In American television in 1994, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and re-brandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
NBC airs the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. It's the first time that a network has aired two straight Super Bowls outright. While CBS did air the first two Super Bowls back to back, the first ever Super Bowl was really a simulcast between CBS and NBC.
American pay television channel Encore launches seven new themed multiplex channels (Westerns, True Stories, Love Stories, WAM!: America's Kidz Network, Action and Mystery), primarily on TCI cable systems, becoming the first premium service to offer a suite of thematic channels. Starz, which features more recent movie fare than its parent channel, also debuts on this date as part of the Encore multiplex and would eventually become a rival to HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and The Movie Channel.
12
KTSP-TV in Phoenix changes its call letters to KSAZ-TV, reflecting its newly adopted "Spirit of Arizona" slogan.[1]
19
During the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, guest host Martin Lawrence makes sexually explicit jokes about female genitalia and feminine hygiene, which results in NBC banning him from appearing on the network (for the next year) and SNL (for life). In repeats of the episode, the offending section of the monologue is replaced by a title card read by an off-screen player (writer Jim Downey), saying that although SNL is neutral about the issues mentioned by Lawrence, network policy prevents his remarks from being re-broadcast, and that the incident almost cost the entire cast of SNL their jobs.
The Pay television content advisory system, which describe the varying degrees of suggestive or explicit content in series and movies being broadcast by pay cable channels, are first implemented by HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel. A streamlined version of the system—a categorized, ten-point system of content labels and abbreviated codes—was implemented on June 10.
11
Viacom assumes control of Paramount Pictures, which includes Paramount Television. Later during the year Paramount/Viacom announces plans to initiate a new over-the-air television network, in conjunction with United Television. The new network, the United Paramount Network (or UPN for short), is initiated during January 1995.
15
Major League Soccer with ESPN and ABC Sports announced the league's first television rights deal without any players, coaches, or teams in place.[2] The three-year agreement committed 10 games on ESPN, 25 on ESPN2, and the MLS Cup on ABC. The deal gave MLS no rights fees but split advertising revenue between the league and networks.
31
Madonna appears on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and makes headlines for going on a profanity-laden tirade—one of the most censored events of American TV talk-show history, swearing 13 times during the interview. Though infamous, it results in some of the highest ratings of Letterman's late-night career. (Robin Williams would later describe the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman.")
On the ESPN2 talk show Talk2 former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jim Everett flips the table and attacks host Jim Rome in retaliation for Rome repeatedly calling Everett "Chris" in relation to female tennis player Chris Evert.
ABC affiliate KARD in Monroe, Louisiana, which carried Fox on a secondary basis, switches to be a primary Fox affiliate.
18
Arsenio Hall announces that he won't continue his late night talk show, with the final episode of The Arsenio Hall Show ultimately airing on May 27, 1994.
Star Trek: The Next Generation concludes its seven-year run with the series finale, All Good Things... The two-hour finale was broadcast at 6 p.m. on most affiliates, rather than as part of the prime time lineup.
ABC and Scripps-Howard Broadcasting confirm a wide-ranging affiliation pact securing the network's links with WXYZ-TV in Detroit and WEWS-TV in Cleveland. At Scripps-Howard's insistence, it also calls for KNXV-TV in Phoenix, WFTS-TV in St. Petersburg/Tampa (both outgoing Fox affiliates) and WMAR-TV in Baltimore (the market's NBC affiliate) to switch to ABC.[7] The deal comes at the expense of KTVK and WJZ-TV, whose long tenures with ABC spanned 40 years and 47 years, respectively.[8][9]
17
With all major networks providing live coverage, former NFL player O. J. Simpson, suspected in the murder of his former wife and her acquaintance, flees from police with his friend Al Cowlings in his white Ford Bronco; the low-speed chase ends with Simpson's surrender to police at his Brentwood mansion. NBC, who was broadcasting Game 5 of the NBA Finals between New York and Houston in the meantime, periodically covers the chase via a split-screen.
British vintage puppet action series Thunderbirds is introduced to the United States when the series goes to air on Fox Kids on Saturday mornings with brand new music and voices.
11
PBS repackages their existing children's programs as a new block called PTV.
Westinghouse Broadcasting agrees to affiliate all of their television stations with CBS, including long-tenured NBC affiliates WBZ-TV in Boston and KYW-TV in Philadelphia, along with outgoing ABC affiliate WJZ-TV in Baltimore.[10] This deal consequently prompts CBS to sell WCAU-TV, owned by the network since 1957,[11] and precipitated Westinghouse's outright buyout of CBS the following year.[12]
The ABCsoap operaAll My Children broadcasts a memorial episode for original cast member Frances Heflin, who died during June. The memorial is in the form of a funeral service for Heflin's character, Mona Kane Tyler.
WJW-TV in Cleveland is the first of the New World Communications stations to switch to Fox, ending a 40-year affiliation with CBS. Former Fox affiliate WOIO, in turn, joins CBS and takes over operations of independent WUAB (owned by Cannell Communications) via a local marketing agreement; this allows for WOIO to set up a news department using WUAB's personnel.[14][15]
New World station WDAF-TV in Kansas City ends a 45-year affiliation with NBC to join Fox, with former Fox affiliate KSHB-TV linking up with NBC.[18][19]
New World station KSAZ-TV in Phoenix ends a 40-year connection to CBS, with former independentKPHO-TV joining CBS.[20] Due to Fox affiliate KNXV-TV having a contract that ends three months later, KSAZ-TV operates as an independent for the interregnum.[21] KNXV-TV begins taking ABC programming on a piecemeal basis from soon-to-be former affiliate KTVK, the market's new independent.[22]
ABC affiliate WEWS, who previously aired only the first hour of Good Morning America, begins airing the full two-hour version of the show, and as a result, The Morning Exchange was shifted an hour back.[23]
The sitcom Daddy's Girls debuts on CBS. Although it is abandoned after three episodes, it is notable as the first series in which a gay principal character is played by an openly gay actor, Harvey Fierstein.[25]
The pilot episode for Friends airs on NBC. It will rank as being the fifteenth-most-watched television show of the week, scoring 14.7/23 Nielsen rating (each point represented 954,000 households) and nearly 22 million viewers.[27][28]
Fox sells KDAF in Dallas to Renaissance Broadcasting for $100 million as a consequence of the New World/Fox alliance (KDFW would take over as the market's Fox affiliate the following year). In turn, Renaissance sells KDVR in Denver to Fox for $70 million and agrees to switch KDAF to The WB.[29][30]
21
CBS sells WCAU-TV in Philadelphia to NBC in a complex asset swap. In exchange for WCAU-TV, NBC agrees to sell to CBS KCNC-TV in Denver and KUTV in Salt Lake City, along with the channel 4 license and transmitter for WTVJ in Miami; in turn, NBC receives the channel 6 license and transmitter for WCIX, also in Miami. The intellectual properties for both WTVJ and WCIX are retained.[11]
New World station WITI in Milwaukee ends a 27-year affiliation with CBS (it had also been with CBS from 1959 to 1961) to join Fox.[31] Outgoing Fox affiliate WCGV-TV and independent WVTV turn down CBS as it didn't align with the existing philosophy of Sinclair Broadcast Group (which operated both stations), with WCGV-TV choosing to join UPN.[32]WVCY-TV refused to sell to the network,[33] while talks with independent WDJT-TV (channel 58), owned by Weigel Broadcasting, broke down in late September. With CBS considering piping in network-ownedWBBM-TV or WFRV-TV to area cable companies,[34] Weigel officials and CBS resume talks, inking a deal with WDJT-TV on December 5, five days prior.[35][36]
New World station WJBK-TV in Detroit ends a 44-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox.[37] With former Fox affiliate WKBD owned by Paramount Stations Group and committed to UPN, and no other station in the market willing to affiliate or be acquired by the network, CBS purchases independent WGPR-TV (channel 62)—the first Black-owned television station in the mainland United States—from the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons. CBS takes over operations the day of the switch via a local marketing agreement.[38][39]
New World station WAGA-TV in Atlanta ends a 43-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox.[40] Initially unable to find a replacement affiliate during the summer of 1994, CBS purchases WVEU (channel 69) from local interests,[41] but the startup process became moot when WGNX agreed to a deal with the network. WATL-TV is sold by Fox to Qwest Broadcasting and joins The WB.[42][43]
12
New World station WTVT in St. Petersburg/Tampa ends a 39-year affiliation with CBS to join Fox.[44] Former ABC affiliate WTSP joins CBS, while outgoing Fox affiliate WFTS-TV joins ABC and launches local newscasts the same day.[7][45]
KNXV-TV in Phoenix ends their affiliation with Fox, allowing KSAZ-TV (temporarily operating as an independent) to join the network. As part of KTVK's slow disaffiliation from ABC, KNXV-TV begins carrying all ABC News programming, including World News Tonight and Nightline, while KTVK continues to run ABC's daytime and primetime lineups through the end of the year.[46]
^ abKTVK began dropping ABC programming on a piecemeal basis in the summer of 1994, much of which KNXV-TV added while still a Fox affiliate. While carrying the majority of ABC programming on December 12, 1994, KNVX did not officially become an ABC affiliate until January 9, 1995.[50][51]
^Foisie, Geoffrey (May 30, 1994). "Fox and the New World order"(PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. pp. 6, 8. Retrieved March 16, 2015 – via World Radio History.
^ abFeran, Tom (July 8, 1994). "CBS plans to join Channel 19 by Aug. 29". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. p. 1A. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022 – via NewsBank.
^ abMcTavish, Brian (May 24, 1994). "WDAF to leave NBC, join Fox". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. A-1, A-8. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abGarron, Barry (August 11, 1994). "TV network shift set for Sept. 12". The Kansas City Star. p. C-1, C-3. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abWalker, Dave (September 10, 1994). "TV switch: Channel 5 to carry CBS today". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. p. A1, A20. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abWalker, Dave (June 16, 1994). "ABC drops Ch. 3 after 40 years". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. p. A1, A15. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^Zier, Julie A. (November 21, 1994). "Fox, Renaissance trade markets"(PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2018 – via World Radio History.
^ ab"Channel 6 leaving CBS to join Fox". Milwaukee Sentinel. May 23, 1994. p. A1.
^ abDudek, Duane (October 11, 1994). "Channels 18, 24 next to snub CBS". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. News 5.
^Battaglio, Stephen (December 2, 1994). "CBS ensures Milwaukee feed". The Hollywood Reporter. pp. 3, 50. ProQuest2362015453.
^ abCuprisin, Tim (December 6, 1994). "CBS gets home on Channel 58: Affiliation to start Sunday when Channel 6 goes". Milwaukee Journal. p. News 1.
^Kirchen, Rich (December 10, 1994). "Down-to-the-wire deal kept Milwaukee on CBS' map". Milwaukee Business Journal. p. 2. GaleA16541130ProQuest222390177.
^ abDuffy, Mike; Gunther, Marc (May 24, 1994). "Channel 2 dumps CBS, joins with Fox". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. p. 1A, 2A. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"CBS, WGPR poised for Dec. 11 switch". The Times Herald. Port Huron, Michigan. Associated Press. November 18, 1994. p. 3A. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abRoush, Matt (September 26, 1994). "WGPR sale means CBS spending jag: Network may spend millions on expansion, hiring". Crain's Detroit Business. p. 3.
^ abHuntley, Helen; Stevenson, Jennifer L. (May 24, 1994). "WTVT-Ch. 13 is switching channels to Fox". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 1A, 6A. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
