers more consumer value with more programming from the Subcontinent, than the limited amount of timeslots on those six networks, along with the markup of those networks by pay television providers to justify their carriage costs due to fewer subscribers to southeast Asian programming packages. As a part of the Fox/Disney merger, Hotstar and its programming has since been marketed by The Walt Disney Company as one of the deal's prime assets.
Vibrant TV Network	OTT streaming service/digital multicast network	January 31	Vibrant TV Network, a service that primarily distributed international programs to American audiences, ceased operations January 31 after slightly over four years of operation without notice.
KidsClick	OTT streaming service/broadcast programming block	March 31	KidsClick, a multi-platform children's programming effort developed by Sinclair Broadcast Group, was abruptly discontinued as a syndicated programming block on March 31, less than two years after its July 2017 launch; its companion over-the-top streaming service subsequently wound down operations over the following week. The hybrid service was the first major effort since Vortexx ended in 2014 to provide a children's television lineup on American broadcast television that was not bound to FCC educational programming requirements, providing a daily three-hour block of mostly imported and off-network animated series from the past ten years to its affiliates (largely, those owned and/or operated by Sinclair) and a digital multicast network for national availability (This TV from the block's launch until July 2018, and Sinclair-owned TBD from May 2018 onward). Because of the abrupt closure, stations that carried the daily KidsClick program block began substituting it with paid programming and other syndicated programming, while TBD replaced it with paid programming and an expanded one-hour Wednesday-Friday block of E/I-compliant programs in its former timeslot.
NRA TV	Over-the-top streaming	June 26	The streaming service operated by advertising agency Ackerman McQueen shut down after its primary client, the National Rifle Association, severed its ties with the agency as part of a long-running billing dispute and power struggle in the NRA organization. The channel was pulled in part because the NRA disapproved of Ackerman McQueen broadening the service's content beyond the NRA's singular political interest of firearms rights.
FX+	Over-the-top streaming	August 21	Originally launched in 2017 as a streaming add-on for Comcast pay-TV subscribers, and was eventually made available to pay-TV subscribers who had access to FX, the service is being discontinued due to new owner Disney’s plans to launch its new streaming service and is expected to become a major content supplier for Hulu, thus the market need for the niche streaming offering apparently wasn't there. It is not clear how many subscribers the service had. The message at the website is directing visitors to watch FX shows on its channels, on FXNetworks.com or on the FXNow app.
FiOS1	Cable	November 16	Originally launched in June 2009 as a network exclusive to Verizon FiOS subscribers in the New York metropolitan area, the network is being discontinued after Verizon announced it would not renew its contract with WRNN-TV, which produces the network's news content. The closure of the network will leave NY1 and News 12 Networks as the only two surviving cable-exclusive local news channels in the region.

Television stations

Station launches

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Source
January 1	Vero Beach, Florida (West Palm Beach/Boca Raton/Fort Piece)	WWCI-CD	10.1	NewsNet
	Santa Cruz, California (San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose)	KAAP-LD	24.7
	Louisville, Kentucky	W50CI-D	8.6
	Detroit, Michigan	WHNE-LD	14.9
	Manteo, North Carolina (Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News/Virginia Beach)	W17CT-D	17.4
	Houston, Texas	KBPX-LD	46.12
	State College, Pennsylvania (Johnstown-Altoona)	WHVL-LP	29.3
	Buffalo, New York	WBXZ-LP	56.11
January 2	Odessa/Midland, Texas	KOSA-TV	7.4	Ion Television
		KTLE-LD	7.5	Telemundo
			7.6	MyNetworkTV
			7.7	Heroes & Icons
February 1	Green Bay, Wisconsin	WBAY-TV	2.4	Heroes & Icons
			2.5	Start TV
May 1	Fort Wayne, Indiana	WISE-TV	33.3	Grit
			33.5	Start TV
			33.6	MeTV
May 8			33.4	Court TV
	Panama City, Florida	WPGX	28.4
July 1	Fort Wayne, Indiana	WFWA	39.5	Local Weather
September 9		WISE-TV	33.7	DABL
TBA	Los Angeles	KWHY-TV	22.8	Spanish News
	St. James, Minnesota (Mankato)	KMNF-LD	7.1	NBC
			7.2	CW+
	Fort Kent, Maine (Presque Isle)	WWPI-LD	16.1	NBC

Stations changing network affiliation

Major affiliation changes

This section outlines affiliation changes involving English and Spanish language networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, The CW, Univision, etc.), and format conversions involving independent stations. Digital subchannels will only be mentioned if the prior or new affiliation involves a major English and Spanish broadcast network or a locally programmed independent entertainment format.

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Prior affiliation	New affiliation	Notes	Source
January 2	Waco/Temple/ Killeen, Texas	KWTX-DT2	10.2	The CW (via The CW Plus)	Telemundo	As a byproduct of its August 28, 2018, purchase of the license from the Central Texas College Board of Trustees (which was possible as KNCT broadcasts on a channel originally reserved for commercial broadcasting prior to channel 46's establishment as a PBS member station in November 1970), Gray Television – which has held the local affiliation rights for The CW Plus since September 2006 – relocates KWTX-DT2's CW programming to the main channel of the KNCT spectrum. KNCT, which will become part of a duopoly with CBS affiliate KWTX-TV, will also carry programming from MeTV on its DT2 subchannel (with a simulcast on newly established KWTX-DT3) and Start TV on its DT3 subchannel.
	Belton/Killeen/ Temple/Waco, Texas	KNCT	46.1	Silent transition from PBS	The CW (via The CW Plus; relocated from KWTX-DT2)
			46.2		MeTV
			46.3		Start TV
	Odessa/Midland, Texas	KOSA-TV	7.2	MyNetworkTV	The CW	As a result of Gray Television acquiring the Midland/Odessa-area affiliation rights for the two networks from NBC affiliate KWES-TV through the company's acquisition of Raycom Media, Gray relocates CW Plus and Telemundo programming to KCWO-TV (which had been serving as a KWES satellite, as KWAB-TV, since 1962) and simulcast feeds on the DT2 and DT3 subchannels of KOSA-TV. KOSA-DT2's former main schedule (including content from the MyNetworkTV programming service) moves to KTLE-LD6 (whose parent station's Telemundo affiliation will also be added as a simulcast on KOSA-DT3), with KOSA-DT3's former Heroes & Icons affiliation concurrently moving to KCWO-DT3 and KTLE-DT7 and Ion Television programming being added to KOSA-DT4.
			7.3	Heroes & Icons	Telemundo
	Big Spring, Texas (Odessa/Midland)	KCWO-TV	4.1	NBC (as satellite of KWES-TV)	The CW (via The CW Plus; relocated from the former KWAB-DT2)
			4.2	The CW (via The CW Plus)	Telemundo
			4.3	Telemundo	Heroes & Icons
January 28	Honolulu, Hawaii	KHII-TV	9.1 (ID as channel 5 on-air)	MyNetworkTV (as KFVE)	MyNetworkTV (as KHII)	With Nexstar taking ownership of KFVE from Gray Television in order for the latter to comply with FCC rules pertaining to its acquisition of CBS affiliate KGMB and NBC affiliate KHNL from Raycom Media, Nexstar changed the station's call letters to KHII (which retains its MyNetworkTV affiliation) and adopted a separate programming inventory featuring additional newscasts produced by Fox-affiliated sister KHON-TV (bringing that station's news output to 43 hours across both stations, the most among Hawaii's television stations) and syndicated shows moved over to the station from KHON and its CW-affiliated DT2 subchannel. Concurrently, KFVE's intellectual unit (including Hawaii News Now newscasts and Hawaii-centric specials as well as syndicated programs) moved to the second digital subchannel of KHNL (downgraded to 4:3 SD due to bandwidth limitations, relegating the HD feed of the former KFVE [which retains its existing "K5" brand as a subchannel-only service] exclusively to statewide pay television providers). Charter Spectrum also moved "K5"'s cable channel position from 5 (SD)/1005 (HD) to 22 (SD)/1022 (HD). Antenna TV was also relocated to KHNL-DT3, while Grit moved to KHNL-DT4.
		KHNL	13.2	Antenna TV	"K5" (independent)/Hawaii News Now (to become Decades)
			13.3	Grit	Antenna TV
			13.4	New subchannel	Grit
February 1	Janesville, Wisconsin (Madison)	WIFS	57.1	Independent	Ion Plus	Since losing The CW affiliation to WMTV-DT2 in September 2016, the Byrne Acquisition Group-owned WIFS had been a locally focused independent station. The abrupt move to Ion Life (later renamed to Ion Plus July 1) and the addition of Ion Television to a new 9th subchannel is part of Ion Media's new strategy to acquire cable/satellite carriage for Ion Life via primary channel must-carry rules (Ion Television's main channel utilizes the national cable feed for Madison area cable carriage). With the move, some of WIFS' local and syndicated content moves to TVW, the MyNetworkTV-affiliated second subchannel of WISC-TV (which had carried Ion Television on its third subchannel).
			57.9	New subchannel	Ion Television
September 1	Chicago, Illinois	WCIU-TV	26.1	Independent	The CW	On April 18, 2019, Weigel Broadcasting signed an agreement with CBS Corporation through which WCIU-TV would take over as The CW's Chicago-area affiliate; WPWR-TV – which had been carrying the network's programming since September 1, 2016, when WGN-TV disaffiliated from The CW to allow additional prime time telecasts of Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks games rather than diverting select games during that daypart to other local stations (among them, WPWR) as it had been doing since 1999 to adhere with preemption restrictions imposed by The CW and predecessor The WB – will continue to serve as an owned-and-operated station of Fox-run MyNetworkTV (although the station's schedule post-CW disaffiliation may be formatted similar to Fox's other non-Fox-O&O stations, prioritizing syndicated programming during the programming service's designated 7:00–9:00 p.m. time slot, while airing the MyNetworkTV schedule in late prime time or late access). WCIU will move its prime time lineup of syndicated programs (including the freshman Tamron Hall Show) to low-power sister station WMEU-CD (channel 48, which is simulcast on WCIU-DT2).
	Gary, Indiana Chicago, Illinois	WPWR-TV	50.1	The CW (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary)	MyNetworkTV (exclusive)
September 30	Columbia, South Carolina	WIS	10.2	Bounce TV	The CW	On May 29, 2019, Gray Television signed an agreement with CBS Corporation through which WIS would take over as The CW's Columbia affiliate (through its DT2 subchannel) effective September 30; WKTC – which had been carrying the network's programming since March 17, 2014, when WZRB disaffiliated from The CW to become an Ion Television owned-and-operated station – will likely continue to serve as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV (with which it had been affiliated prior to the move of the CW affiliation). It is unclear whether Bounce TV would remain on WIS's spectrum or move to another Columbia-area station once WIS-DT2 becomes a CW affiliate.
	Sumter/Columbia, South Carolina	WKTC	63.1	The CW (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary)	MyNetworkTV (exclusive)
Fall (TBD)	Los Angeles, California	KCET	28.1	Educational independent	PBS	On April 25, KCETLink Media Group and the KOCE-TV Foundation announced a planned consolidation of the operations of their respective educational stations in Southern California, KCET and Huntington Beach-based PBS station KOCE-TV, by the end of the first half of 2018. KCET – which dismembered from the service in 2011, due to increasing membership costs – will rejoin PBS as a secondary outlet; however, KOCE will remain the primary PBS member station for the Los Angeles market. Once the merger is completed, both stations will continue to provide their respective existing programming and multicast services; KOCE will also move its operation from the station's existing facility in Costa Mesa (which would be retained as a secondary facility) to KCET's studios in Burbank.

Subchannel affiliation

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Prior affiliation	New affiliation	Source
January 1	Florence, Alabama (Huntsville-Decatur)	WXFL-LD	10.1	Youtoo America	NewsNet
	Cathedral City, California (Palm Springs)	KAKZ-LD	4.4	QVC
	Kansas City, Kansas	KCKS-LD	25.2	Justice Network
	Sublette, Kansas	KDGL-LD	23.5	Retro Television Network
	Topeka, Kansas	WROB-LD	25.2	Justice Network
	Wichita, Kansas	KCTU-LD	5.4	Opportunity Knocks TV
	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	WLFT-CD	30.3	HSN
	Nashville, Tennessee	WJDE-LD	31.4	HSN
	Dalton, Georgia (Chattanooga, Tennessee)	WDNN-CD	49.3	Retro Television Network
	Arlington Heights, Illinois (Chicago)	WRJK-LP	22.6	Charge!
January 7	Fresno/Visalia, California	KVBC-LP	13.9	My Life TV
January 28	Shaker Heights, Ohio (Cleveland)	WOIO	19.2	MeTV	MyNetworkTV (additional secondary affiliation in overnight hours with MeTV remaining primary; shifted from secondary overnight affiliation on WUAB)
May 1	Fort Wayne, Indiana	WISE-TV	33.2	Local Weather	Justice Network
May 8	Buffalo, New York	WIVB-TV	4.2	Laff	Court TV
September 16	Johnstown, Pennsylvania	WJAC-TV	6.4	TBD	The CW

Station closures

Station	Channel	Affiliation	Market	Date	Notes	Source
WVTA	41.#	PBS	Windsor, Vermont	TBD	Vermont PBS announced on February 17, 2017 that it will sell the broadcast license for WVTA, which transmits from Mount Ascutney, for $56 million in the FCC spectrum auction. In a statement, the member network said that its other signals will be upgraded to cover the viewing area (southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire) served by WVTA.

Deaths

January

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
January 2	Bob Einstein	76	Actor best known as Super Dave Osborne on Super Dave, Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire, and several other shows; also played Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Larry Middleman on Arrested Development. Also comedy writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Brother of Albert Brooks.
	Gene Okerlund	76	Professional wrestling announcer and interviewer for AWA, WWF/WWE and WCW and member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Made a guest appearance on The A-Team and a Mountain Dew commercial. Also appeared in live-action segments of Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.
	Daryl Dragon	76	Musician (Captain & Tennille, The Beach Boys), co-host of The Captain and Tennille Show.
January 3	Sylvia Chase	80	American broadcast journalist (20/20, KRON-TV/San Francisco)
	John Falsey	67	Writer/producer, most noted for work on St. Elsewhere, Northern Exposure, and I'll Fly Away
January 4	Louisa Moritz	72	Cuban-American actress (The Joe Namath Show, Love, American Style, Ironside, One Day at a Time, Chico and the Man, The Rockford Files and The Incredible Hulk)
January 6	W. Morgan Sheppard	86	Actor (Max Headroom, Star Trek, seaQuest DSV) and voice actor (Biker Mice from Mars, Gargoyles, Prep & Landing)
January 9	Verna Bloom	80	Actress (Where Have All the People Gone?, Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Playing for Time)
	Stefanos Miltsakakis	60	Greek-American MMA-fighter and actor (Matlock, Eerie, Indiana, Baywatch, Martial Law, Nash Bridges and Cold Case)
January 15	Bill Anagnos	60	American stuntman (TV work includes recurring spots on Banshee, The Sopranos, and Kennedy)
	Bradley Bolke	93	American voice actor, known for his role of Chumley Walrus on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales
	Carol Channing	97	Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, dancer and comedienne (TV work includes several guest spots on What's My Line?, a recurring role on The Love Boat, and the voice of Grandmama on The Addams Family)
January 16	Sam Christensen	70	American casting director
January 17	Barbara Claman	89	American casting director
	Anthony Potter	84	American producer and writer
	Daniel C. Striepeke	88	American makeup artist (TV work includes several episodes of Planet of the Apes and Mission: Impossible)
January 20	William Swan	90	American actor
January 21	Russell Baker	93	Writer, columnist, and host of Masterpiece Theater
	Kaye Ballard	93	American actress, comedienne, and singer, best known as Kaye Buell in The Mothers-in-Law, Angie Pallucci in The Doris Day Show, a regular on both Kraft Music Hall and The Perry Como Show, and a record-setting 50 guest appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
	Steve Bean	58	American comedian and actor
	Merwin Goldsmith	81	American actor (Goodtime Girls, Ryan's Hope, Kennedy, Law & Order and The Good Wife)
January 22	Kevin Barnett	32	Comedian, actor and writer (The Carmichael Show, Broad City). Co-creator of Rel.
	James Frawley	82	American director and producer (The Monkees, That Girl, Paper Moon, Magnum, P.I., Vengeance Unlimited, Thieves, Judging Amy, Three Moons Over Milford, Ghost Whisperer, Side Order of Life and Grey's Anatomy)
January 25	Fatima Ali	29	Pakistani-born American chef and reality show contestant (Chopped, Top Chef)
	Steve Bell	83	News anchor (Good Morning America, World News This Morning, USA Updates, KYW-TV/Philadelphia) and correspondent for ABC News
January 26	Ken Welch	92	American composer (The Carol Burnett Show)
January 27	Erica Yohn	90	Character actress (guest spots on Rhoda, ER, Night Court, Murphy Brown, and Picket Fences)
January 29	James Ingram	66	Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter (appeared as himself in Suburgatory and a participant on Celebrity Duets; his 1983 number-one Billboard Hot 100 single "Baby Come to Me" with Patti Austin was featured in General Hospital)
	Fernando Gaitán	58	Colombian screenwriter, producer, television executive, and journalist, whose telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea was adapted into the American dramedy Ugly Betty and the Telemundo remake Betty en NY, of which he served as a consultant on both programs
January 30	Dick Miller	90	Actor (recurring roles on Fame and The Flash)
January 31	Candice Earley	68	American actress best known for her role of Donna Beck in All My Children

February

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
February 1	Harold Bergman	99	American actor (guest spots on All My Children, One Life to Live, Santa Barbara, Murder, She Wrote, Port Charles, Sunset Beach, and The City)
	Neal James	55	American reality television actor (Call of the Wildman)
	Lisa Seagram	82	American actress, acting teacher, and realtor (TV credits include Batman, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, My Three Sons, My Favorite Martian, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Perry Mason, McHale's Navy, Honey West, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. and Burke's Law)
February 3	Kristoff St. John	52	American actor; best known for playing Neil Winters on The Young and the Restless. Also played Adam Marshall on Generations.
	Julie Adams	92	Actress (recurring roles on K-Ville, Loving, Murder, She Wrote, Another World, Capitol, Code Red, and The Jimmy Stewart Show)
February 4	Gary LaPierre	76	News anchor (WBZ-TV/Boston)
February 5	George Klein	83	Host of Talent Party on WHBQ-TV/Memphis
February 7	Albert Finney	82	English actor, producer, and director, who won an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance as Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Also portrayed Sidney Kentridge in The Biko Inquest, which he co-produced.
February 9	Salvatore Bellomo	67	Belgian professional wrestler; best known for wrestling preliminary matches in the WWF during the 1980s
February 10	Linda Sawyer	57	Television producer, writer and director at ABC, MTV and HBO, freelance production work for programs on VH1 and PBS, and podcaster
	Jan-Michael Vincent	74	American film/TV actor, best known for his television roles as Lincoln 'Link' Simmons in the Danger Island segments of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Jeffrey Hastings in The Survivors, Byron Henry in The Winds of War, and Stringfellow Hawke in Airwolf
	Carmen Argenziano	75	Actor (recurring roles on Stargate SG-1, Booker, L.A. Law, Melrose Place, and The Young and the Restless)
February 12	Pedro Morales	76	Puerto Rican WWE Hall of Fame professional wrestler
February 14	David Horowitz	81	Consumer advocate and television show host, alumnus of KNBC Los Angeles and host of Fight Back! with David Horowitz.
February 16	Jerry Blum	86	American radio executive (most notably GM/president of Atlanta's WQXI and WQXI-FM, 1960–1989) and the inspiration for Gordon Jump's Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson character on WKRP in Cincinnati
	Patrick Caddell	68	Pollster and Fox News contributor
	Ken Nordine	98	Voice-over artist and poet (TV work includes Sesame Street)
February 17	Perry Wolff	97	News documentary producer for CBS News (several projects, most notably A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy)
February 21	Beverley Owen	81	Actress best known for playing Marilyn Munster in the first thirteen episodes of The Munsters; guest starring on As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, Guiding Light, and The Young and the Restless
	Peter Tork	77	Bassist/keyboardist/singer for The Monkees and actor on the TV show of the same name
February 22	Clark James Gable	30	Host of Cheaters. Grandson of Clark Gable.
	Brody Stevens	48	Actor and comedian (star of Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!, guest spots on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Friday, Premium Blend, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Fox NFL Sunday, Conan, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Burn with Jeff Ross, Kroll Show, The Ben Show, @midnight, and Chelsea Lately)
	Morgan Woodward	93	Actor best known as Marvin "Punk" Anderson on Dallas. Also guest spots on several other shows including a record amount of roles as several different characters on Gunsmoke.
February 23	Katherine Helmond	89	American actress best known as Jessica Tate on Soap, Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss?, Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond.
February 26	Mitzi Hoag	86	American actress (notable for her regular role as Liz Platt in We'll Get By, and recurring roles in Here Come the Brides and The Facts of Life)
	Jeraldine Saunders	95	American writer, lecturer, model, and astrologer. Best known as the creator of The Love Boat, (based on her 1974 memoir Love Boats) and whose career as a cruise director was fictionalized in the series as Julie McCoy (played by Lauren Tewes), and the author of "Omarr's Astrological Forecast" (with then-husband Sydney Omarr)
February 27	Nathaniel Taylor	80	Actor best known for playing Rollo Lawson on Sanford and Son
February 28	André Previn	89	German-born American conductor, composer, and musician (conductor/host of Previn & The Pittsburgh, Music director for The Donald O'Connor Show)
	William G. Schilling	79	Best known for playing Dr. Harold Samuels on Head of the Class

March

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
March 2	Janice Freeman	33	Singer (contestant on season 13 of The Voice)
March 4	Keith Flint	49	British singer/dancer and member of the Alternative Dance group The Prodigy (TV appearances include MTV Music Video Awards and guest hosting 120 Minutes; his vocals and videos from "Breathe" (a 1997 VMA winner for Viewer's Choice) and "Firestarter" have been used in numerous television programs and commercials)
	Luke Perry	52	American actor best known as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, a recurring role as Fred Andrews on Riverdale and guest spots on The Simpsons, Family Guy, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Will & Grace.
	Ted Lindsay	93	Canadian Hall of Fame ice hockey player (U.S. TV work included color commentary for the NHL on NBC during the 1970s)
	Chris Pallies	63	American professional wrestler (better known as King Kong Bundy) and occasional actor (recurring role on Married... with Children, whose lead characters were surnamed Bundy in homage to the wrestler)
March 5	Susan Harrison	80	American actress, best known for playing the "Ballerina" in The Twilight Zone episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" and the mother of Darva Conger, the winner of Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?
March 7	Dick Beyer	88	Legendary professional wrestler
	Marshall Brodien	84	Magician (Wizzo the Wizard on The Bozo Show)
March 9	Jed Allan	84	Actor best known as C.C. Capwell on Santa Barbara, Don Craig on Days of Our Lives, Edward Quartermaine on General Hospital, Rush Sanders on Beverly Hills, 90210, Scott Turner on Lassie, Harold Johnson on The Bay, and the host of Celebrity Bowling
March 10	Rex Sorensen	73	American broadcaster, television/radio executive, and real estate developer (owner of the Sorensen Media Group, the parent company of ABC affiliate KTGM and Fox affiliate KEQI-LP Tamuning, Guam)
March 16	Larry DiTillio	79	American TV writer (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Beast Wars: Transformers, Babylon 5)
	Richard Erdman	93	American actor (recurring roles on Community, Where's Raymond, The Tab Hunter Show, and Saints and Sinners)
	Tom Hatten	92	Host of The Popeye Show and Family Film Festival on KTLA/Los Angeles
March 17	Dick Dale	81	American musician, whose pioneering surf music sound was used in numerous television programs, most notably his signature songs "Pipeline" and "Misirlou"; TV credits include The Ed Sullivan Show
	Norman Hollyn	66	TV/film editor (TV work includes episodes of The Equalizer and Wild Palms)
March 20	Jacqueline Rossetti	65	Radio/television personality, broadcaster, and programmer in the Honolulu market (known on air as "Honolulu Skylark"), notably as co-host/emcee for The Merrie Monarch Festival broadcasts and co-founder/host of the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, both during its broadcast tenure on KITV.
	Eunetta T. Boone	63	American television writer and producer (One on One, Raven's Home, The Hughleys, Cuts, The Parent 'Hood, My Wife and Kids, Lush Life, Living Single)
March 21	Chris Corley	55	American voice-over artist on MLB Network and numerous TV stations
March 23	Denise DuBarry	63	American actress and producer. Founder and president of Palm Springs Women in Film and Television, and creator of The Broken Glass Awards (Credits include Baa Baa Black Sheep, Days of Our Lives, CHiPs and The Love Boat)
	Larry Cohen	77	American director, producer, and writer (creator of Branded, Blue Light, Coronet Blue, Griff, and The Invaders)
March 24	Joseph Pilato	70	Actor (recurring roles on Big Bad Beetleborgs and Digimon)
	Nancy Gates	93	American film/television actress (Studio 57, The Millionaire, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Burke's Law, and The Mod Squad)
March 26	Yoji Harada	46	Japanese tattoo artist and reality show personality (Miami Ink)
March 31	Ermias Asghedom	33	Eritrean American rapper, remixer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and actor, known by his stage name Nipsey Hussle (appeared in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

April

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
April 1	Ron Sweed	70	Nationally syndicated horror host (known as "The Ghoul," an evolution/recasting of the earlier Ghoulardi character)
April 9	Charles Van Doren	93	Author whose fraudulent winning streak on the scripted game show Twenty One was a defining moment in the 1950s quiz show scandals and the subject of the film Quiz Show in which he was portrayed by Ralph Fiennes; also appeared on and wrote for Wide Wide World and The Today Show
April 12	Georgia Engel	70	Character actress best-known as Georgette Franklin (Baxter) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Also starred in Jennifer Slept Here and Goodtime Girls and was the voice of the Snuggle Bear in the Snuggle commercials.
April 17	Chet Coppock	70	Sports anchor/sports director at Chicago stations WSNS-TV, WMAQ-TV, WISH-TV, and WFLD
April 20	Jacqueline Saburido	40	Venezuelan activist and burn survivor who campaigned against drunk driving, after a car crash (while visiting Texas in 1999) that left her with burns on 60% of her body and became the face of an anti-drunk driving campaign (appeared twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show and featured in a Discovery Health documentary on face transplants)
April 21	Steve Golin	64	Oscar and Golden Globe-winning producer, founder of Propaganda Films and Anonymous Content (Executive producer and co-creator of True Detective, Mr. Robot, Catch-22, 13 Reasons Why and The Alienist)
	Ken Kercheval	83	American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on Dallas and its 2012 revival, as well as daytime roles on Search for Tomorrow (as Dr. Nick Hunter #1), The Secret Storm and How to Survive a Marriage
April 23	Jim Dunbar	89	Host of AM San Francisco on KGO-TV, who received several calls from a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer during an episode in 1969.
April 29	Tom Ellis	86	News anchor at Boston stations WBZ-TV, WHDH, WCVB-TV, and New England Cable News
	John Singleton	51	Director, screenwriter and producer (TV work includes Rebel and Snowfall)
	Doug Adair	89	News anchor at Cleveland, Ohio stations WJW and WKYC; and Columbus, Ohio station WCMH-TV
April 30	Peter Mayhew	74	English-born American actor, stuntman, author, and businessman, who portrayed Chewbacca in the Star Wars film and television series, as well as appearing as the character on Donny & Marie, Star Wars Holiday Special, The Muppet Show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Glee

May

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
May 2	Chris Reccardi	54	Animator (The Ren & Stimpy Show, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls)
May 5	Barbara Perry	97	Actress (The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Hathaways, The Donna Reed Show, My Three Sons)
May 6	Kip Niven	73	Actor (Alice, The Waltons, Blind Ambition, Once an Eagle, Emergency!)
May 8	Jim Fowler	87	Zoologist and host of Wild Kingdom
May 9	Allene Roberts	90	Character actress (Adventures of Superman, Dragnet, The Public Defender)
May 11	Pua Magasiva	38	New Zealander actor (Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers Dino Thunder)
	Peggy Lipton	72	American actress/singer, best known for playing Julie Barnes in The Mod Squad, Norma Jenkins in Twin Peaks, Hadley Larson in Angel Falls, Kelly Foster in Popular, Olivia Reed in Alias, and Susie in Crash.
	Harold Lederman	79	Boxing judge and analyst on HBO World Championship Boxing
May 12	Elsa Patton	84	Reality television personality (The Real Housewives of Miami, Havana Elsa)
May 13	Doris Day	97	American actress, singer, and activist, who played Doris Martin in the self-titled The Doris Day Show; other appearances include Doris Day's Best Friends as well as numerous specials and occasional promos for MeTV.
May 14	Tim Conway	85	Actor best known as Ensign Charles Parker on McHale's Navy and several guest spots (and later a regular) on The Carol Burnett Show. Also recurring roles on SpongeBob SquarePants, Dragons: Riders of Berk, Yes, Dear, Rango, and several versions of The Tim Conway Show.
	Tardar Sauce	7	Cat best known as the basis for the Internet meme "Grumpy Cat" (portrayed itself in the TV film Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever in addition to several guest appearances)
May 16	Steve Duemig	64	American golfer and host on The Golf Channel
	Ashley Massaro	39	Wrestler (WWE). Also appeared on Survivor: China, guest spots on Smallville and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the music videos "Throw It on Me" by Timbaland and "Hell Yeah" by Rev Theory.
May 20	Ronnie Virgets	77	Reporter on New Orleans stations WDSU and WWL-TV
May 22	Dick Ellis	69	Journalist at Austin, Texas stations KVUE and KTBC
May 26	Bart Starr	85	NFL Hall of Famer and both quarterback (1956–71) and head coach (1975-83) of the Green Bay Packers (Appearance in the first and second Super Bowl Championships with the Packers, a contributor and commentator for NFL broadcasts including NFL Network films and specials, and host of his weekly review show during his coaching tenure)
May 30	Leon Redbone	69	Cypress-born Canadian/American jazz/folk singer (Notable for his two appearances on Saturday Night Live in the first season and frequent guest spots on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, performed the theme songs for Mr. Belvedere and Harry and the Hendersons, a regular role on Between the Lions, guest starred in Life Goes On, commercial work for All detergent, Budweiser, Chevrolet and Ken-L Ration)

June

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
June 1	Brian Taggert	81	American screenwriter (V: The Final Battle and original 1984-85 series, Adam-12 and Emergency!)
June 2	Alistair Browning	65	New Zealander actor (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess and several entries in the Power Rangers series)
June 3	Todd Tongen	56	Longtime news anchor/reporter at WPLG in Miami, Florida
June 4	Bob Welti	94	Longtime weathercaster at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City
June 6	John Rebbenack	77	Musician best known by the stage name "Dr. John" (performed theme song to Blossom and appeared on SCTV)
June 11	Linda Giannecchini	70	Executive, Governor, committee member, and trustee with the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (a recipient of two Emmys, a Governors' Award, a NATAS service medallion, and an induction to the Silver Circle), whose credentials includes producer, director, line producer, production coordinator, closed captioner and event planner.
June 15	Franco Zeffirelli	96	Italian film/stage/television director, producer, and politician (Jesus of Nazareth)
June 17	Gloria Vanderbilt	95	Artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress and socialite. TV work includes guest spots on The Love Boat, Person to Person, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Live! with Kelly and Michael, and CBS News Sunday Morning. Mother of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
June 19	Peter Allan Fields	84	American television writer (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
June 21	Avelino Muñoz Stevenson	62	Puerto Rican sports journalist and father of Jowell. Worked for television stations WIPR-TV, WKAQ-TV, WSJN-TV, and WLII. Also founder of the Cabecitas Rapadas foundation.
	Jim Taricani	69	American investigative journalist (WJAR/Providence, Rhode Island)
June 22	Judith Krantz	91	American journalist and novelist, whose adaptations of her best sellers Scruples, Princess Daisy, Mistral’s Daughter, I’ll Take Manhattan, Till We Met Again, Dazzle, and her made for TV original production Judith Krantz's "Secrets" became popular miniseries, and producer/writer on original TV movie Torch Song.
June 23	Stephanie Niznik	52	Actress best known for her role as Nina Feeney on Everwood.
June 24	Billy Drago	73	Actor (TV roles include Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, Walker Texas Ranger, Trapper John, M.D., The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and The X-Files). Guest roles include Chicago Justice, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, Guiding Light, Transformers: Rescue Bots, Chicago Fire, Back to the Future, Captain N: The Game Master, All That, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Saved by the Bell, and Designing Women
June 25	Russ Ewing	95	American journalist at Chicago stations WLS-TV and WMAQ-TV
June 26	Beth Chapman	51	American bounty hunter and reality show personality (Dog the Bounty Hunter, Dog and Beth: On the Hunt, and Dog's Most Wanted). Wife of Duane "Dog" Chapman.
	Max Wright	75	Actor best known as Willie Tanner on ALF, Max Denby on The Norm Show, Dick Stetmeyer on Misfits of Science, and Karl Shub on Buffalo Bill

July

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
July 2	Lee Iacocca	94	Automotive executive who appeared in commercials for Chrysler and for Olivio margarine
July 3	Arte Johnson	90	Actor/comedian best known for his Emmy-winning role on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Also recurring roles on Don't Call Me Charlie, Sally, It's Always Jan, and Glitter, and voice work on Animaniacs, The Smurfs, The Flintstone Kids, Yo Yogi!, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, The Dukes, Baggy Pants and the Nitwits, and The Houndcats
July 6	Cameron Boyce	20	Actor; best known as Luke Ross in Jessie, Conor in Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything, the voice of Jake in Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Carlos in the Descendants telefilm franchise. Other roles include guest appearances in Bunk'd, Liv and Maddie, Code Black, General Hospital: Night Shift and Paradise City, and voice roles in Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man.
July 7	Bob Fouts	97	Sports reporter on San Francisco stations KPIX-TV and KGO-TV. Father of NFL on CBS announcer Dan Fouts.
July 9	Rip Torn	88	Actor best known for his Emmy-winning role as Artie on The Larry Sanders Show. Also narrator of Ghost Stories and a recurring role on 30 Rock.
July 10	Denise Nickerson	62	American child actress/singer; TV roles included Amy Jennings and Nora Collins on Dark Shadows, Allison (a member of the Short Circus) on The Electric Company, and a young version of Liza Walton Kaslo Sentell Kendall on Search for Tomorrow. Other roles include Wonderful World of Disney ("Child of Glass"), If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever?, The Man Who Could Talk to Kids, Flipper, and The Brady Bunch. Best known for playing Violet Beauregard in the frequently-televised film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
	Jim Bouton	80	Professional baseball player, author, entrepreneur and sports anchor at New York City stations WCBS-TV and WABC-TV. His 1970 tell-all book, Ball Four, became the basis of a short-lived 1976 sitcom in which he starred as a fictionalized version of himself.
July 13[a]	Charles Levin	70	Actor (recurring roles on NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, Capital News, Karen's Song, Hill Street Blues, Punky Brewster, and Alice)
July 14	Ernie Mims	86	Host of Cap'n Ernie's Show Boat on WOC/Davenport, Iowa
July 18	Ben Kinchlow	82	Author, minister and televangelist, co-host of The 700 Club
	David Hedison	92	American film/television actor, known for his role as Captain Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Victor Sebastian in Five Fingers, and daytime roles in Another World and The Young and the Restless among his numerous credits, including The Saint, alongside his best friend and Live and Let Die co-star Roger Moore (as James Bond's CIA agent friend Felix Leiter in the first of his two appearances in the 007 film series)
July 19	Fred Griffith	90	Television personality, host of The Morning Exchange on WEWS-TV/Cleveland, Ohio
	Bob Losure	72	American television journalist, worked as an anchor for KOTV in Tulsa and CNN Headline News
July 23	Jeff Maynor	75	American television journalist, worked for WKYC, WEWS-TV and WJW in Cleveland
	Gabe Khouth	46	Canadian television, film, and voice actor, best known for playing Sneezy/Tom Clark in Once Upon a Time
July 25	Scott Rubenstein	71	American television writer/story editor best known for writing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Welcome Back, Kotter, MacGyver, 9 to 5, Night Court, Hunter, Cagney and Lacey, and Diff'rent Strokes
July 26	Russi Taylor	75	Voice actress best known for providing the voice of Minnie Mouse; also voice of Huey, Dewey and Louie on DuckTales; various roles on The Simpsons

August

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
August 1	Harley Race	76	American wrestler (eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion) and manager, and one of six men to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in the same year (2004).
August 4	Stu Rosen	80	American voice director and actor (Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, The Legend of Prince Valiant, Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series; creator of Dusty’s Treehouse)
August 9	Ivy Anderson	22	American television journalist at WHNT-TV/Huntsville, Alabama
August 12	Jim Marsh	73	American basketball player (Portland Trail Blazers) and color commentator (Seattle SuperSonics)
August 16	Peter Fonda	79	American actor, producer, and activist. Son of Henry Fonda and younger brother of Jane Fonda. (TV work includes Naked City, The New Breed, Wagon Train, The Defenders, Channing, Arrest and Trial, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, 12 O'Clock High, and In the Heat of the Night and the TV movies Certain Honorable Men, A Reason to Live, Capital City, The Tempest, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Easy Rider, and Journey to the Center of the Earth)
	Nancy Parker	53	American television journalist at WVUE-DT/New Orleans, WAFB/Baton Rouge, and WSFA/Montgomery
	Richard Williams	86	Canadian-British animator (U.S. TV work includes the 1971 version of A Christmas Carol and Ziggy's Gift)
August 18	Jack Whitaker	95	American sportscaster (CBS, ABC), host of The NFL Today
August 19	Jack Perkins	85	American reporter (WEDU/Tampa, KNBC/Los Angeles, WTCI/Chattanooga) and television host (The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Biography)
August 27	Jessi Combs	36	American racer and television host (Xtreme 4x4); guest spots on Overhaulin', MythBusters, The List: 1001 Car Things To Do Before You Die, All Girls Garage, and How to Build... Everything)
August 30	Valerie Harper	80	American actress, starred as the title characters in Valerie and Rhoda (Rhoda Morgenstern in the latter, a role she originated on The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
	Gordon Bressack	68	American television writer (Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Bionic Six)
	Lee Van Ameyde	66	News anchor at WZZM/Kalamazoo, Michigan and news director at WEYI-TV/Flint, Michigan

September

Date	Name	Age	Notability	Source
September 3	Carol Lynley	77	Actress (recurring role on Fantasy Island and guest spots on several shows)
September 5	Bill Harris	75	American film critic (At the Movies) and journalist (Entertainment Tonight)
	Chris March	56	American fashion and costume designer (Project Runway)
September 7	Robert Axelrod	70	Actor best known as the voice of Lord Zedd and Finster on Power Rangers
September 9	Fred McLeod	67	American sportscaster for WJBK and WDIV-TV/Detroit and play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons

Notes

^a Body found on this date, actual date of death unknown.