2008 in American television

In American television in 2008, notable events included television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel launches.

Date	Event
1	CourtTV is rebranded as TruTV.
2	An interim agreement between Worldwide Pants Incorporated and the Writers Guild of America allows the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, both on CBS, to return with their full writing staffs, in spite of the ongoing WGA strike. By contrast, NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Last Call with Carson Daly and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which are all produced by their respective networks, went back on the air without writers (except for Jay Leno, who writes his own material).
4	Jason Luna become the program's first (and only) $1,000,000 winner in the NBC's game show 1 vs. 100 during the program's second-season premiere titled Battle of the Sexes.^[1]^[2]
4	Nick Jr. celebrates its 20th anniversary.
7	Due to the writers strike, it is announced that plans to hold the 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be scrapped. A press conference that announced the winners is substituted for the program, and NBC, which would have broadcast the ceremony, airs Golden Globe-related programming in its place.^[3]
27	Discovery Times was renamed "Investigation Discovery".^[4] In addition to the television network, an Investigation Discovery website was also launched. Contributors to the website include crime writers David Lohr, Corey Mitchell, and Gary C. King.^{[citation needed]}

Date	Event
2	VH1 Uno is discontinued by MTV Networks to expand distribution of mtvU beyond college campuses and onto regular cable systems.
3	Fox's telecast of Super Bowl XLII surpasses Super Bowl XXX as the most-watched Super Bowl game on television (up to this point), and the most-watched program in the network's history. It also becomes the second most-watched television program trailing the 1983 MASH* series finale and the highest-rated telecast in Nielsen ratings since Super Bowl XXXIV.
3	Animal Planet "relaunched" itself as part of a new branding campaign that "sheds its soft and furry side for programming and an image with more bite."^[5] As part of the relaunch, Animal Planet replaced its elephant and spinning globe logo for a starker text image that allows more flexibility in its usage.^[6]
4	The Mr. Men Show debuts on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Based on the British book series of Mr. Men Little Miss.
8	The CW Television Network and the WWE announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown would leave the CW primetime schedule at the end of the 2007–2008 season. The news stepped in after negotiations between the CW and WWE failed to reach a deal to keep the show on the CW lineup. Three weeks later on February 26, MyNetworkTV announced that they would pick up the program and would add it to its lineup in September.
9	Both the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a tentative deal resolving the strike. Members vote three days later to end the strike.
17	The conversion of NTSC analog channels to DT channels using the ATSC system begins in the United States, with TV stations making last-minute filings and their intentions about when they will start their switchover ahead of the February 17, 2009, mandatory date. Also, the US government starts mailing out (USD)$40.00 coupons/rebates to consumers to use in buying DTV converters before the switchover.
17	In a two-hour television film, Knight Rider returned to NBC with a new KITT being portrayed as a black 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang and voiced by actor Val Kilmer.
18	Nickelodeon celebrates the revival of its hit show The Fairly OddParents with the television film Fairly OddBaby. This has been the first new episode since 2006.
22	Adam Rose become the first $1,000,000 winner in Drew Carey's first primetime episode of The Price is Right on CBS. At $1,153,908 cash & prizes won, Rose surpassed Joanne Segeviano's winnings of A$664,667 (about $406,274.45; or $475,593 by Inflation as of 2025) from the Australian version as the franchise's largest winnings record in the show's history. Until James Holzhauer's Jeopardy! appearance in 2019, Rose was placed in the top ten largest game show winners in history until April 24, 2019 (Holzhauer's total game show career winnings at the time after the episode was $1,193,508.33 (including J!'s career winnings of $1,135,175; Holzhauer's final winnings were $2,464,216 after his defeat on his 33rd game on June 3, and $3,022,549 as of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, the latter currently was placed third in the top ten list)).^[7]
24	ABC's telecast of the 80th Academy Awards draws record-low ratings in the history of the ceremony's telecast surpassing the ratings from the ceremony that took place in 2003. 31.76 million on average watched the show over its entire run with a Nielsen rating of 18.66 households watching.
25	Fox News Channel rebrands its Fox News Live and Weekend Live telecasts as America's Election Headquarters, a news program related to the 2008 presidential election. The weekday edition replaces The Big Story in the 5 p.m. timeslot. The Fox News Live name would still be used for headline segments through November.
29	CBS's soap opera Guiding Light unveils a new opening for the town of Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, while still filming in New York City, New York.

Date	Event
7	Michael Hanes, a former contestant on Press Your Luck, wins $1,127,062 on a prime-time episode of The Price is Right on CBS.^[8]
10	Fox Sports New York rebranded MSG Plus because Cablevision announced that it would be (branded in logos as "MSG+"), restructuring it as a spin-off of MSG Network.^[9]
12	The USA TV website Hulu went live.
15	Laurie Dhue, anchor of Fox Report Weekend, leaves Fox News Channel after opting not to renew her contract.^[10] She is replaced by Julie Banderas, co-anchor of America's Election Headquarters on weekends.
20	As part of that same rebranding effort, The History Channel dropped "The" and "Channel" from its name to become simply "History".^[11]
26	CBS's soap opera The Young and the Restless celebrates its 35th anniversary, a year after its sister soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful marks 20 years.
27	WNBC/New York City, NBC's flagship station, scraps the scheduled airing of Access Hollywood in favor of an infomercial for Lend America. Station GM Frank Comerford resigned in the wake of the controversy and the station management apologized a day after the incident.^[12] 6 days after the incident, the station restored the "4 New York" branding for non-news programming and News 4 New York for news programming.^[13]

Date	Event
1	ABC's soap opera General Hospital celebrates its 45th anniversary, two years after the April 2, 2006, 50th Anniversary of CBS's As the World Turns.
4	In CBS, Cynthia Azevedo became the third and final $1,000,000 winner (the only winner who won the $1,000,000 bonus from a Pricing Game, Clock Game) on a prime-time episode of The Price is Right with a total winning of $1,089,017. Another contestant from the same episode won an $87,910 Dodge Viper on Golden Road, and this was the game's last win until December 23, 2014. Price would later cancel the $1,000,000 spectacular on May 7 due to budget.^[14]
7	Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks defeat John Calipari's Memphis Tigers 75–68 at the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and celebrate their victory in front of a national television audience on CBS.^[15]
17	In FOX, former American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke became the first contestant in history to attempt, but unsuccessfully, the final level ($1,000,000 song; Ringo Starr's You're Sixteen) in the game show Don't Forget the Lyrics! and left with $100,000 that was raised for Camp Heartland. Locke, however, announced after the game that she would raise the $400,000 that she risked earlier along with the help of host Wayne Brady.
18	Disney Channel celebrates its 25th anniversary.
28	The WB Television Network, a former television channel launches again as an online website only.

Date	Event
11	On CBS, former model Parvati Shallow was announced the winner of Survivor: Micronesia. It was also announced that the next season will be filmed in high definition.
11	The ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters airs its second season finale, which depicts the wedding of Kevin Walker and Scotty Wandell. Although it is the ninth same-sex wedding ceremony to be portrayed on American network television, it is the first same-sex wedding of series regulars on an American television series.
14	Spike premieres the TV Show, 1000 Ways To Die.
16	The Wilmington, North Carolina television market is selected by the FCC to be the first television market in the United States to sign off their analog channels for ATSC early, starting September 8.
21	On Fox, David Cook became the seventh winner of American Idol.
24	After over thirteen years, Kids' WB, The CW's children's programming block, ceases airing and becomes The CW4Kids when the network sells the air time to Grupo Clarin (through its subsidiary Kids WB was shut down 4Kids Entertainment).^[16] (Kids' WB, like The WB Television Network that the block originated, then relaunches as an online-only video on demand service.)
24	Superstation WGN changed its name to WGN America (initially, the use of the new name was limited to on-air promotions, as the Superstation WGN channel IDs remained in place). The new WGN America name and logo went into full-time use on May 26, 2008. The new logo was also the first used by the superstation feed to not incorporate WGN-TV's on-air logo branding in some capacity (the "WGN" text was similar in resemblance, although the "G" was not formed into an ovular arrow as it is in WGN-TV's logo), and its design featured the eyes of a female, which was used alongside the new slogan "TV You Can't Ignore".

2008 in American television

Notable events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Programs

Debuts

Entering syndication this year

Changes of network affiliation

Returning this year

Ending this year

Made-for-TV movies

Miniseries

Networks and services

Network launches

Conversions and rebrandings

Network closures

Television stations

Station launches

Network affiliation changes

Station closures

Births

Deaths

See also

References

External links

Wikiwand - on

Date	Event
1	A large fire damages portions of Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles, south of Burbank where NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives is filmed.
4	Facing increased competition in the home-oriented programming sector, Discovery Communications planned a 24-hour channel focused on eco-friendly living in an attempt to capitalize on a rising environmental movement.^[17] Discovery Home was relaunched as the environmentally-themed Planet Green at 6:00 p.m. ET.
17	Game 6 of the NBA Finals is broadcast on ABC. The Boston Celtics won their 17th world championship, and first since 1986, against the longtime rivals Los Angeles Lakers. Paul Pierce was awarded the Finals MVP. A memorable post-game interview had a very emotional Kevin Garnett claiming out loud that "anything is possible".
19	Big Ten Network and Comcast announced a carriage agreement deal. The channel was added to Comcast on August 15.
28	The first episode of Saturday Night Live is rerun on NBC following the death of first host George Carlin, who died six days earlier on June 22.

Date	Event
7	The Jewelry Channel, a U.S. home shopping service that was shown mostly on DirecTV and Dish Network, launches a going-out-of-business sale for its remaining items that was shown on the channel that would last until December 1. From December 1 onwards, TJC is now doing business as The Liquidation Channel.
15	ABC's soap opera One Life to Live (created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates its 40th anniversary, two years before another ABC soap opera All My Children (also created by Agnes Nixon) celebrates 40 years in 2010.
21	MGM Television and Weigel Broadcasting announce the launching of a new broadcast network designed for digital subchannels in the United States called This TV.
21	Film critic Richard Roeper announces that he will be leaving the syndicated movie review show At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper after he and Disney-ABC Domestic Television did not reach an agreement on a new contract, with his last show airing the weekend of August 16. Roger Ebert (who had been sidelined from the program for two years due to various cancer surgeries) announced that he would also be no longer be associated with the program after Disney had decided to take the show in a different direction. The following day, Disney announced that E! Entertainment's Ben Lyons and Turner Classic Movies' Ben Mankiewicz would take over as the new hosts of the newly-titled At the Movies beginning the week of September 6-7.

Date	Event
1	Bowing to concerns by the Fox network over its Mexican-based operations, XETV, its affiliate in San Diego licensed to Tijuana, Mexico, swaps affiliations with CW affiliate KSWB-TV.
6	Disney-ABC Television Group announced they would close Toon Disney in early 2009 and replace it with Disney XD, which would be aimed at kids from ages 6 and up.
7	The Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market gets its first-ever NBC affiliate, WMBF-TV. This move also gives Florence/Myrtle Beach in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks.
8	After 50 years of being served by WTAE-TV/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Wheeling-Steubenville and Clarksburg-Fairmont TV markets get their first full-time ABC affiliates (as well as in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks), as CBS affiliate WTRF/Wheeling, West Virginia adds an ABC affiliate on its DT3 subchannel and sister station & NBC affiliate WBOY-TV/Clarksburg, West Virginia does the same on its DT2 subchannel. Both stations had been ABC secondary affiliates in the past.
11	Sesame Street is broadcast in HD for the first time.
28	ESPNU launches its HD version to only five American cable television or satellite carriers.^[18]
29	After 10 years on the air, PBS pulls Teletubbies off the PBS Kids block. The show remains off the air until 2015.
31	Big Ten Network reached carriage deal agreements with Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Brighthouse Networks, Mediacom and Cox Communications, ending the "cable carriage controversies" that the network had in its first year of existence. The network is now on all major cable TV systems in The Big Ten Region.

Date	Event
2	Gwen Ifill moderates the vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden which ends up being the most watched vice presidential debate of all time.
7	NBC announces that NBC Weather Plus would sign off at the end of the year.
7	McCain and Obama participate in the second presidential debate at Belmont University with Tom Brokaw moderating.^[20]
10	Jeopardy! veteran Ken Jennings won $500,000 in the FOX's game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? though he chose not to risk his $475,000 winnings to attempt the $1,000,000 question (in which he answered correctly); with the total winnings accounted to $3,623,414.29, Jennings, for the first time since 2005, surpassed Brad Rutter's (another Jeopardy! veteran and then-current All-time champion) record of $3,455,102 as the biggest game show winner in the history of American and international television, a record which he would hold till this day (Jennings' record was surpassed by Rutter between May 16, 2014, after the finals of Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades until January 14, 2020, on Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time).
14	Michelle Lowenstein became the first $1,000,000 winner in the game show Wheel of Fortune. At $1,026,080 in cash & prizes won, Lowenstein surpassed Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen's all-time winnings record of $146,529 back in February 1996, and Christine Denos and Jack Wagner's single-day record of $142,550 on February 28, 2006, to become the largest single-day winner in the show's history until on May 30, 2013, where another contestant Autumn Erhard (who won $1,030,340) surpassed Lowenstein's total.^[21]
15	Bob Schieffer of CBS News moderates the final presidential debate between senators John McCain and Barack Obama.^[22]
17	United States Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota 6th) makes headlines when she asks for an investigation into whether members of the United States Congress are anti-American during a live interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.
20	CBS announces it has signed an affiliation deal with ABC affiliate WENY-TV in Elmira, New York, giving the Elmira-Corning market both its first locally based CBS affiliate and in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks. The affiliation takes effect on cable on February 17, 2009 (when WENY-TV requests a flash-cut from analog to digital broadcasting), and over-the-air on WENY-DT2 at the end of May (when WENY-TV performs its flash-cut).
24	Barack Obama airs a 30-minute infomercial that airs on CBS, NBC, Fox, BET, Univision, MSNBC and TV One. The infomercial is seen by 33.6 million viewers.
25	K07YM in Bend, Oregon, a translator of CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland, Oregon, is converted to a stand-alone station as KBNZ-LD, giving the Bend market both its first-ever CBS affiliate and in-market affiliates of all four major commercial networks.
29	Game 5 of the World Series is broadcast on Fox. The Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the team's first title since 1980 and second in franchise history. This marked the end of the Curse of Billy Penn.